SOUTH AFRICA

Top hospitals in public sector ailing from neglect

Charlotte Maxeke Academic Hospital will open partially on Monday, this follows a devastating fire in April. Picture: Itumeleng English/African News Agency(ANA)


By Opinion Jul 10, 2021
Professor Daynia Ballot

A fire at one of the biggest public hospitals in Johannesburg, the Charlotte Maxeke Johannesburg Academic Hospital, and the delay in reopening the facility has brought infrastructural issues into sharp focus. The fire broke out in mid-April. Only now is a phased reopening of the hospital being undertaken.

Reopening was delayed due to fire safety issues. A host of compliance measures weren’t in place. These included fire hydrants without a water supply, fire hydrants without correct couplings, non-functional fire doors and a lack of emergency lighting in the stairwells. These deficiencies had been long-standing.

I am extremely familiar with conditions on the ground in hospitals in the area. I interact daily with doctors and students in the different academic hospitals on the circuit of the University of the Witwatersrand. These include the Charlotte Maxeke Johannesburg Academic Hospital, Chris Hani Baragwanath Academic Hospital, Helen Joseph Hospital and Rahima Moosa Mother and Child Hospital. I also visit different institutions in the region.

I completed both my undergraduate and postgraduate training at these hospitals and worked for more than 30 years in the neonatal-paediatric intensive care unit and neonatal unit at Charlotte Maxeke Johannesburg Academic Hospital.

During this time I’ve observed many changes in the healthcare sector in general, and in these hospitals in particular.

South Africa’s healthcare system compares favourably on a global level. Both the medical schools of the University of the Witwatersrand and the University of Cape Town are ranked in the top 100 in the world. Over the years, the region has produced many eminent healthcare workers. And the country is quite capable of delivering world-class healthcare to all its citizens.

But this is constantly being hampered by an increasingly unconducive environment.

Massive strain

The public sector hospitals in Gauteng, South Africa’s economic hub, are generally in bad condition. Chris Hani Baragwanath Academic Hospital is the third largest largest in the world, with almost 3 200 beds and more than 6 000 staff. Charlotte Maxeke Johannesburg Academic Hospital has 1 088 beds and more than 4 000 staff.

These large public sector hospitals provide tertiary and quaternary services to more than 250 000 inpatients and almost 1 million outpatients every year.

Most were built more than 50 years ago and have been poorly maintained. The crumbling infrastructure results in flooding, sewage leaks, lack of water, problems with the supply of medical air and oxygen, and electricity blackouts. Leaky plumbing creates a damp environment that favours pests such as cockroaches and rodents. Inadequate air conditioning results in working conditions that are unbearably hot or freezing cold. Both are harmful to patients.

Doctors and nurses are having to deal with a shortage of hospital beds on a daily basis.

Gauteng provides healthcare to many patients from other provinces, as well as surrounding countries, particularly Zimbabwe. The provinces of North West and Mpumalanga do not have medical schools and therefore send patients for specialised tertiary and quaternary care, such as cardiothoracic surgery and renal dialysis, to the Gauteng academic hospitals.

In addition, under-resourced regional and district hospitals result in primary and secondary patients receiving treatment in the tertiary or quaternary institutions because there is nowhere else for them to go.

Overcrowding and infrastructural issues negatively affect patient care. Hospital-acquired infections with “super bugs” resistant to almost all known antibiotics are a major health challenge. Sewage leaks and inadequate plumbing increase the risk of infections.

Ongoing power cuts and water shortages compound the internal infrastructural issues at each hospital. There have been rolling electricity blackouts in the country as the government struggles to keep the power utility, Eskom, operational.


Each hospital has a diesel generator. But this emergency back-up does not always kick in during blackouts and load shedding. Patients in intensive care and the operating theatre are particularly at risk.

Water infrastructure, which has not been maintained by local authorities, is in a state of disrepair resulting in a growing number of water outages. In recent weeks, three of the largest hospitals in the province– the Helen Joseph Hospital, Rahima Moosa Mother and Child Hospital and Chris Hani Baragwanath Academic Hospital – all experienced a water outage that lasted several days.

Surgeons were scrubbing for theatre using buckets, people could not flush toilets, and patients were issued with bottled water and could not wash.


On top of all this, the Covid-19 pandemic is now raging in the province. This is proving to be the last straw for a buckling health system. Shortages of hospital beds, lack of oxygen supplies, inadequate ICU facilities are a few of the problems being faced.

Healthcare workers are exhausted and burned out.

