Daily Archives: May 25, 2012

Baby rescued from Eastern Cape long-drop toilet

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A newborn baby girl is recovering in the Humansdorp Hospital after police rescued her from a long-drop toilet, Eastern Cape police says.

Spokeswoman Warrant Officer Gerda Swart said the baby, named Precious, was a few days old.

“Precious had burn marks on her skin due to the acid in the long drop.”

Patensie police received a call from a local resident at 5.45pm on Wednesday about a child crying inside a long-drop.

“Police looked inside the toilet and saw the little baby kicking and screaming inside.

“The officers demolished the zinc construction… and Constable Frankie Williams jumped inside the opening and took the baby girl out of the sullage [sewage].”

Officers cleaned her, wrapped her in a towel and drove her to hospital.

The 25-year-old mother was arrested on Thursday. She appeared in the Patensie Magistrate’s Court on a charge of attempted murder on Friday.

The case was postponed to June 12 and bail was set at R500.

 

Two SA match officials make the prospective list for 2014 FIFA WC Brazil

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 South Africa could have two match officials representing the country at the 2014 FIFA World Cup Brazil after Daniel Bennett and Zakhele Siwela were selected to the prospective list of match officials for the tournament.

 

Bennett and Siwela appear on the CAF list of match officials after being appointed by the FIFA Referees Commit tee.

All match officials will undergo a rigorous process to make it to the final list.

A dedicated panel of FIFA Referees Committee members and a team of FIFA Instructors will closely assist and supervise the performance of the prospective match officials going forward.

They will be expected to attend an assessment seminar for prospective referees in September and assistant referees in October and November in Zurich later this year where they also undergo a series of medical and physical assessment sessions, including the FIFA Fitness Test.

Bennett and Siwela are among 21 referees and assistant referees selected in Africa, and from 156 match officials in total.

 

Pretoria rivals meet in first cup final

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Pretoria rivals SuperSport United and Mamelodi Sundowns will bring their derby match to Soweto’s Orlando Stadium for the 2012 Nedbank Cup final.

 

The teams have had contrasting paths to this stage of the competition, with SuperSport narrowly progressing beyond the likes of Batau FC, United FC and Jomo Cosmos before really hitting their stride with a 3-0 defeat of AmaZulu in the semifinals earlier this month.

Sundowns, in contrast, began with a record 24-0 win over Powerlines FC in the first round and have steadily picked off their opponents ever since, hardly getting out of second gear to beat Bidvest Wits, Maritzburg United and Free State Stars all by the same score line: 2-0.

Now the heated rivals will renew their cup rivalry with a first-ever meeting in a final. The teams have played out nine cup matches against one another, with the Brazilians leading 5-4 in the wins column.

The pair last met in a cup competition in the 2008/09 MTN8, with the two-legged tie ending 4-4 on aggregate, though ‘Downs advanced on the away goals rule. The previous season the Brazilians eliminated United from the first round of the Nedbank Cup 2-1 – the teams’ only meeting in the competition since Nedbank became title sponsors in 2008.

Overall, Sundowns and SuperSport have met in 51 matches across all competitions. The Brazilians have 25 wins compared to 17 for Matsatsantsa, while nine matches have been drawn.

In league action earlier this season, honours were even between the teams after their two matches. Sundowns defeated SuperSport 3-1 in the first half of the campaign, but in the return game played earlier this month Matsatsantsa won 1-0.

The tactical battle between coaches Gavin Hunt (SuperSport) and Johan Neeskens (Sundowns) could be the decisive factor as these two great rivals go in search of the last trophy up for grabs in the 2011/12 season.

Kick-off is at 15h00.

Ajax confirm Manchester United negotiations

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Ajax Cape Town vs Manchester United – that’s a real possibility with negotiations currently underway. 

The 19-time English Premiership champions are set to play a once-off friendly with AmaZulu on July 18 at the Moses Mabhida Stadium in Durban and KickOff.com can also confirm that the Red Devils may clash with the Urban Warriors three days later at the Cape Town Stadium.

“It has been talked about, but nothing is confirmed yet,” Ajax CEO George Comitis says. “They [Manchester United] are busy with the City [of Cape Town] and the match has been earmarked for July 21,” he adds.

