Johannesburg – Mining operations at Lonmin’s platinum mine in Rustenburg, North West, were suspended on Tuesday, the company said.

“We can confirm there is a stoppage. Workers arrived for work, but did not go underground. The reason for them not going underground is unclear,” said spokeswoman Sue Vey.

National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) regional co-ordinator Mxhasi Sithethi said the situation was tense at the mine.

“People are singing outside our office, demanding the closure of the NUM office… It is tense.”

He said the protesters were members of the Association of Mineworkers and Construction Union (Amcu).

The NUM and Amcu have been fighting for control of the mines in the area since last year.

It was not clear whether the protest on Tuesday was related to the death of an Amcu official at the weekend.

Amcu North West regional organiser Mawethu Steven was shot dead by four men at a tavern in Photsaneng, in the informal settlement of Nkaneng, on Saturday.

On Monday, Amcu president Joseph Mathunjwa appealed for “calm” in the platinum belt following the shooting.

“We would like to call on all our members during this difficult and emotional time to remain calm and allow the law to take its course,” he said.

Twin brothers were also shot dead at Nkaneng, in Wonderkop, on Saturday.

Sithethi said one of them was an NUM shopsteward.

North West police said the brothers were shot dead by a group of armed men draped in blankets and wearing balaclavas.

The group stormed into a shack on Saturday night and asked them the whereabouts of another, who was not identified.

The brothers were shot when they said they did not know the man.

“The one brother, who was shot two times, died on the scene, while the other brother died on arrival at the Andrew Saffy Memorial Hospital,” Brigadier Thulani Ngubani said at the time.

Two women, who were in the shack at the time, were wounded.

One was shot in the thigh, and the other was hacked with a panga. They were taken to hospital and were discharged on Sunday. – Sapa

The auction will take place at the former ANC Women’s League president’s Orlando West, Soweto, home on Tuesday next week.

This follows a judgment against her in the Johannesburg Magistrates’ Court on May 6 2011.

She was hauled before the courts in 2009 by Abbotts College, which trades as the Independent Institute of Education, in a bid to recover money owed to it.

According to court documents, Madikizela-Mandela in January 2008 agreed to pay Abbotts College R40000 in accommodation fees for Nobantu Vutela, cited as her great-niece.

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JOHANNESBURG – Stadium Management on Tuesday said leads are being followed to track down those responsible for a heist at the FNB Stadium and a breakthrough is expected within the next 48 hours.

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Cape Town – It is back to work on Tuesday for thousands of bus drivers who have striking for almost a month for a double-digit salary increase.

On Monday a protracted strike came to end when striking bus drivers affiliated to the SA Transport and Allied Workers’ Union agreed to return to work after reaching salary deal with employers.

They initially persisted in their demand for a double-digit wage increase of 18% and then brought it down to 13% before accepting the new deal of 9.5%.

The deal will take effect from April 1.

A further 0.5% would kick in later said Klaus Heimes of the SA Bus Employers’ Association (Sabea).

“In effect, the wage agreement is a 10% increase from October, to make it more affordable for the employers,” he said.

Lift the lockout

General Secretary of the South African Roads Bargaining Council, Gary Wilson told the SABC that employers have been called on to lift the lockout so that the workers can return to work.

The Transport and Omnibus Workers’ Union said Golden Arrow buses will be back in operation and apologised over the inconvenience caused by the strike. 

Bus drivers parked their buses on April 19, leaving thousands of commuters stranded across the country.

They later intensified the protest action, when they took to the streets picketing in Cape Town and Johannesburg.

The Congress of SA Trade Unions expressed support for striking bus drivers and their wage demands, saying drivers needed a better living wage.

Commuters turn to loan sharks

Strike-hit commuters who have been inconvenienced by the protracted nationwide bus strike can now breathe a sigh of relief.

Commuters affected by the strike have resorted to using loan sharks to pay for their transport, the Cape Chamber of Commerce and Industry said earlier this month. 

“The workers will feel the effects of the strike long after it has ended,” chamber member Michael Bagraim said in a statement. 

Meanwhile, the Bombela Concession Company’s Gautrain bus service, Mega Express, reached a deal on Thursday night with majority union the United Transport and Allied Trade Union (Utatu) for a 9% increase, effective from April 1.

Utatu deputy general secretary Pieter Greyling said at the time workers’ transport allowance was also increased from R35 a day to R45, effective from Friday.

Strike season

However, analysts predict that South Africa’s strike season is just getting started.

With the country experiencing tough economic times and unions emboldened by hefty wage increases granted last year to end strikes, analysts predict difficult months ahead.

Crispen Chinguno, a sociology fellow at the University of Witwatersrand who is exploring the dynamics of strike violence, told AFP earlier this month: “It’s going to be very tough, perhaps one of the very toughest collective bargaining (rounds), since the attainment of democracy.”

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Kimberley-Assets of the accused in a Northern Cape fraud and corruption case involving the Trifecta Group were provisionally frozen on Monday.

Northern Cape NPA spokesman Mashudu Malabi said the court confirmed a provisional restraint order on Friday was obtained by the Asset Forfeiture Unit against most of the parties involved.

