Table of contents for 2022-05-04 in Post

RAJESH Singh is one of thousands of people who have applied for an RDP home or council flat but remain on a waiting list. Singh applied for a council flat with the Department of Human Settlements and the eThekwini Municipality in 1989. At that time, he worked as a delivery man. He now works in the returns department at a media company. “Thirty-three years have passed and I am still waiting,” said Singh. He lives with his wife and daughters, aged 32 and 27, in a rented home in Unit 5, Chatsworth. “I have always been the sole breadwinner. My earnings have never been enough to buy a home. I am currently renting at a relative’s home and he has been kind enough to keep the rent affordable.” Singh said…

THE Muslim Judicial Council of South Africa has welcomed the City of Cape Town’s decision that noise nuisance by-laws do not apply to places of worship with the appropriate zoning. In a statement, the city said that it had updated its Standard Operating Procedure on noise-related complaints. This was to ensure the handling of matters related to places of worship are done with sensitivity and dignity under provincial regulations and not as a noise nuisance under the by-law. “The updated Standard Operating Procedure makes it clear that should noise complaints relate to a place of worship with appropriate zoning, the noise nuisances section of the streets’ by-law does not apply and is not the correct or applicable legislation in this instance. “The Constitution enables all citizens to enjoy freedoms, including…

THE government needs to introduce further reforms to improve doing business in South Africa, or risk being out of valuable skills and competition. I noticed recent positive developments in the electricity sector that will allow private sector organisations to produce some of the power. The move to the auction spectrum is key to positioning South Africa in a digitalised global economy. These are encouraging signs. However, there is still work to be done. This includes unlocking the full potential of our tourism market by making it easier for tourists to access visas to visit. If South Africa is to grow and prosper and our companies are to be globally competitive, we need access to scarce talent. South Africa still faces challenges with its state-owned entities such as Eskom and Transnet.…

ETHEKWINI plans to be the most caring and liveable city in Africa by the year 2030. In case our leaders have not realised, that gives them about eight years to meet their goals. But deadlines don’t seem to matter much in our city. For example, take the project the city started about four years ago to improve traffic flow along Sea Cow Lake/Inanda Road. The project was supposed to have been completed within a year but, before much progress could be made, construction stopped. Today, the road, which runs through an economic hub, is worse than it was before. Nobody can say when the project will restart or when it will be finished. For now, everyone goes about their business as best they can. But it won’t be long before…

A FORMER general in the Afghan army says he, other soldiers and politicians from the previous administration are preparing to launch a new war against the incumbent Taliban regime in the country. Speaking for the first time about the plans, Lieutenant-General Sami Sadat said that eight months of Taliban rule had convinced many Afghans that military action was the only way forward. He said operations could begin this month, when he planned to return to Afghanistan. The Taliban took control of the country in a rapid offensive last August. They swept across the country in just 10 days, as the last US-led Nato forces left following a 20-year military campaign. Sadat said he and the others would do anything and everything in their power to make sure Afghanistan was freed…

Five years have passed and traffic cameras in the eThekwini Municipality remain non-operational. This means that motorists who speed and those who drive through red traffic lights are not being fined. The traffic cameras are not working owing to a legal battle between the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) and the service provider. The NPA is the only body that can grant permission to the service provider to position its traffic-monitoring equipment. It is alleged that the NPA had suspended the service provider’s contract due to alleged irregularities in the contract. So far the municipality has lost more than R600 million in revenue. Political parties have accused the municipality and the NPA of not taking the matter seriously and putting people’s lives at risk. Chris van den Berg, who sits on…

A Pietermaritzburg couple attribute the success of their six-decade union to prayer, love and communication. Krishnaswami Pillay, 83, and his wife, Vinothakumari, 79, of Northdale, celebrated their diamond anniversary on April 8, with a family dinner at their home. “We have been blessed to spend 60 years together and we pray for many more,” said Pillay. He previously lived in Loop Street in central Pietermaritzburg and Vinothakumari was his neighbour. They were members of the Divine Life Society and he attended weekly prayer services at her home. “I found her to be beautiful. She wore a new dress every time and her hair was styled in a beehive. I fell in love with her because of her good heart and kindness.” Vinothakumari, who was a dressmaker, said: “Krishna was…

IT WILL forever remain difficult, actually, near impossible, for African liberals to contest and prevail in elections, especially at local level. Political campaigns at municipal level are grounded on blatant lies and false promises. Self-righteous candidates, usually aspiring politicians with no known record of civil society activism, would say things like: “If you vote for me, I will build clinics and roads for you, and, God willing, turn our ward into a small heaven.” The tragedy is that it is not uncommon to see gullible citizens repeatedly falling into this deadly electoral illusion, year after year. Government as it is configured today ought not be trusted. How a gathering of 1 200 councillors, 220 members of Parliament, and 32 Cabinet ministers is designed to achieve anything, let alone do anything…

