Cape Town – Computers in one of the City of Cape Town’s divisions have been seized following allegations of tender irregularities and mismanagement, it was reported on Wednesday.

The Cape Argus reported sources in the city council as saying that the laptops of various staff in the tourism and events directorate, including that of Grant Pascoe, mayoral committee member for tourism, had been removed as part of the probe.

The newspaper reported last week that there were “tensions” in the directorate following a cancelation of a branding and marketing tender.

Last year, Public Protector Thuli Madonsela investigated the Western Cape government for a contract it had with advertising agency TBWA Hunt Lascaris.

Although she had made four findings of maladministration, Madonsela said she found no evidence of unlawfulness.

– News24

Johannesburg – Duduza on the East Rand was quiet on Wednesday morning after a foreign-owned shop was ransacked the evening before, Gauteng police said.

Police spokesperson Madeleine von Wielligh said residents held a peaceful meeting on Tuesday about allowing Somali shop owners to return to the township.

“A group of people then left the meeting and went to a Somali-owned shop. They kicked the door and took a few things from the shop.”

No one was arrested and no injuries or fatalities were reported.

When the police responded, nobody knew who had been responsible and everything had quietened down, said Von Wielligh.

Residents chased Somalians from the area about three months ago.

Chairperson of People Seeking Justice Action Group, Ayob Mungalee, dismissed police reports that only one shop was looted and no one was injured on Tuesday.

“Twenty shops were looted and four Somali shop owners were injured.”

On 16 August, 200 shops belonging to the Somalians were closed down and 800 people were displaced.

Mungalee said on 16 October the group got a court order that declared Duduza a national disaster area.

“The order said foreigners displaced should return to their properties and the metro police should address the plight of the affected people.”

He said foreigners living and doing business in Duduza were afraid as police were demanding bribes in exchange for protection.

– SAPA

Johannesburg – The sentencing of Johannes Kana for the rape and murder of Bredasdorp teenager Anene Booysen was postponed in the Swellendam Circuit Court on Wednesday.

SABC news reported that proceedings began on Wednesday for argument in mitigation of sentence, but court was postponed to Friday.

On Tuesday, Judge Patricia Goliath found Kana guilty of raping and murdering Booysen.

Booysen was raped and disembowelled, and died in Tygerberg Hospital, Cape Town, on the afternoon of Saturday, 2 February.

Kana was seen with Booysen outside a Bredasdorp pub in the early hours of that day.

Pieter du Toit, for Kana, said his client was under the influence of alcohol and the crime was not planned.

He also reportedly said Kana had admitted guilt and apologised, and was also helpful with the investigation.

Du Toit asked that sentencing should run concurrently. The State has asked for a life sentence for both counts.

– SAPA

Cape Town – Protest chaos in Cape Town’s city centre has forced many businesses to lock their doors, keeping many people trapped inside.

Western Cape Premier Helen Zille said the protest was part of the ANC’s “ungovernability” campaign.

ENCA reporter Lester Kiewit said it looked as if about 800 to 900 people were taking part in the protest.

Many businesses, including that of the News24 office, had closed its doors while stallholders closed up their stalls.

News24 reporter Nielen de Klerk said a shop owner had been injured by protesters.

An ANC councillor, Loyiso Nkohla, was quoted by the Daily Sun newspaper as encouraging people to loot shops as part of the protest. Nkohla wanted a memorandum to be handed over to Zille demanding housing and more land for squatters.

Hundreds of protesters converged on the provincial legislature’s offices earlier on Wednesday but by 14:30 protesters, many with stick, were running amok in the city.

Car windows had been smashed and stalls were broken.

Kiewit said police had cordoned off Wale Street where the provincial legislature offices were.

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– News24

Cape Town – The Cape Town traffic department has been forced to close multiple roads due to growing protest action in the central business district.

The protests are centred in Wale Street which has led to the closure of Adderley, Burg, and Long Street.

The traffic department will enforce further closures depending on the movement of the protest.
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Cape Town – A violent protest in Cape Town’s CBD, which saw stalls and shops looted, is shocking and dismaying, Premier Helen Zille’s office said on Wednesday.

Zille’s spokesperson Zak Mbele told eNCA that ANC councillor Loyiso Nkhola was to blame for the violence.

Police spokesperson Captain FC van Wyk told News24 that about 3 500 people were toy-toying and singing outside the Western Cape Legislature earlier on Wednesday afternoon.

He said police were on the scene and standing guard outside the legislature.

