Innehållsförteckning för 2023-09-14 från Mercury

In August, media personality Somizi Mhlongo launched his latest venture, an online children’s store which has been a two-year-long journey in the making. “Sompire Kids: Brave Enough To Be Yourself” all began as a passion project for the Idols SA judge and reality TV star. Identifying a gap in the market for children’s clothing, the media personality said he decided to create a line that combines fashion, comfort, style and sustainability. In the few weeks Sompire Kids has been on the market, the range has met with mixed reactions, as with most products, especially if there is a celebrity involved. “Creating a brand is a multifaceted endeavour that encompasses strategic planning, creative thinking, and precise execution,” the entrepreneur told IOL Entertainment. The brand produces high-end, trendy, and comfortable clothing ranging…

The president of the IFP paid tribute to the late Prince Mangosuthu Buthelezi, saying he left behind a great legacy of selflessly serving the public. Velenkosini Hlabisa was speaking in Ulundi yesterday during the memorial service held for Buthelezi which was organised by the IFP. Buthelezi was the founder of the IFP and he led the party for 44 years until 2019 when he was bestowed with the position of president emeritus. In his speech, Hlabisa described how Buthelezi served in the KwaZulu government and left an unblemished legacy. Hlabisa said Buthelezi, who died on Saturday aged 95, was a rare gem and there would never be one like him. “I believe I can speak on behalf of each and evey IFP member when I say that there will never…

GRRRR! There’s a flap in Old Blighty over fatal dog attacks on humans and on other dogs. The culprit is a dog appropriately known as the XL bully, an American crossbreed that looks like a bull terrier on steroids. XL bullies killed six people in Britain last year, says law lecturer Dr Lawrence Newport who, according to Sky News, is keeping tabs and urging for the dogs to be outlawed. In one week in July this year, they killed another breed of dog every single day. He describes them as “uniquely dangerous”. “I don't blame the dogs any more than I blame a pointer for pointing at stuff, it is just what they were meant to do,” he says. These dogs were bred for fighting, and then repeatedly inbred…

The death of Prince Mangosuthu Buthelezi has largely evoked the court of public opinion to come alive. Depending on one’s viewpoint, Buthelezi was either a saint or a sinner but, importantly, he, at certain points of our historical trajectory, played a significant role in shaping South Africa and to an extent, part of its destiny. The dark past of the country has led to the destruction of many lives and no amount of palliation can remove the wounds of families who lost loved ones in the gratuitous violence that brought us to the point of freedom and democracy. Buthelezi, as the head of the IFP, led the Zulu nation for decades, and there has been much finger-pointing at his role as the leader of the IFP when the country was…

THE SA Human Rights Commission (SAHRC) is assessing requests from tertiary students to investigate the impact of service providers’ alleged failure to disburse allowances from the National Student Financial Aid Scheme (NSFAS). According to SAHRC education commissioner Andre Gaum, the complaints against NSFAS came from different provinces. “In the past we have been aware of NSFAS challenges, but this time around this relates to late payments of allowances through the new system, and this has resulted in students not being able to buy food, pay rent and other important things. “Also they had issues with alleged exorbitant bank charges. The commission is assessing all the complaints, including how many we have received. Then a decision will be made on how we intervene to try to resolve this through meditation processes…

THE mysterious disappearance of hundreds of gold Kruger coins valued at R7.2 million from a bank vault resulted in a banking officer being convicted of theft and sentenced to eight years’ imprisonment, but it appeared that the elderly owner of the coins did not know how many he owned. Kevin Kaschula was earlier pinpointed as the culprit and he was convicted and sentenced by the lower court. He, however, managed to clear his name on appeal to the Makhanda High Court in the Eastern Cape. In the lower court, while there was no evidence that he was actually the thief, the magistrate had concluded that it could only have been him. But acting High Court Judge AJ Ellis said it was mere speculation that any theft took place, as the…

