Innehållsförteckning för 2024-11-14 från Mercury

Emira Property Fund’s net asset value increased 12.3% to 1 945.50 cents a share for the six months to September 30, following rising property valuations and fair value gains from its maiden investment in Poland. Interim distributable income per share increased by 6.9%. A 1.1% higher interim dividend per share of 62.39c was declared. CEO Geoff Jennett said operational metrics were strong, asset recycling was actively managed, and the portfolio was reshaped. He said Emira was on track to deliver on its objectives for the full year - marginally higher distributable income from the previous year was forecast. The local portfolio had outperformed over the half year, and the US investments were on track. The first tranche of the investment into DL Invest in Poland had been made. Emira invested…

For many South Africans, a can of baked beans is a pantry staple. They are quick, convenient and wonderfully versatile. Yet, let’s face it: their appeal often ends at mere toppings of mayonnaise or a dash of salt. But why settle for the boring when you can take those humble beans to gastronomic heights? With a sprinkle of creativity, the journey from the pantry to the plate can be full of flavour and fun. Below, we explore a variety of delightful ways to upgrade your canned baked beans, turning this familiar food into a gourmet experience. Spice it up with herbs and spices The first step in transforming your baked beans involves a robust kick of flavour. Start by sautéing onions and garlic in a pan with olive oil,…

South Africa has gone where no other country had dared to go by taking Israel to the ICJ to be held to account for the genocide and ethnic cleansing that it is committing in Gaza. But while one hand is slapping Israel on the wrist, the other is feeding it via coal exports and literally fuelling the genocide whilst simultaneously condemning it. Statistics and reports show that over a million tons of coal were sent to Israel during 2023 and 2024, valued at over R2 billion. Incidentally, a massacre that killed multiple civilians took place around the time SA sent a massive shipment of coal to Israel around September/October this year. The South African public is extremely supportive of the Palestinian cause, and as such, there is a responsibility to…

The DA has re-introduced its Remote Gambling Bill to Parliament in a bid to properly regulate the online gambling industry, which has been left in a legislative limbo after years of neglect by previous administrations. Our current gambling laws fail to keep up with a rapidly developing and ever-evolving industry, which has fast spread to online platforms without any laws to properly regulate them. The DA’s Remote Gambling Bill seeks to rectify this lacuna in our law for the benefit and safety of players and operators alike. Betting, which includes online gambling, has overtaken casinos as the largest revenue generator for gambling operators, fuelled by Covid-19 restrictions and an explosion of online gambling and betting platforms. The National Gambling Board reported total gambling revenue of R59.3 billion in the 2023/24…

South African Football Association (Safa) president Danny Jordaan and his co-accused have been granted bail of R20 000 each after appearing in court on allegations of fraud and theft. Safa’s legal representative claims the charges are part of a smear campaign by disgruntled former employees. Jordaan has been charged along with Safa CFO Gronie Hluyo, businessman Trevor Neethling and his entity Grit Communications. The trio appeared in the Specialised Commercial Crimes Court sitting in Palm Ridge Magistrate’s Court yesterday after they were arrested. Warrants were issued for their arrests following an intensive investigation by the Serious Commercial Crime Investigation based in Johannesburg. Hawks spokesperson Colonel Katlego Mogale said the allegations dated back to between 2014 and 2018 and it was alleged that Jordaan used the organisation’s resources for his personal…

AS THE human rights record of Equatorial Guinea is being examined by the UN Human Rights Council’s Universal Periodic Review (UPR) Working Group for the fourth time, the Department of International Relations and Cooperation (Dirco) in South Africa said they would continue to call for the release of two engineers imprisoned in that country. The working group’s process began on Monday, and recommendations will be made to Equatorial Guinea on Friday. The UPR is a UN mechanism that evaluates the human rights records of all member states every four and a half years. During this review, member states assess each country's human rights practices, identifying areas for improvement and providing recommendations. The UPR promotes accountability by encouraging states to address systemic issues and improve human rights protections. Last week, the…