How it got to this

There are multiple reasons for the current debacle. These include a lack of preventative maintenance, poor administration, corruption, poor forward planning, lack of financial resources, and a lack of strong governance at both municipal and provincial level.

The governance of the hospitals is complex and falls between different government departments. The Department of Infrastructure and Development, or Public Works has been tasked by the Department of Health to take care of the hospital infrastructure. This means that a hospital CEO isn’t directly responsible for maintenance of the building.

In turn this means that the system for responding to maintenance issues is not agile.


Bureaucratic processes designed to minimise corruption result in long delays. Management at all levels tends to put out fires rather than implement a long-term strategy to improve the situation.

Facilities have also been affected by strikes about wage disputes. In some cases hospital facilities have been damaged during the industrial action.

Criminality is also a problem. Theft is common with wall mirrors, bathroom tiles, soft furnishings, even large potted plants disappearing. Most recently copper plumbing pipes were stolen from Charlotte Maxeke Johannesburg Academic Hospital while it stood empty.

The fallacy that South Africa has two healthcare systems

There is a perception of an “us and them” among many South Africans. People with medical aid feel relieved that they have access to private healthcare, which does not have all these problems.

This is a fallacy. The country has one healthcare system – the public academic institutions train the healthcare workers who work in both the private and public sector. If the public healthcare sector collapses, the private sector will follow.

The solution is proper management and accountability at all levels. South Africa spends enough money on healthcare (just over 10% of GDP), but there is terrible waste at many levels. The government is pursuing a National Health Insurance scheme, with the aim of pooling resources to provide “quality affordable personal health services for all South Africans, based on health needs, not socio-economic status”.

If implemented and governed properly, the new scheme is most likely the best solution to all the many problems facing the country’s healthcare system. And it will allow South Africa to reach its full potential of providing excellent healthcare to all.

* Professor Daynia Ballot is head of Clinical Medicine at the University of the Witwatersrand. The article was first published in The Conversation.


** The views expressed herein are not necessarily those of IOL.

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SOUTH AFRICA
Crow desperate for help with funding

A young vervet monkey which was rescued last year from a home where it had been illegally kept as a pet tries to see more of Crow’s clinic manager Estie Allan’s face. SHELLEY KJONSTAD/ANA

By Tanya Waterworth Jul 10, 2021

On Tuesday night, Crow (Centre for the Rehabilitation of Wildlife) clinic manager Estie Allan was called out to rescue an injured baby monkey which could have been the result of being attacked by a dog ‒ and that was found by sheer chance.

“Being in lockdown level 4, the resident was bored during the evening and decided to go for a walk around the complex, which was when he saw the injured animal and called us,” said Allan on Wednesday.

The baby vervet is being treated, one of more than 300 animals at the rehabilitation centre.

Crow put out an urgent plea for help this week, saying that for the first time in 40 years the organisation may have to turn away injured animals because they are under extreme financial stress.

Based in Yellowwood Park, Crow rescues, rehabilitates and releases wild animals and birds.

Launching the Save Crow Campaign this week, Crow director Clint Halkett-Siddall said the lockdown had prevented the organisation from running fund-raising events, which had had a severe impact on their finances.

“Added to that is the impact on our volunteer programme. We normally have anywhere between six and 10 international volunteers, but we have only had five volunteers in total during the whole of lockdown, which has been a major blow,” said Halkett-Siddall.

CROW clinic manager Estie Allan with two mongooses rescued by the organisation. Shelley Kjonstad/African News Agency(ANA)

One of the centre’s biggest costs is the feeding bill, which can include foods such as mulberry, hibiscus plants and indigenous figs for animals like tortoises and antelopes.

He added that the organisation had reduced costs by more than R50 000 a month with strategies such as planting an organic vegetable garden to provide food.

In the past two weeks, many of the Crow team have also had to go into isolation after experiencing Covid infections, which has also left a skeleton staff at the centre.

Halkett-Siddall said he would like to thank the Kloof & Highway and Durban SPCAs, both of which have been assisting the centre with rescues while Crow staff recover from Covid.

Halkett-Siddall also highlighted that the centre’s busiest season will arrive with spring, when releases take place, while it is also baby season at that time.

Mammal releases do not take place during winter because it is too dry and food resources are scarce.

“Around the end of August/September, we get a surge of baby birds and mammals, and that is definitely the busiest time for us.

“Releases will start in November, when the rains arrive,” he said.

“Any donation in any form is most welcome to keep our doors open to animals in need.

“All the support we have had during lockdown has been phenomenal, and we would like to call on local companies and individuals to assist us during this time,” said Halkett-Siddall on Wednesday.


