Pretoria – It will be legally appropriate for the national director of public prosecutions (NDPP) to handle a review of the Richard Mdluli case, the North Gauteng High Court in Pretoria heard on Wednesday.

Advocate Laurance Hodes, representing the NDPP, argued that reviewing the Mdluli saga should not be up to the court.

“There can be no doubt that a decision to provisionally withdraw, or to finally withdraw a decision [to prosecute] falls within the powers that are ascribed to the NDPP,” he said.

“In the absence of an approach through the NDPP for a review… there cannot be an approach to a court to intervene,” said Hodes.

Citing several legal experts’ commentaries on the Criminal Procedure Act, Hodes said organisations did not have the right to compel the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) to prosecute.

“Who has the right to compel the NPA to act? It is a fair question, because the act answers that. It says an interested party has to be an individual, so it does not have to be an organisation?

“Who has the power to withdraw a charge? The answer is anybody in the NPA, and it is not circumscribed,” said Hodes.

Judge John Murphy adjourned the matter to Thursday, when Hodes will resume his submissions.

The lobby group, Freedom Under Law (FUL), brought an application for a review and setting aside of the decision to withdraw criminal and disciplinary charges against the controversial former police crime intelligence head.

Mdluli was suspended amid charges of fraud and corruption, and charges relating to the murder of his ex-lover’s husband.

An inquest cleared him of any involvement in the murder. The charges of fraud and corruption were also later withdrawn.

He was reinstated, but was again suspended in 2012 pending the court application to review the withdrawal of the criminal and disciplinary charges against him.

18 charges

The court heard on Wednesday that, with regard to the case involving his ex-lover’s husband, Mdluli had faced 18 charges including assault, kidnapping and intimidation.

Advocate Vincent Maleka, representing FUL, told the court NPA specialised commercial crimes unit head Lawrence Mrwebi did not have the power to drop the charges against Mdluli.

He said only the NDPP could legitimately review the prosecution.

Maleka quoted from transcripts of the disciplinary hearing of NPA prosecutor Glynnis Breytenbach, suggesting that Mrwebi had also not properly consulted his colleagues about the charges against her.

“When Mrwebi consulted [advocate Sibongile] Mzinyathi, he had already made up his mind [about dropping the charges against Mdluli],” said Maleka.

Mzinyathi is the director of public prosecutions in Pretoria.

The withdrawal of charges against Mdluli was done without the “meaningful consultation as prescribed in law”, said Maleka.

On Wednesday morning, Murphy allowed news crews to film the court proceedings.

“We all agree this is a matter of great public concern. There will be no objection from us [to the filming of the proceedings],” said Maleka.

Representatives of the police and the NPA also did not object.

– SAPA

Mbombela – Three men accused of shooting dead an Mpumalanga mineworker three years ago were tortured into confessing to the crime, the Nelspruit Circuit of the North Gauteng High Court in Pretoria heard on Wednesday.

Isaac Sebokuboku Phala, 29, Calvin Tjatji, 24, and Tshepo Seloane, 24, pleaded not guilty to charges of murder, armed robbery with aggravating circumstances and possession of an unlicensed firearm and ammunition when they appeared in court, a Sapa correspondent reported.

They are accused of murdering Madingwana Max Matlou, 43, and robbing him of his Samsung cellphone in Mashishing on 22 August 2010. The cellphone was later sold to Cash Crusaders in Emalahleni.

During a trial-within-a-trial on Wednesday, Justice Mogotsi, for Phala, told the court his client would testify that Constable Ernest Vuma Mgwambi, Warrant Officer Johannes Thomas Motau and two captains forced him to make a confession.

“My client will testify that his head was covered with a plastic tube and pepper spray was used to make him suffocate. He said they forced him to produce the murder weapon,” Mogotsi said.

He said Phala was charged only once his wounds had healed.

King William Manzini, for Tjatji, told the court his client would also testify he was assaulted and forced to do a pointing out at the crime scene.

“My client said his constitutional rights were not read to him. On 4 June 2011, he was assaulted and was only taken to a doctor for a check up three weeks after the beating.”

Madala Simpson Mulaudzi, for Seloane, said his client was fetched from Tubatse police station and was taken to the Leboeng police station on 6 June 2011.

“My client said he was taken to a bridge at the exit of Tubatse. He was then taken to a veld, where he was handcuffed with his hands in the back and on his legs.”

“After a plastic tube was put over his head, they used pepper spray to make him suffocate. He will testify that he was sjambokked severely on his back and sustained serious injuries.”

Seloane was taken to Leboeng police station where he was introduced to Tjatji, said Mulaudzi.

“He will testify he was told to go to a magistrate and make a confession… He will also testify that he was told the injuries were inflicted by his parents when they beat him up.”

