Johannesburg – Eight shop stewards of the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) have been suspended for alleged fraud regarding union membership, platinum mining giant Lonmin [JSE:LON] said on Tuesday.

“Lonmin has suspended eight employees following investigations into allegations of membership fraud. Three of those suspended are currently in the middle of disciplinary hearings, while the remaining five members face hearings this week,” said spokesperson Sue Lindsell-Steward.

The shop stewards allegedly falsified stop orders to make it seem as if members of the Association of Mineworkers and Construction Union (Amcu) had left their union and joined the NUM.

The company said it had been established that about 200 stop orders were falsified in this way and submitted to Lonmin’s human resources department.

The effect of the fraud would have been to relay membership fees due to Amcu to the NUM, while also helping the NUM regain its representation.

The NUM has until July 16 to retain its status as a majority union, or vacate union offices at shaft level.

The offices were provided by the company to the dominant union, while other unions were provided with only one central office to service their members.

Amcu ousted the NUM as the majority union after a wildcat strike in Marikana, North West, last year, commanding 70% of unskilled workers and machine operators as members.

Rivalry between the two unions contributed to the deaths of at least 44 people in Marikana in August last year.

NUM spokesperson Lesiba Seshoka said on Tuesday the company had the right to discipline anyone alleged to have committed fraud.

“We hope the charges they face are true and not made-up charges.”

He said it was not correct that union leaders had attempted to poach Amcu members.

“You cannot cook membership,” said Seshoka.

The union had recruited 800 members, although conditions were not conducive for recruitment at Rustenburg mines.

“You cannot recruit when there is violence and intimidation.”

Since the wildcat strike in Marikana last year, at least 20 NUM members had been killed, Seshoka said.

During a two-day strike in May, Amcu members demanded that the NUM offices be shut down and accused the union of membership fraud.

The strike followed the death of Amcu regional leader Mawethu Steven.

He was shot dead at a tavern in Photsaneng on May 11, on the same day twin brothers Andile and Ayanda Menzi, 24, were shot at a shack in Wonderkop.

One died at the scene and the other died in hospital.

A NUM shop steward was shot dead and another wounded in Wonderkop on Monday.

Police shot dead 34 striking mineworkers on August 16. Ten people, including two police officers, were killed in the unrest during the preceding week.

Workers were on strike demanding a monthly salary of R12 500. The strike ended in September.

The killings of union leaders in the area has been linked to rivalry between the two unions.

North West premier Thandi Modise has called on Amcu and the NUM to denounce violence and commit themselves to peaceful coexistence at Lonmin and other mines around Rustenburg.

“There is no place for strong-arm tactics and the use of violence in our labour relation regime that allows freedom of association,” she said.

Modise called on workers to remain calm and help police in their investigations to unmask those behind the recent spate of violence.

SAPA

THE Democratic Alliance has come up with an innovative campaign using mobile company MTN to reach eligible voters.

The move has angered the ANC, leading to some members phoning MTN last week demanding that it disassociates itself from the DA.

For more http://www.sowetanlive.co.za

Pretoria – Reeva Steenkamp’s mother has revealed in a new documentary aired in the UK that her late daughter fought with her alleged murderer Oscar Pistorius “a lot”.

June Steenkamp appeared in the Channel 5 programme Why Did Oscar Pistorius Kill Our Daughter? – which aired in the UK on Monday night – and expressed her anger and regret about not being able to protect her daughter, reports TimesLive.

She recalled a tense telephone conversation she had with the 29-year-old model, who was travelling in a car with Pistorius. 

“She was afraid, she was so afraid. She phoned me and she said: ‘Mummy I’m in the car with Oscar and he’s driving like a lunatic.’

“I said: ‘Will you just give him the phone’. She gave the phone to Oscar straight away. I said, ‘Listen, if you hurt my baby in any way I will have you wiped out.’

“A week or so later she phoned me, we chatted about this and that, little girl things. I said: ‘How’s it going with Oscar?’ She said that ‘We’ve been fighting, we’ve been fighting a lot’.”

Graphic crime scene photos

Pistorius is set to make a brief appearance in the Pretoria Magistrate’s Court Room C on Tuesday on a charge of premeditated murder. Pistorius maintains that he shot and killed his girlfriend through a locked bathroom door at his luxury Silver Lakes home on Valentine’s Day believing she was an intruder. 

Local and international media had already flocked to the court by Tuesday morning to cover the Blade Runner’s pre-trial hearing.

If found guilty of premeditated murder, Pistorius could face a life term in jail.

The case took a twist on Friday when graphic photos of the crime scene were leaked and published by Sky News in the UK. On Sunday night, Pistorius’s uncle Arnold Pistorius said a leaked photograph, purportedly showing the scene where Steenkamp was shot dead, had “shaken” the family.

