Innehållsförteckning för 2024-11-28 från Mercury

KwaZulu-Natal’s Social Development portfolio committee recently conducted public consultations across the province on the Older Persons Amendment Bill — and while many generally agreed with the changes, there were also some very pertinent issues raised. The first of these is that many of KZN’s elderly citizens feel abandoned by provincial government. Struggles with dementia — and the resultant abuse — are affecting many and while the Amendment Bill seeks to protect them, there needs to be intervention into educating our youth on this disease and other related illnesses affecting the elderly. KZN’s elderly also feel that SAPS is not doing enough to protect them. Perpetrators of abuse are often not arrested and dealt with effectively and are soon back in the same communities or families that they are terrorising. This…

’TWAS an evening of much merriment earlier this week in a pub-eatery in Hilton called Coffeeberry. The occasion: my old pal Chris Hoare was launching his book on his dad, Colonel “Mad Mike” Hoare, who served with distinction in the British Army in World War II, led a mercenary force in the Congo that restored order after the disastrous collapse of the Belgian colonial system and led another mercenary force in a failed attempt to reinstate a president of the Seychelles islands. Coffeeberry is not far from the Old Vicarage, where Hoare lived. It’s where agents of the SA government of the time supplied arms and ammo for the coup. It’s surely ironic that this same government was to later prosecute and jail Hoare and his men for “persuading” an…

As the country marked 247 load shedding free days, power utility, Eskom, received more good news yesterday as S&P Global Ratings upgraded the state-owned entity’s credit ratings, moving Eskom’s long-term global scale foreign and local currency ratings from stable to positive. Eskom’s national scale issuer credit rating also improved from “zaBBB” to “zaBBB+”, while it’s short-term national scale rating of “zaA-2” was reaffirmed. S&P said: “The stable outlook reflects our view that the group’s creditworthiness will continue to benefit from explicit and timely support from the South African government, facilitating a strengthening of Eskom’s liquidity position and less risk of default as the debt relief agreement is implemented as stipulated.” However, the ratings agency warned: “Eskom’s operating performance and cash flow will remain under pressure, even though the expected injections…

The eThekwini Municipality is gearing up for a bumper festive season with an estimated 1.3 million visitors expected in the City, contributing to a direct spend of R2.5 billion and a GDP contribution of R6.3 bn. The municipality launched its festive season campaign yesterday and outlined a detailed security plan and various activities to entertain local and international visitors. Occupancy rates for hospitality establishments are forecast to be 75% and 11 000 jobs will be created, reaffirming tourism’s vital role in driving economic recovery and growth. Mayor Cyril Xaba said: “As part of our efforts to deliver a safe and memorable festive season, the Metro Police are working with all law enforcement agencies, including the SAPS, Road Traffic Inspectorate and private security companies, to maintain high visibility in all tourism…

The South African Border Management Authority (BMA) has announced that ongoing protests have led to the partial closure of a road leading to the Maputo harbour in Mozambique, which is affecting the movement of trucks passing through the Lebombo border post. This comes after the BMA was forced to close the Lebombo border between South Africa and Mozambique for a few days earlier this month due to safety concerns after sporadic tensions and protests in the small town of Ressano Garcia, which is located close to the Lebombo Port of Entry, erupted after the Mozambican elections. In a statement yesterday, BMA spokesperson Mmemme Mogotsi said both the Border Management Authority and the South African Revenue Service (Sars) have been informed by customs officials in Mozambique of a protest action affecting…

THE Western Cape Education Department’s (WCED) promise to “fight to save our teachers” rings hollow judging by the Education MEC David Maynier’s nonchalant attitude towards an issue that will have catastrophic consequences for the future of thousands of children. Nearly 2 500 teachers could be out of work by the end of December when their contracts expire. The DA-led Western Cape government claims it does not have enough money to fund these posts after the WCED’s budget was slashed by the National Treasury. However, its counterparts in KwaZulu-Natal and other provinces have found ways to cope with the budget cuts without compromising the future of their learners. Why has the Western Cape not adopted a similar approach, for example reprioritising funds from other non-urgent programmes to avoid this looming crisis?…

