Cape Town – Platinum Stars tactician Allan Freese hailed Dikwena supporters following his team‘s victory over Mamelodi Sundowns last Saturday.

Stars defeated ‘Downs 2-1 in their Telkom Knockout quarter-final match played at the Moruleng Stadium.

Togolese international, Dove Wome, gave Pitso Mosimane’s side a deserved lead in the 13th minute before Botswana international, Mogakolodi Ngele, levelled matters from the penalty spot six minutes before the interval.

Mduduzi Nyanda scored the winning goal in the second period.

Freese gave credit to the massive support for his boys.

“I would like to thank the people who came out to support us; it’s a long time since we have had support like that,” he told the club’s official website.

“We planned for the game, how we wanted to play; yes we went a goal down.

“But we relaxed and then we started to play how we wanted to play. It was a hard game, unlucky to Sundowns, but we showed great character and played some good football.”

Dikwena are on a current hot streak, having won the MTN8 last month.

It remains to be seen who they will be drawn against in the semi-finals of the R4.25m competition.
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Cape Town – SAFA referee Clifford Malgas accused of match fixing was granted R5 000 bail by the Cape Town District Court on Monday.
He appeared before magistrate Alfreda Lewis, who transferred the matter to the Specialised Commercial Crime Court in Bellville, where he is to make his first appearance on October 31.

Malgas, 26, faces charges of perjury and corruption.

Malgas has to report to police on Tuesdays and Fridays, as bail conditions, and was ordered to surrender his passport to the police official investigating his case.

He was banned from making any contact with listed State witnesses.

The magistrate warned him: “If you know any of the witnesses, you may not make contact with them, directly or indirectly.”

Malgas told the court he had appointed a privately funded attorney, who was not at the proceedings.

It later transpired that his lawyer had not left Johannesburg yet.

The magistrate warned Malgas to ensure his lawyer was present when he appeared in the commercial court.

Malgas was arrested last Thursday at the school in Eldorado Park, Johannesburg, where he works as an administrator, and first appeared in the Protea Magistrate’s Court before his transfer, in custody, to Cape Town.

He allegedly “fixed” soccer matches in the Vodacom Tournament in June 2011.

Earlier this year, former Bafana Bafana assistant coach Phil Setshedi, 57, was jailed for eight years for paying a police official, posing as the chief referee, R2 000 to manipulate the outcome of soccer matches in the tournament.

Setshedi was arrested on June 8, 2011, after SAFA reported him to the police following representations to officials, in an alleged attempt to influence the outcome of a match.

He had travelled to Cape Town to bribe the referee to ensure the Mpumalanga Sevutsa Stars won two matches.

Malgas was one of three witnesses to testify against Setshedi. It is alleged Malgas lied to the court under oath, which forms the basis for the perjury charge.

After Setshedi’s prosecution, Malgas and the two other referees who testified were suspended from the sport.

On the corruption charges, Malgas allegedly manipulated the outcome of a match during the 2011 second division play-offs in Cape Town.
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Johannesburg – On the back of their CAF Champions League success over the weekend, Orlando Pirates coach Roger De Sa has praised the mental strength of his soccer team.

“The most difficult thing is the mental attitude,” De Sa said at OR Tambo International Airport on Monday evening.

“The players have been great. We spent four hours this morning sitting in an airport. At no stage did (I) see the players complain.

“They sat there, no food, no drink, and that’s what has been good about this bunch of players.

“The players are like soldiers.

“They get on with the job and they just live through all the difficulties, and they do the business between the four lines.”

The Buccaneers beat Tunisian side Esperance on the away goals rule in Tunis on Saturday night, booking their place in the final of Africa’s premier club competition.

Pirates secured their passage to the final with a 1-1 draw after holding the Tunisians to a goalless draw at the Orlando Stadium a fortnight ago.

Pirates are the only South African club to have won the Champions League trophy — in 1995 — and have an opportunity to add a second African title to the club’s honours roll.

