drains scourge’€¦ · area today tomorrow newcastle 13 | 28 13 | 20 some light rain ulundi 16 |...
TRANSCRIPT
Area Today Tomorrow
Newcastle 13 | 28 13 | 20Some light rain
Ulundi 16 | 24 14 | 22Rain
Ladysmith 14 | 27 13 | 22Some light rain
Richards Bay 19 | 25 18 | 24Rain
Mooi River 12 | 23 11 | 17Some light rain
Pietermaritzburg 14 | 22 12 | 21Rain
Durban 18 | 23 17 | 24Rain
Underberg 9 | 20 6 | 19Some light rain
Kokstad 8 | 20 5 | 19Some light rain
Margate 16 | 21 15 | 21Rain
What’s the weather like?
SUNRISE: 6.03 am | SUNSET: 6.08 pm | HIGH TIDE: 3.36 pm | LOW TIDE: 9.04 am
KZN WEATHER HOTLINE:
083 123 0500SA WEATHER SERVICE
(DURBAN OFFICE):032 436 3820
Fire Brigade: 0800 033 911 Flying Squad: 10111 Crime Stop: 08600 10111 Traffic Mpimpa Hotline: 086 221 1011 Aids Hotline: tollfree 0800 012 322 Gift of the Givers Careline:0800 786 786Alcoholics Anon: 086 143 5722 AlAnon and Alateen: 083 415 1717Famsa PMB: 033 342 4945 Famsa DBN: 031 202 8987Lifeline and rape crisis (24hrs) PMB: 033 394 4444 Lifeline and rape crisis (24hrs) DBN:
031 312 2323Childline: 0800 055 555 Gay & Lesbian Helpline: 086 033 3331 Gamblers Anon PMB: 033 387 5462 Gamblers Anon DBN: 031 463 1616Forest Fires PMB: 0861 KZNFPASafe City report crime via SMS PMB: 083 767 7233911 Control Centre, PMB: 033 391 1911SPCA PMB: 033 386 9267 SPCA DBN: 031 579 6500
NSRI: 031 361 8567
MSUNDUZI MUNICIPALITYCall Centre: 0800 001 868 Water: 033 392 2128 Electricity: 033 392 5098/ 5096/5029 Afterhours number: 033 392 5098 Traffic lights: 033 392 2205 Roads damage: 033 392 2047, 033 392 2059 EMERGENCY CHEMISTS
Scottsville: 033 386 1029 Central: 033 342 1200/033 346 0550Northdale: 033 387 1681
IN AN EMERGENCY
10111AMBULANCE
10177
FIRST QUARTER: April 14FULL MOON: March 23 LAST QUARTER: March 31NEW MOON: April 7
MOON
Albert Falls Dam36%
Inanda Dam80%
Mearns Dam103%
Midmar Dam46%
Spring Grove87%
Hazelmere Dam38%
Information suppliedby Umgeni Water.
DAM LEVELS
LOTTO
5 9 31 40 42 48 + 17LOTTO PLUS
10 19 24 40 46 47 + 14
POWERBALL
14 17 26 32 33 + 14POWERBALL PLUS
1 17 30 34 37 + 20
homeGUIDE
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Tel: PMB 033 355 1248.(NB: The Home Guide will be published daily if space permits)
AwningsWeather Wise033 345 4214BlindsBest Blinds033 342 1085Venetian BlindCentre033 394 1941Micor Blinds033 346 0286Board, Timber,Hardware, Cutting andEdging, DIY, BuildingCity Board and Timber033 342 4393033 342 4395WoodWorx033 394 1094Installion ProductsMaverick Trading039 976 0065FencingSharp Gate and Fence033 394 4184
Floor SandingA.G. Hall033 342 3284Daniels Flooring033 397 00664FurniturePower Furniture033 345 7830Garage Door ServicesGarage Door Supplies033 394 5585Gas Appliances andInstallationA.A. Gas033 330 2717A M Gas033 387 6510Hiring ServiceGeorges Hiring033 387 3205PaintsNatal AssociatedAgencies033 394 1233
Pest EradicationInspect-A-Pest033 345 5156,084 507 1999Pool Pumps/FiltersMcBean’s033 342 1541Plumbing SuppliesOn Tap033 394 0870Security DoorsTrellidor033 345 4214Xpanda033 394 5585Windows and DoorsWindow and DoorSpecialist033 394 6541Plant HireScotty’s033 386 1614031 700 8000
TheWitness
SABELO NSELE
DEPUTY Finance Minister Mcebisi Jonas, who visited Pietermaritzburg atthe weekend, has dared South Africansto fight the scourge of “state captureby few companies”.