A Malaysian court yesterday allowed corruption charges in one of several cases linked to the scandal-wracked 1MDB sovereign wealth fund against jailed ex-prime minister Najib Razak to be dropped, his lawyer said. Najib is currently in jail after being convicted in one of five cases related to 1MDB from which billions of dollars had been allegedly pilfered. He will face another trial from December 2. Charges dropped yesterday relate to payments of 6.6 billion ringgit ($1.48 billion) allegedly made to Abu Dhabi’s International Petroleum Investment Company. “The court correctly exercised its jurisdiction to discharge our client of the charges,” his lawyer Muhammad Farhan Muhammad Shafee told AFP. However, prosecutors can seek renewed charges if they were to disclose the crucial documents that had been withheld from Najib’s defence, as the…

The Hague: The International Criminal Court’s chief prosecutor yesterday asked judges to grant an arrest warrant for Myanmar’s junta chief, Min Aung Hlaing, over alleged crimes against humanity committed against Rohingya Muslims. The ICC prosecutor in 2019 opened a probe into suspected crimes committed against the Rohingya in Myanmar’s restive Rakhine state in 2016 and 2017, that prompted the exodus of 750 000 of the Muslim minority to neighbouring Bangladesh. About one million Rohingya now live in sprawling camps near the Bangladesh border city of Cox’s Bazaar. Many of those who left accuse the Myanmar military of mass killings and rapes. | AFP…

SYDNEY: Australian researchers have made a breakthrough in diagnosing a severe form of depression by analysing facial expressions and brain activity. Researchers from the QIMR Berghofer Medical Research Institute in Australia’s state of Queensland said yesterday that they have discovered how to diagnose melancholia by analysing a person as they watch a film. Melancholia is a severe form of depression. People affected by melancholia can experience deep, long-lasting sadness and slowed speech, thoughts and movements, and are less likely to respond to psychological treatments and often need strong medication or brain stimulation to recover. | Xinhua…

Raised by entrepreneurial parents, Agobokwe Motsepe had always been inspired by their work ethic for their hair salons and vowed to go into business with them one day. “I’ve always been an entrepreneur at heart and when I was in high school, I said I wanted to start a haircare venture,” said Motsepe, now 29, and co-founder and director of Essence Hair Care along with his parents Norman and Modiegi. With a Bachelor of Commerce degree in Informatics from the University of Pretoria under his belt, Motsepe convinced them to start producing hair care products from their home in Johannesburg in 2019. “We subcontracted our manufacturing, bought packaging, and filled and labelled products while watching TV,” Motsepe told Business Report. Their initial target market was salons, using the Motsepe elders’…

Black Friday, the infamous shopping extravaganza, is here. While advertisers promise unbeatable deals and discounts, it is essential to remember the financial implications. It is considered the biggest shopping holiday of the year and always falls on the fourth Friday of November. With families facing an uncer tain future and with a number of people losing their jobs, now comes Black Friday. Not just one day but the whole month of November with new deals every day. This will prove an absolutely successful marketing strategy for the retailer, but not for the average consumer. With what is referred to as “the silly season” approaching, reckless and unnecessary spending is going to be the order of the day. I urge all shoppers to spend wisely and, most importantly, do not incur…

In an article he wrote in February 1941, George Orwell despaired of finding “objective truth” in the mass media. AFP reports concerning the recent COP29 climate conference in Azerbaijan are wilfully devoid of objective truth, the one in The Mercury of November 25 is a typical example. If it were not for the economy-killing indebtedness amounting to hundreds of billions to transition to the fallacy of decarbonised energy to which leaders are condemning their countries, the COP29 summit could be written off as a Mad Hatter’s Tea Party. In any event, certain peculiarities Lewis Carroll brings to the fore in the story aptly reflect the prevailing nature of the participants in COP29. Personality disorder, confusion and chaos were symptoms hatters experienced from inhaling mercury vapours — hence the expression “mad…