The court would decide later whether the order should be made final against the parties who opposed the order.

The National Prosecuting Authority alleges the Trifecta Group entered into a number of lease agreements with the provincial department of social development in which the rentals, or rental space, were grossly inflated.

As a result, the Trifecta Group received or would receive, at the end of the lease agreements, rentals of R57 million.

The freezing order means payments received by a number of Northern Cape politicians and official of the department of social development from the Trifecta Group would remain frozen pending the outcome of the court proceedings.

The Trifecta Group, the trustees of the Shosholoza Trust, and government official Palesa Lebona opposed the restraint order.

The other accused in the case are the director of Trifecta Alfeus Scholtz and Northern Cape ANC heavyweights John Block, Alvin Botes and Yolanda Botha.

Social development officials Rodney Saal and Cecil Ryland were also arrested in connection with the case.

Malabi said the order was made final against the individuals on Friday.

He said the court found that there were reasonable grounds to believe that payments to the entities and individuals were corrupt payments or kickbacks and that inflated rentals were paid as a result of corruption.

Earlier, the case against the group was postponed to August this year.

-Sapa

The notion that the ANC appoints criminals to positions is wrong, the party’s deputy secretary-general Jessie Duarte has said.

“Once you have a criminal record of any kind, you can’t be appointed in the African National Congress, it’s not possible,” Duarte told Sapa in an interview this week.

“You can’t get into the governing structures of the ANC.”

At its national conference in Mangaung last year, the ANC resolved to take a hard line on party discipline.

It resolved that any of its members found guilty of wrongdoing in other institutions of society would be subjected to internal disciplinary processes.

As part of the resolution, the ANC appointed an integrity committee to look into matters of discipline.

The committee was looking at whether the resolution could be applied to ANC members charged or found guilty before December.

Duarte said the committee had to take into account that there might be people who were still under investigation from before Mangaung.

She referred to ANC Northern Cape chairman John Block and two others who faced charges of fraud, corruption, and contravening the Municipal Finance Management Act.

Duarte said the party believed in people being innocent until proven guilty.

“What we are concerned about is the question of integrity within the party.

“So, the resolution gives people the opportunity to take their own decision to step down,” she said.

If they did not step down, it would be the committee’s task to decide what should happen.

“If the integrity committee finds there are a number of people facing charges right now, and they would like to talk to them, and in their view there is a problem, then we are not going to tell those people [on the committee] what to do,” said Duarte.

However, this was not the only remit of the committee. It would also look at matters reported in the media, and could receive information from anonymous sources.

The integrity committee is chaired by Rivonia trialist and former Robben Island prisoner Andrew Mlangeni.

Other members include: Frene Ginwala, Nelson Diale, Gertrude Shope, Ahmed Kathrada, Rashida Abdullah, Mendi Msimang, Sophie De Bruyn, Jethro Ndlovu, Dennis Goldberg, Lindelwe Mabandla, and Nokukhanya Jele.

“I’ve been in a room with them a couple of weeks ago, and myself and the [secretary-general Gwede Mantashe] we walked out there and we said ‘we made the right decision’.

“They’re ANC core. They are the strongest stalwarts in the organisation. They are very clear…: if you mess up, this is where you going to get dealt with in a proper way.”

She said no one in the party was above the integrity committee.

“We are all going to answer to those senior cadres of the movement. I think it’s very good, it’s encouraging.”

-Sapa

Gauteng government must prioritise safety in the rural areas in order to stop attacks on farms, the DA said on Thursday.

“The study showing that Gauteng is the most dangerous province in the country in terms of farm attacks again underscores the urgent need to prioritise rural safety in Gauteng,” said Democratic Alliance MPL John Moodey.

He said Gauteng premier Nomvula Mokonyane must back the DA’s rural safety policy as a blueprint for ensuring the safety of all people in rural Gauteng.

The DA policy proposed formation of:

– a specialised rural safety division within the police;

– a rural intelligence centre to monitor criminal activity;

– rural reaction units to respond to crimes; and

– support for police reservists and community policing forums.

According to a new book released on Thursday, Gauteng was the most dangerous province in the country in terms of farm attacks.

Nearly 20% (about 663) of the 3319 farm attacks recorded in the country between 1990 and 2012 occurred in Gauteng, according to publishing company Kraal Uitgewers.

Within the rest of the country, 15.3% of attacks happened in Mpumalanga, 15.2% in the North West, and 12.7% in Limpopo.

The Free State recorded 11.8%, KwaZulu-Natal 11.5%, the Eastern Cape seven percent and the Western Cape 4.7%.

The Northern Cape was the safest province, with only 1.6 percent of farm attacks happening in the province.

The study is included in a book called “Treurgrond: Die Realiteit van Plaasaanvalle” [Place of Sorrow: The Reality of Farm Attacks] 1990-2012, released on Thursday.

Kraal Uitgewers said the figures were based on the number of attacks in each province, and were not related to the number of residents or the number of farms or smallholdings in the provinces.

The study found an average of three attackers were involved in each case. In some attacks there were as many as 10 assailants.

