Johannesburg – The nature of Communications Minister Dina Pule’s relationship with businessman Phosane Mngqibisa will be investigated by a nine-member panel, The Times reported on Thursday.

Parliament’s joint committee on ethics and members’ interests appointed the panel, to be chaired by ANC veteran Ben Turok. It would hold hearings towards the end of next month. Matters to be investigated would include whether she declared her relationship with Mngqibisa to Parliament, and whether she made any financial gains through the alleged romance.

Mngqibisa earned millions from co-ordinating the 2012 ICT Indaba, organised by Pule’s department.

The Times reported the panel was appointed after the Democratic Alliance laid a complaint and asked the committee to probe Pule’s alleged romantic links to Mngqibisa.

The committee’s co-chairman Lemias Mashile said on Wednesday that while the initial complaint came from the DA, they could start  investigations based on media reports.

“The complaint initially was that a minister’s boyfriend was employed to facilitate last year’s ICT Indaba.

“The first thing that the committee will probe is whether there is a (romantic) relationship between the minister and the man. We will also be checking whether the minister did declare that relationship,” he said. – Sapa

South Africa has one of the worst road death records in the world and is second-worst in Africa. This is according to a World Health Organisation survey that found that South Africa ranked 177th out of 182 countries investigated.

The study measured deaths per 100 000 and South Africa ranked along with Iran, Nigeria, Thailand and Venezuela.

For more details go to www.iol.co.za

Johannesburg – A police sergeant was on Wednesday convicted of culpable homicide for shooting a handcuffed man in the back when he was fleeing after being arrested at a Boksburg nightclub.

Sergeant Raymond le Roux was found guilty of culpable homicide by the Palm Ridge High Court for shooting Rean Ramdin last year. He will be sentenced on April 19.

“We’re not happy at all,” said Ramdin’s sister, Melody Perumal.

The family believed that Le Roux should have been convicted of murder, not the lesser charge of culpable homicide.

“He was in handcuffs, running away,” said Perumal, questioning how Ramdin could have been a threat to police officers.

Ramdin’s hands were handcuffed behind his back.

For more details go to www.iol.co.za

Johannesburg – Former president Nelson Mandela has been re-admitted to an undisclosed hospital, the presidency said on Thursday morning.

He was hospitalised on Wednesday before midnight due to a recurrence of his lung infection, spokesman Mac Maharaj said in a statement.

“Doctors are attending to him, ensuring that he has the best possible expert medical treatment and comfort,” he said.

President Jacob Zuma wished him a speedy recovery.

“We appeal to the people of South Africa and the world to pray for our beloved Madiba and his family and to keep them in their thoughts,” Zuma said in a statement.

“We have full confidence in the medical team and know that they will do everything possible to ensure recovery.”

Maharaj appealed for “understanding and privacy in order to allow space to the doctors to do their work”. – Sapa

Bangui – Rebel forces and international peacekeepers mopped up pockets of resistance on Wednesday in the Central African Republic after a weekend coup, but life in the capital was mostly returning to normal after three days of looting.

Up to 5 000 rebels swept into the riverside town on Sunday, killing at least 13 South African soldiers in intense fighting and forcing President Francois Bozize to flee in the latest conflict to destabilise the landlocked former French colony.

The Seleka rebel coalition struggled to stamp out the chaos that ensued and was forced to appeal to peacekeepers from neighbouring central African states to help control gunmen looting houses, business, United Nations offices and even hospitals.

“Security is okay but it is not perfect. There are still some pockets of resistance,” said a senior United Nations official, adding there were still the dregs of pro-Bozize militias.

“Arms were distributed to youth in certain neighbourhoods by the outgoing president,” the official said.

He said conditions were slowly improving in the sprawling capital, easing fears of a major humanitarian crisis.

“Things are starting to pick up,” he told Reuters. “We need doctors and nurses to come back to work, and supplies of power and drugs. I hope it will only take a few days to sort out.”

A senior source with the FOMAC regional peacekeeping force said 100 government troops were holed up at a military base at Berengo, 60km from the capital, refusing to surrender to rebel forces.

“They don’t want to fight, just surrender and go home to their families. We will organise their evacuation,” said the source, who asked not to be identified.

