Innehållsförteckning för 2025-01-14 från Mercury

Even in the wilds of Kenya, you can’t escape the Space Age. An eerie whizzing sound followed by a big boom startled Kenyan villagers relaxing recently one afternoon with family and friends. “It sounded like a bomb; I was shocked. I started looking around, also wondering if it was gunshots,” Stephen Mangoka, a 75-year-old farmer from Makueni County’s Mukuku village, told the BBC. “I looked up in the sky to see if there was smoke. Nothing. “I rushed to the road to check if there had been an accident. Also, nothing. That is when someone told me that something had fallen from the skies.” A massive round metal object had plummeted from above, landing on farmland near a dry riverbed – and it was red-hot. The giant metallic ring took…

Convicted felon Donald Trump has got off scot-free. A New York judge has given him an unconditional discharge just days before he steps into the Oval Office. No jail time, no fine and no probation. Just a slap on the wrist. In March last year, Trump was convicted of 34 felony charges in the hush money case where he tried to hide the payment made to porn star Stormy Daniels before the 2017 elections. Trump will become the first US president who will hold office as a convicted felon. Given his high-profile status he should have been given a harsher sentence. The judge has not ruled without fear or favour. He has sent the message that the powerful are above the law. To further bolster Trump’s power he will have…

The Independent Examinations Board (IEB) says the matric class of 2024 achieved the highest pass rate in the past five years – 98.47% in its National Senior Certificate (NSC) examinations. The IEB said all candidates who successfully completed the 2024 IEB NSC examinations obtained a pass that qualified them for tertiary study at one of three levels, plus those who attained an endorsed certificate: ◆ 89.37% of the cohort achieved entry to degree study, compared to 88.59% in 2023. ◆ 7.56% qualified for entry to diploma study, compared to 8.31% in 2023. ◆ 1.53% achieved entry for study at the Higher Certificate level, compared to 1.57% in 2023. ◆ 0.02% achieved an endorsed certificate. There were 14 990 full-time and 1 314 part-time candidates (a total of 16 304), who…

SIBUSISIWE Comprehensive Tech High School in uMbumbulu credits a strong work ethic, long hours, and the commitment shown by the pupils, teachers and parents for its success after achieving another 100% matric pass rate. The semi-rural school, south of Durban, said key to its success is completing its syllabus early, by mid-year each year, so it has the rest of the time for revision. With 307 pupils enrolled, all passed, and about four pupils achieved eight distinctions each. However, the number of pupils who achieved eight distinctions was lower compared to 2023, when it had eight pupils who achieved eight distinctions, said the school’s principal, Mzwakhe Duma. “Our focus is on the quality of the passes; we are no longer concerned with the 100% pass rate as we have reached…

ISRAELI forces have on numerous occasions prevented food, water, and medical supplies from entering the Gaza Strip, as well as blocked, denied, and delayed humanitarian assistance. Some 1.9 million people – 90% of the entire population of the Strip – have been forcibly displaced, many forced to flee multiple times. Fewer than half of Gaza’s 36 hospitals are even partially functional, and the healthcare system lies in ruins. From October 2023 to October 2024 – MSF staff alone have endured 41 attacks and violent incidents, including air strikes, shelling, and violent incursions in health facilities; direct fire on our shelters and convoys; and arbitrary detention of colleagues by Israeli forces. MSF medical personnel and patients have been forced to evacuate hospitals and health facilities on 17 separate occasions. Warring parties…

Last year was the year that genocide made global headlines. Today genocide continues across the world and the silence encourages this grotesque form of inhumanity. Genocide occurs when a group of people are stripped of their human, political, civil and economic rights. This coercion leads to the deprivation of conditions essential for maintaining health, thereby producing mass death. On December 11, 1948, the General Assembly of the United Nations passed the following resolution condemning genocide as a crime – one “wholly independent of crimes against peace or of war crimes”. In 1951, a subsequent definition of genocide at the UN Convention on the Punishment and Prevention of the Crime of Genocide became effective. It made genocide a crime for which individuals might be indicted, whether it occurred in times of…

Before you pack your bags and decide to emigrate to either the US or the UK, consider a few glaringly obvious signs of evil agendas and social decay plaguing these global regions. The recent discovery of Pakistani rape gangs who have been responsible for the mass grooming and shocking sexual crimes against white teenage girls has rocked the UK, and the world. Under the watch of disgraceful UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer, these heinous crimes have gone unchecked since his political motivation has been to secure the Muslim vote at the next election. The people of the UK want him out but he clings to power. Not to mention the anti-Semitic attacks on innocent Jews in London. Starmer seems to play a huge role in woke politics and upholding the…

The matric class of 2024 have recorded the highest matric pass rate ever achieved in the National Senior Certificate (NSC) examinations – 87.3%. Minister of Basic Education Siviwe Gwarube said every province improved its pass rate. The top performer was the Free State which obtained a 91% pass rate. KwaZulu-Natal came second with a pass rate of 89.5%, marking an increase of 3.2% from 2023. “South Africa’s national pass rate for the 2024 National Senior Certificate has increased from 82.9% in 2023 to 87.3%. This is the highest matric pass rate in the history of our country and should be a moment of great pride and celebration for all of us,” said Gwarube. “When we consider the number of learners that progressed from Grade 10 to Grade 12, we have…

