Nairobi – Somalia’s al-Qaeda-linked Shabaab rebels have threatened more attacks against Kenya, taking to Twitter to mock the country after Islamist gunmen attacked a Nairobi shopping mall, killing at least 67 people.

“The mesmeric performance by the Westgate Warriors was undoubtedly gripping, but despair not folks, that was just the premiere of Act 1,” the group said in one of a string of messages posted on Twitter overnight.

The Shabaab has said it was responsible for the assault on Westgate, which saw a group of gunmen walk into the part Israeli-owned mall at midday Saturday and gun down shoppers and staff.

Another Shabaab message said it had been “a great pleasure to have had you completely enthralled for more than 100 hours. What a wonderful audience you’ve been!”.

It also boasted that the “Kenyan government is still in disarray”, saying it “won’t be until several months when it fully comprehends exactly what took place at Westgate”.

Shabaab chief Ahmed Abdi Godane said the Nairobi mall carnage was retaliation for Kenya’s military intervention in Somalia.

Kenya invaded southern Somalia to attack Shabaab bases two years ago, and later joined the 17 700-strong African Union force deployed there.

AFP

London – The British woman dubbed the “White Widow” was at the centre of a worldwide hunt on Friday after Interpol issued an international notice for her arrest in the wake of the Kenya shopping mall attack.

Samantha Lewthwaite, a 29-year-old Muslim convert, was married to Germaine Lindsay, one of four Islamist suicide bombers who attacked the London transport network on 7 July 2005, killing 52 people.

The Interpol red notice issued on Thursday at Kenya’s request says the mother-of-three is “wanted by Kenya on charges of being in possession of explosives and conspiracy to commit a felony dating back to December 2011”.

The notice did not specifically mention the deadly four-day mall siege in Nairobi by Somalia’s al-Qaeda-linked al-Shabaab movement,

However it follows widespread media speculation over Lewthwaite’s possible role in the attack which left 67 victims dead, a toll expected to rise as more bodies are discovered.

Kenya’s foreign minister said a British woman was among the Westgate Mall attackers although President Uhuru Kenyatta later said the reports could not be confirmed.

Interpol issued four colour photographs of Lewthwaite along with the arrest notice. One shows her with long dark hair and pouting at the camera, while the other three show her wearing the Islamic headscarf in various poses.

Interpol’s notice, which requires member states to detain the suspect pending extradition, said Kenyan authorities wanted other member nations to be “aware of this danger posed by this woman, not just across the region but also worldwide.”

It said Lewthwaite had previously only been wanted “at the national level for alleged possession of a fraudulently obtained South African passport”.

Britain’s Metropolitan Police and Foreign Office refused to comment, saying it was a matter for Interpol and the Kenyan authorities.

The global hunt was launched as Kenya on Thursday began burying the victims of the mall massacre by Islamist gunmen, as police pleaded for patience while searchers combed the charred rubble of the devastated complex for dozens still missing.

An ‘average’ girl

The daughter of a British soldier, Samantha Louise Lewthwaite professed herself appalled when her Jamaican-born husband detonated a rucksack full of explosives and blew himself up on a London Underground train at Russell Square station in 2005, killing 26 people.

She was pregnant with their second child at the time.

“I totally condemn and am horrified by the atrocities which occurred in London,” she said, describing Lindsay as “a good and loving husband and a brilliant father, who showed absolutely no sign of doing this atrocious crime”.

Lewthwaite had met Lindsay in an Internet chat forum when she was 17, having converted to Islam two years earlier.

Described as a bubbly teenager, schoolfriends said she had an ordinary upbringing, first in Northern Ireland and then in the market town of Aylesbury, northwest of London.

Britain’s press has been fascinated by Lewthwaite’s story, and The Sun on Friday ran the headline “Angel-faced British girl who last night became World’s Most Wanted” across its front-page.

The paper also reported that she was being probed by the FBI.

Investigations have begun to lift the veil on Lewthwaite’s shadowy movements since the London bombings.

South Africa said on Thursday that Lewthwaite had gained a South African passport using the assumed identity Natalie Faye Webb and that the document was cancelled in 2011.

She had first entered the country in 2008. She was accompanied by her three children, a girl and two boys, who would now be roughly aged between seven and 12.

Media reports this week cited credit records as showing that “Natalie Faye Webb” had at least three addresses in Johannesburg and ran up debts of $8 600.

