Pretoria – A Pretoria cellphone thief could qualify for the title of South Africa’s most idiotic criminal after he uploaded a photograph of himself to his victim’s WhatsApp profile, Beeld reported on Tuesday.

Lohan van Heerden, 20, a second-year actuarial science student at the University of Pretoria, could not believe his eyes when the very thief who had stolen his phone the night before uploaded a picture of himself.

Earlier this month, Van Heerden was driving home from Hatfield to Pretoria Gardens when four men jumped into his car at a traffic light, held a knife to his throat, and robbed him of his phone, jacket, belt, and money.

The robbers had also forced him to drive to an ATM to withdraw R1 000, before letting him go.

Van Heerden said when he saw the picture he immediately recognised the man as the gang’s ringleader, and also as the one who had assaulted him by hitting him in the face.

Police were investigating the case.

Anyone with information should call the Sunnyside police station’s detective branch on 012-422-3678 or the South African Police Service on 08600-10111. – Sapa

South African champions, Kaizer Chiefs, will today embark on a tour of Johannesburg to celebrate their triumphant Absa Premiership and Nedbank Cup championship season.

Amakhosi’s head coach, Stuart Baxter helped guide the team to a famous league and cup double this season, earning them their first PSL title in eight years.

In a statement released by Chiefs, the club’s marketing director, Jessica Motaung, said that the purpose of the tour is “to celebrate the success of the Club this season with the supporters who have stuck with the team through thick and thin this season. Supporters as our 12th player were instrumental in the team’s success this season.

“We also want to acknowledge the support we got from the Gauteng Legislature, the Department of Sports, Recreation, Arts and Culture in Gauteng including our sponsors. I would like to invite the fans to join us on this momentous occasion in the history of the Club.”

The tour bus will make three stops, once at the Legislature, once at Absa Towers and finally at 8414 Sentho Street, Phefeni.

Route for the Trophy Parade:

Depart from Naturena (Kaizer Chiefs Village) at 09h00

Turn Right into Ronald Street

Turn right to main street all the way straight to Colombine Right and

Left into M1 on-ramp,

Drive all the way straight into M2 Split off ramp into Rissik Street,

Drive straight up and stop at Legislature – 09:30.

Depart from Legislature turning Right into President Street – 10:30

Turn Right into President Street.

Turn Right into Mooi Street 

Drive straight and turn right into Main Street 

Stop at ABSA Towers – 11:00

Depart from ABSA Towers and drive straight down Main Street – 15:00

Turn left into Eloff Street.

Turn Right into Trump Street.

Turn Left into Westex Road and drive until it becomes Earl Street, drive down Earl Street.

Turn Right into Ophir Booysens Road into Soweto Highway.

Turn Left into Immic Street.

Turn Right into Ebencycler

Turn Left into Jackeeplen Street until it becomes Masupha Street.

Drive down Masupha Street and turn left and go around the traffic circle.

Turn left into Sofasonke Street.

Then turn left around the Sofasonke traffic circle and drive straight.

Drive down Sofasoneke and cross over Klipspruit Valley into Khumalo Street. Drive down into Pela main road.

Turn Right into Ndlovu Road.

Turn left after the railway bridge into

STOP at 8414 Sentho Street, Phefeni – 15:00

Leave 8414 Sentho Street, Phefeni – 14:00

Turn right into Bickley Street

Turn left into the taxi rank, from taxi rank drive and turn left into Ndlovu Street.

Drive straight into Butshingi Street and left into Vilakazi Street.

Turn right into main road and then turn right into Klipspruit Valley Road.

Turn left into Chris Hani road, proceed straight into Golden Highway.

Turn Right and back to Naturena.

For more http://www.soccerladuma.com

Mamelodi Sundowns will be not be retaining the services of defender Buhle Mkhwanazi following his return from a season long loan spell at University of Pretoria.

Mkhwanazi has returned to his principal club Sundowns after spending a second year away on loan having already spent the previous season at Bloemfontein Celtic.

KickOff.com has been informed that Sundowns will now be permanently releasing him.

The 23 year-old is still under contract with Sundowns for another two years.

“He is not in their (Sundowns) plans and so they will sell him outright to another club. However, we have already informed Sundowns of our preferences in as far as where we would like to see Buhle next season but Sundowns will make the call since they are the ones dealing with the interested clubs.

“At the same time Tuks have already indicated that they want him to stay on with them so we will just be waiting to see what happens with the guidance of Sundowns,” says KickOff.com sources.

For more http://www.kickoff.com

Johannesburg – Nine people will appear in the Pretoria Magistrate’s Court on Tuesday, for public violence and possession of stolen goods, according to police.

Lieutenant-Colonel Lungelo Dlamini said a Somali shop owner charged with murdering two men, believed to be Zimbabweans, would also appear in court.

He had told the police the men tried to rob him outside his shop in Diepsloot on Sunday, so he pulled out his firearm and shot them, Dlamini said.

