Johannesburg – Police should be retrained to prevent a recurrence of events such as the one at Marikana last year, trade union federation Nactu said on Monday.

“Police need to be retrained on how to handle situations such as the one in Marikana. If they (police) had been properly trained these killings would not have taken place,” National Council of Trade Unions spokesman Mangaliso Mdhlela said.

“The police at Marikana behaved exactly the same way the apartheid government behaved when its police (mowed) down 60

protesters in Sharpeville. The Marikana incident was a wanton disregard of our Constitution’s provision to respect life,” he said.

Mdhlela said police could be trained “differently” to stop them being “trigger happy”.

The federation would call on mine bosses to substantially increase workers’ wages and improve their living conditions.

“The low wages of mineworkers and their living conditions are an indictment on the mine bosses. Mineworkers literally live in shacks,” he said.

The federation also wanted government to provide a budget for lawyers who represented the interests of miners at the Farlam Commission of Inquiry.

The commission is probing the deaths of 44 people during strike-related unrest at Lonmin’s Marikana operations in North West last year.

Friday (August 16) marks a year since 34 people were shot dead in a clash with police. Ten people died in the preceding week.

“In the interest of justice the government has a responsibility to provide funds for the miners’ lawyers,” Mdhlela said.

Sapa

Mankweng – Two men have been caught selling crocodiles in Limpopo, police said on Monday.

Col Ronel Otto said police received a tip-off on Sunday that the two were selling crocodiles from a house in Ga-Mothapo.

Police, posing as buyers, arrested the men, who led detectives to where the crocodiles were being kept.

“A full investigation into where the animals came from will be conducted,” said Otto.

The crocodiles were removed by animal inspectors and taken to a sanctuary.

The two were scheduled to appear in the Mankweng Magistrate’s Court later on Monday.

Sapa

Kimberley – “I am not a pervert, spying on people” . . . these are the words of the Kimberley man who has been testing out his multi-rotor (a remote-controlled helicopter), which he hopes to develop and market as a business venture, in a city park.

A Labram resident recently claimed that she was under attack in her own backyard from a neighbour, who she accused on spying on her and other residents with his remote-controlled helicopter, which she believed had a camera attached.
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Durban – Two men believed to be rhino poachers were arrested in the Zululand Rhino Reserve (ZRR) in northern KwaZulu-Natal, the reserve’s management said on Monday.

The two were caught on Friday after rangers were alerted of their plan, ZRR manager Dave Robertson said.

The men, both Nigerians, were found in possession of a rifle, 10 rounds of ammunition, and an axe.

They were handed over to police in Mkuze.

The Democratic Alliance in KwaZulu-Natal commended the rangers for the arrests.

DA MPL Radley Keys urged conservation officials to ensure that efforts to combat poaching were encouraged.

Sapa

The North West Provincial Government is steadfast in its commitment to empower the youth and will continue to intensify its efforts to ensure that the youth in the province participate in the mainstream economy as it has demonstrated through the creation of sustainable livelihoods and entrepreneurial development initiatives, Premier Thandi Modise said on Monday as part of her international Youth Day message.

International Youth Day has been celebrated annually on August 12 since 1999, following a resolution by the United Nations General Assembly. The global theme of International Youth Day 2013 is “Youth Migration: Moving Development Forward.”

Young people make up a significant number of international migrants and those with advanced skills stand a better chance creating sustainable livelihoods for themselves.

Premier Modise said her province has demonstrated its seriousness about youth empowerment through a number of initiatives geared towards developing skills and promoting youth participation in the mainstream economy, among others.

“Our commendable record in this regard speaks for itself. We value our youth and will continue to intensify our efforts to empower them. That’s why we encourage them to take these opportunities seriously and not to misuse them. We want to say to our young people that they must stay away from drugs and alcohol abuse. Drugs and alcohol destroy lives, said Premier Modise.

During the youth month Premier Thandi Modise had announced that the province had set aside R22 million to support emerging Small Medium Micro Enterprises (SMME’s) and granted loans to the value of R18 516 86 to 96 deserving youth enterprises.

Nineteen youth cooperatives were established and over two hundred youth have participated in National Youth Services for skills development.

In addition 2000 young people are participating in the National Rural Youth Service Corps (NARYSEC) which is government programme intended at job creation and skills development amongst the youth.

However, Premier Modise said youth empowerment will mean nothing if the youth do not learn anything about the right of women and children in view of the scourge of gender based violence troubling much of the country. She sent a strong message to the youth to respect women and help to stop the scourge of gender based violence that is currently rife across the country.

“This month also marks Women’s month and it is therefore important that you must stand up and be counted. Young men must learn from an early age to respect women. Women are not objects of affection for men. They must be respected and treated equally just like men. Young people are the future and if our young people can get this right, we will know that we are on the right track to eradicate gender-based violence,” cautioned Premier Modise.

Modise said the province has also made bursaries available for young people to study and acquire identified scarce skills such as medicine, engineering and accountancy, in addition to other training and skills development initiatives.

“The province has to-date trained and skilled 1 390 young people in electrical engineering, welding, tourism and hospitality, crop science and animal production, mining, pottery, ceramic, glass and brick manufacturing,” Premier Modise said.