The chairperson of the municipal public accounts committee (Mpac) in eThekwini Municipality says billions of rand was spent irregularly by City staff, and these funds should have been recovered. Mpac chairperson Thami Xuma was speaking to The Mercury after Mpac processed yet another report detailing close to R807 million that has been classified as unauthorised, irregular, fruitless and wasteful (UIFW) expenditure. UIFW occurs as a result of employees spending money but failing to follow proper supply chain processes. While in some of these matters it does not mean that the money was stolen or misused or that there was no value in what it was spent on, in this instance the report on the matter raised the possibility of fraud and corruption as a contributing factor. Xuma said…

The brilliant and profound speech by King Abdullah 11 of Jordan on “The role of faith in the future of our world” was the speech of the century. He spoke before global world leaders and warned them of the perils of religious hatred. All of the world’s major religions are based on peace and justice for all. We must not shy away from respectfully discussing our differences, while our similarities must be extolled to prevent warmongers from dividing us. There is a serious deficit of trust among religious communities in many parts of the world. The rise of religious intolerance has led to horrendous events in many lands where extremism has replaced dialogue and political civility. It is imperative that all religious and political leaders of influence adhere to…

STANDARD Bank cannot reasonably expect the public to believe that its decision to shut accounts of Sekunjalo Group-related companies, including Independent Media, is out of a genuine concern when it has hardly – if at all – produced evidence justifying this unjust move. Independent Media, the largest newspaper firm in South Africa, publishes the Cape Times, The Mercury, The Star, Pretoria News, Daily News, Sunday Tribune, Weekend Argus and the Cape Argus. Let’s highlight the impact this calamitous decision is likely to have, not only on this country’s media freedom, but on the employees whose livelihoods are at stake. Standard Bank first cited “reputation risk” as the reason for wanting to shut the accounts of these companies, but has now raised concerns around the Financial Intelligence Centre Act. Before this,…

RESCUE teams stepped up a massive effort to bring relief to devastated Moroccan mountain villages yester day, as the chances faded fast for finding survivors from the 6.8 magnitude earthquake which killed at least 2 900 people and left hundreds of thousands homeless. Vehicles packed with supplies were inching up winding mountain roads to deliver food and tents to survivors of the nation’s deadliest quake in more than six decades. Search teams were still scouring the rubble for the living. Morocco is now well past the 72-hour window when rescues are considered most probable, yet survivors are in some cases found well beyond that period. Authorities reported that crews were clearing unpaved tracks cut off by landslides. In the hardest-hit areas south of Marrakech, many villages in the High Atlas…

AFTER 15 years of social bowling and the odd club competition at Winklespruit Bowling Club, Estelle van der Merwe found herself enticed to participate in her first Port Natal district competition. The catalyst for Van der Merwe’s newfound venture was Amanda Ninow, whose recent move to Winklespruit BC meant she was on the hunt for a new partner in the PNB pairs event. Ninow, recognising Van der Merwe's bowling talent extended an invitation, assuring her that it would be a stress-free, fun-filled experience. Little did Ninow know that this light-hearted guarantee would be put to the test in the thrilling three days that lay ahead of them. Reflecting on their journey, Ninow recounted how both she and Van der Merwe were happy with their wins in the three sectional…

GROWTHPOINT Properties has committed to investing R1.8 billion for the year to June 2024, although this, as well as a 1.3% rise in dividends per share, was not enough to cheer up investors in the company after its share price on the JSE fell 1.2% in yesterday’s session. The R1.8bn committed in investments for 2024 full year follows on the company sinking R1.9bn in “development and capital expenditure” for the year to June 2023, it said yesterday. However, its shares on the JSE closed 1.3% weaker from the previous day’s close at R11.40. In the year to date comparative, Growthpoint’s share price has lost as much as 20% of its value. The international real estate investment company – with properties in South Africa, Australia, Poland, Romania and the UK…

