Johannesburg – It’s an adult-only fair that promises to cater for every fantasy, but South Africa’s annual “sexpo” drew an unusual exhibitor on Friday: the Salvation Army.

Tucked between sex-toy stands and skimpily dressed hostesses, the Christian group famed for its charity work said it was there on a mission to raise awareness about sex trafficking.

“We are not here to judge anybody, that’s not our job as Christians,” said spokeswoman Major Carin Holmes.

“We want to make people aware that there could be danger to this trade.”

Holmes said they were encouraged by the reception they had received from visitors to the Johannesburg expo.

She said over 500 people had signed their petition opposing the traffic of women into the sex trade.

“This is a great platform to spread our message. People need to know that sex is not always sexy.”

The church group’s cubicle featured posters of naked girls with bruises on their bodies.

The Sexpo sexuality and lifestyle show is currently in its sixth year.

“Me and my wife have been attending this event since 2009… we always look forward to it,” said 65-year-old Fred Smythe.

“It’s exciting and there is nothing unlawful or forbidden about it,” he added with a smile.

The four-day event, which draws several thousand visitors a year, includes pole dancing and adult puppet shows.

But it was the penile artist Pricasso who appeared to attract the largest crowds on Friday.

The middle-aged artist, only clad in a pink high hat and a matching bow tie, used his penis as a paint brush to conjure up impeccable portraits before an appreciative but gobsmacked audience.

According to the Sexpo franchise owner, Arthur Calamaras, the show “has grown greatly” over the years.

“Most of the visitors are women, they even come in groups, that means they love what they see here,” he said.

“Part of the show is to educate people about sensuality, to make them aware of their bodies.”

He shrugged off criticism that the show was undermining women in a country with one of the highest rates of sexual violence.

“People will always have prejudgements… everything here is decent, nothing is done to demean anybody. We are not about that,” he said.

Sapa-AFP

Cape Town – The public protector awarded damages to a Cape Town resident, whose household appliances were destroyed during a power failure, according to her 2012/13 annual report released this week.

In the case report, titled “Power to the People”, Public Protector Thuli Madonsela upheld a claim of R18 407 by a Ms M Taliep of Flamingo Crescent in Lansdowne, against the Cape Town City Council.

Taliep claimed that in February 2011 several appliances, including a laptop, a phone charger, a fridge, a microwave oven, a telephone charger, a washing machine, and an energy saving light bulb were either destroyed or damaged as a result of an electrical power surge in her neighbourhood.

The city’s insurance department rejected Taliep’s claim.

In correspondence conducted over months, it informed her that an investigation by the electricity department found the malfunction at the substation was due to vandalism or theft of neutral copper bars.

The city said since it had “no control” over criminal activities, it could not be held accountable for negligence and, therefore, was not liable for the damage.

But Mandonsela, in a report sent to Cape Town Mayor Patricia de Lille in January this year, found that the failure to maintain the substation amounted to maladministration.

She held the council responsible and ordered it not only to settle with Taliep within 30 days but to apologise to her in writing for the inconvenience caused by the delay in finalising the matter.

Madonsela cited section 25 of the Electricity Regulation Act, pointing out that it placed a burden of rebuttal of presumption of negligence on the city in the event of a dispute arising out of damages caused by the supply of electricity.

Further citing vandalism statistics, she said that such acts were a common occurrence in the area and, therefore, something the council could and should have foreseen and addressed.

She ordered the city manager to ensure that the security measures at the Kanarieway substation complied with national energy supply standards, and asked to be sent a report confirming that he had done so.

Lastly, she also told the city to urgently amend the local electricity supply by-law to make it consistent with section 25 of the Electricity Regulation Act.

Annual report

The case was included in her office’s annual report among more high-profile ones, such as her findings on infrastructure tenders awarded by the Limpopo roads department to companies linked to former ANC Youth League leader Julius Malema.

In his comments on the report, the auditor general found that the public protector missed 26% of set targets for the past financial year.

The public protector said the main reason for falling short of these goals – some of which related to timelines for completing investigations – was the fact that for yet another year her office’s case load increased faster than its staff.

“While the number of complaints increased by 5 234, the number of investigators and staff did not match the increase.”

Among the problems the office faced, she listed a “lack of trust and low employee morale” and “lack of common and shared values”.

A few months ago, Madonsela’s new deputy Kevin Malunga openly disagreed with her unwavering insistence on organisational independence when she was challenged by MPs on some of the cases she had chosen to investigate.

Madonsela has asked National Treasury for an additional R97m for this financial year.

– SAPA

Pretoria – The long-awaited process to establish an umbrella body representing military veterans across the country will begin this weekend, the defence department announced on Friday.

Military veterans department director general Tsepe Motumi said in Pretoria a conference would bring together all associations from 28 September to 1 October.

“Six hundred military veterans from across the spectrum of the military veterans’ community, as well as guests such as the military attaches, and members of the defence industry, are expected to attend this significant conference,” he told reporters.

The Military Veterans Act – passed in 2011 – instructs the department to establish a body for all military veterans nationally.

Motumi said consultations with the various bodies representing military veterans were held over the past two months to prepare for the conference.

These included the MK Military Veterans Association, the Azanian People’s Liberation Army Military Veterans Association, and associations representing veterans from the former homeland states.

“Key to all these processes has been and will continue to be to ensure that the association is established and functions in a fair, inclusive, just, transparent, and accountable manner at all times,” Motumi said.

President Jacob Zuma is expected to speak at the conference on Monday.

– SAPA

Cape Town – The number of reported fatal aircraft accidents in South Africa jumped to 20 last year, from 15 the year before, according to the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA).

“The increase in reporting might be due to the increase in our aircraft register of flying activities, therefore there is no reason for concern,” it said in its 2012/13 annual report, tabled at Parliament.

“In fact, we encourage the industry to report accidents and incidents so that we can have accurate statistics.”

According to a table in the report, there were 16 fatal aviation incidents in 2010/11, 15 in 2011/12, and 20 last year.

Thirty-one people were killed in aviation accidents between 1 April 2012, and 31 March this year.

A total of 33 were killed the year before.

The total number of all accidents involving aircraft was 130 last year.

“[A total of] 107 accidents were reported in the previous financial year and 130 for this [2012/13] financial year.”

The main causes included engine failures and loss of control, followed by mechanical failure.

“The weather also played a major role in some of the accidents and incidents that were reported.

– SAPA