Two neighbours in the leafy Johannesburg suburb of Bromhof told AFP they recognised Lewthwaite’s picture.

Herbie Ullbricht, 69, who lived two houses away from her address cited in credit reports, said the woman lived there in “2010 or 2011” with her three children, and she was always dressed from head to toe in a hijab.

‘Semi-mythical status’

Earlier this month Kenyan authorities accused her of working with another suspected British Islamist, Jermaine Grant, who is on trial in Kenya accused of links to Al-Shebab and of plotting attacks.

Grant was arrested in December 2011 in the port city of Mombasa with various chemicals, batteries and switches, which prosecutors say he planned to use to make explosives.

It is believed Lewthwaite was involved in the alleged plan to bomb a number of tourist resorts on Kenya’s coast and has been on the run for months, with reported sightings of her in Somalia.

Raffaello Pantucci, a terror expert at Britain’s Royal United Services Institute, said Lewthwaite had acquired a “semi-mythical status”.

“I don’t think we’ve had any concrete evidence of her being involved in this incident,” he said. “But the fact of her being mentioned in this context is not surprising because of her connections.”

AFP

Pretoria – The police implemented stage three of their plan in Marikana several hours after deciding to do so, the Farlam Commission of Inquiry heard on Thursday.

This emerged from the testimony of Lieutenant Colonel Duncan Scott, who played a pivotal role in drawing up the plan.

The plan included dispersing, disarming and arresting striking mineworkers at Lonmin’s platinum mine last August.

Scott’s version of events varied from that of Major General Charl Annandale, who said in earlier proceedings that plans to implement stage three were finalised two days before they were rolled out.

Scott told the commission on Thursday he was unaware that his superiors met on 15 August 2012 to discuss their next move.

On the morning of 16 August, North West police commissioner Luzuko Mbombo held a media briefing where she said police intended ending the strike that day.

Scott was not present at the briefing, and said he was not immediately informed of the police’s intentions.

He said it was confirmed at 13:30 that stage three would be put into action.

At 14:30 he briefed around 20 commanders about the plan. None of them disputed nor added submissions to it. At 15:00 commanders were to start briefing their troops.

The plan was scheduled to have been rolled out by 15:30, but this only happened around 15:40.

Police had maintained their plan was disrupted, which resulted in them shooting dead 34 people shortly before 17:00 that day.

Time

On Thursday, Scott said had more time been made available, the situation would have turned out differently.

“Had the plan been successfully executed, there would have been fewer injuries. Given the time we had I feel we did the best we could.”

Scott said had he known earlier that phase three was officially given the go-ahead, he would have spent more time on its details.

While Scott had been tasked with putting the plan together, he told the commission he did not know the details of Standing Order 262.

It contains guidelines of how police should perform crowd management during protests and public unrest. He said he received training on an older module.

None of the public order police (POP) were present when his seniors approved the plan. The POP would have been responsible for executing the dispersal plan.

The commission, sitting in Centurion, is investigating the deaths of 44 people during the strike-related unrest.

Police shot dead 34 mineworkers on 16 August, while 10 people, including two policemen and two security guards, were killed in the preceding week.

President Jacob Zuma had the commission established shortly after the shootings. It first sat last October and, after numerous delays and several extensions, was scheduled to conclude its work at the end of October this year.

On Thursday, commission chairperson retired Judge Ian Farlam said he had asked for another extension.

Zuma agreed, and a new deadline to conclude proceedings would be announced later.

The commission was adjourned on Thursday. It was set to continue on 14 October.

– SAPA

Pretoria – There has been no word from Kenyan officials on the South African passport of the fugitive Briton dubbed the “white widow”, Home Affairs Minister Naledi Pandor said on Thursday.

“We have not had communication from Kenyan officials that a South African passport was used. Of course we co-operate with the government of Kenya and have sent condolences,” she told reporters in Pretoria.

The woman is wanted by Kenyan authorities over alleged involvement in a plot to bomb holiday resorts there.

News media speculated about her possible involvement in last week’s attack on a Nairobi mall after a Kenyan minister said a British woman was in the group.

Pandor said a South African passport belonging to the woman was fraudulently issued.

“It [the passport] was investigated and reported on in 2011. It was cancelled at the time as it was found to be acquired fraudulently.”