Meanwhile, there was talk too of a Man United vs Mamelodi Sundowns friendly but the club’s PRO Kabelo Mosito says, “I don’t know anything about that”. 

kickoff.com

‘The Spear’ case makes international news

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iol news pic zuma painting defacers

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Developments surrounding Brett Murray’s painting “The Spear” depicting President Jacob Zuma made it into the international media, including The UK Guardian and the Huffington Post’s websites, on Friday.

“The ANC, which in the past has been criticised for remaining silent in the face of corruption, its own people dying from Aids, and human rights violations in Zimbabwe, whipped up opposition to The Spear, putting a logo on its website homepage that says: ‘President Zuma has a right to human dignity and privacy’,” according to The Guardian.

“The Spear saga has pushed all the buttons that inflame emotions and headlines in South Africa’s national discourse,” it reads.

Big Think asked: “Could someone die over this painting?

“Art isn’t usually a life or death matter, but the controversy over South African artist Brett Murray’s The Spear might end in bloodshed,” the story went.

The Huffington Post described advocate Gcina Malindi’s breakdown in the High Court in Johannesburg, as he defended Zuma and the ANC’s argument that images of the painting should be banned.

“Malindi, who is black, said that many blacks still lived in poverty after the end of apartheid in 1994. He then sobbed. His colleagues rushed to put their arms around his shoulders,” reads their report from the Associated Press.

“The painting has pitched culture and tradition against constitutional rights. It has polarised a nation…” reads an article on http://www.cnn.com.

Describing the protesting crowd outside the High Court in Johannesburg, the packed courtroom, Malindi’s breakdown, and the postponement to a date to be decided, their reporter wrote: “It was not to be a cut-and-dried case.”

The Al Jazeera website told the story mostly through posts of other people’s tweets from inside and outside the court on Thursday.

The Times of India reported on the defacing of the painting, eliciting some comments from readers, including Siddiharth Pathak of Allahabad, who said: “People cross their line in the garb of freedom of expression”.

“Vamsi” of India, posted this comment: “If they don’t like the painting, they should protest, but destroying the art is not correct.”

The Herald in Zimbabwe, The Times of Swaziland and The Namibian had not posted on Thursday’s developments by early Friday. – Sapa


Moeletsi: SA becoming de-industrialised

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MMbeki

South Africa is being de-industrialised and turned into a welfare state because of an alliance between the black political elite and the poor, political economist Moeletsi Mbeki said on Thursday.

“There is an alliance between the black middle class and the poor, this tells you how the poor are being bought off… they are grant recipients,” said Mbeki, who is former president Thabo Mbeki’s brother.

He was delivering a lecture: “What has the ANC achieved in nearly two decades?” at the University of the Witwatersrand.

“There are two primary political controllers of South Africa. The under-class are the single largest voting block of South Africa,” he said.

Political power rested between the black political elite and the black poor.

Mbeki said there was something wrong with the way the political elite was managing South Africa. It was the political elite which determined how the country developed.

“There is something very wrong with South Africa… with how the political elite are managing South Africa,” he said.

Under the ANC, three social groups had emerged.

They were: the capitalists or bourgeoisie, the political elite or bureaucratic bourgeoisie, and the under-class or unemployed.

“We have a unique political system in South Africa. It’s controlled by the black middle class (political elite), but it has an alliance with the poor or the under-class,” Mbeki said.

The objective of the political elite was to maximise consumption of the black middle class and to retain the monopoly on political power.

However, its weakness was that it depended on the vote of the under-class, which did not own productive assets, he said.

“The ANC has been driving a consumer revolution at the expense of production.”

Mbeki said the political elite’s private consumption was being funded by state revenue and had become a burden on taxpayers.

“It’s becoming clear where the bottleneck sits and where the problems are,” he said.

“The consumption of the black elite is unsustainable and has to be reversed.”

The capitalists needed to be brought into the loop. This group of society was defending itself by moving capital out of South Africa, said Mbeki.

“We need a new politics in South Africa, a more inclusive politics, not just a black elite and a black poor.”

“As long as they (capitalists) are out of the political loop, we’ll never have economic growth. They control the productive assets of the country,” he said.

In 2007, more than US20 billion (about R166.7bn), which was 20 percent of the gross domestic product (GDP), was moved out of South Africa by these capitalists.

“When you moving 20 percent of the GDP out of the country there is no way of developing your country,” he said.

