Johannesburg – The bodies of two elderly women were found in a house in Lenasia, extension 11, on Wednesday morning, Gauteng police said.

Police spokesperson Kay Makhubela said the women, aged 70 and 75, were found by a relative.

“One of the old ladies, who was full of blood, was found in the sitting room. The other was found dead in a bedroom,” he said.

“The motive of the killing is unknown.”

He said the weapon used to kill the women had not yet been identified. Both suffered head wounds, and one had strangulation bruises.

“We cannot rule out that there might have been rape, but that will be determined by the investigation,” Makhubela said.

– SAPA

North West Premier Thandi Modise has condemned in the strongest terms the brutal murder of a young woman who was reportedly hacked to death by her boyfriend in Sephai village near Brits.

It was earlier reported that Nthabiseng Sekgone was killed by her boyfriend using an axe after she got two protection orders against him.

“We wish to send our heartfelt condolences to the family and want them to know that we will keep them in our prayers.

The scourge of violence against women is very serious and that’s why we are gathering as women in the province at the Provincial Women’s Day of Prayer at the Mmabatho Convention Centre in Mahikeng tomorrow, Thursday, 19 September 2013, to pray against these social ills,” said Premier Modise.

She says it is regrettable that the boyfriend was determined to kill the victim even though she had taken a commendable and brave step by seeking protection orders against him.

Premier Modise says her administration is very serious about curbing the scourge of gender-based violence as it was evidenced by the Moral Regeneration Summit that the province recently hosted in Mahikeng.

“We appeal to all our citizens including community structures and faith based organisations to unite against these social ills that are ravaging our society,” cautioned Modise.

She repeated her calls to women not to stay in abusive relationships, irrespective of their circumstances.

The Premier also urged all men who may have anger problems to seek professional help.

The North West has been declared drought-stricken under the Disaster Management Act.

North West Premier Thandi Modise published the declaration in the provincial extraordinary gazette of September 5, spokesman Lesiba Kgwele said today.

A drought response task team had been established. It consisted of government departments, organised agriculture, and all municipalities in the province.

The departments on the task team were local government and traditional affairs, agriculture and rural development, water affairs, agriculture, forestry, and fisheries, and social development.

The declaration was preceded by an application for classification to the National Disaster Management Centre and the agriculture, forestry, and fisheries department, said Kgwele.

He said the department conducted drought verification between July 9 and August 12.

As part of a drought emergency relief assessment, it processed more than 19 000 applications for financial assistance from commercial and subsistence farmers.

It was hoped the assessment and consolidation would be finished by Friday.

“Urgent interventions are also being considered to alleviate water shortages in Mamusa and Greater Taung local municipalities, which have resorted to tankering drinking water to communities as the Mamusa Dam has virtually run dry,” said Kgwele.

He said Modise shared provincial disaster management authorities’ concern that fish killed by lack of water in the dam would create a health hazard during the rainy season.

“The Dr Ruth Segomotsi Mompati district municipality is reportedly tankering water to 50 000 households across villages within its jurisdiction,” said Kgwele.

– Sapa

Durban – The 2008 economic crash could be to blame for thousands of excess suicides worldwide.

This is according to a paper published in the British Medical Journal on Tuesday.

It found the rates were highest among males in countries where the most jobs were lost.
For more http://www.iol.co.za

Cape Town – Police have paid out more than R200 million to settle civil claims in the past financial year, Parliament heard yesterday.

National police commissioner General Riah Phiyega also conceded that the police’s image was in tatters and in need of fixing, following cases that made international headlines – like the Marikana massacre and the alleged murder of Mozambican taxi driver Mido Macia by police last year.
For more http://www.iol.co.za

Durban – The skeletal remains of an iLembe District Municipality official have been found two months after the woman was reported missing.

The police search and rescue unit found the body at the bottom of a 300m cliff in dense bushes in Ndwedwe, on the KwaZulu-Natal North Coast.

A man known to the woman who lived in Morningside, Durban, handed himself over to police on Friday in connection with her disappearance.
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Pretoria – One of four men arrested and charged with the murder of Maj-Gen Tirhani Maswanganyi worked closely with the police, the Pretoria North Magistrate’s Court heard on Wednesday.

