Monthly Archives: October 2012

Four mineworkers arrested for murder

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By Obakeng Maje

Rustenburg-The North West Police have arrested four Lonmin mineworkers who are believed to be behind of some of the murder cases that happened around the  Marikana Mine Hostels recently. In the past three weeks four mineworkers were brutally murdered and police have been working tirelessly in their endeavour to arrest the perpetrators. Following the investigations, yesterday 23 October 2012 police arrested four mineworkers in connection with the alleged  killing of their co-workers. The alleged killings happened  during the last violent unrest by some Mineworkers at Marikana. The four suspects were arrested  at about 15:00 in a vehicle while they were coming from the Marikana Enquiry.  

 

 

“Police would like to reiterate the fact that the arrest of the four has nothing to do with the intimidation of mineworkers who are testifying in the Marikana Inquiry” Brigadier Thulani Ngubane said.

“As the South African Police Service we dispute the allegations that we  are targeting mineworkers because we  are trying to prevent them from testifying in the Marikana Commission of Enquiry” He said.

In this Democratic dispensation, Police are governed and guided by the constitution of the country which protects Human Rights including those of the suspects, arrested and detained persons.

“Therefore it could not be right to suggest or insinuate that police effect unlawful arrests in order to derail the objective and purpose  of the Marikana Commission of Enquiry. Those who were arrested, were merely arrested after police conducted thorough investigations and were confidently convinced that the arrested four had bridged the law” Ngubane outlines.  

We are confident that there is evidence linking the arrested suspects to the killing of the victims.

South African Police Service would like to put it on record that we have no other agenda than to arrest those who are breaking the laws of the Republic.  We would like to encourage anyone who feels that they have been treated unfairly to contact any of the Chapter nine institutions, who are charged with the responsibility to investigate the Police.  

 

 

 

 

 

If there is a need for any of the suspects to appear before the Marikana  Commission of Enquiry, by virtue of the powers vested upon the Commission,  the commissioner will make such pronouncement and if still under police custody, they will be availed whenever that need arise. All they need to know is that all those who have taken part or contributed in criminal activities, the arm of the law is never too short to reach them. They will be snatched every where even underground in the mine shafts.

 

 

 

 

Banyana get a pep-talk from SA High Commissioner in Cameroon

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By Obakeng Maje

Banyana Banyana wrapped up their 5—day training camp in Yaounde, Cameroon and will jet off to Malabo, Equatorial Guinea on Thursday, 25 October 2012, to put the finishing touches to their preparations for the eight-nation CAF African Women Championship 2012.

 

The African women’s football showpiece event starts on October 28, with the Sasol-sponsored Banyana Banyana in Group A action against hosts Equatorial Guinea.

 

Banyana Banyana received further words of motivation from the South African High Commissioner to Cameroon, Ms Ntshadi M Tsheole, who paid a surprise visit to the national team’s training session.

 

“As a commission, we are so excited to have Banyana Banyana training here in Cameroon and wish them the best of luck for the tournament in Equatorial Guinea,” said Tsheole.

 

“We are politicians, but Banyana Banyana are ambassadors for South Africa in their own right. Everywhere they go, so do the media and these young football players are a real credit to our country.”

 

Meanwhile, national head coach Joseph Mkhonza looked also a bit more relaxed as the team’s technical staff joined the players in a small size field practice match.

 

“The spirit in the camp is high, particularly after the effort put in during the 1-all draw against Cameroon in an international friendly match played in Yaoundé on Monday,” said Banyana Banyana head coach Joseph Mkhonza.

 

“Having a national training camp in the humid conditions here in Cameroon was crucial to our build up to the CAF African Women Championship 2012 as we are likely to find similar conditions in Equatorial Guinea. Safa and Sasol, our team sponsor, need to be commended for allowing our team the opportunity to prepare here in Cameroon.”

 

The national coaching staff has been impressed with the way in which Durban Ladies (KwaZulu Natal) striker Silindile Ngubane and club-mate and defender Charlotte Mshengu have fitted into the Banyana Banyana set up.

 

“I called Ngubane to the camp after having seen her score 11 goals for Durban Ladies at the Sasol League National Championships held in Durban in July and she has already netted for Banyana Banyana in the 1-all draw with Zimbabwe in Daveyton last week,” said Mkhonza.

 

“Mshengu is a valuable player as she can play in any of the defensive positions and this could be of major value in a long tournament such as the CAF African Women Championship. The national coaches also spotted her potential when she played for Durban Ladies during the Sasol League National Championships held in Durban.”

 

Mshengu made her Banyana Banyana debut in coming on as a second half substitute for her Durban Ladies club-mate Zamandosi Cele, in the international friendly encounter against Cameroon on Monday, 22 October 2012.