Fundraising methods include the GiveGain crowdfunding campaign, or become a member of the 1000/100 club with a monthly donation of R100, or get involved in the Sponsor an Animal campaign being launched next month, as well as the 2022 Compass Crow Calendar, which is also due out in August. Support can also include direct donations, or there is a wish list on the website.

For more information on supporting Crow, go to www.crowkzn.co.za

The Independent on Saturday

SOUTH AFRICA

Haven for wildlife planned for Cato Ridge

KZN conservationist and YouTube sensation Dingo Dinkelman plans to build a wildlife haven in Cato Ridge.

By Tanya Waterworth  Jul 10, 2021

Dingo Dinkelman, who gets millions of YouTube views for his extreme encounters with some of the planet’s deadliest creatures, plans to build a benchmark wildlife haven in Cato Ridge.

Dinkelman said the primary goal for the planned “Dingo’s Animal Kingdom” on a 20-hectare farm he located in 2019, will be to provide a space to care for some of the planet’s most endangered animals, as well as “creating a unique platform for people and animals to connect”.

Speaking to the Independent on Saturday, he said his love for wildlife came from his father, who had worked with the former Natal Parks Board.

“We spent every holiday out in nature and my dad was my biggest influence. When I was 4 years old, I was given the Pocket Guide to Snakes in South Africa and on page 48, I found the Gaboon viper and I fell in love with it,” he said.

Dinkelman is well-known for surviving a black mamba bite in 2003 which saw him rushed to the intensive care unit in a Pietermaritzburg hospital as he struggled to breathe.

“I had tubes all over my body, I was unconscious for a day,” he recalled, although he said his most exciting moment in the wild was getting caught between a large female elephant and lurking crocodiles and hippos on the edge of the Zambezi River in the Victoria Falls area.

“A big female just came out of the bush. I climbed a tree on the edge of the river and she was above me on the bank and I could see the crocodiles and hippos in the water. I was in the tree for about 10 minutes and we kept filming. The elephant came at us as I kept talking and my wife told me to shut up, so I did and the elephant moved away,” he said.

Conservationist Dingo Dinkelman with an endangered pangolin.

With regard to his plans to develop the Cato Ridge property, Dinkelman said he had been clearing alien vegetation, building fencing and creating firebreaks while waiting for the environmental impact assessment to be finalised.

“We are waiting for the rains to start in September/October when we are going to start planting trees and we are even bringing in mature six-metre trees,” he said, adding that the next stage involved planting more than 1 000 indigenous trees.

With a project of this size came considerable costs, so Dinkelman, who has worldwide support for his conservation work, started his 50/50 campaign where he aimed to raise $50 000 (R750 000) in 50 days.

Within 42 days, the $50 000 target was reached, with an international investor committing a further $200 000 on the basis that the 50/50 goal was achieved.

“This was really a show of incredible support from people around the world. From the US, the UK, and even residents from South Africa, people were willing to donate their hard-earned cash during a period which has been proven to be one of the toughest economic times in recent years.

“Reaching this goal was a huge celebratory moment for us, and we will honour these donations by creating a 5-star animal haven dedicated to the natural world,” said Dinkelman.

He said creating a connection between people and animals was the crucial link to drive conservation awareness and that the new animal haven would provide a place where animals can freely roam in a natural environment.

Planned as a multifunctional facility, there will be collaboration with other conservation organisations, as well as initiating breeding programmes for endangered species, as well as providing up-to-date training in conservation and research into protected species and being a base for demonstrations and school shows. Dinkelman said his team would also continue fun-draising projects which had already had an impact on wild rhinos, pangolins, lions, brown hyenas and various reptile species’ populations to date.

“The R750 000 donation is a huge milestone for the park, and we anticipate breaking ground in about a year or so, with Dingo’s Animal Kingdom set to open in about two years,” he said.

Any company or individual interested in getting involved in the project can email admin@dingowild.com

The Independent on Saturday

COMMENTARY

Batteries and the auto industry: Nissan’s UK investment and the battery race

DATE
08 Jul 2021
AUTHORS
Professor David Bailey


News that Nissan plans to build a new battery electric vehicle (BEV) at its Sunderland plant has been welcomed as a ‘pivotal’ moment for UK auto after Brexit by Boris Johnson. Nissan’s battery partner, Envision, will build a huge new battery plant (a ‘gigafactory’) next door to produce the batteries needed for the model.

