Innholdsfortegnelse for 2021-05-25 i Mercury

Dineo Faku dineo.faku@inl.co.za SHARES of partly state-owned Telkom closed higher on the JSE yesterday after it upgraded its medium-term growth targets and said it would reconsider the suspension of dividends. This was after profits for the year to the end of March soared. Telkom, South Africa’s third-largest mobile operator, said it expected both revenue and earnings before interest, taxation, depreciation and amortisation (Ebitda) to grow in the mid-to-high single digits between the 2022 and 2024 financial years. The higher growth forecast for revenue came as service revenue was now the main driver of revenue, cushioning the impact of muted growth from fixed voice business, which now contributed 15 percent to the entity, said Telkom. It also projected capital expenditure of between R8 billion and R8.5bn a year over the…

Information and communications tech- nology group, Ayo Technology Solutions (AYO) said yesterday it expected a sub- dued performance in the six months to February 28, 2021, with the basic loss per share expected to be between 29.22 and 31 cents per share. The headline loss was expected to be between 24.19 and 25.99 cents per share, the group said in a trading statement. The decrease in earnings was attributed to lower revenues for the six months, driven by the declining overall trading environment, non-renewal of significant contracts, and a decrease in interest income. “While AYO was not immune to the Covid-19-induced economic decline, which affected every business in South Africa, I am confident the group is in a solid position to weather this storm and continue on its growth trajectory…

BANELE GININDZA banele.ginindza@inl.co.za STANDARD Bank, Africa’s biggest lender by assets, has bowed to pressure from sections of its investors to commit to publishing both the strategy and the targets of its fossil fuel funding reduction programme, as part of its 2021 reporting to shareholders. The bank, which currently has more than R67 billion or 4 percent of total commitment to sectors like oil, gas and coal as part of its portfolio, confirmed in a statement yesterday that some of its shareholders had pressured it to table a non-binding vote at its annual general meeting this month. The bank’s strategy would set targets to reduce its exposure to fossil fuels on a time line aligned with the goals of the Paris climate agreement. “We’re deeply committed to supporting inclusive…

THE SOUTH African Institute of Chartered Accountants (Saica) said yesterday that following an extensive investigation, charges of misconduct had been laid against former Steinhoff chief executive Markus Jooste. Saica said Jooste had conducted himself in a manner that “is discreditable, dishonourable, dishonest, irregular or unworthy, or which is derogatory to the institute, or tends to bring the profession of accountancy into disrepute; and/or that he failed to maintain and adhere to the fundamental principles in the Saica Professional Code of Conduct for Chartered Accountants”. In June 2019, Saica’s board resolved not to accept Jooste’s resignation from the institute and to suspend his membership pending the finalisation of disciplinary proceedings against him. The charges included breaches of obligations relating to integrity, objectivity, confidentiality and professional behaviour, Saica said in a statement…

Sakhiseni Nxumalo sakhiseni.nxumalo@inl.co.za PARLIAMENT’S revival of the Draft Firearms Control Amendment Bill, which seeks to remove self-defence as a valid reason to own a firearm, has been greeted by mixed reaction. While lobby group Gun Free South Africa (GFSA) welcomed the proposal, describing it as “long-overdue”, the SA Gun-owners Association (Saga) called the move “ill-informed”. The Civilian Secretariat for Police Service (CSP) published the draft bill last week, inviting the public to comment on it. It seeks to “provide that no firearm licences may be issued for self-defence purposes”. “In order to address the reduction of gun deaths and gun violence, firearm licences for self-defence purposes will not be permitted. Other amendments also include the designation of a Designated Firearms Officer at each police station, as far as practicably possible,…

Vernon Mchunu vernon.mchunu@inl.co.za FORMER eThekwini mayor Zandile Gumede and the 12 others who were yesterday officially notified by the KwaZulu-Natal ANC to step aside are expected to stand their ground against the controversial rule. Asked if Gumede would heed the call to step aside, Ntando Khuzwayo, a spokesperson for the powerful eThekwini ANC faction, said the rule would not be heeded as it was unfair and served to pursue a political agenda. “Our position remains the same as the majority branches of eThekwini. We are opposed to the step-aside as it is being applied as a tool to deal with certain individuals,” said Khuzwayo, speaking on behalf of 68 of the 111 branches in the region. “Remember, Zandile Gumede, Zoe Shabalala and Thembelihle de Lange were exonerated by the…

