Innehållsförteckning för 2021-09-15 från Mercury

KYLIE Jenner considered revealing the sex of her baby at the Met Gala. The 24-year-old star was absent from the event in New York on Monday but a source close to the brunette beauty has now revealed she was actually weighing up whether to reveal the sex of her baby, according to Entertainment Tonight. However, Jenner – who already has 3-year-old daughter Stormi with boyfriend Travis Scott – instead decided to head home to Los Angeles, after attending various events at New York Fashion Week. Jenner has attended the Met Gala four times before, including in 2018, when she walked the red carpet for the first time with Travis. And the reality star confirmed she’s pregnant for a second time earlier this month. Jenner posted a video on Instagram of…

Sibusiso Mboto sibusiso.mboto@inl.co.za Small and emerging farmers face immense challenges in the agricultural industry, such as poor yields and low productivity, making it nearly impossible for new entrants to survive. This was one of the issues raised in the Essential Food Pricing Monitoring Report which was recently released by the Competition Commission. The report revealed that in 2007, South Africa had 3 899 dairy farmers, but the figure had dropped to 1 053 in 2021. The commission’s report focused on tracking the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic and the corresponding economic crisis on food markets. It revealed a clear drop in farmer numbers and an increase in concentration across the value chain. “There are concerns with market power across the value chain with farmers, especially small farmers, facing low operating…

Sotheby’s has announced the sale of a private modern and contemporary art collection featuring Andy Warhol and Pablo Picasso pieces valued at more than $600 million (about R8.5 billion), saying that was the highest estimate ever placed on any collection to come to auction. The 65 works in the Macklowe Collection represent “an unrivalled ensemble that charts the high points of Western artistic achievement of the last 80 years”, Sotheby’s said in a press release. “There can be no doubt that this sale will captivate top collectors from around the world and make history as a defining moment in the art market,” said Charles Stewart, Sotheby’s chief executive. The announcement is a welcome piece of revitalising news for the international art market as it rebounds from the Covid-19 pandemic, which…

GEORGE DEVENISH | Emeritus Professor at UKZN and one of the scholars who assisted in drafting the Interim Constitution in 1993. AT THE end of March last year, President Cyril Ramaphosa addressed a frank, stern letter to ANC members, concerning the issue of endemic corruption in South Africa, declaring that the ANC was “accused number one”. The letter has provoked heated discourse, both in the public domain and within ANC ranks. The Covid-19 pandemic with its extended lockdowns, the fraudulent procuring of essential PPEs and related resources to address the pandemic, together with insurrection related to corruption, have precipitated the most serious political and economic crisis since the inception of the democratic era in 1994. The crisis affects South Africa and the ANC-led governing alliance. Unfortunately, until now,…

WE’RE well into spring and the braai fires are burning. A formulation comes this way, setting out the etiquette of a braai, the chain of events. Routine: She makes the salad, prepares the vegetables, and makes the dessert. She prepares the meat for cooking, places it on a tray along with the the necessary cooking utensils and sauces, and takes it to him lounging beside the grill, beer in hand. She remains outside the compulsory three metres exclusion zone where the exuberance of testosterone and other manly bonding activities can take place without her interference. Now the important part: He places the meat on the grill. More routine: She goes inside to organise the plates and cutlery. She comes out to tell him the meat is looking great. He thanks…

Zelda Venter zelda.venter@inl.co.za DIVORCE is costly, and ensuring the estranged spouse continues to live the same lifestyle as before the break-up can eat into your pocket, a Joburg-based banking executive discovered. The husband, identified in the Johannesburg High Court judgment as Mr JC, will have to pay his wife more than R2 million from October 1. He will then have to pay at least R88 000 a month towards her maintenance and of his two children, apart from school fees and other expenses. This is pending the conclusion of the divorce, when it will again be calculated what his wife and children are entitled to. Acting Judge SDJ Wilson said applications under Rule 43 were, ideally, swift and simple matters, since they sought only to arrange the parties’ financial affairs…