Having been in transit since Monday afternoon, Pirates will have to make a quick recovery before taking on Golden Arrows in a Telkom Knockout quarter-final clash on Wednesday, leaving no time for De Sa’s troops to rest on their laurels.

“When you’re listening to the final whistle and the guys are embracing, those moments are priceless and unforgettable,” De Sa said.

“But, the reality is that we’ve got a game on Wednesday.

“So straight away we start thinking in the change-room about the game on Wednesday.

“The players know that we have to move forward. There are no reverse gears here.”

Pirates meet Al-Ahly in the two-legged final, set for November 2, with the return fixture to be played a week later on November 9.

The Egyptian giants reached the final by beating Coton Sport, of Cameroon, 7-6 on penalties after the teams drew 1-1 in both semi-finals legs.

Pirates will fancy their chances against the seven-time African champions, having already played them twice in this year’s tournament.

De Sa believes the South African outfit will still be considered underdogs in the final.

“I still believe they (Ahly) are favourites,” he said.

“Because of the experience they’ve got and the pedigree they’ve got as well, and also playing at home in the second game, I think that probably gives them the edge as well.

“One thing we mustn’t be is too complacent and think about the two results we had against them.”

The Soweto side thrashed Ahly — who are the defending champions of the Champions League — 3-0 in El Gouna and played to a goalless draw at the Orlando Stadium.
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Pretoria – A Beit Bridge police captain was “acting as if he was power drunk” when he unlawfully arrested an export manager, a North Gauteng High Court judge in Pretoria said on Monday.

This led to the manager being detained in a shipping container for three days.

Acting Judge Piet Ebersohn ordered the minister of police and Captain Edwards Sello Sekelele to pay R344 162 damages to Louw Erasmus van der Laarse, 34, a former export manager at a customs clearing company at the Beit Bridge border post.

He said the court could only hope the matter received attention from some senior officer and that Sekelele’s conduct was not left unpunished.

“He is particularly unsuited to be an officer and to be in charge anywhere,” Ebersohn said.

Van der Laarse instituted a damages claim against the police after Sekelele arrested him at the border post for the alleged unlawful possession of unlicensed firearms in May 2010.

Van der Laarse was asked to help a client who had brought eight firearms, four of them registered in South Africa, from Zimbabwe to South Africa in his car with clearance procedures.

It was eventually agreed that the four weapons should be sent back to Zimbabwe. While waiting with the client’s car for customs officials to come and do the necessary checks, and after enquiring why they were taking so long, Van der Laarse was arrested.

Sekelele refused to listen to any explanation and refused to see the documentation for the clients’ weapons and the car.

Van der Laarse was taken to the Beit Bridge police station in the client’s car. He was escorted by another police vehicle with its blue light flashing from Beit Bridge to the Musina police station as if he was a dangerous criminal.

He was forced to sit on the floor under the counter at the Musina police station. He was never questioned and was taken to a holding cell in a 6mx2m shipping container.

He was detained in the container with about 24 Zimbabweans who took what remained of his belongings.

The prisoners had to lie head to toe and when it was time to turn, the head-prisoner would shout that everybody should turn. The container smelled of urine and sweat and ticks and fleas bit Van der Laarse all over his body.

His lawyer told the court the container was “as hot as hell” and prisoners “were basically cooking”.

When Van der Laarse was taken out of the container for questioning he broke down and cried uncontrollably. He begged not to be put back in the container, but was put back, where he was unable to sleep for three nights before he was taken to court and granted bail.

He developed severe depression and still suffered from sleeping disorders. He resigned from his job and found another one because he wanted to work in a better environment.

The charges against Van der Laarse were withdrawn, but he had to spend over R60 000 in legal costs.

Ebersohn said Van der Laarse had been treated cruelly and kept under horrifying circumstances from the moment of his arrest.

“He was arrested by Sekelele who acted as if he was power drunk and in a disgraceful display to all those who beheld what was going on,” Ebersohn said.