National police spokesperson Brigadier Phuti Setati said on Friday police could not comment on the photograph because they did not know how it came to be in Sky News’s possession, reports Sapa.

“We don’t want to be distracted by these deliberate tactics. All that we want to do is secure a conviction, so we are working throughout and investigating professionally,” he said.

June Steenkamp said on the documentary that she and her family are “praying so hard” for their ordeal to be over.

Reeva Steenkamp’s uncle, Mike, said on Monday that neither he nor his brother, Reeva’s father Barry, would not be watching Tuesday’s court proceedings.

“Tomorrow will bring whatever it will bring. We are just trying to live our lives. Our family is taking it very hard. Words cannot bring Reeva back, no matter how much we want that. We just have to, for now, let it be.”

Channel24

Pretoria – A 54-year-old mechanic was found guilty of killing his three-year-old son with a pick-axe handle by the High Court in Pretoria on Monday.

Vincent Mugwagwa, a Zimbabwean, told the court he did not know what came over him when he attacked his son Wesley in June last year.

Wesley was the youngest of Mugwagwa’s nine children – five of whom live in Zimbabwe.

Mugwagwa testified he came to South Africa in 2010 after losing his job in Zimbabwe. He was later joined by his wife and the four younger children.

The day of the crime his wife accused him of being unfaithful. He chased her and the children out of the house, and followed them to a neighbour’s house, where there was a pick-axe handle in the yard.

“I don’t know how it happened. I did not believe it when they told me I was going to be arrested…. I don’t have an explanation for what I did that day,” he told the court.

“I was trying to hit the mother, not the child. The child did nothing wrong.”

Mugwagwa’s wife of 29 years, Dorica Chipeta, pleaded with the court not to send him to jail, because she and the children needed his financial support.

“When the incident happened, as much as I knew him, I was really shocked. Even now I can’t believe what got into him. He was very close to his children. The other children are still in shock, because they never expected something like that to happen.”

She asked the court to order her husband to do community service instead of sending him to prison.

“I accept he did kill the child, but I ask the court to give him community service so that he can support us and the children,” she said. – Sapa

Kaizer Chiefs football manager Bobby Motaung says he would love to have Knowledge Musona back at the club, but admits getting the player back is highly unlikely.

Rumours are doing the rounds that the Zimbabwean striker could be on his way back after two tough seasons in Germany, where he is contracted to Hoffenheim. He spent the past season on loan at FC Augsburg.

“He is my baby. I will love to have him back, but unfortunately he is contracted to a German team. He is in Europe where it is high-level, but if he is available I will definitely have him back,” ‘BobSteak’ says.

However, head of world football at ProSport International Paschalis Tountouris has insisted that the “priority for Knowledge Musona is to continue his career in Europe”.
For more http://www.kickoff.com

Platinum Stars coach Cavin Johnson’s move to SuperSport United is getting closer to being a done deal.

Johnson is currently in a meeting the Dikwena management about submitting his resignation before making the move to Tshwane.

It is also known to KickOff.com that the former Ajax Cape Town youth coach is not wanted in Rustenburg, with management reportedly favouring his assistant, Alan Freeze.

When KickOff.com contacted Johnson for comment he was still in a meeting.

“I’m in a meeting and we are still discussing this issue. By 16h00 today everything will be done and I will give you all the information you need,” the coach said.
For more http://www.kickoff.com

Kaizer Chiefs midfielder Willard Katsande admits he feared for his future when Stuart Baxter arrived at the club.

Katsande was home representing the national team when the Briton arrived to take over the Glamour Boys for the 2012/13 season.

He reveals: “I came back from national team duty around June/July and the coach was still new. I read in the newspaper that the coach was intending to release some players and I found my name there. So I told myself to push hard if he gave me a chance.”

Ten months later, the 27-year-old was named Amakhosi’s Most Improved Player and Katsande says Baxter deserves the credit for his improvement.

“Stuart played a big part on my game. He is an honest person and if he doesn’t like something, he will tell you straight. He told me straight that he wasn’t happy with the way I was tackling so we sat down and he helped me with my game.

“I decided I was not going to be stubborn but just listen to him. If I was stubborn, my game was not gonna improve,” he says.

Katsande adds: “I’m happy with my award, because Chiefs is a big team with a lot of quality players so if you are recognised at this club that means a lot. I was also nominated for the club’s Player of the Season award so that shows I did well for the club.”
For more http://www.kickoff.com

Johannesburg – The Press Ombudsman will investigate a complaint by the communications department against the Sunday Times, ombudsman Johan Retief said on Monday.

“I have decided to take the complaint,” he said.

The complaint would be investigated in terms of section 3.1 of the Press Code.

This section reads: “The press shall not allow commercial, political, personal, or other non-professional considerations to influence or slant reporting.