JOHN GARDENER | Howick “OUR team of bankers is available to assist you with any queries.” So said the silver-tongued temptress at a leading bank when I investigated downloading the new “banking app” on my even newer smartphone, acquired – at considerable cost – to facilitate this great leap forward. I have never been much good at this sort of thing, but with an entire team of bankers on hand to smooth out the wrinkles, what could possible go wrong? Why, that’s very nearly a wunch which is the collective noun for bankers. The “app” (whatever that means) duly downloaded for me by experts, failed to go online and therefore, in desperation, I visited the local branch of the bank for assistance from the team of bankers, but…

JEAN MICHEL BOUVIER | Bryanston ANOTHER week and this time a double whammy of bad decisions once more. First, Minister Patel who was been let loose and unchallenged, now wants to try to limit executive pay, although their perks and other benefits have been approved by the board and the shareholders of the company. But the government wants to inter fere again. On top of that, he wants workers on company boards. The second one he announced is that the government is fully committed to support the manufacturing of electric vehicles. They don’t produce enough electricity to light up our houses, let alone help the industry to function. We have shut down all our smelters and now this one. Haven’t they heard of free enterprise and don’t they…

GAUTENG traffic police have issued a warning to motorists about the rise in cases where criminals place spikes or objects on public roads with the intention of forcing them to stop their vehicles and then robbing them. In recent weeks, motorists have complained of several incidents where spikes or other objects were placed on public roads. On the R104 near Cullinan on Saturday, spikes were placed on the road near the Sammy Marks Museum. It was also reported that grass was set alight next to the road in order to distract motorists with smoke. Another incident was reported on the old Bronkhorstspruit road and the N4 in Pretoria on May 17. “The placing of spikes has resulted in many road users being involved in accidents and some even losing their…

Thami Magubane thami.magubane@inl.co.za AS the Msunduzi Municipality battles to stay afloat, it has been accused of “ignoring” millions of rand in potential rates revenue that could help turn around the desperate financial situation of the municipality. The municipality is accused of allowing people to illegally invade and build large homes on its land in Ambleton near France township and failing to collect rates that could generate millions for the municipality. DA provincial leader Francois Rodgers made the claims after a visit to the city yesterday. His claims were echoed by ACDP councillor in Msunduzi, Rienus Niemand, who said they had been trying to get the council to act against the residents. Rodgers said his visit was part of an inspection tour to identify areas where the municipality could generate much…

THE decision by the Civilian Secretariat for Police Service (CSP) to revive the firearms bill, which seeks to remove self-defence as a valid reason to own a firearm in South Africa, is ill-informed and will leave law-abiding citizens at the mercy of dangerous criminals. Last week, the CSP announced that under the newly revived Draft Firearms Control Amendment Bill, citizens will not be able to apply for a gun licence on the basis that they need a firearm for self-defence. There is no doubt that the proposed draft has other progressive elements, that empower the police to seize firearms from individuals charged with domestic violence or harassment. However, taking away the right of citizens to self-defence is a step too far, especially when violent crime in the country is on…

Waves of earth tremors rocked the city of Goma in the Democratic Republic of the Congo yesterday, unnerving residents still reeling from a volcano eruption that displaced thousands and killed at least 15 people. Chaos descended on Goma on Saturday evening when Mount Nyiragongo, one of the world’s most active and dangerous volcanoes, erupted, sending a smouldering wall of lava nearly a kilometre wide downhill towards the city of 2 million people. The lava flow stopped a few hundred metres short of the city limits, but destroyed 17 villages on the way and cut the principle electricity supply. Yesterday, reporters said tremors were occurring every 30 minutes. Experts said the earthquakes were caused by techtonic plates realigning after the eruption, and that the risk of a second eruption was small.…