Mbeki said the solution for South Africa was to develop entrepreneurs who were productive, and to develop science, maths, engineering and management education.

“Without that, we’re going nowhere.” – Sapa

MEC’s trail of credit card sprees exposed

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mec Mmemezi

By BALDWIN NDABA

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Gauteng MEC for Local Government and Housing Humphrey Mmemezi has lied again and again to the provincial legislature.

He told the legislature he had spent more than R38 000 for accommodation in Malaysia, paying the Prince Hotel Residence in Kuala Lumpur R38 640 for his seven-day stay there while on an official state visit.

In March, DA spokesman on local government and housing Fred Nel had asked Mmemezi:

* How many nights did the MEC stay in hotels in 2011?

* What was the total cost of these hotel stays?

* What hotel did he stay in?

* In each case, how much was spent on each stay at each of the hotels?

* In each case, what was the justification for staying at each hotel?

* How was the payment made?

Mmemezi replied to the DA on May 18 that he had spent 47 nights in hotels in the past year, and

gave a breakdown of all the hotels and the money he had spent.

Mmemezi claimed he had used his credit card to settle his R38 640 bill.

However, The Star has seen Mmemezi’s corporate cardholder statement for December last year, and it does not reflect such a payment.

His government-issued credit card was the one used in Malaysia, with Mmemezi spending less than R650 on it for food. He spent R226.54 at the Bumbu Desa restaurant and later R396 at Nando’s Chickenland on December 7.

These were the only items listed on his credit card for December 2011.

The Star asked Mmemezi for proof of the R38 640. This was not forthcoming.

The credit card was used inside SA on the same day, December 10, that he should have been in Malaysia.

The following were a list of some of the things Mmemezi spent money on while he was in the country at the same time he was supposedly overseas, according to his claim:

* He spent R1 472.60 at Nando’s Umhlanga, near Durban;

* The next day, December 11, he spent R2 950 at Augusta Spur in Umhlanga Ridge;

* On December 12, Mmemezi spent R3 360 at Moyo UShaka pier in Durban;

* On December 16, he bought groceries at Bonanza Spar in Krugersdorp worth R202.08;

* Three days later, he spent R159 at Bates Service Station in Port Shepstone;

* On December 23 he bought groceries worth R98.29 at Rhino Cash & Carry in Mthatha; and

* On Christmas Eve he bought groceries at Myezo Spar, also in Mthatha, worth R387.17.

These were the only listed expenses for December last year.

Mmemezi had claimed to the legislature that on September 16 to 18 he had been booked at Irene Country Lodge near Pretoria. He said he had used his credit card to pay R3 430 for his stay.

This is contradicted by his credit card statement, which places him in Durban’s Shelly Beach earlier on September 18 – where he spent R697 at the Georgia Spur.

Later that night, he made an overnight booking at Irene Country Lodge and the lodge charged him R245 for his stay.

Mmemezi claimed that from October 7 to 9, he was booked at the Irene Country Lodge and the government was billed R15 070, but The Star has seen a bill showing Mmemezi was charged only R245 for his overnight stay on October 8.

Mmemezi had told the legislature in response to a question that from August 29 until September 1 last year, he had paid R4 629 for staying at the Protea Hotel Edward in Durban, but his credit card indicates otherwise. The statement The Star has seen indicates that Mmemezi had made an overnight booking at the Beach Hotel in Durban only on August 31.

He also claimed that between September 1 and 2 he had been booked at the Sheraton Hotel in Pretoria, but there is nothing supporting his version in his credit card statement.

Gauteng Local Government and Housing chief director, communications, Victor Moreriane declined to comment on The Star’s individual questions. He said Mmemezi would respond to questions in the legislature.

Premier Nomvula Mokonyane’s office referred queries to Mmemezi.

Mokonyane’s spokesman, Xoli Mngambi, said: “The level of detail you’re looking for would not… be kept in the Premier’s Office. The premier has requested a formal response from the MEC on the matters that you’re enquiring about. Upon receipt of MEC Mmemezi’s formal reply, the premier will make a determination.”

The ANC in Gauteng has asked that the matter be referred to the Office of the Integrity Commissioner of the Gauteng legislature for investigation.

 

Trade union Nehawu called for Mmemezi’s temporary suspension and a probe over the “very disturbing” allegations.

