Nairobi – A UK woman being sought by counter-terrorist officers in Kenya, has claimed to be a South African, reports said on Tuesday.

The Guardian reported that Kenyan officials are investigating whether UK born Samantha Lewthwaite was part of a terror cell connected to the Somali Islamist group al-Shabaab, which planned to target the city of Mombasa in 2013.

Lewthwaite is the widow of the King’s Cross bomber, Germaine Lindsay.

Eric Kiraithe, a Kenyan police spokesperson, said that Lewthwaite has had three identities.

Reports have emerged that the woman being sought was claiming to be Natalie Faye Webb, a South African, but it has been established that the passport she was carrying was fake.

Early in January a Mombasa court issued an arrest warrant for Natalie Faye Webb, following an application lodged by the anti-terrorism police unit.

The magistrate ordered that the “anti-terrorism police unit arrest Ms Natalie Faye Webb of Britain and a local Kenyan Habib Saleh Ghani with immediate effect”.

“Kenya cannot take any chance as far as acts of terrorism are concerned,” she added.

Based on her appearance, the names she used in Kenya and the number of children she has, the Guardian reported that there is strong circumstantial evidence that the woman is Lindsay’s wife.

Scotland Yard would not comment.

Scotland Yard counter-terrorism officers have travelled to Kenya to help in the inquiry, and there have been ongoing attempts to trace Lewthwaite in the UK.

Lindsay was one of four suicide bombers who detonated his rucksack bomb in London in July 2005. The 19-year-old blew up a Piccadilly Line train, killing 26 people.

Lindsay met Lewthwaite, the daughter of a former UK soldier, through an internet chatroom, it was established at the 7 July inquest.

The couple married in 2002, and had two children.

After the bombing, Lewthwaite had a third child by an unknown father.

The woman Kenyan police are seeking is suspected of linking up with other members of the terror cell in Mombasa.

According to the Guardian, there are thought to be between 30 and 40 Britons at present fighting in Somalia with al-Shabaab.

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Johannesburg – Gang rapist and house robber Thandanani Tharib Msomi, 26, was jailed for life on Monday by the KwaZulu-Natal High Court in Pietermaritzburg.

His two accomplices, aged 19 and 31, were still on trial and were expected to appear in court again on 23 October, said police spokesperson Solomon Mbele.

He said they gang-raped a 33-year-old female and stole a home theatre system after breaking into her home in Emalangeni Reserve, near Mpumalanga township, outside Durban, on 1 October 2011.

Mbele said Msomi was sentenced to life for the rape and to 15 years’ imprisonment for housebreaking with intent to steal and theft.

“The ruthless and barbaric attack of women by criminals of Thandanani’s calibre will not be tolerated in our society and we welcome [the] maximum sentence meted out by the court,” said KwaZulu-Natal police commissioner Lieutenant General Mmamonnye Ngobeni.

“Our endeavours to effectively investigate reported crimes instil hope to victims of crime and send our clear resolute commitment to criminals that we will trace, arrest and successfully prosecute them,” he said.

SAPA

Johannesburg – VIP protection guards without advanced driving course qualifications were allowed to drive VIPs, the Krugersdorp Magistrate’s Court heard on Monday.

This emerged during the trial of Joseph Motsamai Semitjie, who is accused of reckless or negligent driving, and of failing to help injured motorcyclist Thomas Ferreira.

Ferreira collided with the BMW X5 Semitjie was driving when it skipped a traffic light while on the left-hand side of the yellow line in Paardekraal Drive.

He sustained head injuries and was comatose for weeks.

“VIP guards who did not have proper qualifications were given state authority and were allowed to drive VIPs,” Semitjie’s colleague Sergeant Tshepo Lethlathle told the court.

Prosecutor Micky Thesna asked Lethlathle when the right time was to switch on a car’s blue lights and siren.

Lethlathle said this was when they were instructed to do so by the VIP.

“So, if the VIP you are transporting instructs you to stop because he wants to buy dagga would you follow such instructions?” Thesna asked.

Lethlathle replied that he did not know.

“You are avoiding my question because you know that buying dagga is illegal, just as much as crossing a red traffic light,” said Thesna.

During cross examination, Magistrate Abdul Khan asked Lethlathle whether it was legal to skip a red traffic light.

“If you are transporting a VIP and they tell you that they are late, and the traffic light is red, as a driver you have to observe and warn other motorists before crossing a red traffic light,” Lethlathle said.