Pandor said further investigations had to be done into how the passport was issued to a woman named Natalie Faye Webb.

“What we need to do is look at the applications office and check who processed it and how that person met the requirements to be granted a passport.”

Passport issued in Durban

Pandor said the passport was issued in Durban and last used in February 2012.

Since then it had not been used as the person was classified as a terrorist.

The minister said she did not think it was easy to get a South African passport, adding “it might have been easy at the time”.

She said officials would have to talk to the real Webb, who had a South African mother and a British father, which made it possible for her to obtain a South African passport.

Deputy director general of emigration services Jacky Mckay said the identities of those related to the “white widow” would be investigated.

“All identities related to that passport will be put on the stop list to ensure no travelling because they were acquired under assumed identities,” he said.

– SAPA

Cape Town – A court ruling overturning the withdrawal of charges against former police crime intelligence head Richard Mdluli has implications for President Jacob Zuma, an expert said on Thursday.

The judgment, which also ordered national police commissioner Riah Phiyega to restore disciplinary proceedings against Mdluli, was made on Monday by Judge John Murphy in the North Gauteng High Court in Pretoria.

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

An inquest cleared him of any involvement in the murder.

The National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) later withdrew charges of fraud and corruption. He was reinstated, but was suspended again in 2012 pending Freedom Under Law’s (FUL) court application.

Political analyst Richard Calland told the Cape Town Press Club on Thursday: “Justice John Murphy’s judgment in the Mdluli case is extremely important for its extrication of the law.

“If Justice Murphy’s approach is affirmed, then the outcome of the review case from the Democratic Alliance of Zuma is likely to go the same way, which means the charges will be reinstated.”

Calland was referring to the DA’s application to access “spy tapes”, transcripts, and other documents that relate to a 2009 NPA decision to drop corruption charges against Zuma.

‘Spy tapes’

Last month, the North Gauteng High Court in Pretoria ordered acting national director of public prosecutions Nomgcobo Jiba to lodge a copy of the tapes with the registrar of the court within five days.

Zuma lodged an application for leave to appeal the following day, and this was subsequently granted by the South Gauteng High Court in Johannesburg.

Calland said that should charges eventually be reinstated against Zuma, the ANC might deem it inappropriate to have him in a leadership position and might manufacture a “relatively graceful departure”.

He said Zuma might resist such a move and this could make him vulnerable.

– SAPA

Pretoria – The miners wounded and arrested in Marikana last year were not victims of unfair discrimination, the government contended on Thursday.

Advocate Marius Oosthuizen, for President Jacob Zuma and Justice Minister Jeff Radebe, asked the North Gauteng High Court in Pretoria to dismiss an application by the miners for state-funded private legal representation before the Farlam Commission of Inquiry.

The miners contended they were being denied the right to a fair public hearing.

They argued they were unfairly discriminated against when the government refused to provide state funds to pay for their lawyer Dali Mpofu at the commission.

The state provides the funding to enable the families of the men who died at Marikana to attend the hearing.

Zuma established the commission, which is chaired by retired Judge Ian Farlam, to investigate incidents at the Lonmin Platinum Mine in Marikana, North West, between 11 and 16 August last year. Forty-four people were killed more than 70 were injured.

Mpofu earlier withdrew from the inquiry because of a lack of funding, pending a review application to set aside the minister of justice and the Legal Aid Board’s decision to refuse state funding to the miners.

Oosthuizen argued that the decision was neither discriminatory nor irrational.

He said the miners were the authors of their own misfortune because they did not properly apply for legal aid.

As a general rule, no private person was legally entitled as a matter of right to any public funding for his legal representation before a commission and no provision was made for it.

Oosthuizen pointed out that the president did not have to accept the commission’s factual findings or follow its recommendations, and that the commission, therefore, operated within the executive branch of government.

Testifying

The miners could also not refuse to testify before the commission, he said.

“For the applicants it is a simple comparison between poor ‘us’ and rich ‘them’ before the Marikana Commission, but that is an over-simplification and ignores the statutory framework in which the spending power of the state is regulated.

“This is not an issue within the narrow scope of public funding only before the Marikana Commission, but an issue within the broader scope of public funding before any commission that brings the whole system of public finance management into play,” he said.

The applicants were not the victims of unfair discrimination, he said.