Zelda Venter zelda.venter@inl.co.za WHILE President Cyril Ramaphosa this week said the vaccination programme was open to all people in South Africa whether or not they were citizens, undocumented people are still excluded. But it is hoped that they will be able to get the jab by next month. The Department of Health said in a circular released last month that it was committed to ensuring that people who were undocumented would be able to access the Covid-19 vaccine from October. One of the points in the circular noted that undocumented people in the country – both South Africans and foreign nationals – could not be registered for the vaccine or be vaccinated. This includes those with an old birth certificate that does not include an ID number. A solution which…

We need to step up co-operation in fighting Covid-19, especially as BRICS countries WHEN calling a friend recently, he greeted me with those regrettable words: Covid-19 has claimed another life. It is difficult to find someone these days who has not been affected by Covid-19. At a gathering celebrating Women’s Day, the facilitator did a quick survey by asking the following questions and for a show of hands. Who has had Covid-19? Who has lost a family member or friend to Covid-19? There was no one who had not raised their hands. As the global community continues to try to deal with the pandemic which has wrought havoc in our lives and communities, BRICS leaders met once again to ensure that the group of nations collectively tackled the challenge of…

Syria is still unsafe for the return of refugees a decade after its conflict began, UN war crimes investigators said yesterday, documenting worsening violence and rights violations including arbitrary detention by government forces. The UN Commission of Inquiry on Syria said the overall situation was increasingly bleak, noting hostilities in several areas of the fractured country, its collapsing economy, drying riverbeds and increased attacks by Islamic State militants. “One decade in, the parties to the conflict continue to perpetrate war crimes and crimes against humanity and infringing the basic human rights of Syrians,” the Chair of the Commission, Paulo Pinheiro said, releasing its 24th report. “The war on Syrian civilians continues. It is difficult for them to find security or safe haven. “The Commission has continued to document not only…

DUNCAN DU BOIS | Bluff Anthony Starkey’s view that “fringe publications should not be taken seriously” (The Mercury, September 14), illustrates the extent to which the mainstream media have succeeded in determining the narrative on Covid-19. Starkey makes no attempt to rebut the historical fact that Covid-19 is not a pandemic, and ignores my references to the ineffectiveness and adverse effects of the vaccines. Instead he bases his rejection of my arguments, published on September 10, not on their factual integrity but on the credibility of a source quoted, World Net Daily. Significantly, if the facts sourced had come from The Washington Post, which Starkey cited with acclaim, it is unlikely that he would have pursued the issue. The question Starkey should be asking himself is why The…

Keep in mind the loose criteria for an addiction. It may help you to avoid some considerable pain and expense. If it, whatever it is, alcohol, gambling, drugs, sexual activity, has caused you to lose your job, it is an addiction. If it has caused you to lose status in a community, lose face among people whom you value, it is an addiction. Seek help. If it, whatever it is, has caused you to lose an important relationship, it is an addiction. Even if it threatens your most important relationships, although none has been lost, it’s an addiction. Get the help you may not think you need. If abstaining from it, whatever it is, causes you physical symptoms such as cravings, headaches, bad moods, irrational behaviours, it is an addiction.…

I write this as a cricketer, cricket purist, cricket supporter and spectator. I have a subscription to The Mercury. On August 31, last year, the world got the news of Dale Steyn’s retirement from all formats. September 1, coffee in one hand and The Mercury in front of me, I am eager, excited, cannot wait to see what the headline will be and what dramatic article will be written about the living legend, Dale Steyn. Arguably SA’s finest pace bowler ever produced and the best the world has ever seen. I read the front page; there is a snapshot, for the sport section, of Dale in the top right corner. I turn the whole paper over, I read a headline about Bafana. Then below that, easy to miss your…

Thami Magubane thami.magubane@inl.co.za THE theft of water and electricity has reached a crisis point for Msunduzi Municipality, with the municipality admitting it is losing the battle against the thieves. Mayor Mzimkhulu Thebolla revealed that the theft was widespread, and that both residents and businesses were equally to blame. Thebolla was addressing a breakfast meeting yesterday where he provided an update on the progress his administration has made in improving the municipality. He detailed the achievements, including managing the landfill site, improving cleanliness in the city, and installing water and road infrastructure. Opposition parties said the city had made no effort to clamp down on the theft, saying it was ironic that service delivery was lacking in areas where the ruling party got most of its votes. Thebolla said that while…