Jonas recently confirmed that he isone of the people who were approachedby the Gupta family, when the controversial family allegedly shopped for aFinance minister prior to the firing ofthe then minister Nhlanhla Nene.
Speaking at a business breakfast organised by Morar Incorporated in Pietermaritzburg at the weekend, Jonassaid history will judge South Africansif they do not stand up against thescourge.
Jonas said only a few companies arebenefiting from state procurementprocesses.
“The thing is we need to drive societyto a point where we are open aboutthese things. We need to be blunt andopen about these things.”
Jonas said his friend from a countryhe would not mention once applied fora chief executive officer position in arailway agency although he did not haveeither qualifications nor technicalknowhow.
Upon confronting his friend about
his lack of qualifications, he had replied:“In this country we do not work ontechnical knowhow, but we work ontechnical knowwho,” said Jonas.
“He eventually got the job. Withinsix months of getting that job, thatthing was run to the ground.
“We should not reach a point wheretechnical knowwho determineswhether you get a business permit orlicence to mine,” he said.
Jonas said it is for the common goodof the country that citizens become vocal about these things.
“Society must deal with thesethings. We have a country that has avery rich history in terms of where weare coming from where we foughtagainst these tendencies.
“Every objective that we think aboutwill be undermined by our failure tostand up against these things,” he said.
‘Fight the scourge’State controlled by few firms, says Jonas
MOST stateowned enterprises andpublic entities are not worth thetrouble, Deputy Minister of FinanceMcebisi Jonas has said.
“We have so many public entitiesand stateowned enterprises. Someof them have reached their sellbydate and some are duplicating whatgovernment departments are doing,”he said.
Jonas said most stateowned enterprises were not proving to be valuefor money for government.
State guarantees in respect of theirborrowing was sitting at probablyaround R460 billion.
“Some of them have borrowingprogrammes that are robust. You cansee that they are driven by borrowing
further effectively,” he said.If the entities default on payment
arrangements, it comes back tohaunt the state, he said.
Although they are stateowned orcontrolled, only the private sector isbenefiting from these entities, hesaid.
“Where do they borrow? They goto financial markets and the privatesector anyway. If you look at their financial expenditure, you then askyourself the question, who deliversthese programmes? Again it is the private sector.
“Then you ask yourself where is thestate control? All risks are sitting withstate and the private sector is sittingwith upside,” he said.
JANET HEARD
THERE was no special relationship between the Guptaowned New Age andthe Government Communications andInformation System (GCIS), its actingdirectorgeneral Donald Liphoko insisted yesterday.
And the R10,199 million government adspend in the New Age last yearwas money well spent, he said.
The GCIS is at the centre of bombshell claims by its former head, ThembaMaseko, that President Jacob Zumahad called him to ensure that he metthe Gupta brothers ahead of the launchof the newspaper in 2010. In the meeting, the Guptas asked for lucrative government advertising to be channelledto the newspaper, the Sunday Timesquotes Maseko as saying. Maseko, whorefused to oblige, was removed from hispost a year later.
The Guptas have rubbished theclaims.
Contacted yesterday about whetherthe Guptas were applying pressure onGCIS, Liphoko said he had never metthe Guptas: “I have no personal relationship with the Guptas, they are normal media clients. The New Age is oneof many publications that GCIS buysmedia space from in the course of ourbusiness. There is nothing hiddenabout it and it is disclosed in parliament.”
Liphoko, who is also the acting chiefaccounting officer, would not comment on Maseko’s specific allegationsabout his meeting with the Guptas ashe had only joined GCIS two years ago.
Liphoko’s comments concur with areply from Communications MinisterFaith Muthambi, who said that no directive was received to spend moremoney on the New Age than othernewspapers.
But the DA’s Phumzile van Dammesaid yesterday that Maseko’s revelations contradicted these comments.
The DA would submit further questions to the minister “and demand thatshe comes clean” about the Guptas.
The party has consistently raisedconcerns about what it said was a disproportionate amount spent on theNew Age. For instance, almost the sameamount was spent on the Sowetan lastyear, even though the latter had1 674 000 readers compared with theNew Age’s 153 000, according to theAMP’s figures.
The DA has also asked Public Protector Thuli Madonsela to include Maseko’s revelations in her broader investigation into state capture amid deputyFinance Minister Mcebisi Jonas’s confirmation last week that the Guptas hadoffered him the job of finance minister.
The New Age dismissed the allegations by Maseko last night, saying theywere “unfounded” and “part of an ongoing coordinated campaign”, withonly 1,8% of government spend goingto the paper in 2010/2011.