THE KwaZulu-Natal North Coast will be the home of the first Club Med resort in the country – Club Med Tinley. This was announced at a signing ceremony and launch event for the development held on Tuesday in uMhlanga. It was attended by KZN Premier Nomusa Dube-Ncube; president of Club Med Henri Giscard d’Estaing; and CEO of Collins Residential Murray Collins. The development is the result of a collaborative partnership between Club Med and the Collins Residential Consortium, the developers of Club Med Tinley, a statement about the launch read. It said Club Med Tinley would provide a “beach and bush experience”. “The Beach Resort at Club Med Tinley will feature fun family activities, creating a warm and inclusive environment. Guests at Club Med Tinley will also have the opportunity…

WHILE the South African Reserve Bank (SARB) has remained tight-lipped amid serious allegations that three of the country’s major banks, including Standard Bank, allegedly helped a gold-smuggling gang launder millions of dollars in exchange for bribes in Zimbabwe, a Standard Bank employee has been suspended following the exposé. International news network Al Jazeera earlier this year exposed how a Standard Bank employee was allegedly central in helping a gold-smuggling gang launder “dirty cash” in exchange for regular bribes. The probe, called Gold Mafia by Al Jazeera’s Investigative Unit (I-Unit), sought to expose the intricate operations of various criminal organisations involved in the illicit gold trade from Zimbabwe, and illustrated how they exploited the trade to launder substantial sums of money. The officers at the three banks were alleged to be…

Minister of Electricity Kgosientsho Ramokgopa projects an authoritative, hands-on grasp in pursuing the task of catching up with the backlog of maintenance at Eskom (The Mercury, September 6). But his script mirrors what former Eskom CEO André de Ruyter highlighted in his book Truth to Power published six months ago. Of course, it is refreshing to note Ramokgopa’s philosophy is “to stick to planned maintenance”. For De Ruyter, planned maintenance meant taking 18% of the system off the grid at any time for necessary routine maintenance (p186). But he found that difficult to implement because he was told the lights had to be kept on. So for political reasons, such planned maintenance was stalled. That meant running power stations “with the proverbial rev counter in the red” as De Ruyter…

The chickens have come home to roost – none too soon, it seems. With the severe budget cuts announced by Cabinet – no vacant posts to be advertised, etc. – the drastic steps announced by the minister of finance appear to be the ultimate deci sion to prevent a financial meltdown of South Africa’s inevitable economic problems caused by the lack of responsible governance. It is nothing new. Ever since just prior to the 1994 ANC government, the steps that were then approved by the ANC, viz. to write off the massive accumulated municipal debt (because of the “culture of non-payment”), has persistently been practised by the collaborating ANC local authorities. Instead of making timeous arrangements to collect dues for municipal services (mainly water and electricity), the errant councils just…

LAWYERS for Human Rights will turn to the Gauteng High Court, Pretoria later this month to challenge Home Affairs over the blocking of certain people’s IDs. The organisation represents more than 100 clients whose IDs are blocked. In May 2012, the department initiated a campaign to address the issue of “duplicate IDs” on the National Population Register. Initially, about 29 000 IDs were identified. The figure escalated to about 500 000 IDs within a year. The department reported to Parliament that the issues originated during the consolidation of apartheid-era population registers into the National Population Register before the 1994 elections. The department distinguished between duplicate ID cases (one person sharing an ID number with multiple people) and multiple ID cases (one person assigned multiple ID numbers). By August 2013, it…

The crime was committed on September 7, and the victims are a man aged 47 and a woman aged 39. The law-enforcement team which traced the alleged criminal consisted of units of the SAPS, working in conjunction with the FBI and private security. “According to a report, on Thursday the two tourists were driving along the R536 Road in the Calcutta area when they were stopped by a Volkswagen Golf with a blue light,” according to Mpumalanga police spokesperson, Colonel Donald Mdhluli. The couple was then held at gunpoint by suspects who kidnapped the two and robbed of their personal items. The couple was later assisted to reach the Masoyi police station. He said using technology, the FBI provided valuable information regarding the whereabouts of some of the reported stolen…

