Cape Town – The public has a role to play in ensuring public healthcare facilities are safe, Western Cape Health MEC Theuns Botha said on Wednesday.

“There’s a co-responsibility. It’s not only government that can solve it, it’s not only labour that can solve it,” Botha told reporters and workers at Groote Schuur Hospital in Cape Town.

“What are people doing in their own communities to ensure it’s safe for an ambulance to come pick someone up who has a desperate need to go to an institution?”

Botha said he found it strange and unacceptable that it was necessary to be concerned about the safety of doctors and nurses helping the poor and needy.

“These things are beyond my imagination. I do not understand a society where this is the case. Unfortunately, that is reality and we’ve got to deal with it.”

He was speaking at the launch of a campaign by provincial nurses and doctors to improve their working environment.

The Democratic Nursing Organisation of SA (Denosa) and SA Medical Association (Sama) detailed their plan for a positive practice environment, following similar launches in the Northern Cape, Eastern Cape, and Limpopo.

The campaign, set to run over the next two years, would address issues such as worker safety and payment, equipment, supplies, and education.

Denosa president Dorothy Matebeni called on nurses and doctors to “adopt” a medical facility with issues and bring these to the attention of the health department.

She said the first phase of the campaign would focus on the safety and payment of workers.

Botha assured workers that safety and security was a focus.

“We spend over R100m in the department of health in the Western Cape on security. I’m certainly not so sure whether we get the service we pay for and whether that service is up to standard,” he said.

Audit

The safety and security of government property had been moved to the Western Cape department of community safety.

The community safety department had appointed international consultancy firm Arup to conduct an audit of security at all provincial facilities.

The end goal was to build new facilities with more secure designs, revisit security contracts, and train officials to exercise oversight over procured services.

Botha gave his support to the positive environment campaign.

“I want to invite and commit that we as the department will be accessible and that we will take part in this process and you can approach us.”

Sama vice chairperson Dr Mark Sonderup said the campaign would see a more collaborative approach.

He said there had been a historically antagonistic relationship between government and healthcare workers.

“If you’re going to wait for government to deliver, you’re going to wait a long time… it’s time for healthcare workers to roll up their sleeves and see what we can do,” he said.

– SAPA

Johannesburg – People who ought to be protectors are allegedly perpetrating crimes against children, the Film and Publications Board (FPB) said on Wednesday.

“Looking at the profile of those arrested, it affirms that these crimes attract even the most trusted within society,” said FPB acting CEO Jonas Phoshoko in a statement.

He was reacting to the arrest of six men allegedly linked to an international child-pornography ring.

Police spokesperson Solomon Makgale said they were arrested last Thursday in four provinces.

Among them were two teachers, a retired school principal, a lawyer, a dermatologist, and a businessman.

All six appeared in various South African courts on different days and the last case was heard on Monday, said Makgale.

“… These are people who ought to be protectors and not [alleged] perpetrators,” said Phoshoko.

He commended the police on the arrests.

“… We trust… those found in transgression of the Film and Publications Act by being in possession, creating or distributing child pornography will be severely punished if found guilty.”

Phoshoko urged parents to be vigilant and guard their children against potential abusers, both physically and on the internet.

– SAPA

Johannesburg – A woman was arrested in Burgersfort, Limpopo, on Wednesday in connection with the kidnapping of a 10-year-old boy, police said.

The boy was taken around 16:00 on Tuesday afternoon near his home in Vergelegen village by a man who asked for directions, police spokesperson Ronel Otto said.

“A few hours after the boy was taken his parents received a text message demanding R10 000 for the child to be returned home safe,” said Otto.

The parents alerted police and an arrangement was made for the money to be paid into an account number provided by the kidnapper.

“Police arrested a woman at an ATM in Burgersfort trying to withdraw the money,” said Otto.

The boy was found unscathed near the ATM and police were searching for a second suspect believed to have been involved in the kidnapping.

– SAPA

Johannesburg – The Seriti Commission of Inquiry into the multi-billion rand arms deal would not comment on Wednesday on reports that it was being deliberately stalled.

Commission spokesperson William Baloyi said he had spoken to the commissioners and they decided it was “not worth commenting on”.