Western politicians accused Belarus of state piracy amounting to a “warlike act” yesterday, searching for a way to retaliate that would match the gravity of the offence after Minsk forced an airliner down and arrested a dissident journalist. Sunday’s action, in which a Belarusian warplane intercepted a Ryanair flight between EU members Greece and Lithuania and forced it to land in Minsk has few precedents and denunciations were worded in the strongest terms. Belarus authorities arrested a passenger, 26-year-old Roman Protasevich, whose social media feed from exile has been one of the last remaining independent outlets for news about the country since a mass crackdown on dissent last year. “This was effectively aviation piracy, state sponsored,” said Ireland’s Foreign Minister Simon Coveney. Swedish Foreign Minister Ann Linde said: “It is…

Egypt has slashed millions of dollars off its compensation claim against the Japanese owner of a megaship that blocked the Suez canal in March, the canal authority chief said. Egyptian authorities had seized the 200 000-tonne MV Ever Given in April and lodged a claim in a local court demanding $916 million from its owner Shoei Kisen Kaisha in compensation for the ship’s release. But Suez Canal Authority head Osama Rabie said the claim had been dropped to $550m. The Ever Given became diagonally stuck in the narrow but crucial global trade artery in a sandstorm on March 23.…

Siphelele Dludla siphelele.dludla@inl.co.za THE SOUTH African liquor industry has warned the government of the potential negative impact on economic recovery and jobs if another ban on the sale of alcohol is imposed. Fears within the industry have been growing since three provinces officially declared a third wave of Covid-19 infections, as this could prompt the government to implement stricter lockdown measures. The tavern sector is worth over R60 billion annually, accounting for 80 – 90 percent of liquor sales in townships, and approximately 43 percent of total alcohol sales. A coalition of liquor traders has written to President Cyril Ramaphosa seeking his audience to help find sustainable solutions to combat the pandemic without banning alcohol. The National Liquor Traders Council (NLTC) and Liquor Traders Association of SA yesterday said any…

THE RAND yesterday rose to a one-year high amid a subdued dollar in spite of rating agencies maintaining their junk status and negative outlook on South Africa’s sovereign debt. The domestic currency strengthened 0.03 percent to R13.91 against the greenback by 5pm, its highest level since early January last year, on a positive growth forecast. The South African Reserve Bank (SARB) last week upwardly revised its 2021 growth forecasts to 4.2 percent, from an earlier projection of 3.8 percent. The rand appears to want to stay below the R14 mark around which it traded last week, despite an increase in global risk aversion. Investec chief economist Annabel Bishop said the rand continued to benefit from the dollar’s weakness, as investors fear increasing interest rates in the US. She said the…

SIHLE MAKHOWANA sihle makhowana@inl.co.za BUSINESS Unity South Africa and Business Leadership South Africa recently presented research that suggests a more prioritised approach to localisation, a move that will see South Africa produce more products, create more jobs and ultimately grow the economy. The move to prioritise local production comes at a time when the country’s economy is facing daunting growth patterns that have been engulfed by the Covid-19 pandemic, which has created difficult trading conditions in most sectors. The research on localisation, which was presented by Peter Attard Montalto from Intellidex, a research consulting firm that specialises in capital markets and financial services in Africa, scrutinised the viability of the proposed 20 percent import substitution. He said the idea behind localisation was inspired by the government in discussions at…

HOSKEN Consolidated Investments said yesterday that it expected to report a basic loss per share of between 1666.8 cents and 2 585c for the year to March 31, representing a decrease in losses of between 63.7 and 43.7 percent compared to a basic loss per share for the prior year. Headline earnings per share of between 224.9c and 351.1c were expected, a decrease of between 82.2 and 72.2 percent compared to headline earnings per share of 1 263.2c for the prior year, the group said in a trading statement. The basic losses a share included fair value adjustments to investment properties, and impairments to property, plant and equipment recognised by Tsogo Sun Hotels. A loss on disposal was recognised on the deconsolidation of Tsogo following the dilution of the group’s…