“… Their own subjective perspective and the blatant attempts to gain the sympathy of the court are not a key to the national purse, which has been entrusted by the Constitution to the elected holders of high public office.

“Public financial resources are not there for the asking nor can a relatively small group of people ask for preferential treatment when those public financial resources are to be carefully allocated to, and balanced between, the various pressing needs and challenges facing a developing country such as ours,” Oosthuizen said.

Legal Aid Board

Viwe Notshe, for Legal Aid SA, argued that the court could at most order the Legal Aid Board to consider legal aid for the miners.

He said everyone in court had been “dancing around the elephant in the room” and it was a fallacy that the version of the miners would not be placed before the commission if they did not get financial assistance.

He said their cause would be taken up by the unions and their evidence would be led by the evidence leaders before the commission.

“The Commissions Act authorises the commission to summons witnesses, but it cannot summons the widows of the deceased.

“The function of the evidence leaders is to assist the commission. Their role is more important than the applicants make out. They’re there to assist everyone,” he said.

Judge Tati Makgoka reserved judgment.

– SAPA

Final touches ahead of the much-anticipated Kimberley Diamond Cup presented by Kumba Iron Ore were under way at the Kimberley Skate Plaza yesterday.

The event, which is expected to be electrifying, will feature an amazing line-up of South African artists during live concerts at the Skate Plaza tomorrow and Saturday.

Tomorrow there will be free entry to the skate plaza for the opening ceremony and concert.

Actor turned rapper and music producer Sipho Ngwenya, known as Psyfo, will be the master of ceremonies.

The performance line-up includes dance crews, DJs and performances by Fruits and Veggies, Psyfo, Cape Town brothers Bfake, Talibun, Proph and Kimberley’s Bingle Dimera.

When The New Age visited the place yesterday, international and local media outside broadcast units were unpacking their equipment.

Kimberley-based signwriter Titch Markham was putting final touches on his paintings on the floors and walls.

“It took me one and a half weeks to paint the logo. This is absolutely new, totally different from the previous one of the Maloof Cup.”

Skate park manager, Mike Koroczynsky, said they were expecting scores of skateboarding fans at the weekend.

“We will be giving away 20 skateboards to our young skateboarding fans.”

Award-winning Toya De Lazy and hip hop artist Da Les will warm up the crowds even more before headline act AKA takes to the stage just after midnight on Saturday.

The three-day spectacular features professional and amateur contests as well as an All Cities team contest.

Tickets are on sale now from Computicket. Saturday’s concert tickets are R80 and R120 for Golden Circle tickets. Daily entry tickets to the Kumba Skate Plaza are R50 while a weekend pass costs R80. A weekend pass plus a concert ticket costs R120 and a weekend pass with a Golden Circle ticket costs R160.

Most of the newly graduated nurses shed tears of joy after receiving their certificates in Mmabatho on Friday and vowed to give their best in improving the welfare of patients.

A total of 545 nurses from the Mmabatho and Excelsius nursing colleges graduated in different areas of nursing sciences and would be deployed to various health centres for a one year community service programme.

However, some of the graduates were already working as nurses and would just continue at their various centres.

One of the top performing students, Doreen Ontatile Magada, 39, from Kuruman said she was happy to finally receive her midwifery certificate.

“I have always wanted to be a nurse. I chose this profession not because of money but because I have always wanted to help people. My plans are to continue with my studies and I would like to focus on intensive eye care as an area of speciality,” she said.

Another student Mpya Jeffrey Madimetsa, 36, from Letlhabile in Brits said his qualification in comprehensive nursing would allow him to plough back to his community. “Nursing is a calling to me because I had to leave my previous job to study. After this I will be going back to Brits where I will be doing my community service at Letlhabille health centre and I promise that I will serve my community with pride,” he said.

Health MEC Dr Magome Masike congratulated the graduates and said their success was also a victory for the communities they would serve.

“I call upon the nurses who have graduated to understand that it is tough out there. You are going to save lives and deliver new lives into this world.

“When you take the oath today, you much remember that you are joining a massive movement for zero percent maternal and infant mortality.”

For more http://www.thenewage.co.za

Durban – Orlando Pirates assistant coach Teboho Moloi has taken a swipe at some of the country’s top teams ahead of the MTN8 final this weekend.

