Innehållsförteckning för 2024-08-15 från Mercury

I try to wake up in the morning and ask myself: “What kind of person will you be today?” The intimate exchange is crucial to my all-round well-being. It stops me blaming others and helps me be grateful for all I have and enjoy. I wish I’d started asking myself this and similar questions years ago. It might have saved others and myself a lot of hurt and pain. I am not always successful when it comes to living out my ideals, but I have to have them. I have to have railroad tracks to guide me into the new day, week, month, year and decade. I wonder what you do? I’d love to know. How do you keep yourself on track with your goals and align yourself with your…

The ANC vultures patiently waited for him to succumb to the relentless pressure, swooping down and terminating his rather pitiful tenure as mayor. He was insulted, treated like a pariah and called uneducated and naive. The plus side for him is that he was, no doubt, given a healthy severance package, a golden handshake, allowing him to catch his breath and ponder: “What was I thinking?” Ja nee, politics at any level attracts the worst of humanity, the gluttons and the self-servers. It attracts political pigs as they clamour to feed at the trough of uselessness. Good luck, former mayor Kabelo Gwamanda, in a few weeks no one will remember you as the ANC will be seeking out a new whipping boy or girl.…

GOVERNANCE experts brought in to assist eThekwini Municipality are set to table their diagnostic report to the provincial government at the end of this month, detailing the extent of the problems in the metro. Co-operative Governance and Traditional Affairs MEC Thulasizwe Buthelezi briefed members of the legislature on Tuesday on the work being done to address the challenges faced by the province’s only metro. Former eThekwini City manager Mike Sutcliffe and decorated civil servant Cassius Lubisi are members of the eThekwini Strategic Support Team (ESST) leading the intervention in the municipality. Parties in the legislature spoke on the importance of saving eThekwini, saying if the metro fails, the province will fail. Buthelezi said the provincial government was committed to turning the municipality around. “I wish to address the state of…

CIVIL society organisations say that despite more than four months respite from load shedding, it has significantly contributed to the highest unemployment rate in two years. The Quarterly Labour Force Survey (QLFS) released by Statistics SA on Tuesday found that the official unemployment rate increased by 0.6 of a percentage point to 33.5% and that there were about 158 000 more people who were unemployed. The number of unemployed people has increased to 8.4 million. Black Sash KZN regional manager Evashnee Naidu said unemployment has been steadily increasing year-on-year, despite certain sporadic growth in some quarters. Naidu said post-Covid has seen a significant impact on households becoming poorer and people pushed into the fringes of poverty due to the lack of growth in the economy leading to job losses,…

LET us give credit where it’s due. The current Eskom leadership team has restored hope that there is still something left of this powerful state-owned entity. It’s hard to believe that the same Eskom that its former chief executive Andre de Ruyter characterised as a dead horse has not implemented load shedding since March 26. The last time load shedding was suspended for over four months was more than four years ago, from March 16, 2020 to July 9, 2020, when there were no power cuts for 116 days. De Ruyter himself must be in disbelief with how Electricity and Energy Minister Kgosientsho Ramokgopa and the team at Eskom has managed to turn the situation around, we hope, in such a short space of time. Ramokgopa’s remarks that the…

Paris: France has launched a cyberbullying probe following a complaint by Algerian Olympic boxing champion Imane Khelif, who was at the centre of a gender controversy at the Paris Olympic Games, prosecutors said yesterday. The investigation was opened on Tuesday into “cyberharassment” following the high-profile gender row at the Games, the Paris public prosecutor’s office said. Khelif’s lawyer Nabil Boudi said last week that Khelif, 25, had filed a complaint for online harassment, calling it a “fight for justice”. The Central Office for Combating Crimes against Humanity and Hate Crimes has been tasked with the investigation.…

The new English Premier League season is filling me with dread, and it hasn’t even kicked off yet. Perhaps it is just the pre-season blues, a gnawing concern that there will be little improvement in the fortunes of my club, Chelsea, and a suspicion that new boss Enzo Maresca has a countdown hanging above him, oppressing his every idea, move and tactic. Perhaps he can even see it, if his imagination so deceives him, hallucinating about a clock counting down until his not-so-distant departure Wang Miao-style, a la The Three-Body Problem. My great trepidation is instilled in the mere fact that since Todd Boehly and his consortium have taken ownership of the Blues, it has been a horrendous mess of terrible decisions, questionable plans and knee-jerk reactions. Mauricio Pochettino should…

