Lonmin mine management has been meeting with the miners’ union, Amcu in a bid to resolve the unions’ standoff. Amcu has threatened strike action from Tuesday if no agreement is reached.

Rival unions the NUM and Amcu have been at loggerheads over the ”recognition” issue. A NUM shop steward was shot and killed at the mine last week.

After failing to reach an agreement at the CCMA, Lonmin applied for arbitration, which is expected to take place later this month. However, Amcu members have voted to strike. Labour Minister Mildred Oliphant has called on union leaders to discourage workers from engaging in unprotected action.

Some economists have suggested that the time is right to revisit traditional labour union representation models. Analyst, Patrick Deale says its like two bulls in a kraal and both unions should be accommodated. He added that there should be some degree of proportional representation and “majority status should be given to the bigger union with the most members.”
For more http://www.sabc.co.za

North West Deputy Police Commissioner William Mpembe will continue to testify before the Marikana Commission in Centurion, south of Pretoria, on Tuesday.

Mpembe is testifying about how the police implemented their operational plan on August 16, the day the 34 mineworkers were shot and killed by the police during unrest in Marikana. This is Mpembe’s second day testifying.

Mpembe has told the commission that a day before the mineworkers were killed he requested leaders of the Association of Mineworkers and Construction Union (Amcu) and National Union of Mineworkers (Num) together with Lonmin management to attend a meeting at Lonmin offices.

Both union presidents attended, but according to Mpembe a delegation of about 10 other people attended, and refused to identify them on record.

Mpembe is expected to explain the strategies the police came with to find a peaceful solution. The plan included three phases entailing the dispersion of the protesters into smaller groups, encircling and disarming them.

The operation was scheduled to start at around 15h30 that day.
For more http://www.sabc.co.za

Multi-award winning former South African Broadcast (SABC) news journalist, Amos Molubi, has died after a long illness. He was 56 years old.

Molubi, who was based in Kimberley in the Northern Cape, won several awards for his reporting on the legacy of asbestos mining in South Africa.

He won two awards for his reporting on the landmark court case in London by the Prieska community against Cape plc.

Former colleagues describe Molubi as a diligent reporter who loved journalism and languages. In later years, Molubi preferred to cover science stories, extensively covering South Africa’s bid to host the Square Kilometre Array at Carnavon.

Family spokesperson Gadifele Letsholo says Molubi’s health deteriorated in the last few months. He will be buried in Pretoria on Saturday.
For more http://www.sabc.co.za

Cape Town – Former president Nelson Mandela has been out of the public eye for so long, analysts say, that his influence has waned.

Mandela, who was admitted to a Pretoria hospital on Saturday morning, was last seen in public in 2010.

“The bottom line is that Mr Mandela has not been at the moral and political centre of South Africa for a very long time,” political commentator Eusebius McKaiser said on Monday.

“We have let go of him ages ago.”

“I think there will be concerns from outside South Africa that Mandela is seen as the glue that holds South Africa together,” analyst Daniel Silke told AFP.

“But I think that this is something long gone frankly.”

With Mandela having made his last political speech in 2009, South Africa’s political arena has shifted radically.

“The point needs to be made that society and politics have changed in South Africa since the Mandela era,” said Silke.

“I just don’t think that Nelson Mandela’s passing is going to have any dramatic effect on domestic politics in South Africa,” he added.

Increasing acceptance of his mortality, with increasing hospital stays, has also seen the once-taboo topic of death broached as South Africa contemplates itself as a post-Mandela society.

His hospitalisation has triggered an outpouring of wishes for his recovery.

But this is often motivated by a genuine love for the man and his role in shaping the country, rather than melodramatic fears for South Africa, said McKaiser.

He said it was not Mandela’s mere presence which saved South Africa from becoming the next Zimbabwe, where white farmers saw their land seized, or from other instability.

“We, independent of his physical existence, are responsible for why the country has not been collapsing and so his non-existence cannot be a game changer.”

A pull-back on reconciliation as many feared was unlikely, said Silke.

“The issue of reconciliation I think permeates South African politics way beyond the era of Nelson Mandela,” he said.

During Mandela’s longest hospital stay in December, an article Nelson Mandela is going to die – it’s sad, but it’s ok was penned.

In it, GroundUp editor Nathan Geffen argued that South Africa held together not because of the Mandela of today, but because of his work over his lifetime.

“It is insulting to Mandela to suggest that his lifetime’s work will unravel at the end of his lifetime,” he wrote.

– AFP

Brits-A couple from Brits has been left seriously injured after apparently trying to play with a lion cub.

The pair, who had recently bought the lion, were both admitted to hospital and had to have surgery, reported Beeld.

Willie Jacobs of the Ukutula lodge near Brits said the lion cub had been bought from him by Manie and Angelique Visser, but the cub was still at their premises as the Vissers were waiting for some documents.

The lion was between 10-months-old and a year.

“I wasn’t here on Sunday but it sounds as if the lion wanted to play with Visser and the woman with him but a lion’s claws and teeth are sharp and they don’t know their own strength,” said Jacobs.

He said Ukutula staff had apparently tried to dissuade Manie Visser from going into the lion’s camp.

“The man apparently had lions before so they thought he knew what he was doing. And it was his lion.”

Visser tried to help his wife when the lion got hold of her, sustaining multiple bite wounds all over his body.

His wife was bitten on her leg.

Both are in a stable condition.

– News24

Mthatha – As former president Nelson Mandela spends his fourth day in hospital, his home village of Qunu was preparing for throngs of visitors, the Sowetan reported on Tuesday.