President Cyril Ramaphosa has informed Parliament of his decision to extend the deployment of the SANDF to provide support to SAPS to prevent and combat illegal mining activities under Operation Prosper. The extension of the deployment of the more than 1000 troops will come at a cost of more than R140 million to taxpayers. This emerged in a letter Ramaphosa wrote to National Assembly Speaker Thoko Didiza on November 8. “This serves to inform the National Assembly that I have extended the employment of 1100 members of the SANDF for service in cooperation with the SAPS,” he wrote. He said the deployment was to “maintain and preserve (the) law in the Republic under Operation Prosper”. Ramaphosa also said the deployment of SANDF, in cooperation with SAPS, will be to continue…

A woman, who falsely accused her ex-husband of assault and rape in an attempt to keep him away from their daughter, has been ordered by the Western Cape High Court to pay him R665 000 in damages. The man’s nightmare started after he got divorced in July 2012. On September 18, 2012, the ex-wife falsely accused him of breaking into her home at a farm in the Ceres district and raping her. She further added that the ex-husband physically assaulted her and tied her to a table. To legitimise her lies, she consulted a doctor who completed a statutory J88 medical report, and she also reported the details to the police and a charge of housebreaking, assault and rape was opened. Despite having an alibi showing that he was 50…

THE listeriosis outbreak which claimed the lives of 193 people six years ago, while tragic, was an opportunity for the government to take immediate steps to prevent such occurrences. It has failed dismally to do so. That severe foodborne disease said to have been allegedly caused by processed meat from Tiger Brands raised questions about the government’s role or lack thereof in enforcing regulations including conducting frequent inspections where food is concerned. In 2024, our news pages are filled with stories of children dying after consuming snacks bought from local spaza shops. Many more are being admitted to hospitals with suspected food poisoning. In one incident in Soweto, it has been confirmed that the children died from consuming snacks containing a banned pesticide. The immediate question is how did that…

The US officially opened a new air defence base in northern Poland yesterday, as Warsaw seeks to reassure citizens that Nato guarantees their security amid jitters after Donald Trump’s presidential election victory. Situated in the town of Redzikowo near the Baltic coast, the base has been in the works since the 2000s and Warsaw says it shows Poland’s military alliance with Washington remains solid, whoever is in the White House. Polish President Andrzej Duda, a conservative who has stressed his warm ties with Trump, attended a function to open the base, which the Kremlin calls a bid to contain Russia by moving American military infrastructure nearer its borders. Trump’s past criticism has unnerved some Nato members, as he vowed that the US under his leadership would not defend countries that…

Gilgit: A bus carrying guests home from a wedding plunged into a river in northern Pakistan killing at least 14 people, officials said yesterday, with the bride so far the only known survivor. “There were 25 people on the bus and so far 14 dead bodies have been recovered while 10 are still missing,” said Wazir Asad Ali, a rescue official in Gilgit-Baltistan. Naik Alam, a senior police official from the area, said the driver appeared to have been speeding. He is believed to have lost control on a curve. The groom’s family had travelled from Punjab, more than 500km away, for the wedding and were returning home. | AFP…

Dewald Brevis brought up his third first-class century at Kingsmead and put the Titans 337 runs ahead on day two of their Four-Day Series clash with the Dolphins yesterday. The 21-year-old struck an unbeaten 129 off 143 balls, a knock that saw the right-handed batter smash eight boundaries and six sixes in his innings in Durban. Brevis’ tempo was particularly important given the slow scoring rate that the opening batters, Neil Brand (43 off 130) and Joshua van Heerden (52 off 113) had settled into in a match that the Titans would want to win, having lost their season opener at the Wanderers last week. Brevis stuck to his strengths and took a liking to the left-arm spin of Bryce Parsons. To bring up his century he hit Parsons straight…