Sakhiseni Nxumalo sakhiseni.nxumalo@inl.co.za A SENIOR manager from Richards Bay Minerals (RBM) was gunned down yesterday while on his way to work, and this has raised fears that the latest incident was an attempt by criminal elements to render the multibillion-rand firm ungovernable by eliminating its management. Political parties and government officials have called for the swift arrest of the suspects involved in the assassination of RBM’s general manager of operational services, Nico Swart, who was shot on the corner of Dune Road and Kolstertkring Street in Meer En See, Richards Bay. It was alleged that Swart was shot while driving his car by three men who were on foot, and he died at the scene. Provincial police spokesperson Captain Nqobile Gwala confirmed the incident, saying that the motive for the…

Sniffer dogs trained using smelly socks worn by people infected with the SARS-CoV-2 virus could soon be used at airports or mass gathering venues to pick up the “corona odour” of Covid-19-infected people, British scientists said yesterday. Working in teams of two, the trained dogs could screen a line of several hundred people coming off a plane within half an hour, for example, and detect with up to 94.3% sensitivity those infected, the scientists said. Presenting results of an early stage study - which involved some 3 500 odour samples donated in the form of unwashed socks or T-shirts worn by members of the public and health workers - the researchers said the dogs were even able to sniff out asymptomatic or mild Covid-19 cases. “Dogs could be a great…

NARENDH GANESH | Durban North NEW proposed legislation is pure madness. Self-defence no reason for a firearm licence: how stupid and myopic can we get? It was with disbelief and consternation that I read a report which stated that the Civilian Secretariat for Police is reviving a draft legislation with regards to the Firearms Control Amendment Bill which, if passed, will eliminate self-defence as a valid reason for applying for a firearm licence. It boggles the mind, if not the want for rationality and cogency of thought as to how those sitting in their ivory towers arrive at some of their half-baked decisions. Let me state categorically that denying anyone their right to self-defence is unconstitutional, be it with a firearm or by any other means. The right…

DAVID CARTWRIGHT | Hillcrest IT IS with regret that I air my chagrin against the likes of Saber Ahmed Jazbhay regarding his querulous outbursts from time to time, but his contribution in The Mercury of May 20 really gets up my nose. Apartheid in South Africa is some 26 years dead and gone. Yes, Mr Jazbhay, apartheid was a crime against humanity. But it is now way gone and in the past. Just let go, for goodness’ sake. Don’t necessarily forget, but just stop dwelling there, because all it’s doing is making you miserable. And as for the Arab/Jew conflict, that was ordained as a “problem in perpetuity” in the time of Abraham. Live with it!…

BONGANI NKOSI bongani.nkosi@inl.co.za A MURDERER in his 19th year of life imprisonment has convinced the Constitutional Court that he should be eligible for release next year and not 2027, a year that would mark 25 years in jail for him. Prisoners serving life terms for committing heinous crimes such as premeditated murder and child rape are eligible for parole after 25 years in South Africa. Gaolatlhe Senwedi, jailed in 2002 with accomplice Alfred Khonyane for counts including murder and aggravated robbery, approached the Braamfontein-based apex court to argue that the Kimberley High Court infringed on his rights by ordering a non-parole period of 25 years. Senwedi, represented by Legal Aid, attacked the constitutionality of the 25 years non-parole order. His argument was that the minimum time that had to be…

| Mercury Correspondent A KwaZulu-Natal man who allegedly used counterfeit money to buy fuel has been arrested. Police spokesperson Captain Nqobile Gwala said the 55-year-old suspect went to fill up at a petrol station and allegedly paid with fake money. “A case of theft was opened at Verulam SAPS. The suspect is expected to appear in court today (yesterday).” Prem Balram, of Reaction Unit SA, said their offices received a call just after 5am on Sunday from a petrol attendant at a Verulam petrol station. Balram said the driver filled his Toyota Hilux bakkie and several plastic drums with diesel at a cost of R4 800. A further R5 300 in fake R100 notes was recovered in his vehicle. “He was handed over to the Verulam SAPS with R10…

