Johannesburg – The killing of a 10-year-old boy in the Ramaphosa informal settlement, on the East Rand, is devastating, Ekurhuleni Mayor Mondli Gungubele said on Wednesday.

“This is shocking,” Gungubele said in a statement.

“As a parent myself, I cannot even begin to think what the parents are going through right now,” he said.

“In fact, as I got the gory details of the incident, I felt shivers going down my spine wondering how another person can carry out such a brutal attack on a helpless boy.”

He urged parents to be more vigilant about their children’s whereabouts and said the community should help the police to find those responsible.

Siphamandla Madikane was reported missing on Monday at the Reiger Park police station.

His body was discovered that afternoon by a passer-by in a field in Ramaphosa.

He was last seen on Sunday evening with friends.

“The boy was found dead with socks stuffed in his mouth and a used condom was found next to his body,” said police spokesperson Tsekiso Mofokeng.

“The body matched the description of the boy, who was reported missing earlier on Monday.”

A case of rape and murder had been opened. No arrests had been made.

– SAPA

A former National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) shop steward at Lonmin has died in hospital after he was shot seven times, the union said on Wednesday.

“The NUM is again outraged at the cold-blooded murder of one of its former shop stewards at Lonmin, Percy Letanang, 45, who was shot on Sunday by unknown gunmen,” said Mxhasi Sithethi, Rustenburg regional co-ordinator.

Letanang was shot when he arrived home in Segwaelane near Marikana on Sunday evening.

“He got out of the car to open the gate and gunmen shot him. His brothers took him to a hospital. Unfortunately he passed away last night [Tuesday].”

He said Letanang was employed at Lonmin’s Eastern Platinum mine, and took a voluntary severance package (VSP) after Lonmin de-recognised the NUM, after the number of its members fell below the required threshold.

The Association of Mineworkers and Construction Union (Amcu) had since become the majority union at Lonmin.

Several killings of union members are believed to be due to rivalry between the two unions.

“After Lonmin decided to de-recognise us, most comrades took their VSPs fearing for their safety at the mine, and comrade Letanang was one of them.”

Sithethi said the NUM was worried about the increasing murders of its shop stewards in Marikana and the greater Rustenburg area.

“In less than three months four of our members have been killed… How long is blood going to have to flow in Marikana?

“It is impossible not to feel heavy-hearted when our shop stewards are brutally killed…”

North West police said he was shot around 21:00 as he arrived home from work.

“The wife heard gunshots… He was taken to a clinic in Bapong and he was transferred to George Mukhari Hospital,” police spokesperson Pelonomi Makau said.

No arrests had been made.

– SAPA

Johannesburg – There are four Facebook profiles impersonating Higher Education and Training Minister Blade Nzimande, his department said on Wednesday.

“The department wishes to put it on record that these accounts do not belong to the minister and any content uploaded on these accounts should not be attributed to Minister Blade Nzimande,” spokesperson Manana Makhanya said in a statement.

“In the social media space, it is only the department of higher education and training’s Facebook and Twitter accounts that should be deemed genuine and any information emanating from these accounts can be attributed to the minister.”

He said Nzimande was aware of the essential role social media played and was committed to engaging with the public through these genuine and credible platforms.

Other ministers have also been impersonated on social media networks.

Last month, Women, Children, and People with Disabilities Minister Lulu Xingwana’s department said a Facebook user was impersonating the minister and asking for funds in her name.

In August, a person pretending to be Deputy President Kgalema Motlanthe on social media tried to solicit bribes from members of the public. 

SAPA

Men who are insecure in their relationships should urgently seek urgent counselling and professional help instead of resorting to violence which results in dire consequences for all parties involved, North West Premier Thandi Modise urged in expressing shock and condemning in the strongest terms the incident in which a 33-year-old man allegedly fatally shot his wife’s male colleague and his wife in a fit of jealousy.

“The escalating incidents of gender based violence we have experienced in the past few weeks in our province is a worrying trend and as alarming as preliminary results from a Gender Links GBV Indicators Study that highlighted that more than three quarters of South African men have perpetrated violence against women in their lifetime and more than half of women in South Africa have experienced gender-based violence. These are unacceptable and call for united action to expose perpetrators,” emphasised Premier Modise. 

Modise called on real men to support prevention of violence against women and for women to break the silence on abuse.

“Women should no longer accept that their partners are simply jealous by allowing them to answer their cellphones or question them after every phone call they have received. Mistakening this for love has proved to be costly to many women in the long run,” added Premier Modise who wishes to convey her condolences to the family of the murdered man and speedy recovery to the injured wife.

The recent incident allegedly took place on Monday at Mahlatsi Marwana Section, near Lefaragatlhe village in Rustenburg.

According to police the suspect allegedly phoned his wife to ask her to pick him up after work, but his wife’s phone was allegedly answered by her male colleague. This angered the man who confronted his wife about the incident on his arrival at home leading to a bitter argument and the couple driving to the colleague’s place to confront him about the incident.

It is reported that a bitter confrontation occurred between the two men before the couple left for their home where the argument continued until the suspect drew a fun and shot his wife a few times on the thigh before she fled for her life.

“The man allegedly went back to the wife’s colleague after he could not locate his wife and pumped him with bullets. He purportedly died on the scene after he was shot on his head and lower body,” said Spokesperson for the North West Police, Captain Pelonomi Makau.

Makau says that the enraged man who handed himself to police was charged with murder and attempted murder and will appear before Bafokeng Magistrate Court later today (Wednesday)

In an earlier incident that occurred over the past weekend, 38 year-old man  from Stilfontein allegedly killed his wife and set her house on fire. The couple’s 12 year-old daughter suffered minor injuries from the fire during the horrific incident which Premier Modise had also condemned as horrendous and appalling.Police investigations into cases of murder, attempted murder and arson are also continuing while the man is behind bars.