 

The Star

Little faith in cops

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Copy of IOL police_badge_sep 19

By Karabo Seanego

South Africans seem to be losing faith in police officers tasked with protecting them from the onslaught of criminals and thugs.

Residents of Ekangala are livid about the time the local police station takes to respond to their calls. A ward councillor in the area was hopping mad after community members burnt a Putco bus and made their way to the house of the Tshwane Metropolitan Council chief whip Jabu Mabona and vandalised it earlier in the week.

According to the ward councillor, the police only responded after three hours. “We called them (at about) 7pm, but they only arrived after 10pm. When they got there they told us they had a staff shortage,” said the councillor. The house in question is not even five minutes away from the police station.

He said another Putco bus was burnt during protests a month ago. He said it happened next to the police station, but no one was arrested. “We are concerned about their reaction time, because people might die as a result of their slow response. This issue has to be dealt with immediately,” he said.

The councillor said when they went to the police station, the officers were reluctant to help until one of Mabona’s bodyguards introduced himself as a member of the VIP Protection Unit. “This was when they became a bit helpful and started talking to us. We called two senior members of that station, One was asleep and his wife answered the phone, but he never woke up. Another officer said he was on leave and couldn’t help us,” he said.

Police spokesman Johannes Japhta said they were looking into the matter and the station commissioner was willing to meet the complainants to address the problem. “We would like those people to come forward and supply us with more information and the names of those officers they spoke to,” said Japhta.

Actions such as those of the police officers at the Ekangala police station do not do much to encourage people to report crimes.

The South African Advertising Research Foundation (SAARF) has released figures stating that 40 percent of South Africans who fell victim to violent crimes did not report them as they did not have faith in the police. SAARF asked a sample of just more than 25 000 adults, aged from 15 years, if they had been victims of crime in 2011 and if so, if they had reported it.

SAARF CEO Dr Paul Haupt said their latest statistics showed that fewer than six out of 10 violent crime victims would see the inside of a police station. “While these figures are encouraging, there remains a significant gap between the number of people who say they have been a victim of crime and the number of people who will actually report that crime,” said Haupt.

The study found that out of the 1.8 million people who lived to tell the tale after experiencing a violent crime in 2011, 44.3 percent did not report it to the police. A total of 44.2 percent of people didn’t bother reporting non-violent crimes they had witnessed in the same period.

The head of crime and justice at the Institute for Security Studies (ISS), Gareth Newham, said the issue of people not reporting violent crimes to police wasn’t unique to SA. “Across the world, there is always some degree of under-reporting which varies according to several factors. The type of community and culture influences a person whether to report or not,” said Newham.

Newham said the different types of crime also had different reporting rates. According to him, almost all car hijackings are reported while only 60 percent of house burglaries are reported, and street robberies have the lowest reporting ratio.

“Sometimes people don’t report the crimes because they feel police will not catch the perpetrators or even if they do, they will not be able to identify them. Others fear reprisals from their attackers and if the crime happened while they were walking at night, they feel embarrassed and blame themselves for walking at night,” he said.

Newham added that as much as people might be reluctant to report crimes or view them as not being serious, police were not able to plan or know which crimes were prevalent in certain areas and what action should be taken to combat them.

That was echoed by Gauteng provincial police spokesman Lieutenant-Colonel Lungelo Dlamini. He said every crime, no matter how small, should be reported to the police so that they knew what crimes were on the increase and in what areas those crimes were mostly committed.

“Crimes reported become part of the official crime statistics and this helps us plan our strategies accordingly,” said Dlamini.

Newham said police should also make it easy for people to report crimes. He said one of the things that demoralised people when they went to report petty crimes, such as a stolen car stereo, was the fact that it took more than an hour to finish the paperwork.

“Government should also make information on the importance of reporting cases readily available to members of the public to encourage them to lay charges,” said Newham.

 

Pretoria News

South Africans seem to be losing faith in police officers tasked with protecting them from the onslaught of criminals and thugs.

Residents of Ekangala are livid about the time the local police station takes to respond to their calls. A ward councillor in the area was hopping mad after community members burnt a Putco bus and made their way to the house of the Tshwane Metropolitan Council chief whip Jabu Mabona and vandalised it earlier in the week.

According to the ward councillor, the police only responded after three hours. “We called them (at about) 7pm, but they only arrived after 10pm. When they got there they told us they had a staff shortage,” said the councillor. The house in question is not even five minutes away from the police station.