A closed City of Tshwane sitting in November 2019 resolved to suspend the contract of Previn Govender as head of the municipality’s emergency service. In terms of the resolution, Govender’s contract was to be declared null and void. At the root of the matter was the fact that Govender, referred to as the “body builder” after it emerged that he had a certificate in bodybuilding, had misrepresented his qualifications and did not qualify for the position. At the time, several other senior officials in the metro, including chief of staff Marietha Aucamp and mayoral spokesperson Samkelo Mgobozi, faced the same accusations and subsequently left. Most of it was believed to be rooted in the tensions between then mayor Solly Msimanga and his city manager, Dr Moeketsi Mosola. It thus came…

A UNIVERSITY professor and opposition figure arrested on rape charges has launched a hunger strike to protest against the “politically motivated” accusations, his lawyer said. Christopher Kayumba was detained last Thursday after the allegations were made by several people, including a former student, according to the Rwanda Investigation Bureau (RIB). “He started a hunger strike after he was arrested and has made a decision to continue the hunger strike until the politically motivated charges are dropped,” his lawyer Seif Ntirenganya said. “It is funny that all these allegations came up immediately after he had made his political ambitions public.” Kayumba, a former Kigali journalism lecturer, runs an online newspaper called The Chronicles and in March launched a political party in opposition to President Paul Kagame. Ntirenganya said his client was…

Siphelele Dludla siphelele.dludla@inl.co.za THE FREE MARKET Foundation (FMF) has urged the government to relax its labour policies in a bid to ease trade, boost economic activity and create much-needed employment. This comes as South Africa slipped down the rank- ings of the Economic Freedom of the World: 2021 Annual Report, falling into 84th position out of 165 countries. The report measures economic freedom – levels of personal choice, ability to enter markets, security of privately owned property, rule of law – by analysing the policies and institutions of 165 countries and territories. South Africa’s scores in key components of economic freedom were the size of government, legal system and property rights, access to sound money, freedom to trade internationally, and regulation of credit, labour and business. The report was released…

Thami Magubane thami.magubane@inl.co.za EMPLOYEES of the eThekwini Municipality are living in fear after the murder of one of their colleagues outside the city’s premises in Umkomaas last week. They described the shooting as a serious security breach and said workers did not feel safe at the city’s depots and clinics. The South African Municipal Workers’ Union (Samwu) said the shooting had put the workers on edge and such incidents made them afraid of coming to work. The shooting, suspected to have been a “hit”, happened at the gate of the city’s roads depot in Umkomaas. Provincial police spokesperson Colonel Thembeka Mbele said 35-year-old Lindo Sosibo was shot dead by unknown gunmen. She said Sosibo was taken to hospital but succumbed to his injuries on arrival and the motive for the…

Loyiso Sidimba loyiso.sidimba@inl.co.za THE EFF has accused the ANC of exercising undue influence over the Electoral Commission of SA (IEC), which it says is favouring the governing party. The EFF has joined the DA’s Constitutional Court challenge against the IEC’s decision to reopen the candidate nomination process for the 2021 local government elections. The official opposition wants the apex court to declare the commission’s move unconstitutional, unlawful, invalid, and set it aside. The ANC had failed to register 359 candidate councillors in time to meet the initial deadline of August 23 set by the IEC. The party went to the Electoral Court to compel the commission to allow them to register the candidates, but withdrew the matter before it could be heard. In an affidavit filed by EFF secretary-general Marshall…

Europe’s largest frozen food group and the maker of Birds Eye fish fingers has teamed up with US company BlueNalu to develop seafood products grown from cells in a laboratory rather than harvested from the oceans. Nomad Foods, which also owns the Findus, Iglo, La Cocinera and Green Cuisine brands, told Reuters it aimed to commercialise cell-cultured seafood to help meet rising demand and support efforts to safeguard the long-term sustainability of the planet’s fish stocks. Through the tie-up, Nomad and BlueNalu will collaborate on market research and consumer insights, assess what is needed to gain the approval of regulators and explore new business and product opportunities for European markets. Europe is the largest importer of seafood in the world, its citizens consuming more than three times as much as…