Later that day, local residents stoned and looted the shop. Police dispersed them, but they targeted other shops. At the time, Dlamini could not confirm how many shops were looted.

The nine suspects were arrested that night.

Dlamini said the area where the incident took place was a semi-informal settlement believed to be populated by foreigners and South Africans. – Sapa

Pretoria – The NPA respects a ruling made by a disciplinary hearing in favour of suspended prosecutor Glynnis Breytenbach, spokesperson Nomilo Mpondo said on Monday.

“We will study the ruling to determine the way forward,” she said.

Breytenbach was found not guilty on 15 counts on Monday by a disciplinary hearing which sat at the National Prosecuting Authority’s (NPA) head office in Pretoria.

“The guilt of the employee on this plethora of charges has not been established,” said the hearing’s chairperson Selby Mbenenge SC.

Breytenbach was also found not guilty on any of the alternative charges.

A core charge against the anti-graft prosecutor was failing to act impartially when investigating the Kumba Iron Ore/Sishen and Imperial Crown Trading mining rights issue, because of “improper relations” with Sishen’s lawyer Mike Hellens.

Other charges included “surreptitiously leaking” NPA inside information to Beeld journalist Sonja Carstens; giving her official NPA laptop to her lawyer; and “maligning” the NPA in the media.

Breytenbach was suspended from the NPA on 30 April 2012.

She claimed acting National Director of Public Prosecutions Nomgcobo Jiba suspended her to stop her from prosecuting former police crime intelligence boss Richard Mdluli on fraud and other charges.

In March, a parallel arbitration hearing at the Public Service Bargaining Council, in Centurion, found Breytenbach’s suspension was both procedurally and substantively fair.

Her lawyer Gerhard Wagenaar said it was still being considered whether to review or appeal the arbitration hearing decision.

Questionable

On Monday, Breytenbach was acquitted on five counts relating to allegations that Hellens influenced her, and that she allowed him to try to turn an accused – Imperial Crown Trading director Archie Luhlabo – into a State witness.

“There is not an iota of evidence that [Breytenbach] improperly attempted to obtain a confession from Mr Luhlabo by conspiring with Mr Hellens and [Nazeer Cassim SC] to do so,” Mbenenge said.

“I do not, therefore, see my way clear in finding the employee guilty of misconduct on count one.”

Mbenenge found there was no evidence to contradict Breytenbach’s argument that she was always in control of the case and had remained objective.

She was acquitted on charges of misconduct relating to her work laptop and the information on it.

The NPA also charged her with bringing it into disrepute and contravening its media policy and public service regulations.

The NPA said that during interviews between February and June 2012 Breytenbach had stated that ulterior motives were behind her suspension.

“There is neither direct nor circumstantial evidence of the employee having conducted interviews to the media reporters and/or media houses concerning the reason [perceived or otherwise] for her suspension,” Mbenenge said.

After hearing the finding Breytenbach hugged Wagenaar. He then read out a statement by her, in which she thanked everyone for their support.

“I am relieved that the chairperson saw the lack of justification in the charges laid against me,” she said.

In the statement, she also said she intended returning to work if she was allowed to do so.

Political parties have praised the disciplinary hearing’s finding.

“We call on the NPA to immediately re-instate her and allow her to continue with her work,” Christian Democratic Party leader Theunis Botha said in a statement.

He said Breytenbach’s suspension had been questionable from the outset, as some of the country’s most powerful politicians had been implicated in the matters involved.

“We strongly recommend that all outstanding matters be resolved as soon as possible,” Botha said.

Democratic Alliance MP Dene Smuts also called for Breytenbach’s immediate re-instatement.

“The once superb Specialised Commercial Crimes Unit had already suffered the loss of its leader, advocate Chris Jordaan, during the tenure of advocate Menzi Simelane as National Director of Public Prosecutions, when advocate Breytenbach was suspended,” she said.

Smuts said Breytenbach had to be allowed to return to work.

SAPA

Sana’a – Gunmen abducted two South African citizens on Monday in Yemen’s second largest city, Taiz, and police said a lawmaker was behind the kidnapping to pressure the government to hand over a disputed piece of land.

It was the latest twist in Yemen’s bumpy road to democracy after more than three decades of autocratic rule that ended with longtime President Ali Abdullah Saleh’s ouster in an uprising last year. 

The country’s new president is struggling to unify the country and its armed forces in the face of resistance from an active al-Qaeda branch in Yemen and powerful tribes.

Abductions are not rare in Yemen, but Monday’s kidnapping of foreigners was unusual in its circumstances and is the first in Taiz, near the southwestern tip of the Arabian Peninsula.

Police said that they received a call from assistants of lawmaker Abdel-Hamid el-Batra saying he organised the kidnapping outside the Taiz Plaza hotel because of a dispute with the government over a piece of land. 

The lawmaker pledged to hand over the foreigners in exchange for the land, police officials said. 