Thami Magubane thami.magubane@inl.co.za THE eThekwini Municipality is pinning its hopes on the installation of smart meters to address the challenges resulting from thousands of water meters not being read. The smart meters, The Mercury understands, will allow for accurate remote readings to be done. However, opposition councillors say it will not address the immediate billing challenges faced by the city and its residents. The municipality is under pressure from the city’s audit committee and councillors regarding the issue of unread meters. There are 5 442 meters across the city that have not been read for more than 180 days, and 367 have not been read for a year. The matter was discussed during a recent councillors workshop convened to discuss the Audit Committee’s report that flagged several concerns, including the…

Sihle Mlambo sihle.mlambo@inl.co.za A 29-year-old Gauteng woman who was arrested for faking a hijacking and kidnapping saga that played out on social media has been released on R2 000 bail at the Protea Magistrate’s Court in Soweto. The woman, whose name is Phindile Kunene and not Simphiwe Manzini Mntimande, as she claimed on Facebook, spent the weekend behind bars after her arrest last Thursday. Kunene has been charged with contravening the Oath of Commissions Act for allegedly submitting and deposing a false statement to the police when she reported at the Protea Glen police station that she had been kidnapped and hijacked. Using her Facebook account, Kunene had thousands of South Africans tweeting and posting out of concern, after she claimed that her Toyota Corolla had been hijacked and that…

Thumba Pillay THIS is, in part, a review of a book, the contents of which include the story of a lawyer’s journey during the heydays of apartheid South Africa. This review of Henry Brown’s book, A Lawyer’s Odyssey: Apartheid, Mandela and Beyond, starts with a handwritten letter personally handed to me by Mac Maharaj upon his release after he had served his 12-year sentence on Robben Island, due caution being exercised considering the illegality of its being smuggled out of Robben Island. Its contents were the subject of a case many years later in the 1980s when Nelson Mandela, while still a prisoner on the Island, took on the Minister of Prisons on various matters affecting him personally and many of his fellow prisoners. (The original of that letter,…

Even though Hamas is not going to break the ceasefire at the moment, there is no chance of reaching peace with Israel until justice is served for Palestinians, Mahmoud Zahar, the movement’s co-founder and senior leader, told Sky News. “Peace means justice. No peace without justice,” Zahar said. He also denied that Hamas fired rockets and missiles from populated areas of Gaza and intentionally hit Israeli civilian areas. “This is not against Israeli communities, (it’s) against Israeli occupation. This is against Israeli aggression,” Zahar said. Asked about the possibility of the movement negotiating with Joe Biden, Zahar said that although the American president backed Israel, Hamas was ready for a dialogue with him. The Israel-Gaza conflict escalated on May 10 after several days of violent clashes between the Arab population…

Lagos: Police have repelled an attack on a station in Nigeria’s restive southeast but the gunmen stormed into a nearby election office and set it on fire, a spokesperson said. Southeast Nigeria has seen a surge in violent assaults on security personnel and key government offices since the start of the year, leaving scores of officers dead. “There was an attack on our station in Akwa yesterday but it was repelled by the gallant officers on duty,” Anambra state police spokesman Tochukwu Ikenga said. “Unfortunately, the attackers used a decoy to deceive the police and went to a INEC (election body) office and set part of the building ablaze with explosives.”…

The Springbok brains trust of Rassie Erasmus and Jacques Nienaber would have slept a lot easier on Sunday night after a number of key Springboks completed overseas competitions both intact and in form, while on the domestic front, other senior Boks made positive strides towards producing their best. A month or two back, there were serious concerns that the Boks would be underdone come the first Test against the British and Irish Lions on July 24 because a number of World Cup stars were not playing, and SA Rugby was struggling to arrange warm-up Tests, but there have been positive developments on both these fronts. The Georgians are coming for a two-Test series and vital players such as Handre Pollard, Siya Kolisi and Pieter-Steph du Toit have made encouraging comebacks.…

EDWARD WEST edward.west@inl.co.za THE PRICE of Barloworld’s shares increased 3.15 percent yesterday afternoon after it resumed dividend payments and returned a special dividend of 200 cents per share to shareholders. The international heavy equipment, automotive and food processing group declared an interim dividend of 137c per share, compared with no dividend declared in the first half of last year during the Covid-19 pandemic. This was after a strong balance sheet was maintained in the six months to March 31, and the cash balance was robust at R8.3 billion. Headline earnings per share leapt to 367c per share for the six months to March 31, compared with 70c in the first half last year. Group revenue of R28.6bn was up 6.5 percent, with revenue from continuing operations up…

