The trial of a 16-year-old boy accused of the Griquatown family farm murders continues in the Kimberley High Court on Monday.

The boy stands accused of the murders of Northern Cape farmer Deon Steenkamp, 44, his wife Christel, 43, and daughter Marthella, 14. They were shot dead on the farm Naauwhoek on April 6, 2012.

He pleaded not guilty to all the charges.

Last week, Griquatown farmer Joachim Scholtz told the court he was at a family gathering on his farm when a businessman in town phoned to tell him about the murders.

Scholtz told the court he grabbed his cellphone and called first Deon Steenkamp’s number and then Christel’s – but both went unanswered.

He then took a torch and drove to the Naauwhoek farm, which was 22km from his farm, on the opposite side of Griquatown.

At the farm he asked policemen on the scene if there were any survivors, but they did not know.

After asking permission, he and a policeman entered the house to check whether there were survivors, and found Deon, Christel and Marthella, already dead.

Scholtz testified that security cameras yielded no evidence of the murders.

A camera erected between the Steenkamp farm and Griquatown was not active because it was being moved.

He said a local farm organisation had been in discussion with Deon Steenkamp about finding a place to install the camera near his farm.

Scholtz confirmed during cross-examination that he and three other people went to clean the house on Saturday, April 7, the day after the murders.

He said a blood-stained carpet, which was under Marthella’s body, and Deon’s green Jeep jacket, had been burned because of the amount of blood on them.

Scholtz said he checked with police investigators before destroying the two items. – Sapa

Cape Town – Bafana Bafana coach Gordon Igesund says his side’s crucial 2-0 victory over the Central African Republic (CAR) in their World Cup qualifier will set the tone as they look to book their place in the 2014 showpiece in Brazil.

In his first qualifying game in charge, Bafana played with confidence, and managed to get the ball in the back of the net at Cape Town Stadium on Saturday night.

The win temporarily lifted South Africa to the top of the Group A qualifying table. Ethiopia regained a two-point lead after a 1-0 win over Botswana in Addis Ababa on Sunday, leaving Bafana in second place with five points.

“I’m quietly confident,” Igesund said after his team’s dominant performance.

“At the end of the day I thought we were better than them in every department.

“Our preparation was good and the guys are starting to believe in themselves.”

The hosts were in control throughout, but missed a flurry of late chances which could come back to haunt them later in the qualifying campaign.

Igesund, however, was pleased to secure the victory.

“I don’t think we were careless in front of goal,” he said.

“We beat a team 2-0, playing attacking football and creating at least 10 chances. We could have won 4-0.”

Bafana will next travel to CAR, where another victory could be difficult, though Igesund, buoyed by the win, believed they had the ability to pocket another three points away from home.

“I’m confident in this group of players and we can get a result there.

“We have just under two-and-a-half months before our next match and I need to have another good look at our players.

“Now I can sit down on Monday and plan our way forward.”

Herve Loungoundji, the CAR coach, raised concerns about the refereeing and the behaviour of the SA players after the visitors had a goal disallowed following an apparent handball.

Bafana captain Itumeleng Khune was the key figure in the home team’s intimidating behaviour towards officials, but the skipper stood by his conduct.

“People might question our behaviour on the pitch, behaving the way we did, but it was a clear handball,” Khune said.

“The way it was so crowded in the box, nobody saw anything.

“Even the linesman, as short as he was… and we pressurised him. He was so confused, he didn’t know what to tell the referee. It was a handball.

“That guy (CAR player Romaric Liganzi) was supposed to show good sportsmanship by heading the ball with his head instead of his hand.

“You have to be cruel in this game, because sometimes it’s a cruel game and sometimes you have to bring other elements into the game.”

There was good news for influential midfielder Dean Furman, who left the field just before half-time after a collision in the Bafana area.

Medical staff attempted to strap his head and face, to no avail. He left the field and was taken to hospital, but was later released with no serious injuries. – Sapa

Johannesburg – A retired judge will be appointed to probe allegations of impropriety against South African Revenue Services (Sars) Commissioner Oupa Magashula, Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan said on Sunday.

“I have decided to institute a thorough investigation of the matter,” he said in a statement.

“After consultations with the minister of justice (Jeff Radebe), I will appoint a retired judge to establish whether there was any breach of Sars processes, good governance, the nature of any possible indiscretion and to advise on appropriate remedies where breaches may have occurred.”

The South African Revenue Service said a tape recording in which Magashula appears to offer a job to an associate of a convicted drug dealer revealed nothing scandalous, the City Press reported.

“Sars has no reason to doubt the integrity of the Sars commissioner in either his professional or private life,” Sars spokesperson Adrian Lackay told the Sunday paper. – Sapa

By Obakeng Maje

Ventersdorp-The residents of Ventersdorp and its surroundings has been experiencing lack of water in their area for sometime now.

North West province is one of those where water is a problem and left many residents bristled.

The provincial government came under fire after they were accused of dealing with water issue ineptly by opposition parties.