The investment safeguards Sunderland’s medium-term future, and is clearly welcome news. It is the first concrete investment in large scale battery manufacturing in the UK – a move that is vital for the auto industry as we approach a 2030 ban on petrol and diesel cars.

But it’s only a first step and much more will be needed.

As the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) has stressed, the nine gigawatt hours (GWh) per year of capacity committed by Nissan and Envision makes up less than a sixth of the 60GWh per year that will be needed to support mass car production in the UK as the industry rapidly transforms towards an electric future.

There’s also a Brexit dimension to the battery race. The UK-EU Trade and Cooperation Agreement fired a starting gun on battery investment, as after 2026 the battery in a UK- or EU-made BEV has to come from the UK or EU to avoid tariffs between the two.

The EU has already committed over €6 billion to the European Battery Alliance to develop a battery supply chain across the EU. That is in addition to substantial support from national governments across the EU.

Hungary, for example, has a special economic zone where battery makers and car makers can invest in battery production and receive generous tax breaks. The UK’s £500 million seems pretty small beer in comparison.

Some 20 battery gigafactories are already up and running, being built or planned across the EU. Some of these are massive.

The Tesla gigafactory under construction near Berlin (which Tesla’s ‘Technoking’, Elon Musk, chose over Britain owing in part to Brexit uncertainty) will likely end up with around 50GWh of capacity per year, compared to Sunderland’s 9GWh.

Volkswagen, meanwhile, is planning six gigafactories with a total capacity of target of 240GWh, and Stellantis is starting with 50Gwh at two plants in France and Germany, and discussions are ongoing with the Italian government for a third.

It’s all about scale. The huge size of these gigafactories is key to producing at scale and getting battery costs down, in turn reducing the cost of battery electric vehicles and making the latter more affordable in the mass market.

As costs fall, there is likely to be a tipping point, around the middle of this decade, when BEVs out-compete internal combustion engine (ICE) cars. From that point there won’t be many reasons to buy an ICE car.

Because batteries are large, heavy and expensive to transport, future car production will likely require car factories and battery plants to be in close proximity to each other. That raises a question mark over the long–term viability of Stellantis building electric vans at Ellesmere Port, given that batteries are likely to be imported from France.

Anchoring Stellantis assembly at Ellesmere Port and Luton in the UK will likely require another battery plant here. The same will go for other car firms too.

It is no surprise that the Nissan announcement came shortly after the government unveiled the Subsidy Control Bill, which it says gives it more flexibility and power to support businesses.

Importantly, the UK never really exploited the state aid space it had under EU regulations, and so what may have changed is a willingness to intervene to use state aid to support manufacturing.

After all, the government doesn’t want to be seen to be losing car plants after Brexit, and it also wants to be seen to be supporting good jobs in ‘Red Wall’ areas.

The UK government is thought to be in discussion with a number of battery manufacturers, but they are also being wooed by EU countries. And car firm bosses are very good at playing divide-and-rule strategies to play governments off against each other to get the best aid package.

So trying to land these gigafactories will be an expensive business, and there will rightly be questions about value for money and public accountability.

The government is coy about what was offered to Nissan and Envision (or to Stellantis regarding electric van production).

In the Nissan case, the FT suggests that the government has committed around £100 million, with as much as £80 million from Sunderland City Council and a partner firm to create a sustainable microgrid to power the site. In the Stellantis case it is thought to run into the tens of millions of pounds.

Of course, the government would have offered support even if the UK was still in the EU. But outside of the Single Market and Customs Union, Nissan was in a stronger position to extract as much support as possible.

Indeed, if Nissan had instead invested somewhere else, it would have been a pretty clear signal that the UK was a less attractive investment location after Brexit. That was a scenario the government was desperate to avoid.

Nevertheless, if we want to keep mass car making in the UK after Brexit, then we will need this investment in large scale battery making.

UK auto is going to need a lot of batteries if mass car making is to be retained in the UK. Without it, car making is likely to gravitate towards EU countries where heavy investment in large-scale battery making is already well underway.

The big risk here is that unless we make batteries in the UK we will probably lose our mass car industry.

By David Bailey, Professor of Business Economics at Birmingham Business School and Senior Fellow at UK in a Changing Europe.