Keeping his promise to honour a power-sharing deal signed in January, self-proclaimed president Michel Djotodia officially re-appointed Nicolas Tiangaye, a civilian opposition figure, as prime minister tasked with leading a transitional government.

The United States, France and regional powers have insisted the rebels must honour the Libreville accord, signed in January in the Gabonese capital, which called for a transitional unity government until elections in 2016.

Businesses re-opened and traffic took to the streets of Bangui. A Reuters correspondent in Bangui said markets were open on Wednesday but many lacked food.

Electricity, cut off since Saturday when rebels struck a hydroelectric power station in a nearby town, had been restored in most neighbourhoods but there was still no running water in many parts of the city, he said.

“The security situation is beginning to improve,” Jean-Pierre Sandou, a sergeant with the roughly 1 000-strong five-FOMAC force, patrolling the crumbling city of 600 000 people.

South African soldiers battled the rebels for hours but troops from the FOMAC force did not try to prevent their advance, which came a decade to the month after Bozize himself seized power in a coup.

France’s troops in the country also refused to intervene, saying they would only protect French citizens, as Paris steps away from its traditional role as Africa’s policeman.

The United Nations and the African Union condemned the takeover, which came after a collapse in the January peace deal signed after a previous rebel advance to the gates of the capital in December.

The Central African Republic has rich deposits of gold, diamonds and uranium but it remains one of the world’s least developed and most unstable nations. – Reuters

By Obakeng Maje

Taung-Yesterday police, Department of Social Development, Community Policing Forum and Public works kickstarted a Operation Paseka in Taung Complex.

The provincial visible policing unit, tactical response team, public order policing unit and the flying squad were out in full force to enforce law and order.

Police said the operation comprised stop and searches, vehicle patrols, foot patrols, visits to taverns and liquor outlets to ensure they were operating within their licence conditions.

“We must make sure that we stay observant and when doing our shopping let’s make sure we do not leave expensive items lying around” Police said.

The operations are executed to prevent and combat crime in order to ensure a safe and secure environment for all inhabitants, especially as we are approaching the Easter holidays.

“The operational team will work hand in hand with the community and we will visit liquor outlets and issued fines where they were found to be in contravention of the law” CPF chairperson mme Karaboeng Gaoboihe said.

“The problem is that the police vehicles are not enough,so let’s work together with police. If you see any crime being commissioned make sure you provide police with necessary information” Gaoboihe said.

The police said to curb robberies, murders and other contact related crimes is their priority.

Smash and Grab has been rife in Taung complex and because criminals see that other members of the community are doing nothing, they now commit a crime in front of them.

The leader of Batlhaping ba-ga Phuduhuchwana Kgosi Motlhabane graced the campaign.

“Through the extensive visibility of police vehicles in the area we will manage to curb the occurrence of rapes and murders.” Police said.

The municipal traffic will continue with roadblocks in support of the Arrive Alive Campaign.

It’s all systems go for the Arrive Alive campaign, with more than 200 traffic officials deployed across the country, to ensure road safety over the Easter long weekend.

The officers who have been deployed to the provinces were given a special send-off by the Road Traffic Management Corporation (RTMC) at the South African Air Force mobile deployment wing in Centurion, on Wednesday.

But law enforcement alone cannot prevent road carnage.

Acting CEO of the RTMC Collins Letsoalo said: “We want to urge all road users to help us make a difference. We cannot continue having more than 40 people lose their lives per day on South African roads.

The authorities have and will continue to ensure that smart and effective enforcement is applied thoroughly. Let us embrace a safer road user behaviour this Easter and beyond. Let’s get there with no regrets.”

The National Traffic Police (NTP) will focus on dangerous driving, which includes barrier line infringements, excessive speeding as well as drinking and driving. They will join forces with provincial counterparts to conduct special inter-provincial operations such as compulsory Stop-and-Stretch Points for public passenger transport vehicles. At these operations, driver fitness, vehicle fitness, fatigue management and overloading will also be addressed.

The NTP and provincial traffic authorities will be supported by three helicopters along these routes that will assist with aerial surveillance, media liaison and medical evacuation.

Letsoalo said: “We want to decrease the road carnage by at least 25% because last year we managed to reduce the death toll by 20%. We urge the community to work with the traffic department to ensure a safe journey.”

The unit will collaborate with their provincial counterparts along the following major arterial routes to provide around-the-clock surveillance.