Edward West edward.west@inl.co.za THE LEASE on the iconic former SAB World of Beer building in Newtown is up for grabs to the highest bidder. Broll Auctions and Sales hopes to attract an investor to secure a 32-year lease for use of a 5 215m² erf, zoned industrial, when the building goes on auction on Thursday. The building has been valued at R27 million. The World of Beer was opened by President Nelson Mandela in 1995 in celebration of SAB’s centenary year. The museum and conference venue helped to rejuvenate tourism in the city centre, hosting almost 50 000 visitors a year, before closing in 2019. The venue is owned by the City of Joburg. Its lease expires on December 31, 2053.…

Dineo Faku dineo.faku@inl.co.za NETCARE, South Africa’s largest healthcare provider, said yesterday that its interim operating profit had suffered a 48.8 percent decline to R915 million during the six months ended March 2021, after incurring higher personal protective equipment (PPE) costs. The group said the increased costs, coupled with the large, fixed component of employee costs against a declining revenue base, had weighed on operating profit. Netcare previously told the market that Covid-19 costs had amounted to R316 million in the first half of 2021. “The majority of these costs relate to PPE, where stringent border controls and significant global demand during the first wave of the pandemic resulted in substantial price increases for several critical stock items,” Netcare said. Netcare said acute hospital patient days reflected a…

Issues of instability in governance, finance and service delivery Vernon Mchunu vernon.mchunu@inl.co.za At least nine KwaZulu-Natal municipalities, were in distress with issues of governance and financial instability, Co-operative Governance and Traditional Affairs (Cogta) MEC Sipho Hlomuka has revealed. This comes in the wake of an independent report that showed the financial state of the province’s local municipalities was on a downward spiral, over a five-year period. With the added economic harm caused by Covid-19 expected to take its toll on municipal financial stability, the devastating impact of this downward trend on citizens is expected to be felt in about a year’s time, according to the latest Municipal Financial Sustainability Index (MFSI). The index analysed performance over the period from 2015 until the end of the 2018/2019 local government fiscal…

FAROUK ARAIE | Gauteng FORMER president Jacob Zuma’s upcoming corruption trial gets murkier by the day, as character assassination, misinformation, disinformation and deception garner media headlines. The latest allegation that former Scorpions boss Leonard McCarthy was a CIA asset, and a close friend and associate of Billy Downer, chief prosecutor, is a deadly exercise in legal deception and political deflection. Many prominent South Africans have been accused of being Western, Russian and Chinese spy agents – they were never unmasked as foreign agents. Accusations have emerged from the dark shadows of the toxic political arena. Not long ago a former deputy minister of defence accused a former public protector of being a CIA agent. Complexity and perplexity abound. Those making these untested claims probably, read Sun Tzu’s book,…

IS THE language being brutalised or made ridiculous by the age of the internet? Take this word “webinar” we keep using. It means a seminar on the web, a Zoom gathering where ideas are exchanged. But is the original Latin meaning of “seminar” not obliterated, meaning a planting of seeds for future growth? What’s wrong with calling it a “web seminar” or a “Zoom seminar”? And does endless repetition of a word or phrase in the wrong sense not begin to distort the language? Take the verb “decimate”. People complain of earnings, profits, funds being “decimated” in the sense of near-total destruction. Actually, it means a decline of 10%, or one in 10. Nothing like what the user means. Will this lead to dictionaries eventually giving alternative and opposite meanings…

GRACE is easier to write about than it is to exercise and embody. But it is essential for healthy living, for the building of strong families, for the well-being of dynamic churches, places of worship and even the prosperity of healthy businesses. Grace unifies, empowers, inspires and makes people free. Grace helps me to overlook what I think is my due, and my right. It assists me to forgive, to turn the page and the other cheek and to move on and let go. Grace empowers me to live with an open hand rather than a clenched fist. When under the motivation of divine grace, I can forgive others, even when forgiveness is not requested. I can write off debts, even offering gifts in place of the repayment of the…