 

Bad news coming from the camp is that University of Johannesburg (Sasol League Gauteng) midfielder Yola Jafta is on her way home due to a hamstring strain. She is expected to arrive in South Africa in the evening. This comes after the team doctor took her to hospital yesterday (Tuesday, 23 October) and discovered that she wouldn’t be able to recover in time for the tournament.

 

All the other players are fit and ready for action, with Cape Town Roses (Sasol League Western Cape) midfielder Nocawe Skiti having returned to training after a trip to the dentist in Yaoundé also yesterday, to have a tooth extracted.

 

Following the Group A match against Equatorial Guinea, Banyana Banyana will face Senegal in Malabo on October 31, and will travel to Bata for their encounter with DR Congo on November 3.

 

The semi-finals will take place in either Malabo or Bata on November 7, with the 3rd/4th place playoff and the title decider both scheduled for Malabo on November 11

 

 

Serial killer takes on government

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moses sithole

Johannesburg – South Africa’s worst serial killer, Moses Sithole, has taken the government to task, accusing it of illegally transferring him to a Bloemfontein prison against his will.

The man, serving a jail term of 2 410 years for raping 40 women and killing 37 of them, has filed an urgent application in the Johannesburg High Court, challenging his transfer to Mangaung prison from Sun City (Johannesburg Prison).

The 38th murder victim was the two-year-old son of one of the women he killed.

These crimes were committed in Atteridgeville, Boksburg and Cleveland between 1994 and 1995. Some of the bodies could not be identified.

In his court papers, Sithole, 48, argued that Correctional Services officials came to his cell at Sun City in August last year and, against his will, forcefully transferred him to Mangaung C-Max prison.

Sithole was initially incarcerated at the Pretoria C-Max prison, having stayed there from December 5, 1997.

He was transferred to the Zonderwater Maximum Medium A correctional centre in Cullinan on March 17 last year because of the closure of the Pretoria C-Max prison.

A month later, on April 21 last year, Sithole was transferred to the Johannesburg Maximum Medium C correctional centre in Joburg on his request.

But Sithole claims he was forcefully transferred to the Bloemfontein facility on August 17 last year without prior notice or reasons being given.

This, he claims, was affecting the “emotional and psychological bond” he had forged with a daughter who was just a few months old when he was arrested in 1995.

Sithole made a joint application with Erick Jhon Jungbluth Guerra, a maximum prison inmate serving a 15-year jail term.

It was not clear what Guerra was incarcerated for, but he indicated in court papers that he was transferred to the Bloemfontein facility from Joburg in September last year.

Like Sithole, he was also not given reasons, and efforts to source answers from prison authorities had fallen on deaf ears, he said.

“Upon their admission in the Mangaung Correctional Centre, Sithole and Guerra made enquiries to establish the motive behind the decision of Correctional Services to transfer them.

“The reason the applicants got from the supervisor in charge was that no prior reason was furnished.

“Thereafter, the applicants wrote letters [to] Correctional Services, where they highlighted the ramifications of the decision the transfer had on them as well as their family. However, no response came back,” the two men said.

Since their transfers, the two men have not had visits from any relatives as the 540km trip would cost a family member close to R3 000.

“The baleful nature of the decision of the respondents and its effects does not limit itself to cost factors alone.

“The decision has also impacted negatively on the social and psychological well-being of the family of the applicants,” the pair said.

The two argued that their families and friends were allowed contact with them while they were jailed in Pretoria and Joburg, but this ceased soon after they were transferred to Bloemfontein.

“The decision by Correctional Services to transfer Sithole and Guerra to the Mangaung Correctional Centre had literally marooned them from their kinfolks,” the court papers said.

Sithole and Guerra have supplied the high court with a section of the constitution and various Correctional Services manuals, saying all these documents supported the view that their incarceration in Bloemfontein was illegal.

Sithole received an HIV-positive diagnosis during his trial, but claimed that his health had since improved.

On Tuesday, he and Guerra arrived at the high court in leg irons before the matter was postponed to next month.

baldwin.ndaba@inl.co.za and omphitlhetse.mooki@inl.co.za

  1. The Star

Ramaphosa must say sorry – ANCYL

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iol news pic cyril ramaphosa sep 20

Johannesburg – ANC national executive committee member and businessman Cyril Ramaphosa must apologise to the families of those killed at Marikana on August 16, the ANC Youth League said on Wednesday.

“Comrade Cyril Ramaphosa must apologise to the families of the injured and the dead for agitating and inciting the South African Police against them,” the African National Congress Youth League said in a statement.