China helping political parties to work for people’s well-being

President Cyril Ramaphosa and President Xi Jinping during a Welcome Ceremony at the Great Hall of the People in the People’s Republic of China. File picture: Elmond Jiyane/GCIS

By Chen Xiaodong  Jul 9, 2021

On July 6, the occasion of the 100th anniversary of the founding of the Communist Party of China (CPC), General Secretary of the Central Committee of the CPC and President of China Xi Jinping, President of the ANC and President of South Africa Cyril Ramaphosa, General Secretary of the South African Communist Party (SACP) and Minister of Higher Education, Science and Innovation Blade Nzimande and other leaders of more than 500 political parties and organisations from over 160 countries as well as 10 000 and more representatives of political parties and representatives of various communities, participated in the cloud event of the CPC and World Political Parties Summit with “Working for the People's Well-being and the Responsibility of Political Parties” as the theme.

In the context of profound transformations and a pandemic unseen in a century, when human society has once again found itself at a historical crossroads, this successful summit has provided an important platform for the political party leaders from various countries to strengthen the exchange and mutual learning of experience in governance, to discuss co-operation in solidarity as well as future development plans, to enhance the capability to work for the people’s wellbeing, to promote world peace and development, and to promote the building of a community with a shared future for mankind

After attending the celebration of the 100th anniversary of the founding of the CPC on July 1, General Secretary Xi Jinping expounded during the Summit once again the CPC’s proposals for the future of mankind and to the international community, especially to all political parties in the world. He proposed that political parties need to shoulder their historical responsibility as the major force for the progress of mankind, and elaborated the CPC’s mission as a major political party in a major country.

It is the historical responsibility of political parties to work for the people's wellbeing. Political parties, as an important force for human progress, need to set the right course forward and shoulder their historical responsibility to ensure the people’s wellbeing and pursue human progress. To achieve that, political parties need to work even harder on the following:

First, we need to shoulder the responsibility to steer the course of shaping a shared future for mankind. We need to heed the voices of the people and strengthen co-ordination and co-operation. By doing so, the interests of the people of one’s own country will be in line with those of all others and humanity will move forward towards a shared future.

MORE ON THIS

• Ambassador Chen Xiaodong on how China succeeded in the past, and how it can continue to succeed in the future

• #CPC100: Chinese embassy pledges support to South Africa in anti-Covid fight

• We’re renewing the ANC, Duarte tells China’s Communist Party as it marks centenary

Second, we need to build consensus by upholding and promoting the common values of humanity for peace, development, equity, justice, democracy and freedom. We need to champion the common values of humanity, foster broad-minded tolerance toward the understanding of values by different civilizations, and respect the explorations of different peoples to turn values into reality. By doing so, the common values of humanity will be translated into the practice of individual countries to serve the interests of their own people in a concrete and realistic way.

Third, we need to promote development by bringing greater benefits to all peoples in a fairer manner. On the road towards the well-being of all mankind, no country or nation should be left behind. We need to bring greater equity, higher efficiency and stronger synergy to global development, and jointly oppose the practice of technology blockades and divides as well as decoupling.

Fourth, we need to enhance co-operation by working together to address global risks and challenges such as Covid-19, terrorism, and climate change. In particular, we need to advocate solidarity and co-operation so as to close the “immunisation gap”. We must oppose the practice of politicising the pandemic or attaching a geographical label to the virus. We need to work together to build a global community of health for all.

Fifth, we need to improve governance by enhancing our capacity to ensure the people’s well-being. People of all countries are entitled to choose their own development paths and institutional models and to advance political democracy in a way that suits the national conditions of the country.

The CPC is committed to enhancing exchanges and mutual learning with various political parties in the world and the well-being for the people of China and the world. It is the unswerving goal of the CPC to run our own house well, ensure a happy life for the 1.4 billion-plus Chinese people, and advance the lofty cause of promoting peace and development for all mankind.

With the goal of moderate prosperity in all respects achieved, China has embarked on a new journey towards building a modern socialist country. The Chinese people are brimming with a greater sense of fulfilment, happiness and security with each passing day.

Fighting for the cause of human progress is also the international mission of the CPC. The CPC will continue to uphold a people-centred development philosophy, focus on the overarching issues of national rejuvenation and human progress in the greater context of time and space and always be a builder of world peace, contributor to global development, and defender of the international order.

The CPC has persisted in closely associating the future of the Chinese people with that of other peoples of the world and steered a steady course of China's development amid the general trend of the world and the currents of the times to promote common development and prosperity of all countries. We work with political parties from all countries to make new contributions to the wellbeing of people all over the world.

First, the CPC will press ahead with the Chinese-style modernisation and the CPC is ready to share with political parties of all countries experience in modernisation to enrich each other’s toolbox to modernisation.