In addition, 2 207 young people participated in various learnerships across the province.

“We are hard at work and will continue to do our best to ensure that our youth are an integral part of our economy,” added the Premier.

The North West Provincial Executive Council (Exco) RECENTLY endorsed the multi-million rand youth development implementation plan to benefit young people in the province.

The programme will entail among others career guidance expo for grade 12 learners from historically disadvantaged schools and seminars on entrepreneurship development and youth cooperative.

Johannesburg – National police commissioner Riah Phiyega must ensure there is no “political meddling” following the reported arrest of Tony Yengeni for drunk driving, the DA said on Monday.

He was reportedly arrested on Sunday and released on bail on Monday.

DA MP Dianne Kohler-Barnard recalled in a statement that Yengeni had previously been arrested in 2007 on drunk driving charges while he was out on parole following a fraud conviction.

“The drunk driving case could not go forward because of interference with the blood sample,” she said.

“The station commander at Goodwood, who was involved in the case, was convicted for defeating the ends of justice and Yengeni was allowed to walk free.”

Kohler-Barnard said the DA would be watching the new case closely.

But, reports that Yengeni, who is an ANC national executive committee member, was arrested for drunk driving at the weekend could not be immediately confirmed on Monday.

Western Cape police would only say that a 58-year-old man was arrested on the corner of Somerset and Dixon roads in Cape Town on Sunday for drunk driving.

Police spokesperson Frederick van Wyk said the man was detained at the Cape Town central police station overnight and released on bail on Monday morning.

He could not confirm that the individual arrested was Yengeni.

Beeld reported online on Monday that its Cape Town sister newspaper Die Burger had seen Yengeni leaving police cells in the morning after paying bail of R500.

He was reportedly driving a Maserati when he was arrested.

– SAPA

Johannesburg – There are gaps in the coverage of the Marikana shootings by some South African media, the Institute for the Advancement of Journalism (IAJ) said on Monday.

“The gaps showed that a need for good contacts on the ground is very important. These are crucial for journalists,” said IAJ director Michael Schmidt.

He was speaking at an IAJ seminar titled “Reporting South Africa’s Policing Crisis: Marikana One Year Later”.

Schmidt said he had never seen a report by a journalist who had gone underground to experience the working conditions that mineworkers go through every day.

“A few years ago I had the privilege of going underground at one of the platinum mines in the North West,” he said.

“Temperatures reach 55 degrees Celsius, in a crammed environment…”

He said journalists should have paid attention to what was happening in the platinum belt prior to the killings.

He commended The Star reporter Poloko Tau who focused on the “man in the green blanket” who was seen all the time at the hill during the strike-related unrest.

Friday marks a year since the killings took place at Lonmin Platinum’s Marikana mine in North West.

In August last year, 44 people died during strike-related unrest at the mine’s operations in Rustenburg.

Thirty four people – almost all striking mineworkers – were shot dead in a clash with police on 16 August. Ten people, including two police officers, were killed in the preceding week.

– SAPA

Marikana – A union leader has been shot dead at Lonmin’s Marikana mine, almost a year after police shot dead 34 strikers on the restive platinum belt.

“This morning she was fatally shot next to our offices,” said National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) spokesperson Lesiba Seshoka on Monday.

A blanket covered the woman’s body where she was shot dead outside her house on the mine’s Western Platinum division at 10:00, an AFP journalist witnessed.

“This shop steward woman was an important worker in the union,” Seshoka added.

A string of assassinations have marked the rivalry between NUM and its militant rival the Association of Mineworkers and Construction Union (Amcu).

The death comes just days before South Africa marks one year since police opened fire on striking miners.

– AFP

Johannesburg – Former chief justice Sandile Ngcobo will chair a presidential remuneration review commission on public service salaries, the presidency announced on Monday.

The commission was established by President Jacob Zuma to review the pay policies of the public service, spokesperson Mac Maharaj said in a statement.

“Through this commission, the state as an employer aims to ensure that government gets value for money paid on the salaries of public servants.”

Zuma announced during his State-of-the-Nation address in February that the commission would be established to investigate the appropriateness of the remuneration and conditions of service provided by the state to all its employees, with teachers receiving priority attention, said Maharaj.

– SAPA

Following a thrilling weekend of MTN8 quarterfinal action, four PSL outfits have secured their place in the semi-finals of the lucrative cup competition.

Kaizer Chiefs knocked University of Pretoria out of the tournament, defeating them 3-0, while Wits beat Bloemfontein Celtic by the same margin, as they progressed.

Orlando Pirates overcame SuperSport United through a penalty shoot-out, with Platinum Stars having eliminated Free State Stars in their 3-0 victory.

The draw for the semis was conducted today at the PSL’s headquarters in Park Town, Johannesburg, where the four teams were drawn against each other on a home and away basis.

Chiefs will host Pirates in the first leg of the MTN8 semi-finals, while Platinum Stars and WIts battle it out in the other semi,

The team shown first will play at home first, in the two legged affair. The first leg will be played on August 20 and 21, with the return on the weekend August 24 and 25..  

Platinum Stars v Wits Kaizer Chiefs v Orlando Pirates

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