WHILE KwaZulu-Natal suffers in the aftermath of the recent floods, the patience of some residents who do not have access to water is dwindling. Since the floods, certain municipalities have been working around the clock with no success, leaving some communities abandoned and scrambling for water. This has resulted in violence as people waged a war to secure the fading drops of water. Even the water tankers were giving preferential treatment to some residents. This has exposed our dependency on municipalities that cannot meet the basic needs of our society. The shortage of water has exposed how much more resourceful we need to become. It has been a hard lesson to learn but it taught us that for the future we need to save. The dilemma for most of us…

An open letter to the eThekwini Municiplaity DEAR eThekwini Municipality Today (Tuesday, May 3), the community of Tongaat has gone without water for 22 days. You should be embarrassed at your inability to provide effective, alternate water solutions to this town during this post-storm crisis. The city’s municipal water tankers have been a failure. There is a lot of talk about them, but there have been few in sight. You need to be reminded that this community consists of many old, frail people and others who do not own vehicles to fetch water. Their reality is to wait and wait and wait for the water tankers to pitch. Sometimes that’s in vain for days on end. Many homes are incurring huge costs trying to secure JoJo tankers and water flow…

TEACHER unions want the infrastructure at schools to be inspected and assessed after the floods caused widespread damage. Basil Manuel, the executive director of the National Association of Professional Teachers of SA (Naptosa), said: “Due to the floods, thousands of pupils have lost valuable teaching and learning time. "We have called on the department to implement emergency plans to provide temporary classrooms, water and ablution facilities, as needed, to the damaged schools. “The death of pupils and education staff members, the general devastation and the damage to schools would have psychologically affected other learners and staff of the schools involved. “The deployment of psycho-social services to these schools was crucial. So it is heartening to learn that the provincial Education Department has already put the necessary wheels in motion to…

THE rock and surf fishing up north has been a mix of results. The edibles have been the most consistent fish to target. The pompano and kob have been the two main targets. The river mouths have been the best spots for both of these. Smaller chokka and prawn baits on a longer hook snood will be the best bet for the pompano. The kob are not as fussy but add some floatation and movement to the bait to get their attention. The main spots have been the Tongaat River mouth and the Tugela River mouth. The Durban coast has seen good fishing with most of the action in the basin area which is roughly from the beach in front of Addington Hospital up to the North Pier. This calm…

sharron duff ARIES (March 21 – April 19) Things may feel overwhelming at the moment but hang in there. Take a step back and try not to over think a situation. This feels to be more emotional than physical, so try and gain some perspective before you make a decision. Lucky colour: red. TAURUS (April 20 – May 20) If things feel rocky right now, take a step back and think with your head, not with your heart. Support is around you, especially from a male figure. Balance is important so focus on managing your work and rest better. Lucky colour: orange. GEMINI (May 21 – June 20) You need to take control of a situation in order to make it work. This may be on behalf of someone else…

Property experts say that the recent floods will have a long-term negative effect on property prices in KwaZulu- Natal. Andrea Tucker, director of MortgageMe, said: “Tragedies like this are long-remembered, and this makes people nervous to invest in areas where there is so much uncertainty of when another tragedy like that would hit.” Tucker, whose company helps people get the best deal on home loans, said people did not only associate KZN with the floods but also with the unrest in July last year. As a result, property values were likely to decline in those areas most affected. According to her, potential buyers were likely to adopt a wait-and-see approach. Her advice was to not act impulsively. “Making a short-term decision to sell might have longer-lasting implications, like the loss…

Thousands of loudspeakers have been taken down in India as the anti-loudspeaker campaign, specifically targeting places of worship, continued this week. In many places, police were on alert to avert problems that could mar the celebration of Eid. In a tit-for-tat showdown, Hindus have warned Muslims that if they do not take down their loudspeakers or dim the sound of the Adhan, the Muslim call to prayer, then they would fight back by playing the Hanuman Chalisa through loudspeakers. In July 2005, the Supreme Court banned the use of loudspeakers and music systems in public places between 10pm and 6am, except in cases of public emergencies. At the time it said the continuous noise was detrimental to the citizens’ health. However, the push to enforce the Supreme Court order was…

PROFESSOR Morgan Chetty, the head of the KZN Doctors Healthcare Coalition, has been recognised internationally for his contribution to health care in Durban. Last Saturday, the 76-year-old doctor from uMhlanga received a Lifetime Achievement Award at Zenith Global Health’s Africa Healthcare Awards and Summit in Lusaka, Zambia. According to its website, Zenith Global Health is a company established for shared learning, training and mentoring. The awards recognise, showcase and celebrate health care professionals who have excelled in their area of speciality through management, patient care, education, research and innovation. Chetty, who provided free co-ordinated medical support to thousands of Covid-19 patients during the pandemic, said the award was unexpected and an honour. “This was recognition for my contribution to health care in South Africa and throughout the Health Federation in…