Second, the CPC will take comprehensive steps to deepen reform and opening up. The CPC is ready to enhance communication with world political parties in steering economic globalisation towards greater openness, inclusiveness, balance and win-win results. We stand ready to work with the international community to improve global connectivity and further promote high quality Belt and Road co-operation, so that more countries and peoples will be able to share the fruits of development.

Third, the CPC will make new contributions to improving the well-being of humankind. We are willing to share more of our solutions and strength to the world’s poverty-alleviation efforts. China will help promote fair accessibility to and affordability of vaccines for developing countries, work hard to peak carbon dioxide emissions and achieve carbon neutrality, and advance the new process of global biological diversity.

Fourth, the CPC will actively improve global governance. We need to stand opposed to the practice of unilateralism disguised as multilateralism and say no to hegemony and power politics. The CPC will actively promote the improvement of global governance and China will always be a member of the developing world. We are committed to enhancing developing countries’ representation and voice in the global governance system.

Party exchanges between China and South Africa provide a powerful boost to the common well-being of the two peoples. The CPC, the ANC and the SACP are good friends, good partners, and good comrades who breathe the same breath and share weal and woe. They forged a deep friendship as early as the period of South Africa’s struggle against apartheid.

China-South Africa relations started from party-to-party exchanges. The strong friendship, close exchanges and important guidance provided by the leaders of the CPC, the ANC and the SACP have boosted the sustained development of bilateral relations.

After the birth of the New South Africa, our party-to-party relations has been developing rapidly, and has laid an important strategic foundation and provided political support to our bilateral relations.

In recent years, under the stewardship of the leaders of the two parties and two countries, high level interactions between political parties of the two countries are more frequent, and cooperation in various fields is getting closer, bringing huge tangible benefits to the two peoples.

China-South Africa relations have become a model for China-Africa relations, South-South co-operation, and the solidarity and co-operation among developing countries. It can be said that without the close cooperation between our parties, there would not be the establishment and development of the comprehensive strategic partnership between the two countries.

It is worth mentioning that President Ramaphosa, as the president of the ANC, delivered a passionate speech as the first guest speaker at the summit. The president spoke highly of the CPC’s contribution to the African countries’ development and the well-being of the people. He also mentioned that “China has been a good friend and loyal friend to many of us on the African continent …The ANC regards the CPC as a true, reliable and valued friend.”

On the occasion of the 100th birthday of the CPC and SACP, General Secretary Nzimande also attended the summit. All of these fully reflect the profound friendship between our parties and two countries.

It is our firm belief and strong expectation that under the leadership of General Secretary Xi Jinping, President Ramaphosa and other leaders of the our parties and two countries, with the joint efforts of both sides, the party-to-party co-operation will achieve more fruitful results and continue to inject strong impetus into the development of the China-South Africa Comprehensive Strategic Partnership, bringing more sense of gain and happiness to the people of our two countries.

The South African people are suffering from the third wave of Covid-19 infections. A few days ago, the CoronaVac Covid-19 vaccine manufactured by Sinovac Life Sciences Co of China has been authorised emergency use access in South Africa with conditions.

This is the latest development of China-South Africa Covid-19 response co-operation and a pragmatic measure taken by the ANC government for the wellbeing of South African people. The CPC is willing to work with South African political parties such as the ANC and the SACP to help South African people defeat the virus and create a happy life together.

* Chen Xiaodong is Ambassador of China to South Africa.

** The views expressed here are not necessarily those of IOL and Independent Media.

CHINA

CRIMINAL CAPITALI$M
EXCLUSIVE: Edison Power goes after its senior executives for fraud

Edison Power Group, one of South Africa’s largest electrical companies of which well-known Durban businessman Vivian Reddy is a shareholder, was allegedly defrauded for over R150m by some of the organisation's top brass. Picture: Nqobile Mbonambi/African News Agency(ANA)

By Ayanda Mdluli Jul 9, 2021


Durban - Edison Power Group, one of South Africa’s largest electrical companies of which well known Durban businessman Vivian Reddy is a shareholder, was allegedly defrauded for over R150 million by some of the organisation's top brass.

An investigation by the Daily News has established that the company had opened charges of fraud, corruption and embezzlement against key senior employees and an executive director whose names are known to the publication.

Information obtained by the newspaper suggests that the investigation commenced after a whistle-blower had sent information to Edison power shareholders back in 2019.

The Daily News has been able to establish that the year and a half long forensic investigation has since been handed over to the Hawks Serious Commercial Crimes Unit in Germiston, Johannesburg.

In a response to questions, the Hawks said cases of fraud were opened and registered for further investigation by the Serious Commercial Crimes Unit.