SPOT the contradiction. In South Sudan, you have a choice between dying of thirst or poisoning yourself with oil that is in the water, according to the BBC. The small amount of water they do have is contaminated by oil. Herders scooping murky water from a small pond in grasslands in South Sudan are well aware of the dangers they face if they drink it. “The water is dirty because this place has oil - it has chemicals in it,” says their chief, Chilhok Puot. Nyatabah, a woman raising cows in the heart of oilfields in Unity State, adds: “If you drink it, it makes you pant and cough. “We know it's bad water, but we don't have anything else; we're dying of thirst.” A former oil engineer, David Bojo…

On November 5, 2024, the world underwent a seismic change. Donald J. Trump became the President Elect of the United States of America (“Donald Trump has saved the Free World”, November 12, 2024). America is preparing to reassume its role as the leader of the free world and the most important country on earth. This new regime will be welcomed by our friends, particularly those embroiled in wars not of their choosing, such as Ukraine and Israel. Ukraine can expect a deal to be worked out with Russia, ending their conflict speedily. Israel will be relieved of the restrictions placed on it by the Biden team, freeing it to pursue the war with Iran and its proxies as per its own requirements. Our adversaries, Russia, China and Iran, are not…

Encouraging attitudes are sometimes expressed as words: You are important to me. What you say is important and it is important to me. Let’s have a “no-phones-hour” together. I am ready to listen and I will try not to interrupt you. Whatever you have to tell me will be interesting to me. When it comes to our friendship, what would you like me to do more and what would you like me to do less of? I’d love to hear about the challenging and successful times in your life. I’d like you to do most of the talking. Discouraging attitudes that are communicated with or without words: What’s your name again, I am not good with names? I think we have met but I don’t remember. What’s important about you…

There is a direct relationship between the culture of a school and the academic results that it can attain, says education expert Professor Jonathan Jansen from Stellenbosch University. Jansen, who is a curriculum theorist whose research focuses on the politics of knowledge in schools and universities, was speaking at Citizen Leader Lab’s School Leadership Forum talk titled “Leading Self Before Leading Others: Shaping Positive Change from the Inside Out” at Stadio Higher Education in Durban yesterday. During the talk, he lamented the state of some schools in the country and shared anecdotes of his experiences at a dysfunctional school that he assisted. He described how he felt after visiting the dysfunctional school for the first time and he questioned how, 30 years after apartheid, there were good schools a few…

The Special Investigating Unit (SIU) has confirmed that it is probing the claims and payouts handled by the SA Special Risks Insurance Association (Sasria) in relation to the 2021 July unrest, which left over 300 people dead in KwaZulu-Natal and Gauteng. The unit said President Cyril Ramaphosa has signed six new proclamations and one amendment authorising it to investigate allegations of maladministration in the affairs of Sasria, two contracts at the Vaal University of Technology, two contracts in the Gauteng Department of Health, a tender in Tshwane Metropolitan Municipality, two contracts at Mahikeng Local Municipality, seven water-related tenders at Alfred Nzo District Municipality and an amendment to the Chris Hani District Municipality proclamation and to recover any loss the State has suffered. The SIU, in a statement, said that proclamation…

KwaZulu-Natal provincial police commissioner, Lieutenant General Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi, has ordered an immediate investigation into an alleged incident of police brutality that was captured on video. The video of the alleged incident, which was apparently filmed in Durban’s Point area, shows a police officer in uniform assaulting a man who appears not to have posed any threat. In his statement, Mkhwanazi emphasised that “police officers are not above the law” and that their uniform does not grant them “any powers to disregard the law.” He further stated, “The act of assaulting another person is a criminal offence, and the police officer who was seen assaulting a civilian in the video should be held accountable.” Another officer can be seen in the footage trying to de-escalate the situation, a detail that Mkhwanazi…