On Tuesday, advocate Dali Mpofu, representing the miners injured and arrested after the shooting on August 16, said there was an e-mail in which Ramaphosa strongly condemned the protests, described them as criminal acts and suggested “concomitant action”.

Mpofu told the Farlam Commission into the shootings, which is holding hearings at the Rustenburg Civic Centre, that the e-mail was sent 24-hours before 34 miners were killed.

“He advanced that what was taking place were criminal acts and must be characterised as such. In line with this characterisation (Ramaphosa said) there needs to be concomitant action to address the situation,” said Mpofu.

He said e-mails were exchanged between Ramaphosa, Police Minister Nathi Mthethwa, Lonmin management and Mineral Resources Minister Susan Shabangu.

Ramaphosa sits on the Lonmin board. The striking miners killed in the shooting were from Lonmin’s platinum mine in Marikana.

He is also executive chairman of Shanduka Resources, which owns half of Incwala Resources, Lonmin’s black economic empowerment partner.

Ramaphosa chaired the ANC’s national disciplinary committee of appeals which upheld the expulsion from the party of former ANCYL president Julius Malema, and at which Malema was represented by Mpofu.

The Hawks are investigating charges, brought by the trade union Solidarity, that Malema incited violence during the strike at Lonmin’s Marikana mine.

The ANCYL said Ramaphosa had “lost any credibility as a genuine leader of the people, and as a revolutionary committed to the cause of the working class”.

“With his e-mail to Police Minister, Comrade Nathi Mthethwa, Comrade Ramaphosa delivered the more than 40 people to their death(s) at Marikana,” the ANCYL said.

It said that Ramaphosa’s preoccupation with the preservation of his monetary interests in Lonmin led him to call for concomitant action to deal with the criminal acts.

“As a seasoned unionist, the ANC Youth League expected more from Comrade Ramaphosa.

“The criminal acts he spoke of were the legitimate calls of workers demanding a decent wage.”

The league said Mthethwa had yet to explain from where the police got their orders.

The ANCYL called for a moratorium on all dismissals of workers and a return to order in the mining industry.

“The call for nationalisation of mines has never been more urgent and we call on ANC leaders with vested interests in the mining industry to subordinate their interests in favour of the collective good of all in South Africa, as demanded by the Freedom Charter.” – Sapa

Cosatu rally will not unite workers: DSM

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IOL pic oct22 miners walkout

A Rustenburg rally by Cosatu will not unite workers, the Democratic Socialist Movement (DSM) said on Tuesday.

“The rally will not bring the workers together, it will not bring unity, but conflict,” secretary general Weizmann Hamilton said.

His movement was concerned that Cosatu called the rally to claim back Rustenburg from what it called the forces of the counter-revolution.

The Congress of SA Trade Unions had planned a march and a rally on Saturday, at the Olympia Park stadium, to mobilise workers to engage in solidarity protests in support of mineworkers’ wage demands.

The strike started at Lonmin’s Marikana mine in August when workers demanded a monthly salary of R12,500, and elected a committee to represent them, instead of a union.

Hamilton said the DSM did not lead workers into a strike, but offered them support when their union, the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM), said the R12,500 was unreasonable.

“When workers went on strike for a reasonable demand, we offered them support. It is possible for mineworkers to be paid R88,000 a month and still leave a huge profit for the bosses.”

He said NUM was using the DSM as a scapegoat for its failure to serve the workers.

“NUM has turned into a business union with interests in the mines.”

He said the DSM wanted to form a national socialist party representing the interests of workers.

He said the DSM was a Trotskyist (far left) political party affiliated to the Committee for a Workers’ International, which was represented in 40 countries. The DSM was formed in the 1970s, mostly by expelled African National Congress members.

Hamilton said they had been inundated with requests from people wanting to join the movement. He could not immediately provide membership numbers. – Sapa

 

Lonmin defends emails to government

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IOL pic oct22 marikana farlam

Rustenburg – Lonmin on Tuesday denied claims that it colluded with the police and the government in the days before the Marikana mine shooting.

“Lonmin’s action to engage with appropriate authorities of the state was simply part of a process aimed at achieving normality,” the company said in a statement.

“Lonmin is a mining company and is not responsible for law enforcement.”

The platinum miner was responding to arguments heard on Tuesday at the Farlam inquiry, which is investigating the August 16 shooting at Lonmin’s Marikana mine.

The company said it wanted to communicate with the government to ensure it understood the company’s view of the situation, to ensure a peaceful resolution of the matter.

