A man was found guilty of theft and possession of 525 unpolished diamonds worth R1.4m in the Northern Cape High Court, the Star reported on Friday.

Kimberley resident Michael van Rensburg, a former Harry Oppenheimer House (HOH) employee, was convicted by Judge Mpho Mamosebo on Thursday.

During the trial, Van Rensburg pleaded not guilty to the theft of the 525 6/5 grainer unpolished diamonds that disappeared from a box at HOH in May 2010 and belonged to the Diamond Trading Company.

The collective weight of the diamonds was 741.09 carats.

Mamosebo said the State proved its case beyond reasonable doubt and no other person but Van Rensburg stole the diamonds, according to the report.

On 3 and 4 May, 2010, Van Rensburg was caught on CCTV footage shuffling and rearranging boxes from a trolley, and making suspicious movements, including moving in a zig-zag manner to avoid being captured by the camera.

Sentencing will take place on 28 November.

– SAPA

Bloemfontein – A Bloemfontein man who set alight his wedding venue was sentenced to four years’ imprisonment in the Bloemfontein Regional Court on Friday.

Jean Greyling, 28, earlier admitted to setting alight a conference venue at the Emoya Estate outside Bloemfontein in July.

He had booked it as his wedding venue, but the owner cancelled the arrangement a day before the nuptials were to take place after Greyling reportedly failed to pay the deposit.

He eventually got married. His wife supported him in court on Friday.

– SAPA

Durban – The ANC is set to challenge the exclusion of three votes from a by-election in Nongoma on Wednesday.

Provincial secretary Sihle Zikalala said on Friday three ballots had been excluded in Nongoma’s ward 10 by-election because they were not stamped by the Independent Electoral Commission officials.

He asked how a vote could be cast without the IEC officials stamping the voting slip, adding that he did not see why the voter should lose his or her vote because of an IEC official’s error.

“We will be engaging with the IEC,” Zikalala told reporters in Durban.

The National Freedom Party candidate received 34.41% of the vote winning by three votes over the ANC in a close contest.

The NFP received 906 votes, the African National Congress 903, and the Inkatha Freedom Party 824 votes. There were 26 spoilt ballots.

ANC spokesperson Senzo Mkhize said the ballots in question were three special votes.

– SAPA

Cape Town – Members of the Economic Freedom Fighters were arrested in Cape Town on Friday for throwing faeces at the Sanlam head office in Bellville.

Sanlam’s spokesperson Ainsley Moos told News24 between 20 and 30 protesters wearing red EFF berets gathered outside the company’s head office in Bellville, Cape Town, at about 10:30 with three tyres and containers containing faeces.
For more http://www.news24.com

Johannesburg – The decision to suspend Sadtu president Thobile Ntola was not made lightly, the union’s deputy president Magope Maphila said on Friday.

“The decision to suspend the president of the union pending an investigation was by no means an easy one,” he said at the SA Democratic Teachers’ Union national general council in Kempton Park.

“In its collective wisdom… a special sitting of the national executive committee felt that such a move was necessitated by certain prevailing circumstances which we are not at liberty to discuss at this stage.”

Ntola was suspended in August, reportedly for giving suspended Congress of SA Trade Unions general secretary Zwelinzima Vavi a platform to address Sadtu members in the Eastern Cape.

In August, Cosatu placed Vavi on special leave after he admitted to having an affair with a colleague.

Ntola was also suspended, reportedly for commenting in the media that Sadtu’s Eastern Cape region had accepted Vavi’s apology for the incident.

On Friday Maphila criticised Sadtu members who behaved like “pop stars” when they were put in front of television cameras.

– SAPA

Johannesburg – The case of a woman accused of cutting off her boyfriend’s penis was postponed by the Protea Magistrate’s Court in Soweto on Friday.

Evidence Nkuna, 22, faces charges of attempted murder for allegedly attacking her boyfriend on 6 October when she found him with another woman. She ordered them to strip naked.

Nkuna took a knife and allegedly cut off the man’s penis. She was arrested soon afterwards.

The case was postponed to 7 November for a legal aid application.

Nkuna initially appeared in the Meadowlands Magistrate’s Court on Wednesday on a charge of assault with intent to do grievous bodily harm.

She was released on bail of R2 500.

– SAPA

Johannesburg – The Independent Police Investigative Directorate (IPID) confirmed on Friday, that it has received allegations of defeating the ends of justice against national police commissioner Riah Phiyega.

“The matter does not fall under the matters investigated by the IPID. So the executive director of the IPID will assess it and make a decision on whether it must be investigated by the IPID,” spokesperson Moses Dlamini said.

The case was reported on Wednesday. Phiyega said the allegations against her “will not stick”.

“You can try as much as you like, but you will not succeed. No mud thrown at me will stick,” she said in a statement on Friday morning in response to a report in The Star.