Captain Ndivhuwo Mulamu, the communications officer of the Hawks, said investigations were at an advanced stage.

"Once completed, the dockets will be transferred to NPA for a decision," she said.

Edison Power Group has been involved in several prominent projects in and around Gauteng, which included the FNB Stadium, OR Tambo International Airport, Monte Casino, Sun City, Mpumalanga High Court, Sandton City and the Sandton Convention Centre.

Responding to questions from the Daily News, the company's non-executive director Ethen Singh confirmed the matter and revealed that he was overseeing the recovery of the assets.

He further confirmed that the group estimates that over R150m could have been siphoned out of the company.

"However, that could increase substantially as the investigation progresses. The modus operandi of the senior management fingered involves collusion with suppliers, sub-contractors and payment to ghost service providers and ghost suppliers of materials. It included ghost workers and overpayment of bonuses, and illegal increases were granted," he said.

He further explained that some members of management created their own sub-contracting companies and awarded contracts to themselves.

"Our investigations discovered that homes in exclusive estates were paid for by company funds for a staffer. Another employee bought a restaurant in an upmarket area with the proceeds of crime. Even school fees were paid illegally, via the company," he said.

He further revealed how the lifestyle audits of some employees showed them living well beyond their means, and in some cases, owning multiple properties.

"Arrests are expected to be made soon," he said.

When approached for comment, Reddy expressed his great disappointment that persons that were employed in positions of trust defrauded the business by abusing their senior positions of influence .

“I hope that justice will prevail and those found guilty will face the wrath of the law.”

He stated that shareholders invested in companies and were trusted by the CEO, Board and executive management to protect the investment and to ensure that shareholders get value, but in this case, they worked for their own value via alleged fraudulent activities.

"Given the great negative, devastating impact on businesses caused by the pandemic, acts of fraud worsens the situation and could cause businesses to collapse," he added.


Daily News

 SOUTH AFRICA

Coffin manufacturers prepare for shortage of materials used to make it

By Genevieve Serra 

Cape Town - A local coffin manufacturer has confirmed chipboard used to make coffins is running out locally as the Covid-19 third wave ravages the country.

Last week, undertakers told Weekend Argus they had ordered additional coffins in the wake of the third wave to prevent a shortage as experienced during the second wave

Undertakers in Cape Town confirmed, between Muslim and Christian Covid-19 burials, they were conducting up to at least 91 per week.

Chipboard is predominantly used to manufacture coffins and is approved by the South African Bureau of Standards.

According to coffinandcaskettraining.com, 70% of coffins were made out of chipboard in South Africa.

Brent Berry, the owner of Beta Manufacturing, Beta Coffins in Somerset West, had noted the start of a shortage of chipboard during the third wave.

Berry has since ordered his chipboard from China but has been hit with delays due to Level 4 restrictions.

He did not want to comment on the exact pricing of wood and material but said prices had tripled if the wood was imported.

“The biggest problem is the wood, super wood, NDF, chipboard,” he explained.

“This is mainly used to make coffins. There is a dire shortage, and we all have been battling with the increase in prices since the pandemic started.

“For example, I am importing my wood from China, and prices have increased due to shipping prices as well.

“The shipping rate has tripled. I have a trailer, for example, that is waiting for six weeks, and due to Covid, there is a delay.

“I am a small business. During the first and second waves, there was an increase in the demand for coffins. Now with the third wave, there has been an increase.”

Grahame Ernstzen, owner of Ernstzen Funerals, said he purchases his coffins ready-made from manufacturers.

During the second wave, they were forced to use display coffins when the showrooms and storage rooms were completely cleared out.

He said they were not as yet in the same position as during the second wave but were preparing themselves.

He added most coffins were made out of chipboard and that there was an extra burial fee for Covid, due to the additional precautions taken.

“I buy my coffins which are ready-made, but there are few manufacturers,” he said.

“We have pre-ordered coffins because we learnt from the second wave that there were zero coffins, so we had to use the stock in the showrooms.

“Chipboard is the standard wood used for coffins and then there is super board. With Covid there is an extra cost, some of the undertakers do charge for it due to the precautions taken like PPE.

When asked about the fees of entry-level coffins versus caskets, he said it depended on the wood and if it was custom-made.

“Entry-level coffins cost about R1000 and a casket between R14 000 and R15 000.

“This depends on the usage of silk, frills, extended handles, solid wood to satin and pillows.

In January, AVBOB’s general manager for corporate affairs told Independent Newspapers that they had increased their container mortuaries to 22 units which had been distributed around the country.

