Johannesburg – The SA Policing Union on Friday demanded an apology from Gauteng police chief Lieutenant General Mzwandile Petros for purported sexist remarks.

“To say women have themselves to blame for not being promoted because they are concentrating on their husbands and children is the worst insult to women in a democratic dispensation,” Sapu general secretary Oscar Skommere said.

Skommere said Petros made the comment this week while briefing the media on the appointment of 14 station commanders. Eight of the commanders were promoted to the rank of colonel and the other six to that of brigadier.

Police spokesperson Neville Malila said 15 of the 24 officers promoted were women. Malila said if Petros indeed made the remarks, it was strange journalists at the briefing had not picked them up immediately.

“At least seven different media house[s] were present; they would not miss something like this.”

He said there would be no apology from the general.

Sapu said Petros’s comments were unacceptable and uncalled-for and the union expected an apology in seven days.

“We call upon General Petros to withdraw this statement and apologise unconditionally to women officers and women in the country in general.”

Sapu challenged gender activists to call the general to order.

SAPA

Johannesburg – Trade unions say they will fight the planned 6 000 job cuts at Anglo Platinum (Amplats) [JSE:AMS], with one saying it is a declaration of war, while another plans its next move.

Trade union Amcu will consult its members over the weekend on the announcement that Amplats could cut 6 000 jobs instead of the 14 000 it predicted earlier, its spokesperson told Sapa on Friday.

Jo-Mangaliso Mdhlela said that workers were not officially informed but that the meeting would hopefully take place over the weekend.

Amplats on Friday announced that it will cut 6 000 jobs, less than half the 14 000 initially proposed, as it strives to restore profits.

The company is expected to have talks with unions and chief executive Chris Griffith said this process was expected to take an additional two to three months.

“Declaration of war”

“This is a declaration of war,” said National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) spokesperson Lesiba Seshoka after the company’s announcement.

“They have always known they were going to retrench 6 000. It was a big lie that it was 14 000.”

Seshoka said NUM had told the company on Thursday that it was “totally opposed” to the planned job cuts.

The union intended approaching the Commission for Conciliation, Mediation, and Arbitration to declare a dispute, and it would strike.

The Congress of SA Trade Unions expressed outrage over the announcement and said it would support the NUM in whatever action they decided to take to save jobs. 

“Thousands of families face losing their only breadwinner and communities… will be devastated by the impact of such heavy job losses,” Cosatu spokesperson Patrick Craven said.

“This illustrates why Cosatu has consistently called for the nationalisation of the mining industry, so that it can be run for the benefit of the workers… and not for the profit of shareholders.”

Franz Sterhing, divisional manager for mineral resources at Uasa, said it needed some time to process the news.

“Yes, we have received the revised plan, we will take a look at it, and give us some time to go and discuss it with our branches.”

“Tooth and nail”

But it would fight job reductions “tooth and nail”.

“How can you agree that someone loses his job? But [one] must get to a point where [you] agree that this is the only way out,” he said.

Sterhing said a meeting with the company was planned for Monday. 

It would also prefer to resolve the matter by avoiding court action and other legal challenges, he said.

Uasa is the majority union within the supervisors’ unit at the company, with NUM representing the balance in that unit.

Mine workers at the company reportedly did not expect any retrenchments, Reuters reported on Friday.

“Everyone is surprised”

“Everyone is surprised”, Sphamandla Makhanya, a worker committee member at Amplats told the news angency.

“We were not expecting any retrenchment at all. We can’t allow this.”

“But before we do anything, we are going to have a mass meeting with the workers to decide what to do next,” Makhanya said.

For Amplats, reining in costs and cutting production enough to raise the global price of platinum, which is used for emissions-capping catalytic converters in motor vehicles, is crucial to getting back to profit.

The company said it would now aim to produce 2.2 to 2.4 million ounces a year, up from the 2.1 to 2.3 million ounces targeted in the original plan.

The revisions should deliver R3.8bn ($423m) in savings by 2015.

-SAPA

By Obakeng Maje

Roodepan-Police are investigating a murder and attempted murder which allegedly took place in Kimberley at approximately 17:00pm. 

“It is alleged that a male suspect, aged 25, stabbed a 53 year old physically disabled man 10 times in his face, neck and chest while he was walking down 15th Street in Homevale Extension” Lieutenant Sergio Kock said. 

“The suspect then ran down the street to his sister’s house where he stabbed his sister twice in the chest too” Kock said. 

The suspect’s sister ran from the shanty into the house and collapsed in one of the bedrooms. The sister’s body was found half naked, as it is alleged that she was busy bathing when the atrocity happened. 

“The suspect’s sister died on the scene and the 53 year old male was rushed to hospital where he is said to be in a very serious condition in the Intensive Care Unit” he said. 

The deceased is known as a 27 year-old Anna Griekwa. 

The Kimberley Visible Policing unit members managed to arrest the fleeing suspect in Nobengula Street in Galeshewe, approximately an hour after the incident occurred. 

The police also confiscated the knife and blood-stained clothes from the suspect. These will be sent for forensic tests and utilised as evidence in the court of law said police. 

The exact motive behind the stabbing is unknown and is being investigated.  

The police request that anyone with information regarding the incidents to please call Detective Warrant Officer Godfrey Williams at 082 495 4625 or 053 807 5500. 

The suspect should be appearing before the Kimberley Magistrates’ Court on Monday, 13th May 2013. 

The investigation continues.

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