THYAGARAJ MARKANDAN | Kloof For the past few days, Cristiano Ronaldo has been hogging the headlines all over the world. At 36, some soccer pundits had written off the Portuguese star, supporting their view on his lacklustre stint at Juventus, where he failed to take the Italian club to the top of Serie A. But Ronaldo proved his critics wrong when Portugal played in the 2022 World Cup qualifier against the Republic of Ireland. His country was struggling against a tight, well-organised defence, and Ronaldo looked a frustrated figure on the field. His frustration was further compounded when he failed to convert a penalty. But just when it all seemed over for Portugal, Ronaldo came to its rescue, heading two goals in the dying seconds of the game…

RICHARD HERBET | Kloof I wonder when last a municipal engineer and allied specialists made a good assessment of the section of the road before and after the Inanda Road intersection. The surface is now so pockmarked by potholes and ruts and humps that the road gives every vehicle a roller-coaster ride into central Hillcrest. Neglecting to repair this stretch of road is going to cost the municipality dearly, as time passes. I can remember back in 2002, 2003, 2004, when those shopping centres were built – that stretch was bad then. They simply left the road in bad condition, and it’s now even worse. It would be great if a municipal person of authority saw this letter and discussed this issue with superiors to “make a plan”.…

Karen Singh karen.singh@inl.co.za EThekwini Municipality has appealed to the public, businesses and other stakeholders to partner with it in its clean-up operation to rid Durban of grime, filth and lawlessness. Municipality spokesperson Msawhake Mayisela was speaking after the second day of a week-long clean-up operation in the Point area called “Operation Good Hope”. Yesterday’s operation targeted criminal activity and aggressively enforced by-laws in the area, said the city. Mayisela said the operation, which included DSW, metro police, Roads as well as the environment unit, among others, had been running for several months and would move into the inner city next week. He said the various departments attend to issues that they come across during the operation on the spot. “In the event that we come across a stormwater drain that…

Sakhiseni Nxumalo sakhiseni.nxumalo@inl.co.za THE families of the three women who were shot dead while they were going to attend an ANC meeting, said the party had a lot to answer for. Ncami Shange, 34, Beatrice Dlamini, 75, and Philisiwe Jili, 37, who were described as staunch ANC supporters, were shot outside Buhlebethu Primary School in Inanda. The women had gone to the school to attend the party’s ward nomination meeting. Five other people were injured and taken to hospital. At the scene yesterday, bloodstains were still visible on the ground outside the school gate. Simnikiwe Makhanda, Jili’s boyfriend who lived with her, said her death had made him lose interest in voting, saying the ANC doesn’t care about the lives of the voters. On the day of the incident, Makhanda…

BEIJING: New local Covid-19 infections more than doubled in China’s south-eastern province of Fujian, health authorities said yesterday, prompting officials to quickly roll out measures including travel restrictions to halt the spread of the virus. The National Health Commission said 59 new locally transmitted cases were reported for September 13, up from 22 infections a day earlier. All of them were in Fujian, a province bordered by Zhejiang to the north and Guangdong to the south. In just four days, a total of 102 community infections were reported in three Fujian cities, including Xiamen, a tourist and transport hub with a population of 5 million. The infections come ahead of the week-long National Day holiday starting on October 1, a major tourist season. The last domestic outbreak in late…

WELLINGTON: New Zealand’s indigenous political Maori party has started collecting signatures in support of the petition that seeks to change the country’s official name to the Polynesian “Aotearoa” and to restore the Maori names for all towns, cities and places by 2026. Rawiri Waititi and Debbie Ngarewa-Packer, co-chairs of the Maori Party, said that the original names of New Zealand and its cities were distorted, rejected and ignored. “It’s well past time that Te Reo Maori was restored to its rightful place as the first language of this country. We are a Polynesian country – we are Aotearoa,” Waititi and Ngarewa-Packer said.…