Mbombela – An Mpumalanga man pleaded not guilty to murder in the Nelspruit Regional Court on Wednesday.

Mandla Dube, a self-proclaimed pastor, is accused of beating to death Sabelo Mlombo, 27, with a broomstick in 2011 for stealing a watertank from his yard.

“I always preach in my church that it is wrong to take the law into your own hands,” Dube said.

He admitted assaulting Mlombo at his house after he denied stealing the watertank.

“I gave him a small hiding, only four times. He refused to disclose where he had sold the tank. I only wanted information,” Dube testified.

He said he said he had hired Mlombo to pack bricks at his yard.

Dube was a technical manager for community projects in Mpumalanga’s department of co-operative governance and traditional affairs.

He was arrested on September 11, 2011, in connection with Mlombo’s death.

The court heard on Wednesday that Mlombo was attacked with a pick-axe handle and a broomstick.

Magistrate Willie Wilkens told Dube a post mortem found that Mlombo’s knees were fractured in the assault.

“His forearm also got a fracture. Evidence revealed in court stated the broomstick even broke while you beat him up,” Wilkens said.

The court heard that Mlombo’s neck was also broken.

Constable Docus Ngomane, from the Hazyview police station, testified that Dube and three other men took Mlombo to the police station.

“The deceased was tied up with something like a wire or rope, from his legs up to his chest. His hands were also tied up and he was unable to walk,” Ngomane said.

“They left him outside the police station building and called us.”

Ngomane said Mlombo had blood on his head and on his T-shirt.

“We called an ambulance, which took him to hospital,” Ngomane testified.

Dube’s friend Michael Madondo told the court he was with him during the entire incident.

“I watched when Dube beat the deceased with the broomstick. He only beat him twice, but slightly on the back of his legs, below the knees,” he told the court.

“The deceased sustained the injuries after he fell into the donga. He hit a rock with his head.”

Madondo said Mlombo had been walking “very well” when they took him to the police station.

“We made a statement and left him there with the police. Dube did not beat him with a pick handle. He only used the broomstick and it was already broken,” Madondo testified.

Dube said he had hit Mlombo on his knees to stop him from fleeing.

“I never caused the injuries. I do not know what happened after we left him with the police,” he said.

The case was postponed to September 17 to allow Dube’s new lawyer, Wonder Nkosi, time to have access to previous court records in the case. – Sapa

Durban – A Durban woman is at her wits’ end trying get rid of an unwanted first “husband” – a Pakistani national whom she has been married to for 10 years, but has never even met.

Kubashni Chetty, 31, of Silverglen, Chatsworth, said the marriage, the result of an apparent fraud committed without her knowledge, had brought her life to a near-standstill and made something as simple as opening a bank account impossible.
For more http://www.iol.co.za

Six United Christian Democratic Party (UCDP) candidates in the Tlokwe by-election have joined the ANC, spokesman Kenny Morolong said on Wednesday.

“They have already resigned their candidature for the by-elections in Tlokwe,” he said.

He said the African National Congress had also welcomed seven members from the Congress of the People.

“The new members will undergo a compulsory political school induction.”

The new members from the UCDP were Collen Mabaso, Ntswaki Bokaba, Moeketsi Phakedi, Shadrack Dinko, Kgomotso Kgomongwe and Disebo Nhlapo.

Those from Cope were Evelyn Booysen, Elsie Mulligan, Sarah Slambert, Michelle Beukes, Hillary Visagie, Wynton Louw and Aubrey Fransman.

UCDP leader Simon Mfundisi said he was not aware of UCDP candidates joining the ANC.

“I do not know anything about this,” he said.

A by-election is being held in Tlokwe on September 18. – Sapa

Johannesburg – Government on Wednesday welcomed the 25 life sentences handed to Eastern Cape serial killer Bulelani Mabhayi.

“This sentencing shows that the wheels of justice have turned,” said acting government spokesperson Phumla Williams.

She commended the efforts of the SAPS and the judicial authorities.

“Government will continue in its endeavour to fight crime. However, this can only be achieved through the co-operation of all sectors of communities.”

She urged people to report crime so that perpetrators could be prosecuted.

Mabhayi, 39, was sentenced in the Eastern Cape High Court, sitting in Butterworth, on Tuesday.

He had pleaded guilty to 20 charges of murder, six of rape, and 10 of housebreaking, dating back to 2007.

The court sentenced him to 20 life terms for each of the murders, five life terms for five of the rapes, and 10 years for the sixth, Williams said.

He was also sentenced to 10 years on each charge of housebreaking.

The sentences, amounting to over 600 years, would run concurrently.

– SAPA

Johannesburg – University of the Witwatersrand vice-chancellor Adam Habib took full responsibility on Wednesday for the abuses committed on its campuses.

“I want to apologise to all those individuals who experienced sexual harassment,” he said.

“Wits should be a safe space and we will ensure that it is,” Habib said during the release of a report on sexual harassment.

Habib welcomed the report for its rigour and constructive recommendations.

He said parents whose children had been harassed were “truly angry”.

“If it had been my kids I would [also] be outraged.”

The university accepted the report’s critiques.

“[The report] critically highlights the inadequacy of the university’s systems to address rumours and allegations decisively, or to support those affected by predatory sexual behaviour.”

He said a task team would be put together which would include members of the vice-chancellor’s office, experts in various fields, including gender and psychology, as well as student representatives.

In April, the university appointed a legal firm to investigate sexual harassment claims following an article in the Sunday Times newspaper, which claimed that a lecturer in the university’s drama department had harassed a number of his students.