The Buccaneers, fresh from their semi-final aggregate 2-1 victory over rivals Kaizer Chiefs and reaching the last four of the CAF Champions League, play Platinum Stars in the first domestic final of the season in Durban on Saturday.

“Platinum Stars have been scoring against teams that are not of championship material. We are champs, we know how to defend so we’re not worried (by their free-scoring record),” Moloi said on Tuesday.

“Teams can’t score against us. And for us not to score, as you’ve seen when we played Zamalek and Al Ahly, it’s because teams are afraid of us. They are afraid to play an open game. So they park the bus and you now come up with ideas of going around a bus that has been parked in the field of play.

“Like we did against Kaizer Chiefs. In the second half they parked the bus and they paid the price, that’s why they are not here.”

Moloi’s reference was to Tuesday’s semi-final second leg which ended in a 1-1 draw after a late goal for the Buccaneers.

Roger da Sa’s number two also played down suggestions that they were currently going through a scoring crisis after netting just four times in their last six outings.

“The goal-scoring problem that everyone is talking about is not there.

“The goals are being shared amongst our players.”

Despite their woes in front of goal, the Soweto giants have made a solid start to the 2013-14 season after a poor previous campaign when they ended trophyless.

The former midfielder also promised fans that the players were ready to bounce back from those disappointments.

“All the trophies that have been engraved with the Orlando Pirates name on them, we are claiming them back,” he said.

“The shelf is empty and everyone in the team knows that on the cup, it has been engraved Orlando Pirates.

“So you must know we will be regaining our trophy.”

In contrast to Pirates’ scoring woes, Stars have been doing well in front of goal, netting nine times already in the competition, while their last six games have yielded seven strikes.

“It’s been hard work and discipline to maintain those levels,” assistant Willem Jackson said.

The former Pirates favourite, who played over 100 times for the club between 1996 and 2004, also felt there was little that could be learnt about their final opponents from his time spent in Soweto.

“That was a long time ago, things have changed, they’ve got different coaches, different style of play,” Jackson added.

“We’ve seen how they play in the last couple of games and we’ll play our game according to that.”

Over 30,000 tickets have been sold for the clash at the Moses Mabhida Stadium, where a sell-out 45,000 fans are expected.

SAPA

Deposed United Christian Democratic Party leader Lucas Mangope has suffered a political blow in the North West High Court which was dismissed and  cost him his application to have the leadership of the party charged with contempt of court.

The application was his lifeline to regain control of the party after he lost out to the Sipho Mfundisi-led executive that was elected at the in 2011.

The imposing brass statue of former strongman at the party headquarters in Mahikeng, will remain as the only permanent feature of a man whose long-running political career seems to be ending unceremoniously.

The UCDP elected a new leadership after a huge fallout with Mangope. The new leadership decided to expel him but that was reversed by a court ruling.

However, that only restored the former leader’s party membership, not his previous position as leader.

Mangope lodged the latest application against the party, Mfundisi and another party official, Pemla Motsuenyane, after he was barred from the party’s offices earlier this year.

Together with his supporters, Mangope had sought to regain control of the party.

In her ruling, acting judge Tebogo Djaje said that Mangope had never contested the leadership of Mfundisi and his fight had been about getting his membership restored and not his leadership of the UCDP.

“The applicant’s contention and argument that the respondents refused to allow him access to the offices of the first respondent (UCDP) as a leader cannot, therefore, be sustained. Consequently, I am not persuaded to find that the respondents are in contempt of the court order dated May 17, 2012,” Djaje said

She ordered that Mangope also pay the costs of the application, which caused celebration in the Mfundisi- led executive.

Party spokesperson Estelle Green said they were relieved at the outcome.

“The UCDP has never denied or tried to erase the role Mangope played in his time as leader. We respected a previous ruling that was in his favour granting him membership.

“We even extended an olive branch to Mangope but all to no avail. The court has confirmed what we have been saying all along that Kgosi Mangope is a member of and not the leader of the UCDP,” Green said.

She said that Sipho Mfundisi is the elected leader and the rank and file of the party would rally behind him.

“The current leader will lead the UCDP’s quest to regain its position on the political radar. We will continue to stand up and speak out, guarding democracy from tyrants who are in politics for themselves and not for the people,” Green said.

Efforts to get comment from Mangope were unsuccessful.

For more http://www.thenewage.co.za