JSE-LISTED gold miner DRDGold expects headline earnings per share (Heps) to be lower by between 1% and 9% for the full year to June 2024 after operating costs soared by 14%, negating an increase in revenue by a similar margin. With the company warning that its Heps for the full year would be lower compared to the previous year’s 148.2 cents per share, shares in DRDGold were trading 1.45% weaker on the JSE yesterday afternoon at R16.97 per share. Revenues in the company for the full year firmed by 14% to R6.2 billion. DRDGold’s Ergo Mining Proprietary Limited division raised revenue by R416.3 million to R4.5bn, attributable to a 20% increase in the rand gold price received. However, the amount of gold sold by Ergo during the year to June…

Afternoon Tea Week is here, and what better excuse to indulge in delicate finger sandwiches, scones and fancy cakes? Afternoon Tea Week celebrates the great British tradition of “afternoon tea” and is the perfect excuse to catch up with loved ones over a cup of tea and some delicacies. This year’s Afternoon Tea Week, celebrated from August 12 until August 18, will be held at venues across the country running a selection of exclusive discounts and exciting events to pay tribute to one of their favourite pastimes. But before you celebrate, you first must know these essential dining etiquette, especially if it will be your first time attending the celebration. Here are our top tips when attending afternoon tea. Dress appropriately Afternoon tea is a formal occasion and unless stated…

The release by StatsSA of the unemployment figures places unemployment at 33.5%. It is not a statistic; it is a crisis and a shame. It embodies an attack on the dignity of our people and a destruction of their potential. We need to overcome this challenge, and we are determined to do so. The DA in the Government of National Unity will be firmly committed, over the next five years, to reducing unemployment and bringing back dignity to millions of South Africans without jobs or decent incomes. In every ministry we run, economic growth and job creation are at the core, and we’ve taken it upon ourselves to ensure that they become the priorities of the government agenda. This uncertainty over the future of South Africa has damaged confidence in…

It takes absolute, awesome, stunning, incredible and amazing bravery, solitude, fortitude, desire, dedication, discipline, devotion, determination and resilience to achieve what our Miss South Africa 2024 went through – triumphing over adversity. This despite being diagnosed with profound hearing loss at the age of one. She said she would be forever grateful to her community who unconditionally and tirelessly helped her regain her hearing. How wonderful this supportive structure was! The part of her speech that got South Africans talking was: “l want to help South Africa create an inclusive society.” Sadly, the Chidimma Adetshina controversy that clouded the pageant, almost spoilt her spotlight. A job for the powers that be and their bone of contention. For now, girl, shine. The spotlight is yours. Mia le Roux, we’re proud of…

UMNGENI Municipality mayor Chris Pappas has vowed to oppose the proposed 40% electricity tariff increase recommended by power utility Eskom to the National Energy Regulator of SA (Nersa). Pappas said he had written a letter to Nersa objecting to the proposed tariff hike. This followed reports that Eskom had proposed a 40% tariff increase which could come into effect in April next year. Pappas said an increase in the price of electricity by this percentage would place an untenable financial burden on residents. “The proposed tariff rise will disproportionately impact low-income households. Already they allocate a substantial portion of their income to basic necessities such as electricity. Many families will find themselves in a dire position, forced to make impossible choices between essential needs, thereby driving more people into poverty.”…

HUMAN rights lawyers have called on the Department of Home Affairs (DHA) to expedite the proper digitalisation of its records rather than handling with caution the unblocking of unlawfully blocked IDs. This comes amid the DHA’s probe into the citizenship of former Miss South Africa finalist Chidimma Adetshina which the department said also highlighted the reason for its blocking of certain duplicate IDs. The DHA said Adetshina’s case highlighted the urgent need for the digital modernisation of Home Affairs applications, adjudication and verification processes to insulate it against fraudulent interference. James Chapman, an attorney at refugee human rights organisation Scalabrini Centre, said the move towards proper digitalisation of DHA records was not new and had come up in last year’s State of the Nation Address. “Going forward, all births…

THE KwaZulu-Natal Department of Education needs close to R100 million to enable it to feed the thousands of pupils who rely on the school meals scheme of the National School Nutrition Programme (NSNP). Education MEC Sipho Hlomuka revealed that the programme has a funding shortfall of R92.1m. He was tabling the department’s budget at the provincial legislature on Tuesday. Education has a budget valued at R62.9 billion, the biggest budget of all the departments in the province and one of the biggest in the country. While the funding for the programme was welcomed, parties urged the department to make sure that those tasked with delivering meals to schools were paid on time. The meal scheme has come under intense scrutiny in the past year. A few months ago, the department…