He said another Putco bus was burnt during protests a month ago. He said it happened next to the police station, but no one was arrested. “We are concerned about their reaction time, because people might die as a result of their slow response. This issue has to be dealt with immediately,” he said.

The councillor said when they went to the police station, the officers were reluctant to help until one of Mabona’s bodyguards introduced himself as a member of the VIP Protection Unit. “This was when they became a bit helpful and started talking to us. We called two senior members of that station, One was asleep and his wife answered the phone, but he never woke up. Another officer said he was on leave and couldn’t help us,” he said.

Police spokesman Johannes Japhta said they were looking into the matter and the station commissioner was willing to meet the complainants to address the problem. “We would like those people to come forward and supply us with more information and the names of those officers they spoke to,” said Japhta.

Actions such as those of the police officers at the Ekangala police station do not do much to encourage people to report crimes.

The South African Advertising Research Foundation (SAARF) has released figures stating that 40 percent of South Africans who fell victim to violent crimes did not report them as they did not have faith in the police. SAARF asked a sample of just more than 25 000 adults, aged from 15 years, if they had been victims of crime in 2011 and if so, if they had reported it.

SAARF CEO Dr Paul Haupt said their latest statistics showed that fewer than six out of 10 violent crime victims would see the inside of a police station. “While these figures are encouraging, there remains a significant gap between the number of people who say they have been a victim of crime and the number of people who will actually report that crime,” said Haupt.

The study found that out of the 1.8 million people who lived to tell the tale after experiencing a violent crime in 2011, 44.3 percent did not report it to the police. A total of 44.2 percent of people didn’t bother reporting non-violent crimes they had witnessed in the same period.

The head of crime and justice at the Institute for Security Studies (ISS), Gareth Newham, said the issue of people not reporting violent crimes to police wasn’t unique to SA. “Across the world, there is always some degree of under-reporting which varies according to several factors. The type of community and culture influences a person whether to report or not,” said Newham.

Newham said the different types of crime also had different reporting rates. According to him, almost all car hijackings are reported while only 60 percent of house burglaries are reported, and street robberies have the lowest reporting ratio.

“Sometimes people don’t report the crimes because they feel police will not catch the perpetrators or even if they do, they will not be able to identify them. Others fear reprisals from their attackers and if the crime happened while they were walking at night, they feel embarrassed and blame themselves for walking at night,” he said.

Newham added that as much as people might be reluctant to report crimes or view them as not being serious, police were not able to plan or know which crimes were prevalent in certain areas and what action should be taken to combat them.

That was echoed by Gauteng provincial police spokesman Lieutenant-Colonel Lungelo Dlamini. He said every crime, no matter how small, should be reported to the police so that they knew what crimes were on the increase and in what areas those crimes were mostly committed.

“Crimes reported become part of the official crime statistics and this helps us plan our strategies accordingly,” said Dlamini.

Newham said police should also make it easy for people to report crimes. He said one of the things that demoralised people when they went to report petty crimes, such as a stolen car stereo, was the fact that it took more than an hour to finish the paperwork.

“Government should also make information on the importance of reporting cases readily available to members of the public to encourage them to lay charges,” said Newham.

 

Pretoria News

 

South Africans seem to be losing faith in police officers tasked with protecting them from the onslaught of criminals and thugs.

Residents of Ekangala are livid about the time the local police station takes to respond to their calls. A ward councillor in the area was hopping mad after community members burnt a Putco bus and made their way to the house of the Tshwane Metropolitan Council chief whip Jabu Mabona and vandalised it earlier in the week.

According to the ward councillor, the police only responded after three hours. “We called them (at about) 7pm, but they only arrived after 10pm. When they got there they told us they had a staff shortage,” said the councillor. The house in question is not even five minutes away from the police station.

He said another Putco bus was burnt during protests a month ago. He said it happened next to the police station, but no one was arrested. “We are concerned about their reaction time, because people might die as a result of their slow response. This issue has to be dealt with immediately,” he said.

The councillor said when they went to the police station, the officers were reluctant to help until one of Mabona’s bodyguards introduced himself as a member of the VIP Protection Unit. “This was when they became a bit helpful and started talking to us. We called two senior members of that station, One was asleep and his wife answered the phone, but he never woke up. Another officer said he was on leave and couldn’t help us,” he said.