Weekend Argus

 

Haiti’s assassinated president was a threat to the elite

Haiti's President Jovenel Moise File picture: Valerie Baeriswyl/Reuters

By Shannon Ebrahim 

IOL SA

Haiti is in the depths of crisis following the assassination of its president Jovenel Moise on Thursday this week. The state has never been so weak, and the volatile situation could easily spiral out of control. The country currently has two competing constitutions, no sitting parliament, overdue elections, a chief justice who just died of Covid-19, and an incumbent Prime Minister Claude Joseph who was supposed to be replaced this week by Ariel Henry, but who has now declared “a state of siege” which translates into the borders being closed and martial law declared.

The now assassinated Moise was an enigma. On the one hand he sounded very much like the only real “peoples’ president” Haiti ever had - former president Jean-Bertrand Aristide - as far as the social agenda he was pursuing. Moise had a dogged commitment to end the monopolies that offered lucrative contracts to Haiti’s powerful elite. He was intent on changing the power dynamics in the country, particularly when it came to money and who had control over electricity contracts. While most of the country struggles with constant electricity outages, a predatory elite were still paid billions to provide electricity. Moise put an end to many of these contracts, and was well aware that his campaign against the wealthy and powerful elites would likely cost him his life

This was much the same story as when Aristide had come to power in 1991. After decades of dictatorship under the Duvalier family (Papa Doc and Baby Doc) and the formation of a ruthless secret police force that terrorised the country, Aristide had come to power preaching liberation theology. He was the leading voice for the aspirations of the dispossessed in the country, and preached “food for the people”. His left wing people-centred agenda made him too many enemies, and he was swiftly overthrown in a coup, which according to Aristide, had links to the CIA who backed the head of the military who ousted him.

After Aristide had returned to the country in 2001, and won a reported 92% of the election, his attempts to ensure Haitians got a stake in the privatisation of certain enterprises irked the Americans, and it was his strong contention that the US had forced him into exile in 2004. American companies did not want to give a stake to local Haitians, and the French were angry at Aristide’s insistence they pay US$21 billion in restitution for the 90 million gold francs they had forced Haiti to pay them for the appropriation of French property between 1825-1947.

The former powers were not going to stand by and allow Aristide to rule his country in a manner that was not in their interests. Aristide was kidnapped by men in US special forces uniforms, and flown out of the country by the US, with the help of France and Canada. This modern day coup shocked the world, and Aristide was ultimately given safe haven in South Africa by the government of president Thabo Mbeki, until he eventually returned to the country in 2011.

Like Aristide, Moise had an affinity with the people, having grown up on a large sugar plantation. He often said he always wondered why people were living in such bad conditions while enormous lands were empty. He believed agriculture was the key to change his country for the better. His left-wing agenda made him dangerous enemies, just as Aristide’s had. But sadly Moise exited the stage leaving Haiti in a much worse condition than Aristide had.

In the months before he was killed, Moise aggressively pushed for the rewriting of a new constitution which many Haitians believed was needed. The two existing constitutions, which have been existing in parallel, had created two competing centres of power between the president and the prime minister. His proposed new constitution would have given the president more power, and enabled the president to seek more terms in office. Moise felt he needed more time to deliver on his promises, but was roundly criticised for what was perceived to be an attempt to consolidate power.

Elections in Haiti had been delayed due to Covid-19 and the fact that Moise had argued that his term was up next year, and not this February as the opposition maintained. The regional Organisation of American States had backed Moise’s position. But his governance left a lot to be desired, and he made a number of strategic mistakes which provoked mass protests against him, demanding his resignation. With the tide of public opinion already set against him, his detractors saw the opportunity to get rid of him. He was assassinated by professional killers, and now the country teeters on the brink of chaos.

The hidden hand of the predatory elite and outside interests always lurks in the background when it comes to Haiti. This has been Haiti’s curse throughout its history - beginning from when it was one of the world’s most brutal slave colonies, but also France’s richest. It was coveted for its riches of sugar, coffee and cotton, brought to market by enslaved people. But it was also the first enslaved nation to wrench their freedom from their colonial masters after a bloody war. Haiti became the world’s first black-led republic when it declared independence in 1804. But the continued interference by France through the imposition of a suffocating debt on their former colony, and the subsequent occupation by the Americans, meant Haiti was never truly free.

The challenge for the Haitian people now is to rid their politics of those taking their cue from outside powers, and looking to only fill their pockets and hold onto power.

* Shannon Ebrahim is Independent Media’s Foreign Editor.