Advocate Dali Mpofu, representing the miners injured and arrested after the shooting, told the inquiry of an e-mail in which ANC heavyweight and Lonmin board member Cyril Ramaphosa strongly condemned the protests, described them as criminal acts and suggested “concomitant action”.

“This (e-mail) was (sent) on 15 August at 2.58pm, exactly 24 hours before the people were mowed down on that mountain,” said Mpofu.

“We have e-mails that were being exchanged between Lonmin management, government ministers 1/8of mineral resources and the police 3/8, and at the centre is a gentleman called Cyril Ramaphosa,” he said.

“He advanced that what was taking place were criminal acts and must be characterised as such.”

Mpofu said the e-mail was addressed to a certain “dear Albert of Lonmin”.

He said evidence would be led to discredit claims that the shootings were spontaneous acts committed in self-defence by police officers.

One of the causes of the Marikana tragedy was a “toxic collusion between the state and capital”, he said.

“The main causes of the massacre are the SA Police Service (SAPS), other agencies of government, and Lonmin. The people I represent here seek the truth for themselves and their colleagues who passed away.”

Mpofu described the actions of the police as “murder and extra-judicial killings”.

The police opened fire while trying to disperse a group of strikers encamped on a hill in Nkaneng, killing 34 and wounding 78 on August 16.

The workers had been carrying knobkerries, pangas, sticks and iron rods. They went on strike on August 10, demanding a monthly salary of R12,500. Within four days, 10 people had been killed, two of them policemen and two of them security guards. – Sapa


child shot oct 24

Johannesburg – Eleven-year-old Kimberly Mzizi had just taken a break from skipping with her friends when she felt blood trickling from her chest.

“I am bleeding,” she said, clutching her chest.

The girl she was leaning against turned to look at her, saw the blood, got scared and pulled away.

As Kimberly was about to fall, another friend leaned towards her quickly, grabbed her, laid her down on the ground gently and fled.

Scared, the rest of the group scattered, leaving Kimberly dead on the gravel.

A police officer, allegedly looking scared, ran to where Kimberly lay, conducted mouth-to-mouth resuscitation and checked her for wounds. When he realised that the girl was dead, he gave up.

Kimberly’s mother, Ntokozo, had been watching the afternoon news in her Bramfischer home when a crying neighbour burst through the door and told her that her child had been injured.

Ntokozo rushed outside to be met by the sight of her daughter’s body lying at the neighbour’s gate.

“I tried to wake her up, shaking her and calling her name. But she was just quiet,” the woman recalled. “I heard that the officer who shot her was chasing after a suspect. I wondered why he had to shoot here when there were children in the streets. However, only God will judge him,” Ntokozo said.

Ntokozo sat on her bed on Tuesday, surrounded by relatives.

Three months ago, she had buried her husband. A week before he died, he suffered a stroke and was paralysed. “I’m still in shock and don’t even know how I will bury my daughter. I don’t have a cent,” she said.

A neighbour, whose daughter grabbed Kimberly before she fell, said she had seen people running past her yard before hearing a gunshot.

Margaret Rahube said she had initially thought the sound was one of her windows breaking.

However, when she saw the officer performing mouth-to-mouth resuscitation on Kimberly, she realised what had happened.

For more details go to http://www.iol.co.za

Ramaphosa under siege

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ANC heavyweight Cyril Ramaphosa – who is being nominated by supporters of President Jacob Zuma to be his deputy – has been named as authoring an e-mail that called on the eve of the Marikana shootings for action against striking Lonmin miners.

 

Sapa reported that advocate Dali Mpofu told the Farlam Commission of Inquiry of an e-mail in which Ramaphosa condemned protests by workers at the mine, describing them as criminal acts and calling for “concomitant action”.

 

“This was on 15 August at 2.58 pm, exactly 24 hours before the people were mowed down on that mountain,” Sapa reported Mpofu as saying.

 

“We have e-mails that were being exchanged between Lonmin management, government ministers and at the centre is a gentleman called Cyril Ramaphosa,” Mpofu was quoted as telling the inquiry.

 

“He advanced that what was taking place criminal acts and must be characterised as such. In line with this characterisation there needs to be concomitant action to address the situation.”

 

In a statement on Tuesday night, Lonmin said that due to “the violence and loss of life in the period August 10 to 14”, it had “engaged with a number of stakeholders to ensure that the situation in and around Marikana was addressed in the appropriate manner”.

 

As it was a mining company and “not responsible for law enforcement”, it “stands to reason that the company, including members of its board, would communicate with the relevant stakeholders in government to ensure that they properly understood the company’s view of the situation on the ground to ensure a peaceful resolution of the matter”, the statement said.

 

“Lonmin’s action to engage with appropriate authorities of the state was simply part of a process aimed at achieving normality.”