CATL, the world’s top battery maker, would consider building a US plant if President-elect Donald Trump opens the door to Chinese investment in the electric-vehicle supply chain, said the company’s founder and chairperson, Robin Zeng. “Originally, when we wanted to invest in the US, the US government said no,” the Chinese billionaire said in a recent interview. Chinese electric-car and battery makers have been shut out of the US market through a variety of protectionist trade measures supported by Democrats and Republicans, including Trump who launched a broader trade war with China during his first presidential term starting in 2017. China’s EV and battery firms, which are subsidised by its government, have been targeted with some of the steepest trade barriers out of competitive and national-security concerns. Chinese-made batteries do…

Voters in Somaliland, a breakaway region of Somalia at the centre of rising tensions in the Horn of Africa, flocked early to polling stations yesterday to select their president. The territory is an oasis of peace and stability in violence-racked Somalia but has failed to win recognition from any country since declaring independence in 1991. Hundreds of voters in the main city Hargeisa lined up calmly before dawn to avoid the heat, many proudly showing off voting cards and sporting the territory’s red-and-white flag. In the city’s main square, under a MIG fighter jet shot down during fighting with government forces in 1988, five polling stations were set up in tents. President Muse Bihi, his main rival Abdirahman Mohamed Abdullahi, popularly known as “Irro”, and third candidate Faysal Ali…

ADDIS ABABA: Ethiopia has embarked on supplying fruit and vegetables to Europe for the first time, reports said this week. Private company Ethio Vegfru launched transportation of 12 tons of sugar snap peas and mangetout vegetable products to the Netherlands. Earlier, Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed said at a national coffee exhibition and awareness forum in Addis Ababa that the country’s annual coffee production doubled from 500 000 tons to over 1 million tons in the last five years. He said that Ethiopia’s coffee exports reached a record high of over $1.4 billion in the last fiscal year. | Sputnik…

Since claiming a bronze medal in Albania last year, Kiara Fegen has been fixated on making this right – and today, she can proudly “tick that golden box”. South Africa’s upcoming mixed martial arts star made history last weekend when she became the first senior South African gold medallist since 2016 at the International Mixed Martial Arts Federation (IMMAF) world championships, which took place in Tashkent, Uzbekistan. The IMMAF world championships is the most renowned global platform for the toughest and most talented amateur mixed martial artists. Many have gone on from using this foundation to compete on the biggest professional circuits, including the UFC, UAE Warriors, the Professional Fighting Championship, BRAVE CF, the EFC and the ONE Championship. “This is unreal... I’m so overwhelmed with joy. Last year I…

Mr Oosthuizen is feeling good. He's made great choices. Love for religion, God and country. That’s exactly how the average non-thinking citizen of any race, religion, colour and academic qualification feels about themselves. Smug. Can’t blame them. Indoctrinated and conditioned from birth. Not an exception. Just like everybody else. I envy him. Some of us feel actually bad when we see tens of thousands of helpless women, youth, children and innocent adult men being pulverised by tons of bombs. Helplessly. Hopelessly. Some of us feel for the Palestinians who exploded on October 7th, 2023, after almost a century of depressing, desolating oppression. And of Apartheid. And wholesale occupation. Some of us have not felt good about relaxing in front of a television screen these days, watching our…

My mother was a Hindu. Every morning at sunrise, she would go outside, face the east and lift her hands up to pray to the sun god. Then in the evenings she would light the god lamp and say her prayers. Some of my Christian relatives, especially one uncle who was on a mission to save us from hell, were not happy my mother was an idol worshipper who performed all sorts of Hindu rituals. They said she was worshipping the devil and wanted her to worship a living God, Jesus. They could not rest until they had succeeded in making her forsake her ancient Hindu faith and convert to the superior white man’s religion, Christianity. And so, slowly but surely, through subterfuge and generosity, they achieved their goal. Out…

