Pretoria – State prosecutors will be seeking a mandatory minimum sentence of life imprisonment for Oscar Pistorius when he goes on trial in March 2014 for murdering Reeva Steenkamp on Valentine’s Day this year.  

It appears the prosecution will rely on witness statements that screams were heard coming from Pistorius’s house before and after several gunshots rang out, Eyewitness News reported.

The State has a list of 107 witnesses it will call on, including neighbours, police officers, ex-girlfriends of Pistorius and the athlete’s sister Aimee.

Pistorius claims the shooting was an accident as he believed there was an intruder locked in the bathroom but the State is alleging that it was pre-meditated murder.

But the State will also argue that even if his version is believed, by firing four gunshots blindly through the locked toilet cubicle door, Pistorius intended to kill the person behind it.

The athlete’s legal team now have six months to start preparing for trial. 

News24

Johannesburg – Nelson Mandela has countless streets named after him, his own foundation, his own fan page and now his own social network.

The website mandela.is allows users, called “citizens”, to connect, share inspirational thoughts, photos and articles in an effort to emulate the apartheid icon’s positive impact on the world.

The site is the brain-child of two Mandela grandsons and it was set up by the company behind Lady Gaga’s online social community littlemonsters.com.

“It’s a social network around the inspiration my grandfather gave to the world,” said Ndaba Mandela, 30.

“People can share what Mandela inspired them to do, to give back to their communities.”

Hospitalisations

Few people today command the same global adoration as Mandela, 95, who for many embodies peace and forgiveness.

He walked free after 27 years in jail for opposing apartheid and united a deeply divided SA as its first black president in 1994.

Four years ago the UN declared his birthday on 18 July Mandela Day – calling on people around the world to spend 67 minutes doing good for others to mark the number of years he spent as an activist.

But four hospitalisations in a year are a reminder of Mandela’s old age and mortality.

He has spent over two months in hospital for a critical lung infection and is on life support machines.

“We only celebrate our icons, our leaders when they have passed away,” Ndaba said.

“We came together as a family and said ‘guys, let’s not wait until he is dead, let us start the celebration now [while] he is still moving, talking, communicating,'” said Ndaba.

Business

Entrepreneur Ndaba developed the idea with his cousin Kweku, 28, who has a background in entertainment and marketing.

The cousins’ parents Makgatho and Makaziwe are Mandela’s children with his first wife Evelyn Mase, whom he divorced in 1958.

Mandela.is quietly launched in March this year.

Still in the beta phase, it has around 1 000 members, some of them already vocal.

Kukogho Samson, a 28-year-old Nigerian journalist, often posts his poems:

“Seek the honour in doing good: A word to sweeten sour mood, A loaf for mouths that lack, A cloth to cover naked back.”

Kathleen Ndongmo, a 34-year-old entrepreneur from Cameroon, is outspoken about justice in Africa, lashing out at child marriage in Nigeria and corruption in Guinea.

The platform combines features from Facebook and Twitter into one site where users post information, pictures and multimedia.

Posts are tagged with key words like “inspire”, “everyday heroes”, and “random act of kindness”, which facilitates searches by other members.

“Rather than focus on Nelson Mandela’s singular achievements, our goal is to engage a global community in dialogue about the inspiring acts of those all around us,” the site states.

“This is a business like any other business,” said Ndaba, though he insists the priority is “to create a platform that is credible, respectable and enjoyable by users”.

“It’s not about the money, but to make the people understand who is Nelson Mandela and give back to their communities,” he said.

AFP

Pretoria – The first witness will start testifying at the Seriti Commission of Inquiry in Pretoria on Tuesday.

This was part of the first phase of the public hearings into the country’s arms deal where several government departments and entities would be called to make presentations.

Navy members from the department of defence and military veterans were expected to be first.

First phase

The commission officially started on Monday with evidence leader Tayob Aboobaker and Ramagaga Matshego giving opening statements outlining the commission’s processes.

Aboobaker said the first phase of the commission dealt with executive justification.

Matshego said the defence department, arms procurement parastatal Armscor, and the national treasury would make presentations on the rationale behind the armaments acquisition.

The SA Navy, SA Air Force, and Armscor would address the commission on the utilisation or non-utilisation of the equipment.

The trade and industry department would give evidence on the “realisation of job opportunities and the offsets anticipated to flow” from the arms deal.

“The evidence to be presented during this first phase will be limited to the terms of reference [of the commission] which deals with the rationale, utilisation, and the offsets, including jobs [from the arms deal],” she said.

Delay

The commission’s official opening, after a five-month delay, was postponed on 5 August after it was decided that time was needed to decide how to proceed with declassifying documents relevant to the inquiry.

In a statement the commission said the main reason for the adjournment was the resignation of one of the commissioners, Judge Francis Legodi.

This resulted in the remaining two commissioners, Judge Willie Seriti and Free State Judge President Thekiso Musi, not being properly constituted.

President Jacob Zuma had since decided that the commission would continue with just two commissioners.

Seriti on Monday made it clear that the commission was properly constituted.

SAPA