‘New Age’ denies claims of govt support
RESHUFFLE REPORT ‘UNTRUE’JOHANNESBURG — The Presidency refuted a newspaper report yesterday that Jacob Zuma will reshuffle his cabinet — but did not clarify the position of Deputy Finance Minister Mcebisi Jonas.
“The report is mischievous and isclearly designed to sow divisions, uncertainty and confusion,” said presidential spokesperson Bongani Majola yesterday in response to a Sunday Independent article.
“The Presidency wishes to refute the story.”
The story claimed that Trade andIndustry Minister Rob Davies, Higher Education Minister Blade Nzimade, Minister in the Presidency Jeff Radebe, Economic Development’s Ebraham Patel and Deputy Finance Minister Mcebisi Jonas were allegedly under threat from a possible reshuffle.
MP S’fiso Buthelezi was touted inthe article as allegedly being a replacement for Davies should he be removed from his position.
The Presidency’s statement namedRadebe, Patel, Davis and Nzimande as those whose reported removal it refuted. No mention was made of the fate of Jonas. — News24.
‘ARREST ZUMA, GUPTAS’ — COPECOPE has described revelations by a former government official, who alleges President Jacob Zuma directly tried to aid the Gupta family secure millions in state business, as more reason “to arrest them”.
The Sunday Times reported that Themba Maseko, a former top aide, claimed Zuma had given him instructions to assist the Guptas.
Cope spokesperson Dennis Bloemsaid that the party would submit questions to Zuma and ask for a record of his telephone calls.
“Cope will submit a parliamentaryquestion to request a record of Mr Zuma’s telephone calls for the last part of 2010. Alternatively, should he refuse, we shall submit an application in terms of the PAIA Act [Promotion of Access to Information Act] to get this information,” he said.
Cope laid criminal charges of corruption and treason against Zuma and the Guptas at the Brooklyn Police Station last week.
This came after Deputy Finance Minister Mcebisi Jonas and former ANC MP Vytjie Mentor lifted the lid on the purported extent of the Gupta influence. — News24.
MORE QUESTIONS ON GOV’T ADS THE DA has called on Public Protector Thuli Madonsela to extend her investigation into President Jacob Zuma and the socalled “Guptagate scandal” to include revelations by former Government Communication and Information System head Themba Maseko.
This follows reports that Maseko was called by Zuma, prior to a meeting with the Guptas in Saxonwold, Johannesburg, and asked to “help them”.
At the meeting it is alleged that Ajay Gupta wanted government advertising to be channelled to the New Age newspaper.
It is alleged that Gupta told Maseko: “I’m not asking you, I’m telling you.”
DA communications spokespersonPhumzile van Damme said this latest information glaringly contradicts a reply received from the minister of Communications.
Van Damme said she will submitfurther questions to the mininster about meetings with respect to the New Age and any other minister.
— News24.
CHELSEA PIETERSE
GREY’S Hospital opened its new stateoftheart neonatal ICU unit on Friday,boasting isolation units, specialist careand “Kangaroo” mother care wards.
Excited Grey’s staff gathered aroundchief neonatologist Dr Graham Ducasse,KwazuluNatal Health Department headDr Lindiwe Simelane and Grey’s CEODr Ben Bilenge as they opened the doorsto the new unit.
The neonatal ICU holds 35 beds forcritically ill newborns with ventilatorsand continuous positive airway pressure(CPAP) machines.
Besides Chief Albert Luthuli Hospital,it is the only hospital equipped to perform surgery on babies in KwaZuluNatal.
Grey’s Hospital, as a specialist hospital, serves the west of KZN, with 18 hospitals referring their most critical newborns to Greys.
The new NICU, termed “very exciting” by Grey’s Hospital staff is equippedto look after the most critical babieswhile offering Kangaroo mother carewhich sees the mother involved in thecare of the baby while he/she is in NICU.
Ducasse said the hospital’s nurserywas largely run by private practitionersuntil it was made public in the midnineties.
Ducasse said the need for a bigger nursery and ICU grew as more patients werereferred to the hospital’s specialists.
Proposals for a bigger nursery and
ICU unit were rejected in the 2000s dueto the need to build up other hospitals.
Eventually his “wishes were granted”and the NICU was opened in December2014, with the Kangaroo mother careunit opened in November 2015, said Ducasse.
The NICU was officially opened as acomplete unit on Friday, with babies already filling some of the beds with nurses tending to them while their motherswere seated next to them.
“The unit is amazing. However, there
are not enough nurses. There are 35 bedsin the unit, but only 24 are being usedbecause there are not enough nursingstaff for the other nine,” Ducasse said.
He said besides the staff shortage, theunit was “awesome” and he was “extremely proud” of it.