“Conflicts of interest must be avoided, as well as arrangements or practices that could lead audiences to doubt the press’s independence and professionalism.”

On 27 May, department spokesperson Wisani Ngobeni, a former journalist at the newspaper, said the department had lodged a complaint against the newspaper with the Press Council of SA (PCSA), which includes the ombudsman.

Press code

The PCSA replied it had no powers to investigate, as unethical conduct by the editor was not covered by the Press Code.

Only the publication could deal with that matter.

Ngobeni had written to the council asking it to investigate the conduct of Sunday Times editor Phylicia Oppelt.

This was in reaction to a report that she gave the opposition DA documents to hand to Parliament’s ethics committee, which was conducting an inquiry into Communications Minister Dina Pule.

Ngobeni said the PCSA’s response had raised serious questions about its efficacy in dealing with malpractice in the press.

On 28 May, ombudsman Joe Thloloe said the PCSA’s public advocate had sent Ngobeni an e-mail.

But Ngobeni had deliberately omitted to mention that there had been a subsequent conversation between himself and public advocate Latiefa Mobara, in which they agreed that he would send written argument supporting his contention.

Retief said Mobara had asked Ngobeni to submit a complaint in more detail.

“And it came to me this morning [Monday] from the public advocate, and I have accepted the complaint,” said Retief.

This did not mean a ruling had been made. The newspaper still had to respond to the complaint, he said.

Smear campaign

Pule believes the newspaper is conducting a smear campaign against her, to get her fired or force her to resign, because its “handlers” are after a tender for set-top-boxes.

The boxes are required for the move from analogue to digital TV broadcasting.

She has said previously the allegations began last year after the department hosted the ICT Indaba in Cape Town.

Millions in sponsorship fees were reportedly drawn from the account of an event organiser she was alleged to be romantically linked to.

She has denied these claims.

Oppelt said they co-operated with the ethics committee, not a political party.

She said she gave the DA documents to hand to the ethics committee, which was conducting the inquiry into Pule.

Oppelt told City Press she felt obliged to do so because the Sunday Times was concerned the committee “might reach a finding based on partial or incomplete evidence”.

– SAPA

Johannesburg – The DA has neglected Cape Town’s poor communities in the storms and severe cold weather of the past few days, Cosatu said on Monday.

It accused city mayor Patricia de Lille and premier Helen Zille of ignoring the devastation.

“The Congress of SA Trade Unions extends its condolences to all the people who are facing incredible hardships as a result of the Democratic Alliance refusing to prioritise the needs of the poor,” it said

It accused the DA, which runs the province, of failing to plan ahead.

“They know when bad weather is going to hit, but they only send relief the next day. Whatever happened to preventive action?” Cosatu asked.

Cape Town’s disaster risk management centre said it had helped thousands of people affected by the floods since the rain started on Saturday.

In collaboration with the non-governmental organisations HDI Support, the Mustadafin Foundation and the SA Red Cross Society, the centre had given 26 490 people hot meals and handed out 28 518 blankets in the worst affected areas since Saturday.

Spokesperson Wilfred Solomons-Johannes said those displaced by the floods were being accommodated at community halls until other arrangements could be made.

Emergency workers continued to keep watch on informal settlements and the city’s electricity, water and sanitation departments would try to restore services.

“With further rains expected over the next few days, the city will continue with its efforts to minimise the discomfort and inconvenience experienced by its citizens,” said Solomons-Johannes.

– SAPA

Pretoria – Eight of the 11 Tshwane metro police officers accused of providing unofficial security to Gupta wedding guests pleaded guilty on Monday, an official said.

Two pleaded not guilty and one would be charged only when he returned from sick leave, municipal spokesperson Blessing Manale said in a statement.

The internal disciplinary hearing would resume on 27 June.

Last month, Tshwane metro police executive director Console Tleane said the extent of the damage caused by the officers’ involvement in the fiasco was being investigated.

“We need to ask to what extent has the integrity of the police department, and indeed the City of Tshwane, been compromised,” he said at the time.

“It is a matter of common cause that this matter has caused anxiety within the entire country, and therefore, any association with the said developments would have the potential to compromise the municipality,” he said.

Unauthorised escort

The metro police officers allegedly provided wedding guests with an unauthorised escort and security from Waterkloof Air Force Base, in Pretoria, to Sun City, in North West.

The guests were on board a jet, chartered by the Gupta family, which landed at the military base.

Without revealing the charges the officers faced, he said a probe would examine whether they violated municipal policy, which prohibits external work without the chief of police’s permission.

“That policy also states that an employee may not engage in private work that is similar, or almost similar, to what their official work entails,” said Tleane.

The officers allegedly fitted blue lights and false number plates to their private vehicles to escort guests to the Gupta family wedding.

– SAPA