Opinion

Your letters to the editor: September 5

Published

Letters to the Editor.

Image: Supplied

We'd love to hear from you so please  send your electronic letters (e-mails) to [email protected], while WhatsApps can be sent to the number listed at the foot of all news stories. You can email or WhatsApp us on anything, not just new stories. Please include your name and where you are contacting us from. The Editor reserves the right to alter submissions.

Decarbonisation is betrayed by science

It is a great pity that Business Report routinely devotes pages of scientifically false articles produced by the Presidential Climate Commission, the latest one by Brandon Abdinor (September 3) being particularly outrageous.

His opening paragraph asserting that “we are heating the planet at unnatural rates by emitting greenhouse gases into the atmosphere from burning fossil fuels” is debunked by science that is not manipulated to suit globalist ideology.

A report by six independent scientists titled, A Critical Review of Impacts of Greenhouse Gas Emissions on the US Climate, published in July 2025, by the US Environmental Protection Agency, notes that lower stratospheric temperatures have shown no significant trend since 2000 – contrary to the globalists’ model predictions of a CO2 driven trend. Overall, the report stresses that given the scale of natural variations, attribution of greenhouse gas to temperature cannot be made with certainty.

What it does state with certainty is that the application of globalist decarbonisation ideology poses a totalitarian threat to social welfare and liberty while it ignores the beneficial effects of CO2 on plant growth and agricultural activity.

Ironically and amazingly, the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) has acknowledged in its fifth assessment report, chapter 10, page 662, that ‘economic damage from global warming is negligible.’ Nonetheless, the IPCC ploughs on using models based on high emission data which produce alarmist projections such as rising seas which have yet to materialise.

Significantly, the IPCC ignores the increased greening of the planet through CO2 boosted photosynthesis thereby expanding vegetation cover in semi-arid regions and benefiting human life.

The above details expose Abdinor’s claim that the “mechanics of the climate crisis are underpinned by logical science” as baseless. His views are further debunked by two factors controlled by God: variations in the tilt of the earth and variations in the elliptical path of the earth around the sun both of which have effects on climate.

History corroborates that by recording warming periods and cooling periods over the millennia – long before mass exploitation of fossil fuels. Decarbonisation, therefore, is betrayed science and, as such, the Presidential Climate Commission is a total waste of taxpayers’ money. | DR DUNCAN DU BOIS Bluff

Antisemitism: The real war beyond Gaza

Whether Israel is right or wrong in Gaza matters less than the undeniable truth that a growing, malevolent force opposes not only Jews but Western civilisation itself.

Greta Thunberg’s latest stunt – the so-called “Global Sumud” flotilla leaving Barcelona to “deliver” aid to Gaza – illustrates this hypocrisy.

Israel has already facilitated massive amounts of humanitarian aid, only for Hamas to hijack and sell it back to Gazans. Meanwhile, food – including baby formula – lies rotting because the UN fails to distribute it. Yet activists continue with their charades.

Why is Israel the only nation forbidden to win a war? Why is it judged by standards no other country in history has ever met? Israel’s enemy has embedded itself among civilians and beneath hospitals, mosques and schools. The IDF has repeatedly warned civilians to move out of harm’s way – yet the world condemns Israel, while Hamas exploits victimhood to devastating effect.

Interviews by Douglas Murray and former US ambassador Mike Huckabee have laid bare the truth: Hamas is a death cult, sacrificing its people to court global sympathy.

The gravest danger, however, lies beyond Gaza – the explosion of antisemitism worldwide. The October 7 massacre unleashed a wave of Jew-hatred that now marches through Western capitals, vandalises public spaces, and poisons discourse.

Here in South Africa, politicians like Naledi Pandor weaponise Mandela’s legacy against Judeo-Christian values, deepening divisions.

This is bigger than Israel vs Hamas. It is a global confrontation: The West versus radical Islamist barbarism, cloaked in Marxist victimhood narratives.

Hatred of Jews – and increasingly Christians – is spreading. | L Oosthuizen Durban

Cheaper power, stronger economy

The time has come for the government to revitalise the economy and save thousands of jobs by taking over Eskom’s debt.

Then Eskom must revise its tariffs to the cost of supplying electricity, excluding the cost of the interest on its debt.

Thus, cheaper electricity will make companies that use large amounts of electricity more competitive and in general put more money in circulation.

This will increase tax revenue enabling the government to start paying off Eskom’s debt. | Rodney Quibell Howick

Violence consuming schools and society

Violence at schools has once again reared its ugly head.

A key factor is the high teacher-to-learner ratio, while learner discipline is at an all-time low. Respect for adults has disappeared. Corporal punishment is gone, yet a teacher who shouts, points, or pushes a learner risks being branded violent and losing their job.

Why? Because the adult “should have known better,” while the learner escapes with little more than a warning.

Educators’ livelihoods are destroyed, but authorities do not care. Tomorrow, the same learner may cause havoc again – without consequence. What values and morals are we instilling? Too many of today’s learners grow into abusive adults.

For 30 years, government has promoted human rights, but the atrocities of the past do not justify today’s collapse of discipline. Offenders – whether learners or criminals – too often get away with transgressions, while society pays the price. Violence fuels our homes, streets, and schools. Motorists face daily road rage; gangs rule our townships; stray bullets kill the innocent.

Where is South Africa heading? Are we raising a generation defined by violence?

God help our schools and communities. | P Hendricks Cape Town

WhatsApp or fall behind in business

If messaging apps are becoming the new “king of mobile,” as Sebastiaan Vaessen (former CEO at Naspers) recently suggested, then businesses must rethink how they engage with customers.

In South Africa, that means one thing: WhatsApp.

With more than 90% of our population using it daily, WhatsApp has already replaced email and web forms as the preferred customer touchpoint. Yet too many companies remain hesitant, citing compliance concerns, while their staff are already engaging customers via personal accounts; an entirely avoidable risk.

The evidence is overwhelming. Verified WhatsApp integration with business systems not only protects data and ensures compliance, but it also drives better outcomes: faster response times, higher engagement, and significantly improved conversion rates. Globally, markets like Brazil and India are already embedding payments and AI-powered chatbots into WhatsApp, turning it into a full-service commerce channel.

South African companies that delay risk losing their competitive edge.The future of customer engagement is conversational. WhatsApp is not a “nice to have”; it’s a strategic necessity. Businesses that move now will capture trust, efficiency, and growth.

Those that don’t will be left behind. | Jonathan Elcock

DAILY NEWS