Ukraine kept pounding the Russian border region of Kursk with missiles and drones yesterday, as Kyiv said it had made further territorial gains in an incursion that US President Joe Biden called a “real dilemma” for the Kremlin’s leader. Four Ukraine-launched missiles were destroyed over Kursk and the whole region was under air raid alerts on and off most of the night, its regional acting governor said early yesterday. Kyiv said on Tuesday that it had taken control of 74 settlements in Kursk, a week after thousands of Ukrainian soldiers launched a startling attack through the Russian border. Ukraine’s account was jarred with Russia’s assertions that Kyiv’s troops had been halted and attacks had been repelled at villages about 26 to 28km from the border. It was not possible to…

TOKYO: Japan’s Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said yesterday he would step down next month, succumbing to public disaffection over political scandals and rising living costs that marred his three-year term. “Politics cannot function without public trust,” he told a press conference announcing his decision not to seek re-election as the leader of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP). “I made this heavy decision thinking of the public, with the strong will to push political reform forward.” He urged his colleagues to embrace change and seek out a candidate who will transform the party. The LDP will meet in September to appoint a new president of the party, and, by extension, as prime minister.…

KAIZER Chiefs sporting director Kaizer Motaung jr has stated that the club are seeking to avoid yet another transfer market catastrophe ahead of the new season. Amakhosi are about to unleash the wiry expertise of Tunisian tactician Nasreddine Nabi and his new-look technical team. Nabi will jump into a role previously occupied by three different individuals in the past two seasons, with Arthur Zwane, Molefi Ntseki and Cavin Johnson all taking a shot at being Chiefs head coach. Alongside these coaching appointments have also been mass exits, as well as recruitments that have been nothing short of poor, extending their trophy drought to nine years. Chiefs have already done business in the current transfer window, with the signings of Bongani Sam, Rushwin Dortley, Fiacre Ntwari and Gaston Sirino. They are…

Hume International, one of the largest importers of frozen food-based commodities in South Africa, has said the glaring mismanagement and inconsistent trade policies were creating a disaster for South African businesses and consumers, following the blanket ban on poultry from the entire Brazilian state of Rio Grande do Sul due to a single case of Newcastle disease. Newcastle disease is a viral illness that affects domestic and wild birds. Roy Thomas, Hume logistics and operations director, said authorities confirmed a case of Newcastle disease in a commercial flock in Rio Grande do Sul last week – the first recorded outbreak in the country since 2006. “Despite the solitary nature of the incident, the Department of Agriculture, Land Reform and Rural Development (DALRRD) has suddenly imposed immediate trade restrictions on all…

BANKSY has been at it again. The pseudonymous street artist and political activist has suddenly produced a clutch of stencilled works across London signboards, walls and a bridge, according to Sky News. The subjects are a crouching cat, a goat, two elephants, three monkeys swinging from a railway bridge, a howling wolf and pelicans eating fish on the roof of a fish shop. These are in Banksy’s distinctive stencilling style. Shoals of fish on a police post in the middle of a busy road are in a slightly different style and might be the work of Banksy. His real name and identity remain unconfirmed and the subject of speculation. Active since the 1990s, Banksy’s satirical street art and subversive epigrams combine dark humour with graffiti executed in a his distinctive…

It’s very hurtful to know that non-Muslims (Christians, Hindus and others) are being targeted, oppressed, harassed and victimised in Bangladesh. There’s just no justifiable space anywhere in the world for mindless fanatics and bigots, regardless of any actual teachings of any religion or any selective interpretations or as a result of outside influences and hidden conspiracies. These must be vociferously condemned. Kalas! But it’s a bit of a sadistic joke that Mr Narendra Modi, India’s Prime Minister, complains about this issue to his “interim” counterparts across the north-eastern border of Bangladesh. Doesn’t just “seem,” but it’s actually a blatant, great shining example of the “tapila”(potjie, in our local, most widely spoken European-derived language in case you, too, thought it was Rishi Sunak’s adopted cultural attempt at acting like he…