Lethlathle told the court VIP drivers’ mandate was to safely transport VIPs to their destination.

“How safe is the VIP if a red traffic light is crossed?” asked Khan.

Earlier, Lethlathle was asked to describe Mmemezi’s character.

He described the former housing MEC as someone who wanted things done his way.

“I lodged several complaints to my superiors against former MEC Mmemezi, but nothing was done about the complaints.”

The matter was postponed to 17 October to allow the defence to subpoena one last witness.

SAPA

Johannesburg – The public protector will look into the distribution of food parcels in Tlokwe by Social Development Minister Bathabile Dlamini, her office said on Monday.

The matter would be investigated under the Executive Members’ Ethics Act, spokesperson Oupa Segalwe said in an e-mail to Sapa.

“Under this law, the public protector does not have the discretion on whether or not to investigate,” he said.

DA MP Mike Waters sent Protector Thuli Madonsela a letter on 13 September, asking her to investigate Dlamini.

The DA accused Dlamini of trying to buy votes ahead of municipal by-election in Tlokwe, North West, by dishing out food parcels.

Dlamini’s visit came a few days before a by-election in Tlokwe’s Ward 9.

At the time, Dlamini denied that this was the reason for the relief efforts, and said there were more than 17 000 child-headed households in Tlokwe (Potchefstroom).

The ANC recently won two of three municipal by-elections in Tlokwe, according to results released by the Independent Electoral Commission (IEC).

The party’s candidate Oupa Mogoshane lost Ward 26 to former ANC councillor Batiki “Stone” Mahlabe, who stood as an independent candidate.

SAPA

Johannesburg – The Public Protector is probing claims of payments for repairs to non-existent bridges in Ehlanzeni in Mpumalanga, her office said on Monday.

Thuli Madonsela’s spokesperson, Oupa Segalwe, said the matter was brought to her attention by a representative of the Congress of the People.

“Reports on the disaster relief projects that were tabled at the Ehlanzeni District Municipality Council at two separate meetings did not tally,” said Segalwe.

“[For example] there were differences in prices and the same number of bridges were not appearing in both lists.”

He could not confirm how much money, if any, was put into the construction of the alleged “ghost bridges”.

“The amount cannot be established at the moment as investigation is still continuing,” said Segalwe.

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Johannesburg – Orlando Pirates boss Roger de Sa believes Kaizer Chiefs will have a slight advantage in terms of fitness and recovery ahead of their MTN8 second-leg semi-final meeting at the Orlando Stadium on Tuesday.

Chiefs claimed a 2-1 Premiership victory over Platinum Stars on Saturday evening to extend their unbeaten run to three, while the Buccaneers successfully negotiated their passage into the semi-finals of the Caf Champions League, following a goalless draw with Egyptian giants Al-Ahly on Sunday.

De Sa said the fact that Chiefs had an extra day to prepare for Tuesday’s encounter gave them the upper hand, allowing their players enough time to sufficiently recover from the weekend’s action.

“We’d love to have had an extra days’ rest but that’s part of the game,” De Sa said on Monday.

“We get given the fixtures and we have to plan around it. It is a slight advantage but there’s nothing we can do, we just have to get on with it.

“The difference of three or four days is not big. But the difference between one and two days can be problematic for us.”

Daine Klate scored the only goal of the match on August 24 to hand Pirates a slender advantage heading into Tuesday’s encounter, but De Sa believes it would be vital for the Pirates camp to shift its focus away from the Champions League, back to the heroics of the local cup competition.

“As far as the Champions League is concerned, to be honest, I’m only thinking Chiefs right now,” De Sa said.

“We have to refocus quickly. We know Chiefs will come at us and we know they are capable of that.

“They’re hungry and coming from behind, it’s going to be tough.”

Amakhosi boss Stuart Baxter, meanwhile, called for a committed effort from his troops.

“There’s no draws, no safety margins and you have to score more goals than your opponent,” Baxter said.

“When you get onto the field, there can be no other option than to beat your opponent.

“We need to go there, we need to have total focus on winning the game in the 90 minutes in front of us.”

Baxter opted to rest a number of his senior players for Saturday’s game, and the Briton admitted the nature of the season necessitated the need to rotate players on a game-to-game basis.

“We were resting some of the players, not because we had an important game coming up against Pirates, but because looking at the games ahead, I felt it was the only opportunity to give some of the players a rest,” Baxter said.