“I remain determined to ensure that nothing, absolutely nothing, deters me and my leadership team from the new journey of rebuilding the SAPS [SA Police Service], especially the crime intelligence division.”

The Star reported on Friday that Phiyega allegedly tipped off a senior police officer, who allegedly accepted a bribe from a criminal, that crime intelligence was investigating him.

But Phiyega denied tipping off the officer, saying he had become aware of the investigation after the DA asked a question about it in Parliament.

Calls for investigation

DA spokesperson Dianne Kohler-Barnard said because the allegations against Phiyega were serious it was important for her actions to be investigated.

“If commissioner Phiyega is innocent, she should not oppose an investigation. Indeed she should encourage one.”

Kohler-Barnard said the reputation of the police could not continue to be battered by “dodgy and corrupt officials”.

Phiyega said it was “interesting” that the allegations surfaced from “faceless people” shortly after her decision to put former acting crime intelligence boss Major General Chris Ngcobo on special leave. A vetting process found discrepancies in Ngcobo’s qualifications.

Phiyega said she was not formally informed of the case of defeating the ends of justice against her, but was aware of the allegations.

They were from people who wanted to discredit her. She said it came as no surprise given some of the “mischievous activities conducted by crime intelligence in the past”, Phiyega’s office said in the statement.

“It is clear that this is a lame attempt by certain individuals within crime intelligence to discredit her and derail the process of flushing out those within the SAPS, who have no integrity and have no interest in taking the SAPS forward,” her office said.

Ngcobo on special leave

Phiyega placed Ngcobo on special leave on Monday, instructing that criminal investigations and disciplinary action against him be initiated.

Major General Bongiwe Zulu assumed Ngcobo’s role until further notice.

The Star, quoting “highly placed sources”, said Ngcobo instructed crime intelligence officers to open the case against Phiyega on 19 October.

Explaining the alleged tip-off she gave, Phiyega said a question was received in Parliament and during the process of gathering information to enable the police to prepare a response, the DA enquiry ended up in a provincial commissioner’s office after passing through various officials.

At that point the commissioner called Phiyega to ask about the investigation, so it could not be argued that she alerted the commissioner about the investigation, her office said.

“Simply put, the national commissioner committed no crime,” the statement read.

Kohler-Barnard said she would write to the police ministry to ascertain what steps were being taken to gain clarity. She would also follow up on her original question in Parliament.

The SA Police Union (Sapu) called on President Jacob Zuma to relieve Phiyega of her duties.

“The latest controversy around General Phiyega adds to the many costly blunders the national commissioner has committed since taking office,” spokesperson Solly Bulala said in a statement.

“Sapu calls upon President Jacob Zuma to convene a board of inquiry into the fitness of General Phiyega to hold office. The SAPS can ill afford to have such a character at its helm. It is clear that the general is a liability.”

Sapu called on Phiyega to take a leave of absence to avoid dragging the police’s name through the mud.

– SAPA

Dubai – Pakistan were staring defeat in the second Test in the face after South Africa out-batted them and then bowled well on the third day in Dubai on Friday.

Pak v SA Day 3 as it happened

South Africa, seeking a series-levelling win, once again rocked Pakistan’s top order with three early wickets after compiling a mammoth 517 in their first innings for a big 418-run lead at Dubai stadium.

At the close, Pakistan captain Misbah-ul Haq (42) and Asad Shafiq (28) were at the crease but they still need a whopping 286 runs to avoid an innings defeat or bat out two days to force a draw.

The duo have added 62 for the fifth wicket and would need a Herculean effort to avoid defeat.

But South Africa’s bid for victory, and keeping their seven-year unbeaten away series record, was tainted when they were docked five penalty runs by the onfield umpires after television replays showed Faf du Plessis apparently trying to tamper with the ball in Pakistan’s 31st over.

The two umpires, Rod Tucker of Australia and Ian Gould of England, called South African captain Graeme Smith for a warning, changed the ball and added five penalty runs to Pakistan’s total.

Under International Cricket Council rules, if the umpires lay charges against any player match-referee David Boon will summon the player.

But even that South African setback couldn’t save Pakistan as they continued to slump after finding themselves on two for two at lunch.

Dale Steyn gave South Africa an ideal start as he removed Shan Masood with the fourth ball of the innings, having him trapped in front of the wicket with a sharp delivery for nought.

It became two for two when Khurram Manzoor fell for his second duck of the match, caught off a miscued drive off Vernon Philander from the fifth ball of the second over.

Manzoor had made 146 in Pakistan’s seven-wicket in last week’s Abu Dhabi Test.

Azhar Ali and Younis added 46 for the third wicket before part-time spinner Jean-Paul Duminy struck with his first ball, trapping Ali lbw with a low delivery for 19.