The UK is in the throes of anarchy unprecedented in its history. British democracy is facing threats we have not witnessed in recent times. We were warned by many, on numerous occasions, of the mortal danger that intolerance posed to global democracy. We are grimly witnessing carnage on an epic scale that will be embedded in our collective memories and recorded in history books for generations to come. The war for truth is to preserve democracy. The role played by those seeking destructive change will shame their names for as long as England endures as a monarchy. It seems hyperbolic to call the trembling days an insurrection and yet it qualifies. They attempted to ignite a conflagration that would have been difficult to extinguish. An anguished nation watched the…

Non-profit organisations Women for Change and Operation Bobbi Bear said they support calls to make the National Register of Sexual Offenders (NRSO) public, arguing that it would deter offenders, promote accountability and enhance community vigilance. Build One South Africa (Bosa) has launched an online petition, to make the register public, saying “ease of access to such information is crucial to the security and well-being of our communities, particularly the most vulnerable among us”. Nobuntu Hlazo-Webster, Bosa’s deputy leader, said in a statement that currently, access to the register is restricted and involves a lengthy procedure that entails paying a fee of R150 and enduring a waiting period of at least six weeks. “Making the NRSO public will be a significant step towards deterring sexual offenders and those who abuse women,…

The Hindu Unity Forum South Africa (Hufsa) has handed a memorandum to the Bangladesh Embassy calling for the interim government to intervene and stop the violence against minority groups. The organisation handed the memorandum to a representative from the Bangladesh embassy in Pretoria yesterday. This week The Mercury reported that Department of International Relations and Co-operation (Dirco) Minister Ronald Lamola had called for calm in Bangladesh following widespread protests that have targeted minority groups, including Hindus and Christians, and led to the ousting of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina. Lamola said South Africa had noted political developments in Bangladesh. “We call for calm and urge the transitional government to pursue peaceful mechanisms as they resolve the political challenges.” Praneal Singh, Hufsa secretary, said they are pleased that the embassy had accepted…

Alarmed by the surge in mpox cases, the Africa Centres for Disease Control has taken the unprecedented step of declaring the outbreak sweeping through African countries a continental public health emergency. The World Health Organization (WHO) is also meeting to decide whether to trigger its highest global alert level over the epidemic. The moves come after a virulent strain of the disease spread rapidly to 16 countries and six new countries were affected in 10 days. There have been 15 132 mpox confirmed cases in Africa since the beginning of 2024. Some of the countries affected are Burundi, Cameroon, Congo, Ghana, Liberia, Nigeria, Rwanda, the Democratic Republic of Congo, South Africa, Uganda and Kenya. Mpox is one species of pox virus, such as smallpox and cowpox, characterised by a rash…

Israeli air strikes targeted Gaza yesterday ahead of ceasefire talks that the United States hopes will stop Iran striking Israel in retaliation for the killing of a Hamas leader. Iran and its allies blamed Israel for the July 31 killing of Hamas political leader Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran during a visit for the inauguration of President Masoud Pezeshkian. Israel has not commented. The West has urged Iran to stand down its threat to avenge his death, which came hours after an Israeli strike in Beirut killed a senior commander of Hezbollah, the powerful Iran-backed militant group in Lebanon. The escalation has raised fears of a wider conflict after more than 10 months of war in Gaza, which has claimed nearly 4 0 000 lives, according to the health ministry…

SOUTH African schoolboy starlets are certainly the rage at the moment. Following in the footsteps of sprinter Bayanda Walaza, a matriculant at Curro High in Pretoria who returned from the Paris Olympics with a 4x100m relay silver medal, the Proteas have now called up their own teenager in Kwena Maphaka for the three-match T20I series in the West Indies. The 18-year-old seam bowler is currently also in Grade 12, at St Stithians in Johannesburg. Maphaka’s star has been on the rise since he was drafted into the South Africa A side last year without having played a senior provincial game for the Lions. He followed that with a call-up to the Paarl Royals’ SA20 squad, but was forced to miss South Africa’s premier T20 competition due to commitments at the…

AS the KZN Fours Championship, hosted by Natal Inland Bowling Association (Niba), takes centre stage this weekend, it is an opportune moment to reflect on what makes a successful lawn bowls fours team. The discipline of lawn bowls fours is widely regarded as the most challenging format in the sport. With only two bowls per bowler, compared to three in pairs or four in singles, and the necessity to blend diverse personalities, a multitude of factors must align for a team to achieve success. Creating and sustaining a positive team culture is essential for any team aspiring to achieve success. However, it is often one of the most difficult aspects to cultivate and maintain. A critical component of establishing a positive and successful team culture is setting clear goals and…