Beeld newspaper on Monday reported it spoke to three sources, who claimed the commission could have finished its work by the end of last year.

It was, however, delayed to protect the ANC and secure President Jacob Zuma a second term as party president at the Mangaung conference, held in December 2012.

According to another source, commission chair Judge Willie Seriti and head of research Fanyana Mdumbe continuously hampered the commission.

When investigators asked to see the weaponry that was bought so they could make sure the investigation was conducted thoroughly, Seriti refused, the source told the newspaper.

It was claimed Seriti manipulated information, which came in and out of the commission.

According to the source, people had to ask for Seriti’s permission before they could speak to anyone or hand over any documents to investigators.

“He is obsessive about handling all the information,” the source told Beeld.

The commission had reportedly known for more than a year about a container of documents at the Hawks head office, but never went to get it. There were also plans to get documents from Cabinet meetings and Parliament, which never happened.

The newspaper reported that the commission decided to let whistle-blowers testify first during the public hearings so they could be discredited during cross examination, and the investigation would collapse before ANC officials had to testify.

The commission started its first phase of public hearings
in Pretoria this week.
Members from the department of defence and military veterans were testifying about the rationale behind the arms deal and the use of the equipment bought.

President Zuma appointed the commission in 2011 to investigate alleged corruption in the 1999 arms deal.

– SAPA

The African National Congress (ANC) would drift to the right if the working class opted to abandon the party, Secretary General Gwede Mantashe said on Wednesday.

“You have made an assumption that if you decide to leave the ANC, the ANC will become static,” he told Police and Prisons Civil Rights Union (Popcru) members at their second national political school in Benoni, east of Johannesburg.

“[However] you will have an ANC that will grow more and more conservative and once it is more conservative it will be brutal on the working class.”

Mantashe said working class organisations, such as the unions and the SA Communist Party, influenced the standing of the ANC.

The liberation movement, led by the ANC, was a multi-class revolution and if the working class decided not to support the party other classes would take over the space and shift it.

“If you think it’s neo-liberal now… You will push it [ANC] to the right,” he said.

Mantashe urged union members to engage with Cabinet ministers, especially those who were former union members.

He used Basic Education Minister Angie Motshekga and the SA Democratic Teachers’ Union (Sadtu) as an example.

Motshekga was a former Sadtu member and now that she was a minister the union was fighting her.

Once you close your eyes to those fundamental principles you are going to see the battles that are running now

“I looked at Cabinet and I established that a big chunk of it can be traced back to the trade unions… but they [unions] cannot talk to their former members.”

Mantashe was speaking under the theme forms and content of the class struggle.

Mantashe also touched on the problems facing the Congress of SA Trade Unions.

He said the federation needed to focus on its principles.

“Once you close your eyes to those fundamental principles you are going to see the battles that are running now. Those battles are a function of many things.”

Mantashe said one of those things was the development of personalities in Cosatu.

“When you begin to worship individuals then you are going to kill the thing [Cosatu].”

Cosatu has been divided following allegations of rape against general secretary Zwelinzima Vavi, and his subsequent suspension.
On Thursday, Cosatu announced Vavi had been put on special leave pending the outcome of a disciplinary hearing into an affair he had with a junior employee.

On Friday, Vavi vowed to challenge his suspension.
Source : http://www.sabc.co.za

Durban – The Durban man who was allegedly hijacked and abducted was found alive but injured at the Mahatma Gandhi Hospital in Phoenix on Tuesday, family friends said.

Police were unable to confirm that he had been found.

Dumisani Mdlalose, was allegedly accosted by three armed men on his driveway in Mount Moriah, near Phoenix, on Monday night while opening the gate when, at gunpoint, he was ordered back into his black BMW 318i by the hijackers who then drove away with him.

His wife, Thembeka, who was seated in the passenger front seat, ran from the men and was unharmed.

She called for help in the community. A neighbour and friend of the Mdlaloses, Panuel Zondi, said on Wednesday morning that Mdlalose was found at the Phoenix hospital with minor injuries.

“He was a bit bruised when we found him… they left him in Avoca and drove away with the car, but he is still in hospital recovering,” he said.

Mdlalose’s wife could not be reached for comment because her cellphone was stolen during the hijacking. Thembeka and a group of close friends had begun a search looking for Mdlalose, who was feared dead.