PARLIAMENTARIANS expressed shock yesterday that none of the 51 companies named by the Special Investigating Unit (SIU) in its investigation relating to Covid-19 procurement have been blacklisted from doing business with the state. This came to light when the Presidency briefed the Standing Committee on Public Accounts (Scopa) on investigation reports submitted by the SIU. The SIU was authorised in 2020 to investigate procurement for personal protective equipment (PPE) and other issues related to the Covid-19 pandemic response. Senior official Jonathan Timm told Scopa that 51 companies were recommended for restrictions from doing business with the state. “As at October 31, none of the companies appear on that list of the National Treasury’s database of restricted suppliers. Between the issuing of recommendations by the SIU and recording of restrictions on…

A now-former invoicing clerk who worked for a company for 22 years was retrenched after she refused to be vaccinated against the Covid-19 virus during 2021. She turned to the Cape Town Labour Court to have her retrenchment declared substantively unfair. The court had to determine whether the employer complied with the obligations imposed on it by the Labour Relations Act and the “Code of Good Practice: Managing Exposure to Covid in the Workplace.” The employer implemented a mandatory vaccination policy in the workplace, which required all employees to be vaccinated. It indicated that refusal to be vaccinated could lead to dismissal due to the operational requirements of the employer. The applicant refused to be vaccinated and cited a number of constitutional grounds as reasons for her refusal. These included…

THE Department of Basic Education confirmed yesterday that it has recorded incidents of matric pupils carrying crib notes and cellphones while writing the 2024 National Senior Certificate (NSC) examinations in KwaZulu-Natal. Teacher unions say they were also monitoring the examinations, which are expected to conclude on November 27. Elijah Mahlangu, Department of Basic Education spokesperson, said in KZN there were two incidents of pupils carrying crib notes during exams. “We have also recorded two incidents of pupils carrying cellphones during the exams in KZN. These incidents will be investigated; pupils have to sign a pledge before the exams that they will not be involved in misconduct during the writing of the exams, so they will face disciplinary action and be held accountable if found that they don’t have a valid…

Remembrance Day, November 11, pays tribute to those who have paid the ultimate sacrifice in freedom’s cause, particularly in World War I and World War II and subsequent wars. Memory and remembrance is so important for both the fallen and ourselves; for the fallen that their efforts and sacrifice were not in vain and unappreciated. Against the natural fears of war, trepidation, anxiety and the fear of death, in the midst of conflict and action their lives were taken for the benefit of those who survived and future generations. Our memory pays tribute to their courage and sacrifice. Memory reminds us that their sacrifice brought freedom, peace, security and hope of new beginnings. Because of them generations who followed have had a better life. Yet memory also reminds us of…

A teenager was in critical condition this week in a British Columbia children’s hospital, sick with Canada’s first presumptive human case of avian influenza. “This was a healthy teenager prior to this, so no underlying conditions,” said provincial health officer Bonnie Henry this week. British Columbia health officials said on Saturday the province had detected Canada’s first human case of H5 bird flu in a teenager. Henry said the province is still identifying the exact strain, but assumes the case is H5N1. The World Health Organization says H5N1’s risk to humans is low because there is no evidence of human transmission, but the virus has been found in an increasing number of animals including cattle in the United States. Henry would not disclose the teen’s gender or age but said…

Chanu Nimesha contested Sri Lanka’s parliamentary election yesterday as the first openly transgender candidate, hoping to forge a more inclusive and tolerant political culture on the South Asian island. Transgender people are estimated to make up about 1% of Sri Lanka’s 22 million people, according to Equal Ground, a local civil society group. They frequently face social rejection, lack legal protection and have almost no representation in political parties. Nimesha, who is contesting from Kegalle – about 80km east of Colombo – said she was the first transgender person to run for a seat in the 225-strong parliament and that her message of social justice had been well received. “I’m not concerned about winning or losing,” she said, sitting in her one-bedroom flat. “But it is important for me to…