QUICK FACTS

» Busiest Easter roads

» N1 from Pretoria to Polokwane and Beitbridge (N&S), Limpopo

» N1 from Beaufort West to Loaingsburg (N&S)

» N3 from Villiers to Harrismith (N&S), Free State

» N3 van Reenen’s Pass, (N&S), Kwa-Zulu Natal

» N4 from Machadadorp to Nelspruit onward-bound to Komatipoort, (E&W), Mpumalanga

» N12 from Lenasia to Potchefstroom (E&W), North West

» R61 from Beaufort West to Aberdeen onward bound to Graaf Reinett (E&W), Eastern Cape

» N61 from Queenstown to Mthatha (N&S)

» K573 Moloto to Siyabuswa (N&S), Mpumalanga .

Durban – A Swazi national believed to be one of the biggest smugglers and wholesalers of “designer dagga” in KwaZulu-Natal – was bust during an undercover operation in uMhlanga on Tuesday.

His arrest outside a McDonald’s outlet by the Durban organised crime (narcotics) unit came after two months of surveillance by the crime intelligence unit.

For more details go to www-iol.co.za

Johannesburg – The NPA has declined to comment about documents “leaked” to the media about murder-accused paralympian Oscar Pistorius’s bail condition challenge.

“What we have heard in the news is that there is an argument available to the media. We did not release any document,” said National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) spokesman Medupe Simasiku.

“We definitely cannot comment on something that was leaked to the media. It would be too early to actually deal with that now, unless we want to prejudice the whole process.”

Simasiku was referring to papers before the court in the appeal, which was reported on earlier this month.

Pistorius would “probably not” be in court for the appeal of his bail conditions, his lawyer Kenny Oldwage said.

“It’s an appeal. There is no need for him to be there,” Oldwage said.

Family spokesman Johan van Wyk also said Pistorius was not required to be present for the appeal in the High Court in Pretoria on Thursday.

Pistorius will appeal against the bail conditions imposed by the Pretoria Magistrate’s Court when it granted him bail of R1 million on February 22.

He is to challenge them as unwarranted and unfair, and is seeking to have the conditions scrapped or altered.

In the papers before the court, his lawyers argue that Pistorius should be able to travel if given permission by the investigating officer, given that Magistrate Desmond Nair found during his bail application that he was not a flight risk.

They also argue that it should not be necessary for him to report to the Brooklyn police station in Pretoria, to be supervised by a probation officer, and to submit to compulsory drug and alcohol testing.

Pistorius would also ask the court to allow him to return to his home in Pretoria, where he shot his model girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp on February 14.

His legal team said it was unfair to place a “blanket order” which did not allow him to talk to the residents within the security complex.

“We are going to oppose the whole application as it was presented,” said Simasiku.

Pistorius is due back in the Pretoria Magistrate’s Court on June 4, to face a murder charge. He claims he thought Steenkamp was an intruder. – Sapa

With the PSL back in action this weekend, Kaizer Chiefs captain and goalkeeper, Itumeleng Khune, is focused on guiding the team to success.

Chiefs had six of their squad members, including Khune who captained the national side, in the Bafana Bafana team that defeated the Central African Republic 2-0 on Saturday at the Cape Town Stadium, in the 2014 FIFA World Cup qualifier.

With the international FIFA break having come and gone, the focus is now back on the domestic scene. Log leaders Chiefs will be looking to continue their dominance of the Absa Premiership on Sunday when they take on Bloemfontein Celtic at the Free State Stadium.

The tricky outing in the Free State will be the first of three games for the Soweto giants in the space of a week and Khune has emphasised the importance of keeping their winning momentum on track.

He told the Siya crew that they will focus on each game at hand, and not get ahead of themselves.

“This is our profession. This is our job and we have to play the same way all the time. We will keep on fighting and look at winning each and every game we play.

“Obvious, it won’t be easy from now on as these are the last games in the league and every team wants the three points. If we are to fight for the league title we have to keep on fighting and win,” the Bafana Bafana captain said.

Chiefs plays Celtic on Sunday, before taking on Martizburg United on Wednesday in Polokwane. The Soweto giants then head out to Durban for their clash with Golden Arrows at the Moses Mabhida Stadium on April 6.

 For more details go to www.soccerladuma.com