In a similar case, tradesman Clifford Victor Cope was awarded R220 000 damages in February after he was unlawfully arrested at the Beit Bridge border post and held captive in a shipping container with 26 other men for six days.

– SAPA

A 47-year-old woman, her two sons and a 40-year-old woman were shot dead by a policeman in Southport, Port Shepstone, early on Monday morning, KwaZulu-Natal police said.

“It is alleged that the police officer had an argument with his family and shot and killed them before turning the gun on himself,” police spokesperson Thulani Zwane said.

“Police first received a report of a murder at South Port at approximately 02:00, where a 40-year-old woman was found dead with multiple gunshot wounds to her body.”

The woman was identified as Jabu Cele, an administration clerk at the police crime intelligence division.

Several hours later, the policeman’s colleagues went to his home to investigate why he had not arrived for work.

“When colleagues went to his house… they found that his wife [Fikile Shange] and two sons [Snakekelo, 10, and Snakhokonke, 15] were shot and killed in the house.”

The policeman, Warrant Officer Linda Shange, 49, was found alive with gunshot wounds to his body, but he died en route to hospital.

“Three counts of murder and an inquest docket were opened at Southport police station for further investigation,” Zwane said.

“The recovered firearm will be sent for ballistic tests to establish if it was used in the killing of his family and the 40-year-old woman.”

– SAPA

Pretoria – A Mamelodi father was convicted on Monday of killing his wife and two young daughters, despite claiming that his wife had been a witch-turned-snake who attacked them.

Judge George Webster rejected Evans Mpanyane’s plea that he strangled his pregnant wife Cornelia in self-defence.

He claimed she poisoned and strangled their daughters Joy, 6, and Priscilla, 7, then turned into a snake-like creature and tried to kill him.

“This evidence of a metamorphosis of his wife into a beast or snake is reminiscent of the fables, which used to be narrated to young children.

“The evidence against the accused is overwhelming,” Webster said.

The half-naked body of Cornelia Mpanyane, 30, was discovered by passers-by under a tree in the veld in Kameelfontein, north of Pretoria.

Police found her daughters’ bodies in their father’s car, which was parked nearby with him still in the driver’s seat.

Webster said photographs of the girls’ bodies, dressed in identical pink and white polka dot dresses, left a lasting impression.

At first glance, the girls appeared to be sleeping, but close-ups showed the marks around their necks where they had been strangled with a rope.

The rope, that was according to medical evidence probably also used to strangle their mother, was found in Mpanyane’s car.

‘Suicide notes’

The court accepted the evidence of a handwriting expert that the “suicide notes” stuck in the back of Mrs Mpanyane’s bra were written not by her, but by her husband.

In the notes, Mrs Mpanyane allegedly admitted that her husband was not the father of the children, and that she had practised witchcraft.

Webster also accepted the evidence of two passers-by, who testified that they saw Mpanyane’s car slowly passing by with the girls playing on the back seat.

When they returned, they found Mrs Mpanyane’s body lying in the veld under a tree.

Although defence counsel argued that the girls might have been poisoned with an unknown traditional African toxin, Webster said it was clear from the medical evidence that all three victims had been strangled with a ligature.

Mpanyane claimed his wife strangled the children because she did not want to share his benefit pay-out with them, but Webster said on his version she did not even know that he had lost his job at that point.

Mpanyane was also the one who had invited his wife and children to meet him that day.

Human form

Other bizarre features of his evidence included that the “beast” turned back into human form after being strangled, and that the children, who were supposedly already dead, were seen playing in the car.

“The accused was there when his wife and children lost their lives,” Webster found.

“The cause of death of the children had nothing to do with witchcraft.

“It is difficult for the court to believe that the accused would have stood idly by while his children were being strangled.

“The court is no expert on human conduct, but it has difficulty in understanding how a mother-to-be would strangle these two innocent young children in front of their father,” Webster said.

He postponed the trial to 27 January for a pre-sentencing report.