Some residents were preparing to turn their homes into home-stay accommodation, as they said there might not be enough place in the village should the ailing icon die, according to the report.

Villagers, who did not want to be named, told the newspaper there were only three bed and breakfasts (B&B) in the village.

An employee at one of the residences said the house had been converted into a 10-room B&B and had previously accommodated many foreigners who came to the village to see Mandela’s home.

Nowinothi Geledwana, 63, told the newspaper she had previously rented out some rooms in her house and expected to do so again, should there be a demand.

“I have about three to four rooms that are available and can be rented out should people prefer home-stay accommodation in Qunu,” Geledwana was quoted as saying.

“I really don’t know how much I will charge for them, but I’m sure I will make some profit.”

Apart from accommodation provided by residents, the Nelson Mandela Museum in the village also had accommodation for 60 people, while there was a plush guesthouse less than 10km from Qunu.

The Star newspaper reported the Mandela family in Qunu was preparing for another relative’s funeral.

Florence Mandela, the wife of one of the sons of the elder statesman’s uncle, died last week aged 96.

Florence’s funeral would be held on Saturday.
For more http://www.news24.com

Cape Town – The Eastern Cape has now taken to “swine politics”, with the ANC accusing the DA of “piggy-backing” by distributing piglets to Stutterheim communities in an attempt to score votes in next year’s elections.

Former ANC premier and accomplished pig farmer Nosimo Balindlela is now the target of the ANC as political parties gear up for elections next year.
For more http://www.iol.co.za

Johannesburg – Police officers were manning the entrance to a Pretoria hospital on Tuesday where former president Nelson Mandela is believed to have been admitted for a recurring lung infection.

The main entrance to the hospital in Arcadia was guarded by six police officers.

All vehicles entering the facility were checked and searched.

Despite the biting cold in Pretoria local and international journalists were monitoring events at the two entrances.

Barricades were erected at the spot where journalists had been camping on Monday forcing the press to move across the street.

Police tape was used to cordon off the area.

The ailing statesman will spend his fourth day in hospital.

Mandela was admitted to hospital in the early hours of Saturday morning.

The presidency at the time said he was in a “serious but stable” condition.

On Monday, the presidency said Mandela’s condition was “unchanged”.

Presidency spokesman Mac Maharaj said Mandela was receiving intensive care.

“President Jacob Zuma reiterates his call for South Africa to pray for Madiba and the family during this time.”

African National Congress MP and Mandela’s ex-wife Winnie Madikizela-Mandela had been at the hospital on Monday. – Sapa

The case against a lawyer accused of running over and killing five pedestrians was postponed in the Mogwase Magistrate’s Court on Monday, North West police said.

Mandla Gumbi, 35, would return to court on September 23, Col Sabata Mokgwabone said.

His R10,000 bail was extended. His BMW X6 ploughed into 12 pedestrians in Ledig, North West, in April. Five of them died on the scene.

He was allegedly drunk and speeding at the time. He faces charges of driving under the influence and culpable homicide.- Sapa 

Bafana Bafana returned to training on Monday, 10 June 2013 – after a day off on Sunday – in preparation for the all-important Brazil 2014 FIFA World Cup qualifying match against Group A leaders Ethiopia in Addis Ababa on Sunday.

National team coach Gordon Igesund believes that only victory in the remaining two matches against Ethiopia and Botswana will keep Bafana in contention for the 2014 Fifa World Cup.

With two rounds of matches remaining, South Africa and Ethiopia are neck and neck in the race for top spot in Group A. The Ethiopians lead the group with 10 points, two ahead of South Africa.

The team that finishes top of the group will proceed to the play-offs – to be played on home and away basis. The winners will secure a place to the World Cup scheduled for 2014 in Brazil.

Sunday’s match will take place at the National Stadium, on the same day Central African Republic (CAR) face Botswana in another Group A encounter which has little meaning.

Both Botswana and CAR have been eliminated from the race following their respective losses at the weekend. Botswana only has one point with CAR sitting on three, South Africa is third with eight points, two adrift of Ethiopia.

“The situation is self-explanatory; you do not need to be a rocket scientist to see what needs to be done. We both have two games left, so for us only a win will keep us in contention. We needed to get the three points from CAR, and all along I have been saying the key game will be against Ethiopia,” said Bafana head coach Igesund.

“But the nice thing is that it is in our hands. We need to win this game and then beat Botswana and qualify for the next and final round of qualifiers. We have to take each game as it comes but a draw is not good for us. I am confident we will be well-prepared for this match.”

Midfielder Reneilwe Letsholonyane and defender Anele Ngcongca were rested from training as a precautionary measure.

“The boys are fine, we just didn’t want to take chances and have them train when resting would serve them better. Letsholonyane has a minor groin strain while Anele is suffering from slight thigh muscles. Tomorrow they will train with the rest of the team,” added Igesund.

The Bafana Bafana mentor is well aware that another solid game plan and execution will see his side through.

“We are studying the video of the match between Botswana and Ethiopia, and I will have a good game plan for Sunday. What I do know is that they don’t have to win the match, a draw will suit them fine so I don’t expect them to attack a lot, but we will have to attack them,” he said.

South Africa will leave Cameroon for Addis Ababa on Friday, 14 June.

Brazil 2014 FIFA World Cup Qualifiers log standings:

Group A

Team

M

W

D

L

GF

GA

Pts

1. Ethiopia

4

3

1

0

6

2

10

2. South Africa

4

2

2

0

7

2

8

3. Central African Republic

4

1

0

3

2

7

3

4. Botswana

4

0

1

3

2

6

1

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