Flooding, looting, death and polluting, Load shedding, riots, corruption and shooting. Houses, flats, beaches and trees, All resulting in terrible debris. The fear, the hope, the ability to survive, Washed away in seconds like the tears in our eyes. Hearts torn apart, which were ripped to pieces, The loss of loved ones, brothers, mothers, nephews and nieces. Sisters, families, broken in despair, Communities doing their best to show that they care. The power of Mother Nature, come storm or flood, Will not overpower the power of love. Here we stand strong, trying to live long, Trying to right our wrongs and all get along. We may have seen movies about the end of days, Where places of living and places of work are washed away. When it happens in reality,…

FACED with declining membership, inter-union rivalry and radical changes in the nature of work, trade unions need to question their own relevance and revitalise themselves or face becoming irrelevant. Trade unions played a key role in the Struggle for democracy and worker rights in South Africa, but only 23% of the country’s economically active population now belong to a union, down from 34% in 2016. With the younger, post-1994 generation of workers not convinced of the value of union membership, and older members losing trust in unions, Workers’ Day on May 1 was an apt time to consider how trade unions could ensure they remained relevant and adapt to the changing future of work. Just as the future of work is uncertain, so is the future of trade unions. In…

SRI LANKA came to a near standstill recently when more than 1 000 government and private sector trade unions, representing almost all sectors from transportation to banking, went on strike. They are demanding the government’s resignation. Trade union members, who protested in front of their places of employment, then marched to the president’s office. “We have given the government until May 6 to resign and if the government does not listen to the people, we will have to have a hartal (strike) on May 6,” said Ravi Kumudesh of the Collective of Trade Unions and Mass Organisations. “If the government is not willing to leave, we will have to kick them out,” said Joseph Stalin, the general secretary of the Ceylon Teachers’ Union. Trade unions have demanded that action would…

SEVERAL parts of India, including the national capital, were reeling under an intense summer heatwave which could lead to health issues, experts said. They said the extreme temperatures could trigger stress conditions such as heatstroke, as well as cardiovascular and respiratory disorders. “Delhi is experiencing a heatwave right now, and it could create various kinds of problems,” said Dr Rohan Krishnan of ESI Hospital. He said that three categories of people were more prone to get affected. “Firstly, young adults and children below the age of 13 because of the loss of fluid in the body. “Secondly, elderly people, 60-plus, due to the hormonal secretions, which has to occur to counteract the heat. “Thirdly, those people with multiple comorbidities, who are under medication, or cancer patients.” The highest maximum temperature…

In its 15 years of existence, the Indian Premier League (IPL) has witnessed many a player coming from wilderness to make a name for themselves. Kolkata Knight Riders’ Rinku Singh, pictured, became the latest entrant in this list after he scored an unbeaten 42 off 23 balls, hitting six fours and a six to help KKR win by seven wickets. Rinku raised 66 runs for the unfinished fourth-wicket partnership with Nitish Rana (48 off 37, 4 x 3, 6 x 2) as Kolkata Knight Riders reached 158/3 in 19.1 overs to overhaul Rajasthan Royals’ score of 152/5 in 20 overs. For his superb batting and two catches, Rinku was adjudged the ʹPlayer of the Match’, his first award in the IPL, bringing to life a remarkable journey for the 24-year-old…

Ralf Rangnick, interim manager of Manchester United, has written a final note to the players, saying that “this is not the fall of Manchester United”. United are preparing to face Brentford in the last Old Trafford fixture of a challenging season, which will conclude with consecutive away games at Brighton and Crystal Palace. Rangnick took charge on an interim basis following November’s departure of Ole Gunnar Solskjaer and it has now been confirmed that Erik ten Hag will become Manchester United’s new permanent boss, at the end of the campaign. Rangnick will remain at United as a consultant and the German is optimistic about the future, writing in United Review that the club can ʹmake some big steps’ if authorities have ʹclarity in their actions’. “This season has clearly been…

OWN Correspondent More than 300 budding soccer stars will showcase their talent in the Star College’s annual soccer tournament at its Westville North headquarters on May 20 and 21. This annual event, to take place at the school grounds in Kinloch Avenue, is for the under 11 and 13 divisions and draws youngsters from all communities who are keen to show their talent. Footballers from all parts of the country will take part, including teams from Malawi and Mozambique for the first time. Participating colleges include Star College from Pretoria, Nizamiya from Midrand and Mayfair from Gauteng, Star colleges from Bridgetown and Sybrand Park from Cape Town and Nzamiye from Port Elizabeth. This is one of the highlights in the college’s sporting calendar. On May 21 there will be a…