“He said he was told by Mgwambi that if he reported the assault, he would shoot him dead.

“He said when he went to the magistrate he reported he had been assaulted. That was when the magistrate cancelled the interview. He claimed he was only taken to a doctor on 9 June.”

Crime scene

The defence lawyers said their clients would testify that Mgwambi drove them to the crime scene and asked them to return with other police officers to do the pointing out.

When Mgwambi took the stand, he testified that he was the investigating officer in the case and that no assault had taken place.

“No assault took place against the three suspects. The reason why we drove to the crime scene is that it is the only road from point A to point B. There is no alternative road.”

Motau, who also took the stand, denied that the three men were assaulted or forced to make confession.

“I was with the investigation officer, Constable Mgwambi, during the entire investigation. All the suspects co-operated with police and they voluntarily chose to make the statements.”

Judge Mmonoa Teffo postponed the trial to Thursday.

– SAPA

Johannesburg – AfriForum and the families of farm murder victims will take a petition the UN to get the minister of police to act, the organisation said on Wednesday.

“… [AfriForum] started a petition today [Wednesday] for prioritising farm murders,” the lobby group’s deputy CEO Ernst Roets said in statement.

“The petition will be submitted to the UN forum for minority issues in November this year,” he said.

Roets said the petition would be closed on November 1, after which the final preparation would start for AfriForum’s participation in the UN forum.

“AfriForum has registered as a participant and will be afforded the opportunity to address the forum. The petition will serve as supporting evidence for a report to be submitted at the same time,” he said.

During the launch, a report entitled “The Mthethwa Docket” was also presented.

The group said it detailed 10 instances in the past two years in which victims had tried to contact Police Minister Nathi Mthethwa to get him to intervene in farm murders.

“Their efforts were treated with disdain,” said Roets.

AfriForum also released the video How long still?, in which some of the victims’ families related their attempts to communicate with Mthethwa, he said.

AfriForum was aiming to expose Mthethwa’s “don’t care attitude” towards farm murders.

“Mthethwa pays lip service to the issue, but has taken no real steps to curb farm murders,” said Roets.

“As a matter of fact, every step taken by government during the past decade in terms of farm murders actually amounted to deprioritising the crime,” he said.

He said AfriForum demanded that farm murders be prioritised, as this type of crime was unique and required a unique counter-strategy.

– SAPA

Johannesburg – Cosatu expressed shock on Wednesday at the auditor general’s disclaimer audit report on the SABC.

“Cosatu is disturbed and shocked by AG Terence Nombembe’s report on the SABC,” Cosatu spokesperson Patrick Craven said in a statement.

“He [Nombembe] has given the worst possible audit opinion – a disclaimer – because he could not obtain sufficient [and] appropriate audit evidence.”

In the 2013 annual report tabled in Parliament on Tuesday, Nombembe cited financial mismanagement and inadequate controls as reasons for the disclaimer.

A disclaimer is issued if the AG cannot form an opinion and thus declines to present an opinion about an entity’s financial statements.

Nombembe’s found the SABC was unable to provide documentation to account for more than R1.5bn in expenditure.

“I was unable to obtain sufficient, appropriate audit evidence for journals processed to broadcasting cost, signal distribution, and linking cost, marketing cost, professional and consultancy fees and other expenditure… which, in total amount to R1 588 929 000, as supporting documentation could not be provided,” Nombembe said.

In addition, the SABC also failed to adhere to the laws governing taxpayers’ money.

Cosatu welcomed an announcement by Communications Minister Yunus Carrim in Parliament on Tuesday that he had established a task team to strengthen financial controls at the public broadcaster.

“Cosatu believes that the SABC’s crisis is structural… It has been plagued by seemingly intractable governance crisis at both management and board levels since 2007.”

The SABC’s dependence on advertising revenue and sponsorships had led to its failure to adequately play the role of a public broadcaster.

Cosatu supported an ANC resolution at its Mangaung elective conference last year to increase government funding to turn the SABC “into the authentic voice of the South Africans”.

– SAPA

Johannesburg – The basic education department was paying too much attention to Grade 12 maths and neglecting other grades, according to a report released by the SA Mathematics Foundation (SAMF) on Wednesday.

The report was researched and written by Dr Nico Govender, a member of SAMF’s Advisory Committee for Mathematics (ACM).

“Dr Govender is of the opinion that the department of basic education and other stakeholders have been paying too much attention to Grade 12 Mathematics, thus neglecting the teaching and learning of the subject in early grades.

“He believes that support for Mathematics in the early grades will have a positive impact on learner performance in later grades and thus improve Matric pass rates,” SAMF said in a statement.

The report was focused on the poor state of teaching and learning of maths in the senior phase, grade seven to nine.

