Asia-pacific

Bheki Zondi, 32, pulls out his catch at the Father Albert Hanon Dam in Inchanga. Image: SANDILE NDLOVU/TimesLIVE Not far from the Valley of 1,000 Hills in KwaZulu-Natal lies a calm and clear dam that goes unnoticed by almost everyone — except the surrounding rural community who rely so heavily on it. The dam offers a literal lifeline for many. Community members line up on the banks of the dam with small hooks attached to a piece of fishing line. Earthworms are hung on the hooks to attract hungry fish. That is all they need. The water is so calm and clear that the reflections of the fishermen rest on its surface while they wait for the bait to be taken. “Ngawubamba, ngawubamba [I caught it, I caught it]”, shouts Bhekisisa Zondi, 32. He’s smiling widely, having made the catch on his...

Nolubabalo Koni says her electricity supply has been blocked because of an unpaid water bill of more than R63,000 which she disputes. Image: Mkhuseli Sizani / GroundUp bout 500 households in Missionvale in Nelson Mandela Bay have had their electricity supply blocked because the municipality says their water bills have not been paid. But the families said they have never run up bills of up to R63,000. Resident Nolubabalo Koni told GroundUp: “On November 10 I went to the shop to buy electricity but I couldn’t get it because my electricity account was blocked. The following day my husband went to city treasury. He was told he owes the municipality more than R63,300 for water and he must pay R6,000 to unblock our electricity account. “They said according to their records, our water met...

The Council for Traditional Leaders is blaming Cogta deputy minister Obed Bapela for banning traditional initiation ceremonies over Covid-19. Image: DAILY DISPATCH Tension is brewing between co-operative governance deputy minister Obed Bapela and the Congress of traditional Leaders of SA (Contralesa) over the traditional summer initiation season. The situation escalated on Tuesday to the point where Contralesa called on President Cyril Ramaphosa to fire Bapela, saying he had no regard for protocol, procedure, process and legality. On Monday, Cogta issued a statement saying the traditional initiation practices remain officially suspended in a bid to contain Covid-19. “Since alert level 5 to alert level 1, the country remains in consensus and united that the need to save lives is sac...

The N12, near the Etwatwa off-ramp, has been closed to traffic after two trucks were set alight this morning. The N12 highway between Kingsway and Holfontein has been closed to traffic as police attend to a crime scene in which two trucks were set alight on Wednesday morning. Ekurhuleni metro police department spokesperson Chief Supt Kobeli Mokheseng said members from the traffic department were also at the scene controlling traffic. "We can confirm two trucks were set alight on the N12. We have closed a portion of the road to allow police to conduct their investigations." He said the highway would be closed until further notice. It is understood the trucks had been torched before 6am near the Etwatwa off-ramp. This latest incident forms part of a national truck protest in...

Mandla Gcaba wants to retain control of Durban's buses. Image: Thembinkosi Dwayisa Powerful KwaZulu-Natal taxi boss Mandla Gcaba is locked in litigation with eThekwini municipality in a bid to maintain his stranglehold on transport in Durban and control over the bus service which, through his company Tansnat, he has run for more than a decade. The city wants to create a new entity to run the service and has put out a tender as part of the process, but Gcaba, who also owns the lion's share of the taxi business in parts of KwaZulu-Natal, has gone to court to block the municipality. Gcaba, who is Jacob Zuma's nephew, first brought an urgent court application for the review of the city's decision to issue the tender - which was struck off the roll in February when the judge ruled it w...

Duduzane Zuma's love life has started to make \headlines. File photo. Image: ALON SKUY Duduzane Zuma, son of former president Jacob Zuma, has set the record straight about his relationship with DJ and former Generations: The Legacy actress, Thuli Phongolo, saying the pair had never met. Rumours flooded the streets that the pair were dating after Thuli apparently posted a now-deleted picture of a man whose face was not shown and who has the same tattoo as Duduzane. In a recent interview with Mac-G, Duduzane denied knowing Thuli, saying he is used to rumours being spread about him. “She's a beautiful young lady and I've only heard of her now. She's doing her thing and all the best for whatever it is that she's doing. I only wish her the best, but I do not know her, that's point num...

Humanitarian aid workers in Nigeria say that food prices have soared because of the COVID-19 pandemic, and the cost is driving hunger in parts of the country that can ill afford yet another challenge. “Everywhere we work the food prices have gone up, in some places they doubled. It means that millions of people in the northeast of Nigeria do not have enough to eat,” said Ruth Mwakiuna Muriungi, an economic security programs coordinator for the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC). The ICRC says severe malnutrition in children is up by 10 percent compared with the same time last year, while the number of children receiving aid overall is up 20 percent. “What we are seeing now is just the tip of an iceberg, and we are very concerned by the trend, especially in Maiduguri,” said Tho...

Photo credit: Olga Ernst via Wikimedia Commons A senior court official at Pongola in KwaZulu-Natal in one of two people arrested in connection with stock theft in the Vryheid area on Friday. The official, together with a co-accused arrested at the same time, will now appear in familiar surroundings at the Vryheid Magistrate’s Court on Monday to face charges of stock theft, cruelty to animals, defeating the ends of justice and possession of a dangerous weapon. A vehicle belonging to the official has also been seized since it was allegedly being used in the commission of a crime. Police spokesperson, Colonel Thembeka Mbele, said members of the Stock Theft Task Team were alerted about illegal slaughtering of cows on a farm at Brakfontein and rushed to the area. CARCASSES OF FIVE COWS F...

Finance Minister Tito Mboweni delivers his 2018 Medium Term Budget Policy Statement in parliament. Image: Flickr South Africa is heading Argentina’s way on the fiscal front if “serious measures” are not taken to rein in spending,bring down its debt and “to close the mouth of the hippopotamus,” Finance Minister Tito Mboweni has warned. Speaking during a Stellenbosch University webinar marking the centenary of the institution’s economics department Friday, Mboweni stressed that tough decisions lay ahead for South Africa, otherwise the country would “head Argentina’s way” in a few years. The stark warning Mboweni comes ahead of his Medium-Term Budget Speech, set for October 21, which will map out the country’s expenditure plans for the next three years. South Africa’s finance minister s...