At one stage, DA wanted to take the provincial government to court.

However residents of Ventersdorp can breath a sigh of relief after the water storage tank built in the area is almost half done.

“The tank will reach its completion at the end of the year. We will provide the residents with 14 million litres of water per day” Lobakeng said. 

The shortage of water in North West province left many businesses and residents alike wracked.

The provincial government is dealing with water issue earnestly as there are now many projects lined-up to curb the problem.

The water shortage once had impact on Marikana Commission last week where it was subsequently adjourned.

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Johannesburg – A woman motorist was arrested at her home after allegedly killing a pedestrian and fleeing the scene, Johannesburg metro police said on Sunday.

“(The JMPD) arrested a 24-year-old woman at her home in Radiokop last night, after she bumped and killed a male pedestrian along Northumberland Road in North Riding at about 9.30pm,” said Chief Superintendent Wayne Minnaar.

The woman allegedly spoke briefly to a man who witnessed the incident, then she drove off.

“The man rode behind her to where she lived and called JMPD who went to the address and arrested the woman.”

The pedestrian was identified and taken to a mortuary.

The woman will appear in the Randburg Magistrate’s Court on Monday. She faces charges of culpable homicide and leaving the accident scene. – Sapa

Johannesburg – Oscar Pistorius’s appeal against his bail conditions will be heard on the same day his older brother Carl is due in another court to stand trial for culpable homicide.

The double-amputee Olympic athlete’s legal team would challenge some of his bail conditions in the high court in Pretoria on Thursday, the family lawyer said. His brother’s trial is set for Wednesday and Thursday in the Vanderbijlpark Magistrate’s Court.

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

Bafana Bafana skipper Itumeleng Khune has defended his team’s reaction to Central African Republic’s ‘hand of God’ goal, which was disallowed this evening.

For more details go to http://www.kickoff.com

North West –

The ANC’s North West provincial executive committee (PEC) has decided to revoke its decision to suspend the membership of David Kham chief whip of the Tlokwe municipality, it said on Saturday.

“The PEC resolved to rescind it’s decision to temporarily suspend the membership of comrade David Kham. This decision was taken in the aftermath of NEC resolutions on the Tlokwe matter,” said acting provincial secretary Gordon Kegakilwe.

“The PEC further resolved to expedite the process of the resignation of comrade Kham as the whip of the Tlokwe local municipality, a PEC decision endorsed by the NEC (national executive committee).”

The decision to rescind Kham’s suspension was taken by the PEC at a special meeting held in Mafikeng on Thursday.

Last year the PEC decided to disband the ANC Ngaka Modiri Molema regional executive committee (REC) by suspending Mataboge and Tlokwe municipality council chief whip Kham.

Last month the NEC visited the province and took a decision that Maphetle Maphetle should be re-instated as mayor of Tlokwe municipality.

Fighting ANC factions had passed a motion of no confidence in Maphetle in November. He was replaced by Annette Combrink Ä the first DA mayor in the province.

But following the NEC decision, Maphetle reclaimed his seat as mayor in February after he won by 31 votes to 21.

The municipal council passed a vote of no confidence in Combrink before the voting took place.

In other matters discussed at the Thursday meeting, three PEC members resigned following their election to the ANC NEC during the elective conference held in Mangaung in December.

These were Philly Mapulane, Pinki Mokoto and Pinki Moloi.

Kegakilwe said the PEC had filled the vacancies with Ntombi Koloti, Suzan Tsebe and Fenny Motladiile.

“These replacements are subject to ratification of the provincial general council whose date will be decided by the next PEC,” he said.

At its next meeting, the provincial working committee (PWC) would also appoint the acting provincial treasurer after consultation with the NEC.

Three members of the Mahikeng Local Municipality who were removed by mayor Lenah Miga were reinstated with immediate effect.

The PEC said the decision by the mayor was taken without proper consultation of the PEC.

The ANC said it was ready to contest the by-election to be held in ward nine in Rusternburg and ward 14 in Tshwaing. – Sapa

Johannesburg – South Africans should brace themselves for what could be the most difficult winter as electricity supply remained constrained, the Public Enterprise Minister Malusi Gigaba said on Saturday.

“We need to worry about how we are going to go through this winter,” Gigaba said.

He was speaking to residents in Kliptown, Soweto where he was encouraging community members to pay for their electricity and to report illegal connections.

This was part of the 49M energy saving campaign.

Gigaba urged the public to continue with basic electricity saving habits like switching off geysers between 5pm and 9pm.

“We need to change our behaviour… instead of using heaters people should rather use blankets.”

He told residents that with Eskom reaching 40 million new connections last year, it meant by 2017, South Africa would have to have more power stations to meet the growing demand.

“We are still confident that we will, in partnership with all South Africans and with more business joining the partnership, succeed to keep the lights on until we get out of this difficult situation,” said Gigaba.

He finally asked residents to observe Earth Hour on Saturday evening by switching off lights and appliances between 8.30pm and 9.30pm. – Sapa