Duminy could have taken Younis on 28 but Kallis failed to hold a low catch in the slips.

Younis was finally bowled for 38 by leg-spinner Imran Tahir off a strange shot, who took a career-best 5-32 to dismiss Pakistan for a paltry 99 in the first innings.

In the morning session, South Africa lost their last six wickets for the addition of 57 runs after resuming at 460-4. Off-spinner Saeed Ajmal finished with 5-161 while paceman Mohammad Irfan took 3-102.

De Villiers (164) was the first man to go, caught behind off Irfan in the fifth over of the day.

He hit 17 fours and a six during a commanding 376-minute innings and completed an all-time South African fifth wicket record partnership of 338 with Smith.

Smith was finally caught in the slip by Younis off Ajmal.

Smith’s superb knock lasted 10 hours and 32 minutes during which he dominated Pakistan’s bowling, hitting 16 fours and faced 388 balls.

With Smith’s catch, Younis beat Javed Miandad’s record of most Test catches of 93. It took him 86 Tests, 38 fewer than his illustrious countryman.

Irfan removed Duminy for seven before he was forced out of attack by Australian umpire Rod Tucker for running into the danger zone after a second warning.

Ajmal then wrapped up the innings with the last three wickets to complete his ninth five-wicket haul in Tests.
For more http://www.news24.com

The largest union at Impala Platinum Holdings Ltd.’s South African mines will decide whether to go on strike next week as mediators failed to resolve a wage dispute.

The Association of Mineworkers and Construction Union will meet with members on Oct. 28 to consider industrial action at the second-largest producer of the metal, Treasurer Jimmy Gama said today by phone.

The AMCU rejected a pay offer of 8 percent for the year through June, Implats spokesman Johan Theron said.

“Our members will tell us what to do,” Gama said.

The AMCU is demanding basic monthly wages for underground workers of 12,500 rand ($1,275) from the three largest South African platinum producers, where it has usurped the National Union of Mineworkers as the biggest labor representative.

The companies’ profit margins have declined after prices fell and costs including wages increased faster than the 6 percent rate of inflation in September.

Implats offered to raise pay by 7 percent in the second and third years of the proposed agreement, Theron said.

This will increase the total monthly remuneration of entry-level underground workers to 10,756 rand by the end of the cycle, with the cash portion accounting for about 7,000 rand, he said.

The Commission for Conciliation, Mediation and Arbitration will also intervene in deadlocked wage talks between the AMCU and Anglo American Platinum Ltd., Gama said.

NUM Agreement

The world’s largest producer is unlikely to grant pay increases higher than the 8 percent that gold producers agreed to with the NUM in September, according to Mark Cutifani, chief executive officer of Anglo American, which owns a 77 percent stake in Amplats.

“I’ve got no doubt that platinum is not going to be able to go any further than that,” Cutifani said in an interview yesterday.

“Ultimately, if it goes too far that’s immediate job losses.”

Talks between unions and Lonmin Plc will continue next week, Gama said.

William Setelele, an NUM official, was killed on October 17 close to Lonmin’s Marikana platinum mine in the North West province.

Three men were charged yesterday in the Rustenburg Magistrate’s Court for Setelele’s murder, provincial police spokesman Thulani Ngubane said by phone.

“We were all worried last week that we saw a shooting that was very disturbing,” Cutifani said. “One would hope that’s a single event.” – Bloomberg News

Johannesburg – Malawi said on Friday South African President Jacob Zuma’s recent controversial remarks which implied it was backward would not damage relations between the two nations.

Zuma was left red-faced after making disparaging comments on Monday about roads in the fellow southern African country, where South Africa’s deputy international relations minister was summoned to explain his remarks.

However meetings with High Commissioner Cassandra Makone and deputy foreign minister Marius Fransman, who flew to Lilongwe to make amends, appeared to have soothed tensions.

Zuma’s remarks “will definitely not have a negative impact on Malawi-South Africa’s bilateral relations,” Malawi foreign affairs spokesperson Quent Kalichero told AFP.

In a bid to convince South African motorists to accept a highly controversial plan to toll highways around Johannesburg, Zuma sparked anger by appearing to suggest roads in Malawi were inferior.

“We can’t think like Africans, in Africa, generally,” he said.

“We are in Johannesburg, this is Johannesburg. It’s not some national road in Malawi.”

Pretoria had said the remarks “are not a true reflection of the people of South Africa’s perception of the African continent and its people. President Zuma holds the people of Malawi in high regard,” Kalichero said.

South Africa dispatched its deputy foreign minister Fransman, who made a “courtesy call” to Malawian President Joyce Banda on Thursday, according to an embassy official.

Zuma’s spokesperson later retracted the statement and said he had been quoted out of context. 

AFP