Police spokesman Johannes Japhta said they were looking into the matter and the station commissioner was willing to meet the complainants to address the problem. “We would like those people to come forward and supply us with more information and the names of those officers they spoke to,” said Japhta.

Actions such as those of the police officers at the Ekangala police station do not do much to encourage people to report crimes.

The South African Advertising Research Foundation (SAARF) has released figures stating that 40 percent of South Africans who fell victim to violent crimes did not report them as they did not have faith in the police. SAARF asked a sample of just more than 25 000 adults, aged from 15 years, if they had been victims of crime in 2011 and if so, if they had reported it.

SAARF CEO Dr Paul Haupt said their latest statistics showed that fewer than six out of 10 violent crime victims would see the inside of a police station. “While these figures are encouraging, there remains a significant gap between the number of people who say they have been a victim of crime and the number of people who will actually report that crime,” said Haupt.

The study found that out of the 1.8 million people who lived to tell the tale after experiencing a violent crime in 2011, 44.3 percent did not report it to the police. A total of 44.2 percent of people didn’t bother reporting non-violent crimes they had witnessed in the same period.

The head of crime and justice at the Institute for Security Studies (ISS), Gareth Newham, said the issue of people not reporting violent crimes to police wasn’t unique to SA. “Across the world, there is always some degree of under-reporting which varies according to several factors. The type of community and culture influences a person whether to report or not,” said Newham.

Newham said the different types of crime also had different reporting rates. According to him, almost all car hijackings are reported while only 60 percent of house burglaries are reported, and street robberies have the lowest reporting ratio.

“Sometimes people don’t report the crimes because they feel police will not catch the perpetrators or even if they do, they will not be able to identify them. Others fear reprisals from their attackers and if the crime happened while they were walking at night, they feel embarrassed and blame themselves for walking at night,” he said.

Newham added that as much as people might be reluctant to report crimes or view them as not being serious, police were not able to plan or know which crimes were prevalent in certain areas and what action should be taken to combat them.

That was echoed by Gauteng provincial police spokesman Lieutenant-Colonel Lungelo Dlamini. He said every crime, no matter how small, should be reported to the police so that they knew what crimes were on the increase and in what areas those crimes were mostly committed.

“Crimes reported become part of the official crime statistics and this helps us plan our strategies accordingly,” said Dlamini.

Newham said police should also make it easy for people to report crimes. He said one of the things that demoralised people when they went to report petty crimes, such as a stolen car stereo, was the fact that it took more than an hour to finish the paperwork.

“Government should also make information on the importance of reporting cases readily available to members of the public to encourage them to lay charges,” said Newham.

 

Pretoria News

Moloi wants Cele axed – report

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Suspended National Police Commissioner General Bheki Cele.

Barry Bateman 

PRETORIA – The Presidency expressed concern on Friday at what appears to be a leak of the report on Bheki Cele.

It said the leak may force some people to act outside of the law.

According to reports in the Witness newspaper on Thursday, Judge Jakes Moloi has recommended the firing of suspended National Police Commissioner Bheki Cele.

Moloi led a commission of inquiry that was setup up by President Jacob Zuma in November 2011 to probe allegations of misconduct against Cele, and establish whether he is fit to hold office.

The retired judge handed his report to Zuma on Sunday.

According to the reports, Moloi found that Cele was unfit to hold office.

The 113 page document reportedly stated that Cele lacked the capacity to execute his official duties efficiently.

The board is believed to have found grave misconduct as well as unlawful conduct, proving he is unfit to hold office.

It is understood Moloi found that the evidence suggested there was a questionable relationship between Cele and businessman Roux Shabangu.

The presidency’s Mac Maharaj dismissed the reports as speculation, saying Zuma was still studying the document.

President Jacob Zuma’s office on Monday confirmed that it had received the report from the board of inquiry.

Allegations of misconduct arose when two leases for new police headquarters in Pretoria and Durban were declared unlawful by Public Protector Thuli Madonsela.

The deals were worth a combined total of R1,6 billion and were to be leased from controversial businessman Roux Shabangu.

The board sat for several weeks earlier this year and explored allegations of maladministration against Cele after hearing submissions as well as evidence during the public hearings in Pretoria.

Moloi was assisted by advocates Terry Motau and Anthea Platt during the inquiry.