One of the key factors in the performance of pupils was the qualifications of teachers, Govender said.

“There should be efforts to improve the qualifications of mathematics teacher,” Govender said.

“The study has shown that a STD qualification is no longer sufficient for mathematics teachers in the senior phase. The DBE should ensure that these teachers are upgraded to a more appropriate qualification.”

Govender’s independent research focused on 17 advantaged and disadvantaged schools.

He said teachers from former model C schools attended teacher workshops, and had support programmes funded by schools and other schools were not given the necessary support from the department.

Maths training

Meanwhile, a different report written by Professor Werner Olivier, an ACM member, focused on the effectiveness of the Curriculum and Assessment Policy Statement (CAPS) training aimed at the maths curriculum.

The report highlighted the negative experiences of in-service mathematics teachers who had been exposed to CAPS training, the SAMF said.

CAPS training was introduced in June 2011 to make the curriculum more accessible to teachers and to provide them with details on what content to teach and access.

Thousands of subject advisers were trained during 2011 by the department.

According to the report, many subject advisers who presented CAPS training at district level were not knowledgeable or competent enough to do justice to the intended training.

Basic Education spokesperson Panyaza Lesufi said the reports had nothing new in them.

“We actually diagnosed these problems five years ago and acted on them by introducing ANA [Annual National Assessments], Dinaledi Schools, recruitment of maths and science teachers from universities and many more interventions,” he told Sapa.

“Actually their so called findings are nothing new than glorifying problems and defending the privileges of the few and praising former model C schools under the disguise of research.”

Lesufi said the department had more than 24 000 public schools in South Africa and for anyone to pass a “sweeping and reckless judgment” was unfortunate.

– SAPA

Cape Town – There was a possibility the Johannesburg City Power sabotage and an alleged arson attack on Luthuli House, were an attempt to destabilise the country prior to next year’s general elections, ANC Chief Whip Stone Sizani said on Wednesday.

“Just in case those people who are involved in this matter are connected and know each other, we urge the police to make sure these matters are put in control before the elections so that nobody in South Africa should bring us back to those days where people are burning when they go to bed, because saboteurs are around,” he said at a media briefing in Parliament.

Several substations were sabotaged during a strike by City Power workers last week, which was of great concern to the ANC in Parliament.

“We are happy to hear that the police are going to start an investigation on the allegations of sabotage. We are not pointing fingers at unions or even factions among unions,” Sizani said.

“We are specifically saying as public representatives in Parliament, it is an incumbent issue on the executive management of City Power to ensure that electricity is not disrupted and they have to make sure they protect lives, they protect the economy and they protect the reputation of Johannesburg and South Africa in this regard.”

It was now up to the country’s law enforcement agencies to “catch the culprits”.

“These matters are happening in Johannesburg, where Luthuli House was nearly burnt down… and also not related to that matter, cars were burned in some unrelated activity in Johannesburg by people who are really bent on disrupting and destabilising the environment there,” said Sizani.

He would not directly answer questions on whether he thought there was a third force behind the incidents, but said there was a possibility they were linked to next year’s elections.

“If they are connected, then they must really be dealt with very seriously because the reputation of South African elections cannot be tarnished by few individual who may be disgruntled for one reason or another.”

– SAPA

The DA will join survivors of the Marikana shooting in a march to the Union Buildings in Pretoria on Thursday to push for state funding for the legal counsel representing them, it said.

They would march to add their voice for Marikana survivors to be assisted financially by the state, DA spokesperson Mmusi Maimane said in a statement.

The march will begin at the Caledonian Stadium.

In August last year, 34 striking miners were shot dead near the Lonmin platinum mine by the police. Ten people, including two policemen and two security guards, were killed in the preceding week.

The Farlam Commission of Inquiry was established to investigate the circumstances surrounding the deaths.

Dali Mpofu, for the miners wounded and arrested at Marikana, recently provisionally withdrew after failing to get state funding for his legal fees and those of his team.

Maimane said Justice Minister Jeff Radebe had claimed that the government had no funds to provide legal representation to the survivors.

“We will send a message to President Jacob Zuma and Justice Minister Jeff Radebe that the DA will not accept the exclusion of Marikana survivors from the commission,” he said.

“We want to know how government can afford to pay a legal team to defend the police and run the commission to the tune of R115m.”

The march’s convenor Bishop Johannes Seoka called on South Africans to join in.

“It is time for citizens who believe that the state has an obligation to get to the real truth to stand on the right side of history,” he said.

“We call on South Africans from all walks of life to join the march to the Union Buildings at this historic moment in our precious democracy’s life.”

– SAPA

Pretoria – NPA specialised commercial crimes unit head Lawrence Mrwebi did not have the power to drop charges against Richard Mdluli, lobby group Freedom Under Law (FUL) argued on Wednesday.