Roger Godfrey Moseki, an employee of the SA National Defence Force, told the court he had helped in many police investigations and would frequently be paid for this.
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Potchefstroom – Residents of Tlokwe’s Ward 26 threw their weight behind independent candidate Butiki “Stone” Mahlabe on Wednesday and lambasted the lack of development in the area.

“I have been living here for 18 years and the ANC has only built me a toilet,” said resident Mary Setona.

She said she had voted in every election, but had nothing to show for it.

She did not have a house, but her neighbours did. The Tlokwe municipality had told her there was no money to build her a house.

“I went to the department of housing in Pretoria, where I was told that on the system it showed a house had been built in my yard,” she said.

Setona said that she had decided to vote for Mahlabe because of the “negligence and corruption” of the African National Congress.

She said Mahlabe understood the people’s needs and would respond to their calls at any time, which ANC candidate Oupa Mogoshane would not.

“Stone would risk his life just to be able to help us, and this is why we vote for Stone,” said Setona.

Mahlabe was one of 14 councillors expelled by the ANC in July after its provincial disciplinary committee found them guilty of misconduct for participating in a motion of no confidence against Tlokwe mayor Maphetle Maphetle.

Maphetle was replaced by Democratic Alliance councillor Annette Combrink.

The ANC’s national disciplinary committee later overturned the expulsions.

Despite this, eight of the councillors registered as independent candidates for the by-elections.

Philemon Alwin, another resident, echoed Setona’s sentiments.

He said it appeared as if the government believed toilets were more important than shelter for the people.

“No one in the community is happy about that,” he said.

He said Mahlabe worked well with residents and had confidence in his abilities to lead and to bring change to the area.

Earlier, ANC spokesman, Jackson Mthembu said the party was not worried about Mahlabe and expected to win the by-elections.

He said the people of Tlokwe were aware of what the ANC had done for them and that the party had a track record of service delivery.

Sapa

Bloemfontein – A former Free State teacher, one of several men accused of being part of a child porn syndicate, appeared in the Bloemfontein Magistrate’s Court on Wednesday.

The case against the man was postponed for further investigation to 28 October.

In August, five other men, including another teacher and a retired school principal, appeared in various South African courts.

Police were following up a tip-off from Interpol on 15 August when it arrested the six men in four provinces for possession of child pornography. They were arrested in Lichtenburg, Potchefstroom, Bloemfontein, White River, Douglasdale, and Florida.

A lawyer, a dermatologist, and a businessman are among the six. All are suspected of involvement in an international child pornography syndicate, police said at the time.

Police were investigating whether the six were involved in distribution and manufacturing child pornography, and if they were linked to an international syndicate.

Investigators raided several homes in various provinces in August. Among the items seized were 672 dvds, 22 memory sticks, eight laptops, two computer tablets, 39 external hard drives, and 25 books containing explicit photos.

It was reported the case had links to Canada, the United Kingdom, the United States, western Europe, and Australasia.

– SAPA

Pretoria – Two police officers accused of stealing from a crime intelligence fund appeared in the Pretoria Magistrate’s Court on Wednesday.

The matter was postponed to 12 November for the State to respond to the defence’s request for further particulars.

The two officers are crime intelligence unit chief financial officer Major General Solly Lazarus and the unit’s head of logistics Colonel Hein Barnard.

Both have been suspended and charged with theft, fraud, and corruption.

This was initially said to involve R1.1m, but on 17 July the amount they were accused of stealing was reduced to R370 000.

Prosecutor Gerrie Nel said on Wednesday an application by the defence for further particulars was received on Tuesday.

He said it was an attempt to get a postponement and to blame the State for not providing certain details.

‘Special account’

The defence said some of the requested information related to a “special account” used by the policemen.

It argued that the complete details of the account needed to be provided, including all transactions and creations.

Lazarus and Barnard were granted bail of R10 000 each in December.

In 2011, the unit’s former head Richard Mdluli was also charged with fraud and corruption following alleged misuse of the unit’s funds.

Mdluli allegedly used the money to purchase luxury vehicles.

The charges against him were later withdrawn.

– SAPA