Johannesburg – Police had tried to protect Daveyton taxi driver Mido Macia from harm, the Benoni Magistrate’s Court heard on Tuesday.

Warrant Officer Meshack Malele said officers outside the moving police van lifted Macia’s legs off the ground to prevent him being injured as he was tied to the back of the van.

“The policemen held his legs so that he couldn’t get injured. General had kicked the door of the… van open, his legs were protruding,” said Malele.

General was Macia’s nickname.

Malele said Macia had not been properly handcuffed, so one of the loose cuffs got hooked to the door, leaving him hanging out of the van.

The van driver had driven off as community members had started attacking officers and throwing stones at them before they could secure Macia in the van.

Malele said he was also injured in the incident.

Blocking traffic

Malele and eight other officers implicated in Macia’s death are re-applying for bail after their legal representatives told the court they had new evidence which could see the court overturn its earlier decision to deny them bail.

Macia was filmed being tied to the back of a police van and dragged along a street in Daveyton on 26 February.

Police confronted him because his taxi was apparently blocking traffic.

A scuffle ensued and he was taken to the local police station, where he was found dead in the holding cells several hours later.

Malele said he did not believe the State had a strong case against the officers.

State attorney December Mthimunye questioned what new evidence Malele and the other accused had for the court.

An agitated Malele said: “Am I here to testify, or ask for bail?”

He was reprimanded by the court.

– SAPA

Cape Town – City of Cape Town authorities have denied “targeting” ANC national executive committee member Tony Yengeni after his arrest for alleged drunken driving, the Cape Argus reported on Tuesday.

The city’s safety and security mayoral committee member JP Smith said Yengeni was one of 52 people arrested by his officers at the weekend.

“Officers had spotted the Maserati driving erratically,” he told the newspaper, adding that the car had been short of at least one number plate.

“Officers used a screening device, which showed he was substantially over the limit, which was sufficient basis on which to take him to the shadow centre in Athlone,” he was quoted as saying.

Smith said video footage of Yengeni before and after his arrest would be made available to prove officers had a probable cause for pulling him over.

He reportedly said the matter was in the hands of police but that he was confident the metro police could obtain a copy of the blood test “as a backup”.

According to the report, Yengeni was arrested near the corner of Somerset and Dixon Roads in Cape Town shortly before 23:00 on Sunday.

He was detained at Cape Town central police station and released on R500 bail on Monday morning.

He is due to appear in court on 4 March next year.

In 2007, Yengeni was arrested in Goodwood, Cape Town, on a charge of driving under the influence of alcohol. He was also granted R500 bail at the time. He was eventually found not guilty.

At the time, Yengeni was out on parole after his 2003 conviction for defrauding Parliament by failing to disclose a 47% discount on a 4×4 Mercedes-Benz.

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By Obakeng Maje

Setlagole- North West police arrested two suspects aged 28 and 32 respectively for malicious damage to property and attempt of cash theft yesterday morning.

Police said the suspects entered a shop at Setlagole village, near Mahikeng and pretended to be installing cameras at the ATM in the shop.

“The suspects allegedly found a child of the shop-owner in the shop and convinced the kid that they here to install cameras at the ATM in the shop” sergeant Kealeboga Molale said.

The two continue tried maneuvered their way into the ATM by drilling the ATM door.

The kid became suspicious and informed the police who were at the shop.

“The suspects were allegedly arrested after interrogation from police. They will appear before court soon on charges of malicious damage to property and attempt of cash theft” Molale said.

Police investigations continue.-TDN

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Johannesburg – EFF leader Julius Malema’s sequestration will be heard unopposed in September, The Star reported on Tuesday.

SA Revenue Service spokesperson Adrian Lackay said claims made by Economic Freedom Fighters national co-ordinator Mpho Ramakatsa, that Sars had launched a “politically driven activity” against Malema, were regrettable, the newspaper reported.

“If untested allegations by a delinquent taxpayer, which are without merit, carry more value in the media that sworn statements by a state institution, which are before court and which are under oath, then such a situation is very regrettable,” Lackay was quoted as saying.

It was, however, not made clear on what day the hearing would take place.

According to the newspaper, when asked about the matter, Malema directed the publication to his lawyers and dismissed the hearing as an alleged plan by Sars to discredit him.

“Whatever they do is not genuine, theirs is a process that seeks to impress the political master,” Malema told the Star.

Last month Malema accused Sars of unethical conduct, rejecting his request for a tax compromise for political reasons, and of selling his cabbage farm to deny him a means of income.

SAPA

Orlando Pirates coach Roger de Sa says that they are used to playing their arch rivals Kaizer Chiefs.

De Sa expressed this feeling after the two sides were drawn to face each other in the MTN8 semifinals.

He told the Siya crew that he is aware of how hard it is for both teams playing in a home and away semifinal encounter, but one his side is ready for.

“Everyone is used to derbies now,” said De Sa.

“We know that they are the games everyone looks up to and so it is with us as teams.

“But for us you know we are used to them and we play just like any other game and aim for a win.

“It will be the second game in a short space of time and we have to win this one now.”

By: Soccer-Laduma

The Congress of the People Women’s Movement (CopeWM) has called on its mother-body to open up more opportunities for women in the organisation.

Speaking on Women’s Day in Kimberley, CopeWN national chairperson, Ncumisa Mahlangu-Matiwane, said since its formation, Cope has been led by men only.