According to the book, 42.6% of farm attack victims were aged 61 or older. People 51 and older represented 62.7% of all victims.

The book was compiled by Dirk Hermann, deputy general secretary of trade union Solidarity, Ilze Nieuwoudt from the union’s publishing house Kraal Uitgewers, and Chris van Zyl from the Transvaal Agricultural Union.

-Sapa

Rustenburg-The Association of Mineworkers and Construction Union (Amcu) has condemned the “senseless killing” of its North West regional organiser at Lonmin, Mawethu Joseph Steven in Rustenburg at the weekend.

The union has called for calm and appealed to its members to refrain from avenging his death. Stevens was a former branch secretary of rival National Union of Mineworkers (NUM).

He was killed at a local tavern and was due to testify at the Farlam Commission into the killing of 44 people, including 34 mineworkers, during the violent strikes at Marikana last August.

Amcu president, Joseph Mathunjwa, on Monday expressed outrage at the killing. “We condemn these senseless killings of our members in the strongest terms possible. We hope this time that our police will find the killers and that justice will be served in the same way it would, were it not an Amcu member.”

He called on their members to “remain calm and allow the law to take its course”.

He said: “People did not like his departure (from NUM) to Amcu. Allegations were made that all the chaos in the platinum belt was because of Steven. His name was mentioned many times during the Farlam Commission. Lonmin and NUM were accusing Steven that he was behind the violence in Marikana.”

NUM spokesperson, Lesiba Seshoka, said Steven was never axed from the union: “He was voted out by members. He was not re-elected after his three-year term, that’s the nature of a democracy.”

North West police spokesperson Brig Thulani Ngubane said that the police were looking for four suspects linked to Steven’s murder.

Meanwhile, the SA Communist Party (SACP) has called for a specialised police task team to be deployed to Rustenburg.

SACP general secretary Blade Nzimande said police should go deep in probing the incidents and that law enforcement agencies should put special focus on the area so as to avoid a repeat of such incidents.

The ANC has condemned Steven’s death and had called on law enforcement agencies to bring those involved to book over the incident.

Spokesperson for the Farlam Commission, Tshepho Mahlangu, said while there was no evidence or any suggestion that the killing was related to the commission, they had informed all witnesses to come forward if they felt that they might be in danger.

“The witnesses are protected under the Witness Protection Act so we have an obligation to adhere to it,” Mahlangu said. – Additional reporting by Dudu Dube.

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 A mother and her 14-year-old daughter were killed yesterday morning when their car smashed into another vehicle in Schoemansville, Hartbeespoortdam.

ER24 spokesperson, Vanessa Jackson, said paramedics arrived on the scene and found that the girl was already dead.

Her mother and eight-months-old sister, were in a critical condition. Her four-year- old brother sustained moderate injuries.

“Paramedics immediately began efforts to stabilise the two critically injured. The eight-months-old girl with suspected head injuries was airlifted to Unitas hospital in Pretoria.

As the second medical helicopter was being activated, the mother’s condition deteriorated to the point where paramedics had to initiate resuscitation efforts, but nothing more could be done to save her life. She died on the scene.” The four-year-old little boy and the woman who was driving the second vehicle were both transported by ambulance to a clinic in Brits.

Vanessa said they were both in a stable condition.

Meanwhile, Netcare 911 paramedics and other services responded to an accident on the R59 near Highbury.

Netcare 911 spokesperson, Santi Steinmann, said upon arrival they found that a vehicle had overturned.

“There were three occupants in the vehicle and one of them had sustained serious injuries. After being treated on the scene, they were both transported to nearby medical facilities for further medical care.”

The cause of the two accidents were not known but police were investigating.

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The three awards that Khuli Chana scooped at the 19

th MTN South African Music Awards (SAMA) should inspire youth to work hard in pursuit of their dreams and contribute towards a province that focuses on its well being in all spheres, Premier Thandi Modise said on Monday.

In congratulating hip hop artist, Khulane Morule aka Khuli Chana from Mmabatho Unit 2 in Mahikeng whose album “Lost in time “won in the album of the year category at the annual music awards held at Sun City Superbowl over the weekend, Premier Modise told Khuli Chana that he has done the province proud and is maturing with age since his first album was launched in 2001.

Modise said that the province will be intensifying its effort to turnaround Mmabana so that it is able to unearth the abundant talent in the province as it positions itself to continue to export art, creativity and work towards regaining its peacemaking identity.

Thirty- year- old Khuli Chana who is a Mmabana talent show product also won the best rap and best male artist categories. His album is the first hip hop album to scoop the album of the year since the inception of the SAMAS.

Khuli Chana whose motto is: “Inspiration exists but it must find you working” is encouraging upcoming artists to take their craft seriously.

Khuli Chana’s sterling performance at the SAMA follows the 2013 Metro FM award he won in March for his collaboration with Kabelo Oageng aka Notsi with the title song “Tswa Daar”

Plans are already afoot to organise a function for the hip hop artist to celebrate his achievement with his fans and well-wishers on the 1

st of next month in his hometown of Mahikeng.