 

Ramaphosa is a non-executive director of Lonmin. His Shanduka group owns 9 percent of the company through its 50 percent stake in Incwala Resources, Lonmin’s black economic empowerment partner.

 

While he has given no formal indication of his willingness to replace deputy ANC president Kgalema Motlanthe, speculation that he is keen to play a bigger role in the party has been rife for months.

 

He has been nominated by the ANC in Mpumalanga on a pro-Zuma slate that would keep Gwede Mantashe as secretary-general, have Jessie Duarte as his deputy (in place of Thandi Modise), and Baleka Mbete as ANC chairwoman, and KwaZulu-Natal Premier Zweli Mkhize as treasurer-general instead of Mathews Phosa.

 

The same list of names was put forward after a meeting of the branch at Zuma’s home in Nkandla earlier this month, the Sunday Times reported at the weekend.

 

If the speculations are true, however, Ramaphosa – who last month apologised on national radio for bidding R18 million for a buffalo and its calf while fellow South Africans lived in poverty – could find the path to political power very convoluted.

 

The SAfm interview also offered Ramaphosa the opportunity to reject categorically “outrageous” allegations on a website that he owned a company that was contracting labour to Lonmin but pocketing the bulk of workers’ wages.

 

The former struggle activist and National Union of Mineworkers leader is now best known as a capitalist, and – as chairman of the party’s disciplinary appeals committee – the man who sealed the fate of ANC Youth League leader Julius Malema.

Elected ANC secretary-general in 1991, he led the ANC in the negotiations that paved the way for the 1994 democratic breakthrough.

 

The height of his popularity in the ANC was in 1997 when he got the top number of votes for a place on the national executive committee. When he left politics for business, the word was he had been pushed, and speculation was that he would aim for a comeback.

 

Ramaphosa turns 60 on November 17. If he accepts nomination as deputy president, and his bid is not derailed, he would be well placed to step into top spot come 2017, with a shot at becoming South Africa’s president in 2019.

 

Political Bureau

For more details go to http://www.iol.co.za

Mahikeng to host tourney final


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By Obakeng Maje

Mahikeng-In order to intensify community mass sport participation, the Department of Sport, Arts and Culture working together with the recently launched Provincial Sport Council will on Saturday, 27 October 2012 host the Provincial Finals of the Football and Netball Tournament that started with eliminations at local municipality level during the past two months.  

 

The provincial finals which will involve both male and female football teams as well as netball teams from the four districts will take place at Mmabatho Stadium and Montshioa Stadium.

 

“Working closely with relevant structures, we want to ensure that sport development becomes a reality in this talent flowing province”, said MEC for Sport, Arts and Culture, Mme Tebogo Modise, adding that such arrangements would be a continuous practice, to strengthen cooperation and support with Sport Federations, secondly to verify if local structures/associations are existing and functional in all service points and thirdly to identify areas that need intervention for local association to function efficiently and inclusively within communities in our areas.

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Vaaltar FM suspends Top DJ


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By Obakeng Maje

Taung- Vaaltar Fm is one of leading community radio stations in South Africa. And the station is based at Lesedi Corporation Buildings in Taung CBD.

The station has suspended their Breakfast show host Tshokollo “MrTM” Maine. According to our mole at the station, the Top Dj was suspended yesterday for late coming.

Mr TM allegedly arrived two hours late for his show yesterday and he was put in the cold.

Our crew received few calls from concerned  listeners who wanted to know what’s really transpires at the station.

We contacted the station for any clarity on the matter.

We spoke to an acting Programme Manager and Head of News Amogelang Matuane.

“I am suprised because we haven’t received any calls from so-called concerned listeners. Maybe your newspaper is a shareholder at Vaaltar Fm because our listeners know our numbers” she said angrily.

“Mr TM arrived late yesterday and according to his statement he woke up late. And on this issue I do not want to comment further” Matuane yelled.

 Our crew next stop was the Dj himself to get his side of story and refutes all that statement.

“I do not want to say much on that issue as the relevant people to talk to, is the Station Management. I cannot deny nor agree regarding my suspension” Mr TM as he is affectionately known to his fans said.

According to information we received the Dj was also suspendedd back in July for unknown reasons.

“We were engaged in a meeting a hour ago and i received your messages.I really want to know who leaked the story or who are those listeners” Amogelang said.

Our crew explained to her that whether she knows those listeners or not is not much of importance as we only wanted a clarification regarding unsolved issues hovering the station.

If our mole information is anything to go by, Tokollo “Mr TM” Maine is bound to be expelled.

Only time will tell,so keep captivated to your favourite newspaper.

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