“I think the fact that we (Chiefs) had an extra day to prepare only becomes an advantage if we use it.

“I will take the extra day because I wouldn’t like to be in Roger’s shoes and not have the extra day… it’s a potential bonus for us but we have to use it.”

In Tuesday’s other semifinal, Platinum Stars will travel to Bidvest Wits leading 4-2 on aggregate.

SAPA

Johannesburg – Two members of the so-called Waterkloof Four, Reinach Tiedt and Gert van Schalkwyk, have been readmitted to the Zonderwater Prison, the correctional services department confirmed on Monday.

“The two reported for re-admission today [Monday] at 12:30, they have now been readmitted,” said the department’s regional commissioner, Zacharia Modise.

Tiedt and Van Schalkwyk’s recent application for leave to appeal against an earlier ruling that they return to the facility, was dismissed on 16 September by the North Gauteng High Court in Pretoria.

The two had been under house arrest for almost two years.

The two, along with Christoff Becker and Frikkie du Preez, were sentenced in January 2005 to 12 years’ imprisonment for murdering a man in a Pretoria park in 2001.

They started serving their sentences in August 2008 after an unsuccessful appeal.

A Pretoria magistrate converted Tiedt and Van Schalkwyk’s sentences to correctional supervision in December 2011 after an application by the Parole Board.

Correctional Services appealed against the decision and a full bench of the high court ruled in June that the magistrate’s ruling had been based on an error in law and that the two must return to jail.

Judges Hans Fabricius, Ephraim Makgoba and Wendy Hughes found that the pair were not entitled to parole if more than five years of their sentence remained.

SAPA

Women must not oppress other women to benefit in status or materially, Police Minister Nathi Mthethwa said in Durban on Sunday.

“The continued oppression of women can as well be worsened by some other women who use women’s oppression to climb the social ladder,” he said in a speech prepared for delivery at a training conference held by the International Association of Policewomen.

“They use the gender ticket for narrow, material benefit, which has no bearing to the course of women’s emancipation,” he said.

Mthethwa said the association needed to reflect on how it improved female police officers’ lives “not only through work promotions, but impacting even the impoverished young girls in terms of career shadowing”.

Female officers needed to be recognised for their “resilience, courage and determination”, against issues such as gender bias.

He said policewomen could contribute to ending violence against women.

“You should be seen as a force to be reckoned with in the fight against crime” he says.
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The South African Communist Party’s (SACP) Blade Nzimande says union leaders who want to leave labour federation Congress of South African Trade Union (Cosatu) must do so immediately.

Nzimande addressed Communist Party and Cosatu members at Folweni, south of Durban on Sunday, where tensions within the labour federation took centre stage

He says the SACP will not fold its arms while Cosatu is crippled by divisions.

Its president S’dumo Dlamini says the request by unions for a special congress to be held is not an easy solution.

National Union of Metalworkers of South Africa (Numsa) is leading the charge for a special congress to be held, following the suspension of Cosatu general secretary Zwelinzima Vavi.

Vavi was suspended after details of an affair with a subordinate came to light. Some unions within Cosatu are calling for his re-instatement.

Nzimande says union leaders who have their own agendas have no place in Cosatu.

“We can see that there are some leaders in some of the unions who are considering maybe leaving us. We want to say to you as workers if they want to go let them go with their own jackets not together with you as workers of this country,” says Nzimande.

Cosatu president S’dumo Dlamini says calls for a special congress are being considered.

“The constitution of Cosatu is very funny because it gives, under the circumstances of such a request, powers to the president to apply his mind on this matter. I will apply my mind and inform the structures,” says Dlamini.

Dlamini also says that Cosatu will stand by its decision to support the ruling party in the next elections.
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JOHANNESBURG – Parents of matriculants registered at the Edu Centre College in Midrand north of Johannesburg say they want the money they paid to the education facility back.

They say their children returned home from school on Thursday morning saying they found a notice on the school gate telling them that the school has been shut down.

When parents contacted authorities to check what’s going on they were told the school has been liquidated.

The department of education has since said they have dispatched an investigator at the school but also say they can’t do much because the school is private.

Jayshree Pillay says her son’s school fees were paid in full at the school.

“My son’s fees were paid in full at the beginning of the year and more important than anything is he’s in matric, we can’t afford this at this time of the year.”

The matriculants attending the school have now been left stranded as final year exams approach.