They spoke anonymously because they were not authorised to speak to reporters.

El-Batra belongs to the country’s ruling party and has been a member of parliament for 10 years.

Earlier, an interior ministry source had said the South Africans had apparently been mistaken for Europeans or Americans.

Unlike other parts of Yemen, Taiz has been relatively free of the type of violence other provinces have seen. 

However, in March 2012 al-Qaeda claimed responsibility for killing an American teacher there, saying in a post on militant websites that he was proselytising for Christianity.

Al-Qaeda in Yemen is expanding, according to President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi, and has used assassinations and abductions of foreigners as a way to challenge the central authority. 

The United States considers the Yemen branch to be al-Qaeda’s most active and dangerous.

In 2011, during the uprising against Saleh, al-Qaeda overran entire cities and towns in the south of the country. 

Taiz, however, remained a hub for elite Yemeni activists and academics who camped out for months in protest until the longtime ruler stepped down.

AP

Midfielder Kagisho Dikgacoi and defender Tsepo Masilela have been withdrawn from the Bafana Bafana squad that will play in the upcoming international friendly match (Lesotho)and two Brazil 2014 FIFA World Cup Qualifiers (Central African Republic and Ethiopia).

Dikgacoi tore his calf muscle ligaments when his club Crystal Palace defeated Watford one nil in the English Championship Play-off Final earlier today (Monday, 27 May 2013). He was carried off early in the first half.

The match was played at the Wembley Stadium, and the victory means Palace will play in the English Premiership next season.

Masilela was withdrawn due to a planned operation on his knee which has troubled him all season. He was part of the team that defeated Supersport United in the final of the Nedbank Cup on Saturday, 25 May at the Moses Mabhida Stadium in Durban. 

Slovakia-based Ricardo Nunes will replace Masilela and is expected in camp on Wednesday, 29 May with the rest of the squad.

“We have really had some bad luck with defenders lately missing out due to injury, this is really a big blow for us in that department. Already, we are without Morgan Gould, Siyabonga Sangweni, Thabo Matlaba, and now Masilela. Siyanda Xulu recently returned from an injury, but they say when one door closes the other opens, so I believe this is a chance for the players in the squad to raise their hands and also help their country through these difficult times,” said Bafana Bafana head coach Gordon Igesund.

“I am very happy for KG for the promotion to the English Premier League, but it is just unfortunate he won’t be with us. He is a good player and I believe he deserves to be playing at the highest level which will in turn help Bafana Bafana.”

There is no replacement yet for Dikgacoi.

“We are hoping for a speedy recovery for him. I still have to apply my mind as to whether to call in a replacement, but if I do it will be a player based locally. For now I want to sleep over it as I don’t want to make any quick decisions,” added Igesund.

By Obakeng Maje
Rustenburg-A 43 year old suspect Oupa Joseph Mashangu who is believed to be a member of card cloning syndicate appeared at Rustenburg Magistrate’s Court on charges of Fraud and Electronic Communication and Transaction Act today.
The suspect is still in custody and will appear again on 3 June 2013 for a formal bail application.
“His arrest come after the Directorate Priority Crimes (The HAWKS) made a breakthrough with regards to a card cloning syndicate that they have been monitoring which have been operating in the North West Province” Brigadier Thulani Ngubane said.
The suspect was apprehended after members kept observation on him at an identified hotspot (ATM). The suspect was interfering with customers using the ATM and pounced on him. Mashangu was arrested with a skimming device and several bank cards believed to have been cloned.
“On further investigation, members went to the residence of the suspect which is in Doringkruin, in Klerksdorp where other items were seized amongst them two laptops and a computer which will be sent for Forensic Analysis” Ngubane said.
Preliminary investigations revealed that the suspect was the owner of the plush property in Doringkruin as well as two luxury motor vehicle.
Police said investigations will be conducted to ascertain how he acquired these assets as he was found to be unemployed.
“The mentioned assets will also form part of the investigations by the HAWKS as well as other Law Enforcement Agencies” said police.
The North West province has been engulfed by a measure increase in fraudulent crime, in particular card cloning.
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Rustenburg-MEC for the Department of Human Settlements, Public Safety and Liaison in the North West Nono Maloyi has called on drivers to be extra careful and have patience on the provincial roads.
The MEC’s appeal follows the death of six people this morning, on the R30 road between Derby and Rustenburg.
“According to police and traffic authorities, the two vehicles were driving opposite directions when they collided head on, around 06H00 this morning. Police further report that a jaws of life had to be used to cut both vehicles to remove the bodies of all six occupants” said MEC Maloyi.
The Police suspect that one of the two vehicles might have encroached on the other side after failing to negotiate a curve, resulting in the fatal crush.
“All deceased are said to be male, and police are still verifying their age as well as contacting their next of kin” said Maloyi.
Police said that speed might have also contributed to the unfortunate accident.
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