ENERGY experts have attributed Stage 6 load shedding to planned maintenance and unplanned breakdowns at Eskom’s power stations. The power utility announced on Tuesday that Stage 6 load shedding would be implemented indefinitely. Ruse Moleshe, managing director for Rubk, an energy and infrastructure consulting and advisory company, said Eskom had unreliable power plants. “We have plants that break down frequently, take time to be brought back online and there is also increased planned maintenance. This has to take place during the summer period, when electricity demand is relatively lower than in winter. Many of the supply side interventions that the Energy Action Plan had envisaged would help alleviate the problem have not materialised yet.” Moleshe added that some of those projects were likely to come online in the 2024/2025…

Tuesday, September 12, marked the 20th UN International Day for South-South Cooperation. Over the past decades, the Global South, that is, the whole of emerging economies and developing countries, once a sidelined force in the unipolar era after the Cold War ended, has emerged into an increasingly strong driver for a multipolar world. The collective rise of the Global South is changing the global landscape. According to the International Monetary Fund (IMF), emerging market and developing economies represent 85% of the world’s population and nearly 60% of global global domestic product based on Purchase Power Parity. In international affairs, the Global South, more confident in raising its voice and united in seeking strength, has become a key player in shaping the global order. The world is living through drastic changes.…

Kim Jong Un told President Vladimir Putin yesterday that he was sure Russia would win a “great victory” over its enemies, as Ukraine’s Western allies warned of a possible Russian arms agreement with North Korea. Russia became a pariah in the West after launching full-scale hostilities in Ukraine last year and has looked to strengthen alliances with other hardline leaders ostracised by democratic countries. “We are confident that the Russian army and people will win a great victory in the just fight to punish evil groups who pursue hegemony, expansion and ambition,” Kim told Putin, raising a toast during an official dinner following one-on-one talks. Kim also praised the “heroic” Russian army in comments that news agencies sponsored by Moscow interpreted as relating specifically to Moscow’s large-scale military operation in…

HANOI: A fire at an apartment block in Vietnam’s capital Hanoi has killed 56 people, among them children, and injured 37, police said yesterday. The fire broke out during the night in a nine-storey building, home to about 150 residents. Television images showed firefighters equipped with hoses and ladders at the scene by night, while a column of thick, dark smoke billowed from the building by day. Several of the victims were admitted to local hospitals with multiple injuries after having jumped from their windows to escape the fire, state media said, citing Vu Hoang Phuong of Hanoi Medical University Hospital. Police have detained the owner of the building. | Reuters…

TRADE union Cosatu is preparing to take on the National Treasury over proposed expenditure cuts which could see the number of civil servant jobs being slashed. Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana is expected to announce the spending cuts plan when he tables the medium-term budget policy statement in November. The public sector wage bill is one of the areas expected to be trimmed. On Tuesday President Cyril Ramaphosa met with Cosatu, the South African Federation of Trade Unions, the Federation of Unions of South Africa and the National Council of Trade Unions, with all parties agreeing to find a solution to the many challenges in the country and grow the economy. Presidency spokesperson Vincent Magwenya said public-sector expenditure cuts were a complex exercise that needed time and would be prioritised over…

Mindsets: The world is broken: may I do my part and in my sphere of influence offer my contribution, be it large or small, to participate in its healing. The world is exciting: may I participate in what it offers by engaging in community events and by serving others. People are lonely and I too am often lonely: may I reach out to others and be a good listener. People are usually fabulous, hilarious, creative: may I embrace some of the many opportunities that come my way to meet new people. People are struggling in all manner of ways: may I do my part, large or small, and be generous and in creative and helpful ways, ease the burdens others have to bear. Possibilities are endless: may I have an…

There won’t be any Indians any more. They will be called Bharats. If some mad politicians have their way. India would disappear and Bharat would be its name. There’s a push by some political circles in India, especially the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJM), to change the country’s anglicised name to Bharat. At the G20 summit in New Delhi, the placard in front of where Prime Minister Narendra Modi sat did not read India, but Bharat. Adding more fuel to the speculation a name change could be imminent is that the invitations to the dinner did not say from the prime minister of India, but the prime minister of Bharat. Also, the officials at the summit had badges with Bharat written on them. While Bharat is a Hindi term name…