It’s summer and grass cutters are busy as bees. From morning till evening you can hear the awful din of their weed eaters and leaf blowers. Yes, they don’t rake the leaves anymore but simply blow them away with the leaf blowers. With the festive season round the corner, everybody wants their gardens to look neat and tidy. So nobody seems to mind the noise even on a Sunday morning. The municipality, too, has groups of grass cutters busy all over Durban. While we all should be happy that the municipality is sprucing up the City for the festive season, I wasn’t impressed with what I saw recently. One moment I saw to my delight a host of gladioli putting on their summer display; the next they were all gone,…

As the writing of the 2024 National Senior Certificate (NSC) exams officially concludes today, the Department of Basic Education has now turned its focus to the critical phase of marking scripts. Minister of Basic Education Siviwe Gwarube, during a media briefing yesterday, detailed the department’s comprehensive preparations to ensure the credibility and integrity of the marking process. “The marking phase is as critical as the writing of the exams itself. The department has set up 181 marking centres across the country, all of which have been audited and deemed ready. These centres will open on 28 November (today), with over 50 000 markers involved,” Gwarube said. A strong focus has been placed on the health and safety of markers. Gwarube revealed that the department had implemented workshops on food handling…

The RAF’s systems modernisation strategy is on course and has already had an impact I HAVE noted the opinion piece in The Mercury published on Tuesday by our most esteemed Emeritus Professor Hennie Klopper. I must at the outset state for the record that I respect the opinions of Prof Klopper. As a self-taught student of the Law of Third-Party Compensation in South Africa, I have learned a lot from “the Prof”, as I would call him. A complimentary copy of his book The Law of Third-Party Compensation in South Africa came in handy as one navigated legalese and tried to understand this complex terrain of third-party compensation. His seminal work on legal fees, Is the Road Accident Fund’s litigation in urgent need of review?, was, in fact, used as…

China’s state media warned US President-elect Donald Trump that his pledge to slap additional tariffs on Chinese goods over fentanyl flows could drag the world’s top two economies into a mutually destructive tariff war. Trump, who takes office on January 20, said on Monday that he would impose “an additional 10% tariff, above any additional tariffs” on imports from China until Beijing clamped down on trafficking of the chemical precursors used to make the deadly drug. The two superpowers are setting out their positions ahead of the former president’s return to the White House. Trump’s first term resulted in a trade war that uprooted global supply chains and hurt every economy as inflation and borrowing costs shot up. Editorials in Chinese communist party mouthpieces China Daily and the Global Times…

The Israeli cabinet approved a ceasefire deal with Lebanon this week, paving the way for an end to a nearly 14-month conflict tied in great part to the ongoing one in the Gaza Strip. The Israeli cabinet approved the deal by a vote of 10-1. The ceasefire took effect at 4am yesterday. The Lebanese army will take control of its territory over the next 60 days, Israel will gradually withdraw, and civilians will return home, according to the deal. In a televised speech ahead of bringing the draft to his cabinet for a vote, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel had “set Hezbollah back decades” through the war and vowed to strike the Lebanese armed group if it violated the ceasefire deal. The ceasefire deal, brokered by the US…

NEW YORK: Food Bank for New York City, the largest hunger relief organisation in the megacity, yesterday urged Congress to significantly raise funding allocation as it saw a big increase in demand for its service in the last few years. The organisation is now asking Congress to increase its budget in the Farm Bill, which covers farm insurance, conservation, and nutrition assistance, and requires more grants for infrastructure and storage, said Carmen Boon, vice-president for external affairs with Food Bank for NYC. In particular, it urged lawmakers to double its annual baseline funding under the Emergency Food Assistance Program to $500 million (R9 billion) in the Farm Bill. | Xinhua…