The evidence leader called for the general to be suspended, while his defence maintained there was never any wrongdoing on his part.

The report is expected to be handed to Cele, Parliament, the National Council of Provinces as well as the Parliamentary Portfolio Committee for Safety and Security.

(Edited by Clare Matthes)

 

 

Boks, Bryce and a sex tape

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Div_resignation1

Peter de Villiers was smeared, his family were put under intolerable political pressure and his one-time closest friends became his arch-foes, but he doesn’t regret a moment he spent coaching the Springboks.

He would even go all the way through the agony of last year’s rugby world cup – even though he still wonders if international bookmakers cost his team their quest to win the cup for a historic third time.

There is only one thing he would do over – he wouldn’t have taken the job as a married man and a father.

“I’m tough, but my family suffered more,” he said on Thursday exclusively to The Star on the eve of the launch of his biography, Politically Incorrect.

In the book, he questions why even though the International Rugby Board had privately thanked him and the team management for keeping the peace and not retaliating after Welsh referee Nigel Owens’s woeful refereeing of the off-the-ball incidents in the Bok-Samoa game, they rewarded Owens with a quarter-final match instead of censuring him.

De Villiers also claims Bryce Lawrence, the Kiwi referee who SA fans believe cost the Boks a quarter-final spot, made an unprecedented 47 refereeing errors in place of his customary six per game.

The coach had to fight many battles before the World Cup, though, starting with the now infamous sex tape.

In his book, he says he had been told that ANC MP Cedric Frolick and anti-apartheid activist and Eastern Province rugby boss Cheeky Watson had been behind the infamous sex tape smear, which almost derailed his Bok coaching career before it even began.

“I don’t know who was behind it or why,” he said, admitting that the questions still haunt him today.

No such tape has ever seen the light of day, and De Villiers has denied any involvement in it.

He partly blames himself for the breakdown in the relationship with a man who, together with Frolick, former sports portfolio chairman Butana Komphela and the Soweto Rugby Club’s Dr Asad Bhorat and Mike Stofile, had been one of his greatest supporters for the top job in SA rugby.

“Cheeky didn’t expect me to be so strong,” he said of his decision to stick with Bok captain John Smit and not appoint Watson’s son Luke as captain.

“Maybe I created expectations in Cheeky Watson, and like most South African fathers, he couldn’t take a step back from his child’s sport. Luke is an outstanding player and captain, but he never lived up to my expectations. John (Smit) was by far the better leader, on and off the field.”

Komphela, too, would turn on De Villiers, demanding that SA Rugby chief Oregan Hoskins fire him after De Villiers’s elderly father had a run-in with an ANC candidate in Paarl during last year’s local government elections, and De Villiers’s daughter was seen speaking to a friend at a DA table on election day.

Hoskins, the biography claims, never stood by his man either, starting with his announcement of De Villiers’s appointment, when he said it was not solely on merit, but based on political considerations too.

“Six months before we went to the Rugby World Cup, he was already negotiating with Heyneke Meyer to replace me…I learnt that from TV, he didn’t have the decency to tell me to my face. I’m not bitter about it, but that’s not the right way to do things.

“You ask the question, this is a multibillion-rand indus-try, are the right people managing it?”

De Villiers said the Kings, the controversial sixth team trying to force its way into the Super Rugby competition, was indicative of the broader malaise. Led by Watson, they are the descendants of the Spears that De Villiers had started with four players and no budget in 2004.

“Then they said we were costing them too much money, so they shut us down. Now we’ve got a franchise in a format that there is no room for, into which they are pumping millions.”

The Eastern Cape needs rugby to be developed, as 60 percent of all SA’s black players come from the region, but the Kings isn’t the answer, De Villiers said.

“If you want to introduce rugby, make every Super 15 team play a game there. If you want to develop talent, let it run its natural course, not by buying players from elsewhere. If they gave black players the chance, they would be the best they could be…

“We don’t have enough (quality) players to justify it. Instead of creating a vehicle to develop and keep the best black rugby players in the country, we’re making a team for the seventh, eighth and ninth best white players who don’t have anything left to give.”

The team’s inability to be competitive, he said, would make them a laughing stock.

Giving new Bok coach Meyer his full backing, he said: “The one thing we must do is support Heyneke… Our duty, every one of us, is just to support him.” – The Star