Advocate Vincent Maleka, representing FUL, said only the national director of public prosecutions (NDPP) could legitimately review the prosecution.

Maleka quoted from transcripts of the disciplinary hearing of National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) prosecutor Glynnis Breytenbach, suggesting that Mrwebi had also not properly consulted his colleagues about the charges against her.

“When Mrwebi consulted [Advocate Sibongile] Mzinyathi, he had already made up his mind [about dropping the charges against Mdluli],” said Maleka.

Mzinyathi is the director of public prosecutions in Pretoria.

The withdrawal of charges against Mdluli was done without the “meaningful consultation as prescribed in law”, said Maleka.

The matter, which is being heard in the North Gauteng High Court in Pretoria, started with an application for late submission of affidavits by Advocate Lawrence Hodes, for the NDPP.

News crews were allowed to film the court proceedings.

“We all agree this is a matter of great public concern. There will be no objection from us [to the filming of the proceedings],” said Maleka.

Representatives of the police and the NPA also did not object.

Maleka brought an application by FUL for a review and setting aside of the decision to withdraw criminal and disciplinary charges against Mdluli, former police crime intelligence head.

Mdluli was suspended amid charges of fraud and corruption, and charges relating to the murder of his ex-lover’s husband.

An inquest cleared him of any involvement in the murder. The charges of fraud and corruption were also later withdrawn.

He was reinstated, but was again suspended in 2012 pending the court application to review the withdrawal of the criminal and disciplinary charges against him.

The court heard on Wednesday that with regard to the case involving his ex-lover’s husband, Mdluli had faced 18 charges including assault, kidnapping and intimidation.

– SAPA

Johannesburg – The SA National Taxi Council (Santaco) cannot explain a recent spate of shootings in the Gauteng taxi industry, an official said on Wednesday.

Five people have been shot in suspected taxi-related violence in and around Johannesburg this week.

One person has died.

“There isn’t any [tension] that we know of,” said Santaco deputy secretary general Bafana Magagula.

“We are actually surprised at what has happened”.

In the latest incident, a taxi driver was shot dead at a Total filling station in Newtown on Tuesday evening.

Police spokesperson Thomas De Bruyn said the driver was sitting in his taxi when three unknown men drove up and opened fire before fleeing.

The taxi driver was shot in the head and died on the scene.

De Bruyn said no one had been arrested by 15:30 on Wednesday.

Early on Wednesday morning, three men, aged between 30 and 41, were arrested in Hillbrow in connection with the shooting of a taxi driver in Diepsloot on Monday, spokesperson Daniel Mavimbela said.

The taxi driver was wounded during an argument between a group of men, travelling in a silver-grey Mercedes-Benz, and striking taxi drivers.

Strike

Taxi drivers in Diepsloot went on strike this week, demanding to be promoted to taxi owners. Santaco’s Magagula said the drivers had returned to work by Wednesday.

Also on Monday night, two members of the Doljorta Taxi Association were wounded in a shooting at the Leratong hospital taxi rank in Kagiso, on the West Rand.

One of them was wounded in the shoulder, and the other in the stomach and ankle.

Police spokesperson Solomon Sibiya said no one had been arrested by 14:00 on Wednesday. The motive for the attack was still being investigated.

On Tuesday, a woman was wounded when three men on foot began shooting at a taxi and passing traffic at the intersection of Ontdekkers and CR Swart roads in Roodepoort.

Four taxis were damaged in the shooting.

The gunmen fled in a blue Toyota Corolla.

On Wednesday spokesperson Vincent Mashiteng said police were still searching for the gunmen.

He said the police were investigating the cause of the shooting.

– SAPA

Johannesburg – The ANC in the Frances Baard region in Kimberley takes seriously allegations of bribes being paid in exchange for houses, the party said on Wednesday.

“We hold a strong view that the provision of housing, water, electricity and other basic amenities to our communities is our revolutionary duty,” ANC spokesperson Ali Diteme said in a statement.

“We also hold a strong view that the elected public representatives and government officials have got a responsibility to ensure that the deserving beneficiaries are prioritised when houses get allocated to the communities.”

Diteme said the allegations that people were paying bribes for houses in Leratong Park were reported in the Diamond Fields Advertiser.

He said the ANC was commissioning its own investigation into the allegations.

The ANC in the region believed that the “first come, first served” principle had to apply, and that people could not by-pass the beneficiaries list.

Diteme called on community leaders to exercise restraint and caution.

“[They must] provide leadership and rise above petty squabbles, when dealing with sensitive and emotional matters such as housing.

“… We will deploy our team to work hand-in-hand with all the stakeholders, including the team from the municipality and the provincial government to quell the situation and address the problems of Leratong Park once and for all,” he said.

– SAPA