Pepkor has boosted its portfolio with the acquisition of Choice Clothing, a discount retailer that has more than 100 stores in South Africa and Namibia. Choice Clothing trades under the Choice Clothing and Big Daddy retail brands in the the two countries, respectively. It provides fashion apparel “at the lowest prices” and is focused on adult product offerings. The acquisition, announced yesterday, has bolstered Pepkor which has been seeing revenue surges. It comes at a time interest rates are falling, inflationary pressures are easing, and South African consumer sentiment is firming up. “With Pepkor’s strong market share in babies and kids wear, the acquisition of Choice Clothing builds on its strategy to expand participation in adult wear, where the group’s market share is under-indexed,” said Pepkor yesterday. Although Pepkor on…

The Middle East and Ukraine are witnessing brutal destruction unprecedented since World War II. Waves of fiery destruction in 3D, graphically exposing man’s inhumanity to man. These conflict zones are synonymous with slaughter, helplessness and lives snuffed out in a moment, and all the endless misery of a savage war. The savagery of the war is a grim reminder of Dresden during WWII. The battle for supremacy is a cruel war of vicious attrition, where every inch of rubble is paid for in spilled blood, smashed bones and wasted lives. Man remains impotent as brutal wars decimate humanity every minute. World leaders will be severely and harshly judged, as the brutal slaughter of men, women and children continues unabated in many parts of our strife-torn planet. The abject failure of…

If you have read my work for any amount of time, you will know that I travel a fair amount. In 2024 my “new” countries include India, Cuba, Namibia, Ghana and I will leave for Bujumbura, Burundi, at the end of this week. I meet a lot of people, and while teaching for a week at a time, I get to know people at quite some depth. I have the privilege of being exposed to cultures quite unfamiliar to my own. At the beginning of the year, I wrote myself this note, which has proved to be most helpful: Before you reach conclusions about anyone, I’d suggest a few steps: Do you know his name, its meaning and its origin? Have you looked closely at her face and into her…

Former uMkhonto we Sizwe commander and ANC treasurer General Mathews Phosa has warned the ANC that it could lose further electoral support at the next election if it does not deal with the allegations of corruption within its ranks. The ANC managed to get 40% of the vote at the May 29 national elections, compelling it to make a deal with other parties to form the Government of National Unity (GNU). Phosa, speaking on JJ Tabane’s Power to Truth show, said that the Zondo state capture commission of inquiry had unearthed a lot of skeletons that are still haunting the ANC as it has 97 leaders implicated in wrongdoing. “The task of the government is to show us the (new) dawn by arresting those who have stolen the money (that…

THE South African Social Security Agency (Sassa) is vulnerable to unauthorised access, data breaches, service disruptions, or reputational damage if its vulnerabilities are exploited. These were among the findings from a preliminary investigation report focusing on Vulnerability Assessment (VA) and Penetration Test (PT) of the Social Relief of Distress (SRD) online system. The findings were presented to the portfolio committee by the Department of Social Development (DSD) and Sassa yesterday. The investigation came after two first-year Stellenbosch University students did their own investigation and found that Sassa’s system was vulnerable. The students discovered several alleged vulnerabilities using a combination of randomly generated South African ID numbers and public access to Sassa’s Application Programming Interface (API). They found that the API allowed an unlimited number of requests, which the students exploited…

The Unpoison Network has raised the alarm that the list of banned or restricted use of agrochemicals has not been updated since 2017, and Terbufos, linked to the deaths of several children in recent cases of food-borne illnesses, does not appear on that list. UnPoison is an advocacy non-profit organisation that specialises in the regulatory framework governing pesticides. Their position comes in response to Agriculture Minister John Steenhuisen’s recent remarks that there are six licences granted in South Africa for the manufacture and distribution of Terbufos and it was highly regulated. He said five of the licenses were active, “all under strict supervision and licensing obligations and strict supply chain management conditions”. However, according to the Unpoison Network, this was not the case. The NPO said the Department of Agriculture,…

The November 2024 Household Affordability Index, released yesterday, showed a steady increase in the price of essential groceries, putting further strain on already stretched household budgets. Mervyn Abrahams, the Programme Coordinator of the Pietermaritzburg Economic Justice & Dignity Group, said: “Data from November indicates that while the household food basket is subdued, due mostly to lower vegetable prices, the basket on average continues to increase, albeit slowly. “At a total average cost of R5 361.04, the household food basket is still unaffordable for many, and with the additional volumes required to be bought, and the competition with Christmas clothes, and the January school opening, this period will be a hard one for most South African families,” Abrahams added. Month-on-month the average cost of the Household Food Basket increased by R12.39…