“It had been an exhaustive investigation,” Habib said.

Four staff members were investigated.

Harassment cases

In July, the university fired two staff members for sexual harassment after disciplinary hearings, which were chaired by Habib.

“The third case will be determined soon and the fourth is yet to begin,” Habib said.

The director of the Centre for Applied Legal Studies (Cals) at the university, Professor Bonita Meyersfeld, said drafting the report was a challenge.

“The report has been one of the most difficult for the whole team because you are dealing with one’s own university,” Meyersfeld said.

Students and staff members were initially reluctant to come forward when the inquiry began in February.

But in the final two months of the inquiry, more people started coming forward.

The team in charge of drafting the report comprised three lawyers from Norton Rose Fulbright SA and two members, including Meyersfeld, from Cals.

The inquiry was completed on 15 August.

One of the report’s findings was that the university had a “vague” policy on sexual harassment which made it difficult for people to come forward.

The report recommended that the university create a very clear and broad definition of sexual harassment in order to explain the range of activity that constitutes it.

“A number of our staff and students feel the university has not done enough, we need to prove ourselves to them,” said Habib.

“What we will do is acknowledge and craft a plan to comprehensively address the challenge. You don’t run from it.”

– SAPA

Johannesburg – A 28-year-old man accused of killing his policewoman girlfriend was arrested in Bloemfontein on Wednesday, Free State police said.

The man handed himself in to police in Navalsig, said police spokesperson Sinah Mpakane.

The woman was found dead in her boyfriend’s room on Sunday evening.

Apparently the two had an argument the night before.

“The victim died as a result of stab wounds she sustained,” said Mpakane.

She was a warrant officer at Thabong SAPS, working as a psychometrist at its employee health and wellness division.

The man would appear in the Bloemfontein Magistrate’s Court on Friday.

– SAPA

Durban – The DA in KwaZulu-Natal has welcomed a decision by the national Treasury to pay R23m due to educational therapists.

“The agreement spells very good news for the many education therapists in our province who provide an invaluable service, often under very trying circumstances, to extremely vulnerable children, often with both mental and physical challenges,” DA spokesperson Tom Stokes said.

The provincial education department had confirmed that it would begin paying R23m due to the educational therapists in October, he said in a statement.

The 160 educational therapists had been paid less than their counterparts in the country for the past five years.

“Their qualifications and experience are vital. To have lost them over a salary dispute would have been tragic,” he said.

– SAPA

Johannesburg – Former Gauteng local government and housing MEC Humphrey Mmemezi was late for a meeting when his car was involved in an accident in November 2011, the Krugersdorp Magistrate’s Court heard on Wednesday.

This emerged when his former driver Joseph Semitjie was cross-examined by State prosecutor Micky Thesna.

Mmemezi was supposed to have been at his meeting at 09:00, but only left his house at 09:30.

Semitjie told the court the accident – involving the MEC’s car and Thomas Ferreira on his motorcycle – happened around 10:00 at the Paardekraal intersection on the R28 in Krugersdorp.

Earlier, the court heard Semitjie, who faces charges of reckless and negligent driving and failure to assist an injured person, did not pass an advanced driver’s test.

“If you did not pass your advanced driving course who gave you the authority to drive a state vehicle,” asked Thesna.

Semitjie said he was given authority to drive the vehicle by his superior, who had also tested his driving skills.

“I was not given any test to write during my training as a VIP driver but only tested out driving on the streets,” said Semitjie.

Thesna put it to Semitjie that several SAPS members who served in the VIP protection unit had told the court that blue lights and sirens were only supposed to be used in life-threatening emergencies.

“I do not agree with their testimony because blue lights and sirens can also be used to alert other motorist that a vehicle transporting a high profile person is approaching,” said Semitjie.

Beeld reported on Wednesday that Ferreira was on his motorcycle when Semitjie allegedly drove a BMW X5 left of the yellow line in Paardekraal Drive, disregarding a red traffic light.

Ferreira, who was on Windsor Road, collided with the car in the middle of the intersection.

– SAPA

Pietermaritzburg – An 18-year-old man accused of murder and rape, admitted in the KwaZulu-Natal High Court in Pietermaritzburg on Wednesday that he had sex with a “motionless” 14-year-old girl.

He did not dispute that she might have been alive at the time.

If the girl was alive, which might be proved by medical evidence later, the man could be convicted of rape.

The alternative charge to rape is sex with a corpse.

The man’s two co-accused, who are minors, have pleaded not guilty to all the charges.

The State alleged that the girl was waylaid and forced into bushes at the Pietermaritzburg cemetery in July 2011, when she was raped and assaulted.

She died of head injuries.

On Thursday, a youth will testify through an intermediary.

The witness will be seated in another room and the replies to questions will be relayed to the courtroom through closed circuit television.

– SAPA

Johannesburg – A police constable and an SA Revenue Service (Sars) employee were arrested for allegedly stealing drugs at the Lebombo border post on Wednesday, Mpumalanga police said.

“The policeman searched a taxi from Mozambique while its driver went to stamp his passport, and found a washing powder, plastic [container] stacked with cocaine estimated at [a street value of] more than R3m,” said police spokesperson Leonard Hlathi.

The officer allegedly called an off-duty Sars employee who took the drugs to his home.

A police operation was already underway in response to a tip-off about the taxi entering the country, and this led to the policeman’s arrest.

“After the constable’s arrest, he took us to the other suspect’s home where he freely handed the drugs over and was arrested.”

The police later arrested the taxi driver.

They would all appear in the Komatipoort Magistrate’s Court on Thursday.

– SAPA