“I was so disappointed last weekend in Bloemfontein (during Cope electoral workshop), when I looked at the leadership of the organisation with the majority being men.

“I am calling on the leadership to create opportunities for women. We need to be allowed to take the centre stage and claim important positions in the organisation,” she said.

The Women’s Day event was attended by the leadership of Cope, including its president Mosiuoa Lekota, Dennis Bloem and Willy Madisha.

Mahlangu-Matiwane called on the Minister of Women, Children and People with Disability, Lulu Xingwana, to disapprove the bailing of those accused of perpetrating of rape.

“Rape is a crime, rape suspects should remain behind bars even before the trial,” she said.

Lekota told the supporters that the organisation was the only one that stood for true values of democracy and freedom. He took a swipe at ANC leaders he accused of misusing taxpayers’ money.

“Every year Parliament sends a lot of money to all the provinces, including the Northern Cape, but this money gets intercepted by certain people. They take your money and use it on their lavish lifestyle,” Lekota said.

The DA in the province has called for stronger action by law enforcement agencies in dealing with fathers who default on paying child maintenance.

Scores the party’s supporters marched from Kimberley’s Indian Centre to the city hall at the weekend to hand over a petition on child maintenance to the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA).

DA provincial leader Andrew Louw called on all the men to take responsibility for their actions, specifically those who neglect to pay maintenance for their children.

“At the same time, we are raising awareness among those parents who are ignorant with regards to their rights to claim maintenance. The payment of child maintenance is vitally important in helping single mothers to raise children with decent healthcare and education. It also reinforces the responsibility on fathers to assist in the raising of their children.”

Louw said several people were failing to pay child maintenance.

“Those defaulting on their maintenance payments are simply getting away with it. It is against this backdrop that the DA handed over the petition to the NPA.”

“It is our submission that the NPA must start working with provincial government departments and law enforcement agencies to ensure that all absent parents pay child maintenance.”

Authorities in the Western Cape recently embarked on a campaign to arrest maintenance defaulters. In the first week of this operation, as many as 150 maintenance defaulters handed themselves over before they could be arrested.

“We believe that by following the lead of the Western Cape in this matter, the Northern Cape government could also help women claim maintenance from absent fathers, and in so doing promote responsible parenting,” Louw said.

Two women and a man were arrested in Mabopane, north of Pretoria, after they were found in possession of counterfeit money on Monday morning, police said.

“Police received a tip-off about people with fake money at a garage in Block B, Mabopane,” Warrant Officer Mathews Nkoadi said.

When they went there they found two women in a car. They told them the driver was not there. The officers found him and, during the search, discovered R940,000, mainly in counterfeit R100 notes, a loaded, unlicensed 7.65 firearm, and six cellphones in the car. All three were arrested.

“They said they are not working alone. We are still expecting more arrests and to discover where the money is being manufactured,” Nkoadi said.

He appealed to businesses to make sure that money they took from customers was genuine.

The three would appear in the Ga-Rankuwa Magistrate’s Court on Tuesday on charges of possession of counterfeit money and an unlicensed firearm.

– Sapa    

Cape Town – A “backlog” of beds at Cape Town’s Valkenberg Psychiatric Hospital delayed a fraud trial involving a paralegal graduate on Monday.

Chris Lodewyk, 46, was referred to the hospital for 30 days’ observation but could not start the assessment until a bed became available, legal aid lawyer Hailey Lawrence told the Bellville Specialised Commercial Crime Court.

Lodewyk, of Goodwood, faces eight counts – two of illegally practising as an attorney, one of practising as an attorney without the required Fidelity Fund Certificate, two of fraud, and three of theft.

Magistrate Sabrina Sonnenberg heard at his previous appearance that Lodewyk was number 180 on the waiting list.

At Monday’s proceedings prosecutor Valley Omar told the court the situation was unchanged, and asked for a postponement to 9 September.

Lodewyk was referred for psychiatric assessment after psychiatrist Wayne Sanders diagnosed severe depression. In a letter filed on the court record, Sanders said Lodewyk’s depression was caused by an abusive relationship.

According to the charge sheet, Lodewyk practised as a paralegal in the name of Legal Max, and advertised himself on the website Gumtree.

On one fraud charge he allegedly unlawfully received R50 280 from client Richard Watkins, between 2008 and 2011, and R79 600 from another client Werner Schreuder, between 2010 and 2012, for legal work he did not do.

Watkins had a dispute with a motor dealership, and Lodewyk allegedly falsely informed him that the matter had gone to court and that the court had ruled in Watkins’s, favour, with costs.

Schreuder allegedly engaged Lodewyk to appear for him in high court litigation, in Schreuder’s absence, which Lodewyk failed to do.

As a result, a civil judgment was granted against Schreuder, but the first that he knew about it – and of Lodewyk’s alleged failure to act for him – was a visit from the sheriff to attach Schreuder’s car.

False investment

On the second fraud charge Lodewyk allegedly obtained R216 000 for investment from Richard and Elizabeth Dickenson in 2008, after falsely informing them that he was a registered investment broker.

Lodewyk was to invest the money with First Stage Holdings, at between 16% and 18% interest per annum, but allegedly kept the money for himself.

The three theft charges are based on the fraud charges, involving the victims Watkins, Schreuder, and the Dickensons.

The remaining three charges involve alleged violations of the Attorneys Act.

The matter was postponed to 12 September.

Lodewyk’s R25 000 bail was extended.

SAPA