INDEPENDENT Examinations Board (IEB) matric pupils said yesterday that strong support systems and personal resilience had helped them navigate the pressures of their final school year. The pupils all appeared on the IEB’s Outstanding Achievements list for having achieved within the top 5% for six or more subjects. For Uraav Jagdaw from Crawford International La Lucia, the 2024 academic year was the most demanding and stressful year he had faced. Juggling the demands of academics, sports, and his leadership responsibilities tested his ability to maintain balance. “Maintaining my belief in God served as a guiding force throughout matric and essentially helped me to mature into a more positive person, which assisted me in overcoming the obstacles I faced,” he said. Uraav plans to study actuarial science, a field that aligns…

‘The results are in the newspapers, irritating the Information Regulator’ AS SOUTH South Africans, we are accustomed to announcements of matric results wrapped in manifolds of powerfully, gloriously jubilant rituals. They are both intimate and grand. Incredibly, they convey a sense of history, stability, and continuity. They convince families that this fragile multi-generational journey of success walks on well-settled and solid ground – that it is not positioned directly over the fault lines of misfortunes and laziness. The rituals – including publishing the matric results in newspapers – are not laws, explaining why they carry such meaning. They are long-standing traditions and public expectations made between generations, between individuals and their most highminded ideals to symbolise a rite of passage, foster transparency, celebration and collective accountability. Rituals are more deeply…

Love can be expressed in a vast variety of ways, but it never hides behind some things: Jealousy: Some think authentic love naturally involves elements of jealousy. Quite the contrary. Love celebrates freedom and encourages the loved ones to explore and enjoy many diverse relationships. Control: Perhaps this is jealousy’s first cousin. Love and control cannot live within the same relationship, and it is never a symptom or indication of love. Some claim they control others for their (the other person’s) own good. This is nonsense. Healthy adults exercise no control over other healthy adults, and when they do, it is no indication of love. Swearing, cruelty, and temper tantrums: These are never an indication of love. Some say that screaming and harshness show how much a person cares. Nonsense.…

Over the past year we at the South African Jewish Board of Deputies, the 121-year-old democratically elected representative body of the South African Jewish Community, have noticed a troubling trend within The Mercury. Opinion pieces have been written by Ms Z Khan which are incorrect and often cross the line into anti-Semitic rhetoric. While we appreciate that the public has a right to free speech, and we understand that this may include comment that is unfavourable to Israel, as a newspaper you have the responsibility to ensure that all content is fact checked and does not cross into bigotry, racism or other forms of hate speech. There are countless examples of Ms Khan’s work lacking fact checking and crossing into anti-Semitism. We have chosen to highlight only a handful. Firstly,…

There is nothing innovative about the proposals for a new municipal funding model because they represent just a new page in the bottomless volume of options of taxation servitude while ignoring the remedies free enterprise offers (The Mercury, January 13). The idea that municipalities charge their own taxes should be terrifying. Giving political parties “a creative licence” to add new avenues of revenue is madness considering their inability to manage the funding already at their disposal. It is even more alarming when one considers the ANC’s inability to manage its own finances. Attracting and welcoming tourists, being grateful for their revenue and then discriminating against them by charging an infrastructure levy is disingenuous. Why should a tourist have to shore up infrastructure maintenance because of a municipality’s poor financial management?…

Time management and working consistently throughout the year are the secrets to success, according to top achieving matric pupils. The pupils, who spoke to The Mercury yesterday, were among those who appeared on the Independent Examinations Board’s Outstanding Achievements list for having achieved within the top 5% in 6 or more subjects and achieved a rating level of 7 in Life Orientation. Jenna Kunz from Epworth High School for Girls said her matric year was busy but she enjoyed it. Jenna, who was the Dux at her school, said the key factor for her year was to ensure she got a good night’s rest. “Getting enough sleep so that I was properly rested was my secret weapon. I also put in a lot of consistent effort.” She wants to study…

Minister of Basic Education Siviwe Gwarube said the State Security Agency and the Directorate for Priority Crimes Investigations (DPCI), also known as the Hawks, had been roped in to probe a possible breach in the 2024 National Senior Certificate (NSC) results. Gwarube was answering questions from the media before her breakfast with the matric top achievers in Randburg yesterday. Her response comes after it emerged on social media that a website was claiming that it could sell verified matric results to pupils for as little as R100. Gwarube said the potential breach may have happened at the tail end of the verification process. “We have become aware of a platform selling authentic matric results to learners,” Gwarube said. She said it was suspected that the breach emanated from the department…

As we celebrate the success of the matric Class of 2024, with an expected national pass rate of about 80%, it’s essential to recognise that while good results are commendable, they should not be the sole focus of our education system. The stable environment in the education sector last year has undoubtedly contributed to this optimistic outlook. However, our celebration must be matched with introspection about the quality of education that students receive starting from the foundation phase. Our country’s education system must redirect its focus toward ensuring that learners in the early grades develop solid literacy and numeracy skills. These foundational skills are crucial as they determine long-term academic success and functionality in society. While it is encouraging to see a high pass rate at the matric level, we…

Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta said he was astounded his side could not finish off 10-man Manchester United in their FA Cup third-round clash on Sunday night, after they were dumped out on penalties, having drawn 1-1 after extra time. The hosts came from behind to level, Gabriel Jesus cancelling out Bruno Fernandes’ opener after United’s Diogo Dalot was sent off, and could have taken the lead through a controversial penalty. But captain Martin Odegaard’s spot-kick was saved by Altay Bayindir, who produced the only save of the shootout from Kai Havertz to send United through to the fourth round. Arsenal had multiple chances to score a winner at 1-1, with Havertz guilty of missing a relatively simple chance inside the last 10 minutes of normal time, and Arteta could not…