Sakhiseni Nxumalo sakhiseni.nxumalo@inl.co.za THE KwaZulu-Natal Agricultural Union (Kwanalu) has raised concerns about the rise in illegal hunting in the province, especially in farming areas. According to Kwanalu, illegal hunting has become especially rife as punters are betting on it, with significant sums changing hands in many instances. A farm owner in Bergville said they were faced with illegal hunting almost every day, with the youth in nearby communities hunting animals on the farm. According to the farmer, the incidents used to occur only on Sunday mornings, however, the activities are now occurring more frequently. The farmer said youth and adults, accompanied by more than 40 dogs, enter the farm illegally and hunt. He said the issue was not limited to his farm and many farms in the area were affected.…

EThekwini mayor Mxolisi Kaunda convened an urgent meeting with residents living in informal settlements in Reservoir Hills yesterday to quell protests in the area. Kaunda visited the area after residents embarked on a protest yesterday morning and blocked the M19 in both directions. The eThekwini Municipality said the issues raised by the community included the lack of maintenance of public ablution facilities and the installation of electricity in houses that were affected by a fire. Kaunda said he had instructed city officials to urgently attend to the complaints, as they posed a health and safety risk. “We have agreed to convene a follow-up meeting on Sunday, to address other service delivery challenges. We urge members of the public to ensure protests are not violent and do not result in damage…

Q: At China’s initiative, the UN Security Council held an Open Debate on “Peace and Security in Africa: Addressing Root Causes of Conflict in Post-Pandemic Recovery in Africa”, where Africa and China jointly launched the Initiative on Partnership for Africa’s Development. Can you tell us about the main content of the meeting and the initiative, as well as China’s consideration in promoting the initiative? A: During China’s rotating presidency of the Security Council, we took the initiative to convene an Open Debate on “Peace and Security in Africa: Addressing Root Causes of Conflict in Post-Pandemic Recovery in Africa”, and worked to deliver a statement by the president of the Security Council drafted by China. At the meeting, Chinese State Councillor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi put forward a four-point proposal,…

Apia: the first woman to be elected prime minister of Samoa showed up for her swearing-in ceremony yesterday to find her opponents had locked the doors to prevent her from taking office. Fiame Naomi Mata’afa and her supporters pitched a tent on the statehouse lawn, where she took the oath of office instead. The bizarre scenes capped six weeks of election turmoil that escalated into a constitutional crisis at the weekend as Mata’afa’s rival refused to cede power. “This is an illegal takeover of government,” Mata’afa said on Sunday of the efforts to keep her from office. “Because it’s a bloodless coup, people aren’t so concerned or disturbed by it.” The drama in the Pacific nation of 200 000 could have broader geopolitical ramifications. Mata’afa has pledged to stop…

THE HAGUE: A leader of Sudan’s infamous Janjaweed militia personally committed murders in Darfur, prosecutors said yesterday as he became the first to face charges at the International Criminal Court over the conflict. Ali Muhammad Ali Abd-Al-Rahman was in court for a hearing to decide if there is enough evidence for a full trial on 31 charges of war crimes and crimes against humanity. Prosecutors told the court that Abd-Al-Rahman, an ally of deposed Sudanese leader Omar al-Bashir, was an “energetic perpetrator” of murders in the Darfur war. “The evidence shows Mr Abd-Al-Rahman played a crucial role, leading attacks, committing murders and ordering other murders,” ICC chief prosecutor Fatou Bensouda told the court in The Hague. The 70-year-old suspect, who handed himself in last year after more than a decade…

ISTANBUL: Greece has illegally tried to send 81 irregular migrants back to Turkey and mistreated them, the Turkish Ministry of National Defence said yesterday. “81 irregular migrants maltreated and kept without food&water after their stuff were taken, were illegally tried to be deported to Turkey by Greek personnel. The immigrants were saved on the Meriç River where they were [stranded],” the ministry wrote on Twitter. Turkey and Greece have long been at odds over migration. Irregular migrants from Syria, Iraq, Afghanistan and other countries occasionally attempt to enter Greece via Turkey, using the former as an entry point to Europe.…