The Prince Mangosuthu Buthelezi Foundation wishes to thank the nation and all our international friends for the outpouring of tributes and condolences since the passing of His Excellency Prince Buthelezi on Saturday. We have been blessed by the many kind words expressing admiration and gratitude for the life’s work of South Africa’s great statesman. It is fitting that his legacy be honoured in this sad moment. We take note, however, of the parallel narrative that has arisen, which seeks to denigrate the honourable legacy of Buthelezi, reviving the long-discredited propaganda of our country’s difficult past. It is grossly inappropriate for those with narrow and selfish agendas to divert the grief of a nation into pain and anger at this time. It is unspeakably evil to open a wound that has…

Convicted rapist and house robber Thokozani Mabuza was this week sentenced in the Mtunzini High Court to two life sentences and a further 90 years’ imprisonment. KwaZulu-Natal National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) spokesperson Natasha Ramkisson-Kara said Mabuza was convicted of a string of rapes, housebreakings with intent to rape, robberies and kidnappings he committed between March 2014 and May 2017. The offences were committed in the Mtunzini and Esikhawini areas. “He would break into the homes, rape the women living there and rob them of their valuables, namely cash and cellphones. In one instance he took a television set. “Mabuza used either a knife or a firearm to instil fear in them. He also accosted some of them while they were out walking, using a weapon to coerce them into going…

Dozens of KwaMashu residents took to the streets yesterday, demanding that the eThekwini Municipality provide them with transport so they can attend Prince Mangosuthu Buthelezi’s funeral on Saturday in Ulundi, northern KwaZulu-Natal. Residents, from the KwaMashu hostel, reportedly blocked roads in the area, prompting a response from the police. Nathi Biyela, hostel committee organiser, said the action had been organised by the hostel dwellers and included IFP members. He said it had been prompted by uncertainty regarding the transport arrangements for the funeral. He said IFP leadership in eThekwini had indicated that the municipality was supposed to provide the transport as it was going to be a state funeral. Biyela lamented the uncertainty over the transport arrangements. “It will be a disgrace if the leadership fail to provide for the…

A KwaZulu-Natal policeman, stationed at the Newcastle SAPS’s detectives branch, has been arrested and charged following an assault on a group of men last month. Sergeant Sibusiso Xolani Kunene, 46, faces five counts of assault. Independent Police Investigative Directorate (Ipid) spokesperson Robbie Raburabu said the assault happened on the N11 in Newcastle on August 22. “The arrest follows the surfacing of video footage, shared on social media, of police officers assaulting and kicking about seven men who were lying on their stomachs, at the side of road,” Raburabu said. He said that two of the victims had lost teeth, while the others sustained bruises. “Ipid got together a team to investigate the allegations. Kunene was arrested and has appeared in court on charges of assault,” Raburabu said in a statement.…

Bodies were washing ashore in eastern Libya yesterday, swelling the death toll from a storm that swept whole suburbs out to sea, with thousands already confirmed dead and many thousands more still missing. Swathes of the Mediterranean city of Derna were obliterated by the flood torrent, unleashed after rains from a powerful storm burst dams above the city on Sunday night. Whole multi-storey buildings were swept away with sleeping families inside. The “sea is constantly dumping dozens of bodies”, said Hichem Abu Chkiouat, minister of civil aviation in the administration that runs eastern Libya. “We have counted more than 5 300 dead so far, and the number is likely to increase significantly and may even double because the number of missing people is also thousands.” Tens of thousands of…

Seoul: Hyundai Motor and its affiliate Kia said yesterday that they had asked a US court to reject class-action lawsuits filed in 17 cities over a series of car thefts of their vehicles. In their documents submitted to the US court, Hyundai and Kia said they should not be held accountable for thefts resulting from a criminal social-media phenomenon. The lawsuits came after thousands of thefts of the carmakers’ vehicles spiked in the summer of 2022 due to TikTok videos showing how to steal cars without the theft-prevention devices, under the title “Kia Challenge”. The South Korean carmakers also said state governments should be held responsible for the thefts. | IANS…