No shots have been fired. Shots heard earlier in the CBD were from a stun gun.

No arrests have been made and no injuries reported, Van Wyk said. However, News24 reporter Nielen de Klerk said a shopkeeper was left injured after protesters attacked him while another person on the scene saw a stallholder being attacked by protesters with a hammer.

Van Wyk said he could not confirm the number of shops or stall that have been looted, but said anyone who had been looted should open a case at the police station.

He said staff at the legislature were not being escorted out, but were free to leave when and if they wanted to.

Mbele said the provincial government was looking at two courses of action, the one being a charge of incitement to commit a crime against Nkhola and the other being a court ruling which held that organisers of public demonstrations can be held liable for the resulting violence.
For more http://www.news24.com

Johannesburg – Fraud accused Xolisile Guquza tried to hide his face with a paper bag before his appearance in the Johannesburg Specialised Commercial Crime Court on Wednesday.

Wearing a blue suit and a pink shirt, he put a Nando’s paper bag over his head as cameras flashed in front of him before court proceedings began.

The bag had holes cut out in front.

Guquza later stood up, with the bag still over his head, and walked out of court.

He, Thabo Shogolo, and former National Youth Development Agency boss Andile Lungisa and his wife Ursula Sali are accused of fraud and money laundering.

It is alleged they accepted and shared among themselves R2.5m paid by the arts and culture department for the Nelson Mandela Sports Day concert.

They allegedly promised that US singer R Kelly would perform at the concert but he did not.

They were arrested after handing themselves over to the Hawks earlier this month.

Lungisa and Shogolo were granted bail of R10 000 each, Guquza was granted bail of R5 000, and Sali was released on a warning.

Lungisa has since asked to be relieved of his political duties as an ANC Eastern Cape executive committee member while he deals with the charges against him. 

The case was postponed and would return to court on 15 November.

SAPA

Johannesburg – A truck accident on the N3 near Pietermaritzburg left one person dead and another seriously injured, paramedics said on Wednesday.

A truck transporting paper crashed into the back of another truck after its driver lost control on Umlaas Road, said ER24 spokesperson Vanessa Jackson.

The truck with the paper crashed down an embankment and paramedics and police initially struggled to find the two men because it was dark and misty in the area, said Jackson.

They were discovered after they shouted for help from the bottom of the embankment – the driver trapped under the rolls of paper and the passenger trapped inside the cabin.

The police’s search and rescue division and the local fire department were also called out.

A heavy duty tow truck removed the rolls off the driver one by one.

He was talking to paramedics and responding well but, as soon as the last roll was taken off his body his condition deteriorated quickly. He was transported to a nearby hospital on life support, but died later. 

The passenger had been cut out of the cabin earlier and taken to hospital for further treatment of severe injuries, said Jackson.

No one was injured in the other truck. 

SAPA

Pietermaritzburg – Video footage showing a boy being stabbed to death at a KwaZulu-Natal school has gone viral, it was reported on Wednesday.

The footage shows 18-year-old Bongani Nkabinde in a fight with several other pupils at a school in northern KwaZulu-Natal, Eyewitness News reported. 

The incident happened on Monday and seven youngsters have been arrested.

Police said a number of weapons had been found at the scene including knobkerries and sticks. 

A number of violent incidents at school across the country have been reported recently including in Cape Town, Johannesburg and the Eastern Cape.

News24

The Independent Police Investigative Directorate (Ipid) has declined to comment on reports that musician Khuli Chana tried to run over police officers before he was shot and wounded.

“The incident happened just two days ago … the investigation is still ongoing,” said Ipid spokesperson Moses Dlamini today.

Chana, whose real name is Khulane Morule, was branded a liar by friends of a Bedfordview kidnap victim, The Star newspaper reported.

The lawyer for one of the friends of the Bedfordview businessman told the newspaper that Chana had tried to run over the officers who had allegedly attempted to flag him down at a roadblock.

The lawyer, Eric Bryer, said his client witnessed the shooting and called Chana “an idiot and a diabolical liar” over the musician’s version of events.

The friends would give evidence in this regard in court, he said.

Chana was shot and wounded by police on Monday at a Caltex garage along the N1 highway in Midrand.

Police mistook his luxury vehicle to be that of the kidnappers whom they were tracking.

The shooting is being investigated by the Ipid. The officers are facing charges of attempted murder.

A policeman was arrested and was due to appear in the Germiston Regional Court today to face charges of kidnapping and extortion.

– Sapa