Zondi would not give intimate details on what transpired during the hijacking or how the man ended up in hospital.

Police spokesman Captain Thulani Zwane said Mdlalose had not been found, according to records at the Phoenix SAPS.

“According to Phoenix SAPS, the victim has not yet been found hence they are still looking for him and would appreciate any information on the victim’s whereabouts,” he said.

Daily News

Nelspruit – A man was jailed for six years by the Nelspruit Regional Court on Wednesday for trying to rape his seven-year-old cousin.

A Sapa correspondent reported that Nathi Malope, 21, from Gemu Trust outside Hazyview, Mpumalanga, was arrested in January 2011

after his aunt caught him trying to rape her daughter.

Magistrate André Geldenhuys said because Malope had been in custody for two years and seven months since his arrest, he was sentencing him to eight years imprisonment, two of which were suspended for five years.

Geldenhuys said Malope’s actions had changed many things in his aunt’s family.

“For this reason, you are not welcome anymore at your aunt’s house as she has a little girl and fears for her safety,” Geldenhuys said.

He said the court heard Malope lured the girl to a shack in his aunt’s yard. He was trying to rape her when the aunt caught him.

“If it was not for the child’s mother, you would have completed the act. You were 18-years-old at the time… you should have known better.”

Geldenhuys said according to the aunt, the child still suffered from the ordeal.

“She has repeated her Grade One at school. Due to this incident, she is not able to sleep at night. She even fears all male persons which means she has suffered severely.”

The magistrate said the court had taken into consideration that Malope grew up in poverty and that his parents died at an early age.

“You were forced to move from one family member to another in order to make progress at school. You progressed to Grade Nine and were not formerly employed,” he said.

He noted that Malope was drunk at the time and he still showed no remorse.

“You need rehabilitation as you are a risk in society. Only prison can rehabilitate you. You are not fit to work with children and your name will be registered on the register for sexual offenders.”

Sapa

Durban – A man shot and wounded his girlfriend in the back of a minibus taxi before turning the gun on himself in Umbumbulu on Durban’s outskirts on Wednesday, paramedics said.

Netcare 911 spokesman Chris Botha said the girl, believed to be a matric pupil, was taken to Inkosi Albert Luthuli Hospital and the man to Prince Mshiyeni Hospital, both in Durban. Both were in a critical condition.

Police comment could not be immediately obtained.

Sapa

Bloemfontein – Four men, two brothers and two police constables, were arrested for being in possession of gold-bearing material in Thabong, Welkom, Free State police said on Wednesday.

Sergeant Thabo Litabe said an investigation led police on Tuesday to a house in Thabong which belonged to one of the men.

Gold dust and a homemade mill were found. The four were arrested at the scene.

Litabe said the two brothers were from Phomolong village in Rheerderpark, while the two policemen were stationed at Thabong’s crime prevention unit.

They were expected to appear in the Welkom Magistrate’s Court on Thursday.

Sapa

Cape Town – A lack of funding is compromising the effectiveness of Thuthuzela rape care centres, the DA said on Wednesday.

These centres provided crucial services for rape survivors and had been hailed as a shining example of best practice regarding rape survivor services, Democratic Alliance spokeswoman Helen Lamoela said in a statement.

“However, the poor operational rate and lack of funding has been compromising their effectiveness,” she said.

In written reply to a parliamentary question, Justice Minister Jeff Radebe said only 35 of the 51 department-run Thuthuzela Care Centres (TCC) across the country were fully operational.

The department’s current projected spending on the centres was R33.9 million a year, he said.

Lamoela said given the extensive services these centres were meant to provide this amount was “simply not enough”.

“The shortfall in funding is likely to lead to diminished counselling capacity and would have detrimental effects on both individual rape survivors and South Africa’s efforts to combat our nation’s rape crisis.”

Counselling services for rape survivors were a critical part of the healing process for both survivors and their families.

They helped rape survivors through the trial processes and interrupted cycles of abuse where children in abusive households could learn to become victims, or perpetrators of abuse as adults.

Continued counselling also ensured that survivors continued taking life-saving antiretroviral medication, Lamoela said.

Sapa