KZN Health Department head Dr Lindiwe Simelane said the unit is “fantastic” and well thought out.
“The unit was really needed. It haswelltrained staff and a great team. It isreally fantastic,” she said.
KAILENE PILLAY
RESIDENTS and ward councillorshave lashed out at Msunduzi Municipality, saying the damage caused bythe freak storm last week could havebeen less severe if drains were cleanedout regularly.
Wednesday’s freak storm that resulted in flooding of roads and houseswreaked havoc through the city especially in the northern suburbs and thecity centre.
Although the city cannot be heldliable for natural disasters, some residents and councillors said the severity of the damage could have beenavoided.
“I have tried to get the municipality for months to clean the drains.With debris and garbage clogging thedrains, it makes for a worse situationwhen heavy rain comes down,” saida Northdale ward councillor Rooksana Ahmed.
Ahmed said she specifically mentioned Raisethorpe and Mysore Roadas needing drainage as “even theslightest rain can flood the streetsthere”.
“Once again the municipality hasfailed ratepayers due to ailing infrastructure,” added Ahmed.
Social media was abuzz last weekwith pictures of roads such as Allandale Drive and Greyling Street flooded after the heavy downpour. Picturesof vehicles struggling to get throughthe flooded roads were shared all oversocial media.
A business owner from AllandaleDrive, who did not want to be named,said the drains on the side of the roadare constantly blocked with rubbishand debris from previous storms.
“It is always a concern that whenthe drains are blocked the water willoverflow into our shops. The drainsjust need to be maintained and all theworries can end,” said the businessowner.
Msunduzi Municipality actingspokesperson Nqobile Madonda saidthe city experienced “flash floods”that were not caused by doings, orlack thereof, of the municipality.
“South African Weather Serviceshad issued prior warnings about theflash floods. Storm water draincleaning is done as part of themaintenance plan and programmethat the drainage section has,” saidMadonda. • [email protected]
SABELO NSELE
IF you were thinking about submitting a proposal for sponsorship to theKZN Department of Economic Development, Tourism and Environment, you can forget about it.
A firm MEC Mike Mabuyakhuluon Friday told the finance committeethat there is no way the departmentcan sponsor events.
The department’s budget was cutto the bone during the provincialbudget, by more than R40 million,which is the biggest cut experiencedby any provincial department.
Mabuyakhulu said he had foreseenthe situation about two years ago.
“Members of this house would remember that about two years ago, Iraised in the budget speech the needfor us to introduce a tariff that wouldallow us to have a war chest in dealingwith events.
“Now it has caught up with us.There was a lot of brouhaha aroundthat matter. The reality is that if wehad been able to implement, wewould now be in good position to dealwith it,” he said.
Lying ahead is a difficult task forthe department to review the variousentities under its authority and lookat a possibility of merging some.
This is a directive that came fromthe national government as they look
at cutting costs.Mabuyakhulu said comprehensive
work has been done in dealing withthe matter, but said no job losses willfollow. “I can say that the proposalat the moment does actually lead towards rationalisation and reducing ofpublic entities,” he said.
The MEC, however, said the proposal is not final yet.
He said should it come to rationalising and reducing of entities, no jobswill be lost.
“We will deal with these mattersfrom a rational, sober approach … Weare handling the matter in a responsible manner and there is no reason foranyone to panic.”
Mabuyakhulu refuted claims thatboard members of the entities underhis department were earning salariesthat are far higher than the norm.
“Whoever has said this thing, isspeaking from ignorance,” he said.
Mabuyakhula said national legislation determines the salaries of boardmembers.
MPL Gugu SimelaneZulu hadasked the question, saying the committee had been briefed by the provincial Treasury on the matter.
The committee concluded thatprovincial Treasury needed topresent the report on the claims sothat the issue can be put to bed.• [email protected]
Cashstrapped KZN dept ‘cannot sponsor events’
‘Blocked drains worsened damage’
Grey’s ‘exciting’ new neonatal ICU opened
Grey’s Hospital assistant nurse manager Roshnie Ramnund (left), operational manager sister Yashike Umichand, Grey’s clinical head neonatologist Dr Graham Ducasse, KZN Health Department head Dr Lindiwe Simelane and Grey’s CEO Dr Ben Bilenge at Friday’s opening. PHOTO: CHELSEA PIETERSE
Miss South Africa 2016 crownedNtandoyenkosi Kunene (centre), from Mpumalanga, was crowned Miss South Africa 2016 on Saturday evening. Runnersup are Elizabeth Molapo (left) from the Free State (first princess) and Tayla Skye Robinson from Gauteng (second princess).PHOTO: SUPPLIED