– SAPA

Johannesburg – Almost one in five young South Africans are undecided voters, according to a survey released on Monday.

Conducted by Pondering Panda, the study found that 18% of 2 212 people questioned said they had not yet made a decision on who to vote for in the 2014 election.

Fifty-six percent said they had made up their mind and 26% said they were not planning on voting.

The respondents were aged between 18 and 34, and were interviewed on their cellphones across South Africa.

Among the race groups, 21% of coloured people questioned said they were undecided. In comparison, 18% of blacks and 17% of whites gave the same answer.

Pondering Panda spokesperson Shirley Wakefield said the figures meant there was an important group of voters who had not yet been swayed by any political party.

“For the party that can inspire undecided voters and convince apathetic younger people to get out and vote, there could be big gains in 2014.”

– SAPA

Mbombela – Most senior Mpumalanga municipal officials do not comply with the minimum requirements to hold their positions, the DA said on Monday.

“Not one Mpumalanga municipality has both a municipal manager (MM) and chief financial officer (CFO) who complies with minimum competency guidelines as set down by National Treasury,” Democratic Alliance Member of the Provincial Legislature James Masango said.

“[This is] despite threats by Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan that all non-compliant personnel would have been removed more than 10 months ago.”

Masango said the incompetence was revealed in a written response by co-operative governance MEC Simon Skhosana.

“Skhosana stated that only Mbombela’s MM complied with treasury’s minimum competency requirements for municipal managers, while only the CFOs of Chief Albert Luthuli and Lekwa complied as set down for those,” Masango said.

All the Mpumalanga municipalities, except Mbombela, had applied for an extension to get their compliance in order.

Masango said the incompetence within the municipalities had contributed to poor service delivery. He alleged corruption and a lack of accountability was common in most of the municipalities.

– SAPA

Johannesburg – National police commissioner Riah Phiyega expressed concern on Monday at the number of robberies in Gauteng, allegedly committed by people wearing police uniform or using cars with blue lights.

“Thus far, there are about 250 dockets which are being followed up,” Phiyega said in a statement.

“These robberies, the modus operandi in particular, is of huge concern for me and I have set up a multi-disciplinary team comprising members from detectives, visible [uniform] policing, and crime intelligence, as well as a retired detective.”

The team would be led by divisional commissioner of detectives Lieutenant General Vineshkumar Moonoo.

Phiyega said the trend resurfaced in the province over recent months with instances of business people being robbed on their way to or from the bank.

In other instances people were being followed and then robbed while travelling from the airport. Investigations established that some groups colluded with hotel staff, metered taxi drivers, and in certain cases, police.

“The role of police officers is found to be either direct physical involvement or the supply of items such as uniforms, blue lights or firearms,” she said.

“Over the past couple of weeks, detectives have been interacting with victims and further analysing the cases to get a better understanding of the modus operandi as well as the people possibly involved. Indications so far are that these crimes are opportunistic in nature.”

The police urged people, who were stopped by a private car fitted with blue lights, to slow down and continue driving to a well-lit area or to the nearest police station.

– SAPA

Johannesburg – Two policemen have been arrested for allegedly assaulting a man in custody, the Independent Police Investigative Directorate (IPID) said on Monday.

They were taken into custody on Sunday after an IPID investigation, spokesperson Moses Dlamini said.

The alleged assault took place on 11 October at 19:40, after the man was arrested for being in possession of housebreaking tools and taken to the Sunnyside police station.

“It is alleged that the assault by the two policemen started soon after the victim’s arrival at the station for detention,” said Dlamini.

“The victim was apparently assaulted in the cells until he lost consciousness. Thereafter, the policemen allegedly poured water on the victim to resuscitate him.”

They apparently continued to assault the man until a senior policeman, who heard a person screaming went to see what was happening.

He found the policemen assaulting the man.

The officers allegedly ignored his orders to stop.

The man was admitted to Tshwane District Hospital for six days.

The two officers were expected to appear in the Pretoria Magistrate’s Court later on Monday.

– SAPA