South Africa’s townships have long experienced problems with massive pest infestations and the selling of pesticides on the streets and in informal markets. Street pesticides are poisonous substances that are legally registered for agricultural uses but are decanted illegally into unlabelled beverage bottles or packets for home use. Or they might be illegally packaged pesticides imported into South Africa and not registered for use. The dangers of these substances have been in the news lately with the deaths of children who were exposed to them. On November 21, the government announced that foodborne illnesses had been classified as a national disaster. I started looking into the problem of street pesticides in several townships in Cape Town in 2008. Analysing unlabelled pesticides is difficult, but the laboratory managed to identify active…

German car giant Volkswagen said yesterday it would sell its operations in China’s Xinjiang region, where Beijing has been accused of widespread human rights abuses including forced labour. The firm will sell its factory in Xinjiang’s capital Urumqi as well as a test track in Turpan to a Chinese company, a spokesperson said. “For economic reasons, the site has been sold by the joint venture as part of its strategic realignment,” the spokesperson said. VW has lost ground in China, its most important market, with sales in the country in 2023 growing modestly but at a slower rate than the previous year. It has fallen behind domestic competitors in China, losing its title as the best-selling auto brand to BYD. And rights campaigners have for years accused Beijing of a…

Chinese Defence Minister Dong Jun has been placed under investigation for corruption, a report said yesterday, which would make him the latest official to fall in a sweeping crackdown on graft in the country’s military. Citing current and former US officials familiar with the situation, British newspaper the Financial Times said the investigation into Dong was part of that broader probe into military corruption. If confirmed, Dong would be the third Chinese defence minister in a row to fall under investigation for corruption. Asked about the report at a regular briefing yesterday, Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Mao Ning said it was just “chasing shadows” and did not offer further information. A former navy commander, he was appointed defence minister in December following the surprise removal of predecessor Li Shangfu just…

London: The last remaining asylum seekers being housed on the controversial floating accommodation barge Bibby Stockholm in southern England have left, local authorities said yesterday. The new Labour government decided not to renew a contract with the vessel due to expire in January 2025, citing additional costs to taxpayers. Local charity Portland Global Friendship Group said the eight remaining asylum seekers had left the barge, with the residents “dispersed across the country”. Bibby Stockholm was championed by the previous Conservative government as a cost-cutting measure aimed at reducing the use of hotels to accommodate asylum seekers. | AFP…

AIDEN Markram’s poor run of form continued on day one of the first Test between South Africa and Sri Lanka at Kingsmead in Durban yesterday. The opening batter, as he has done on many occasions in the past, looked promising as he drove on the back foot very early in his innings to get South Africa’s first boundary of the day. Shortly after, the right-handed batter went hard at a delivery that was outside off-stump, got an edge and found the safe hands of the experienced Angelo Mathews in the slip cordon. The opening batter had only managed nine runs off 11 balls in his 10th Test innings this year. Despite Markram’s series of low scores in whites this year, Proteas Test batting coach Ashwell Prince reflected on the century…

Lawn bowls, a game steeped in tradition, thrives on its core principles of camaraderie, sportsmanship and respect. Yet, it has been observed that the long-established etiquette distinguishing this sport is gradually eroding. This decline not only undermines the spirit of the game, but also threatens the harmonious atmosphere for which lawn bowls is celebrated. At its heart, etiquette in lawn bowls is simply the practice of “good sportsmanship”. It’s about knowing and applying acceptable behaviour with common sense, fairness, honesty and consideration for others. This ethos is not limited to players, but extends to markers, umpires and spectators. Etiquette encourages a spirit of inclusivity and co-operation. Players should show respect for opponents, keep chatter to a minimum during play and avoid distractions. Applauding good shots, regardless of which team delivered…