Pretoria – Judgment will be delivered on Wednesday in the trial of Sibusiso Langa, accused of crashing his car into a group of joggers in Midrand, killing five people.

The State has asked for Langa’s conviction on five charges of murder, one of attempted murder, and one of drunk driving but the defence argued he should be acquitted on all charges.

Langa has denied guilt on charges of murdering Reneilwe Lesenyeho, Gaolojwe Tlale, Moroesi Mokoatsi, Given Mills, and Nomvula Dumako, attempting to murder Abegail Stengile, and drunk driving.

The mechanical engineer has denied being drunk, speeding, driving recklessly, and hitting the joggers while he was on the wrong side of the road.

Langa claimed in his evidence he had found the runners in the middle of the road as he came around a blind corner.

He said he had seen another car coming from the front just before the accident.

A witness, Stengile, and an accident reconstruction expert testified that the joggers were on the right hand side of the road when Langa hit them.

Prosecutor Mervyn Menigo conceded the State had not proved that Langa had been intoxicated to a degree that excluded his criminal capacity to commit the crimes.

He argued that Langa was driving under the influence of liquor at between 108km/h and 113km/h in a 60km/h zone on the wrong side of the road at the time.

Menigo argued that Langa’s claim that the joggers had run into his path should be rejected, as it was not supported by any of the objective facts.

He said Langa’s attempts to explain why the deceased and Stengile were on the right hand side of the road were “feeble and unintelligible” and his version of the accident improbable.

It was also improbable that Langa would only have consumed a glass of wine and two light beers while socialising for almost six hours before the accident, he said.

Driving under the influence

Given the facts in the case Langa had foreseen the possibility that entering a bend in the road at a high speed could result in a collision that could cause his death or the death of other road users.

“Road deaths resulting from collisions where drivers were under the influence of alcohol continue to plague South Africa.

“… In a study of aggressive road behaviour in South Africa, out of a sample of 1 600 drivers, a tenth of drivers sampled acknowledged driving under the influence of alcohol and on average they did so four out of 10 times when the opportunity arose.

“… All South Africans should be able to use the roads without fear of being struck or collided with by a drunk driver,” he said.

Menigo argued that the recent “lenient” approach adopted by the courts had done nothing to improve safety on the roads and promoted a culture of “violence”, which deprived other road users of their constitutional right to freedom and security of person.

Langa’s lawyer Richard Mkhabela argued that the only witness to the accident could not be trusted when he said it had happened on the right hand side of the road.

This was because the witness had lied about Langa trying to flee the scene in a tow truck, while the tow truck driver denied this.

He said the State had not proved that skid marks on the right hand side of the road came from Langa’s vehicle and said his client’s version that he had been on the correct side of the road when the runners entered his path was reasonably possibly true.

Mkhabela submitted the State had not proved its case on the charges of drunk driving and murder or even culpable homicide, and said Langa was entitled to an acquittal.

– SAPA

Johannesburg – Two men have been arrested in connection with an armed robbery at the Pretoria home of Crime Line head Yusuf Abramjee, Gauteng police said on Tuesday.

Police spokesperson Neville Malila said three men were caught in Atteridgeville on Monday and two of them had been positively linked to robberies at two homes in Erasmia, including Abramjee’s.

“They were arrested for a spate of house robberies, burglaries, and hijackings around Pretoria.”

Police seized three stolen cars, two unlicensed firearms, ammunition and money at the men’s homes.

On Friday morning, armed robbers broke into Abramjee’s house, demanded the keys to his BMW and fired shots while they reversed out of the garage.

Earlier that morning, the robbers had targeted another house in nearby Senorita Street, but police interrupted them.

Malila said the men were caught following various leads and tip-offs.

Gauteng police commissioner Lieutenant General Lesetja Mothiba said they were being linked to several cases in the Pretoria area and that more charges could follow.

Abramjee commended residents for blowing the whistle and urged them to continue doing so.

“We must now ensure that the suspects are convicted and punished.”

The men, aged between 22 and 37, would appear in the Atteridgeville Magistrate’s Court on Wednesday on charges including extortion.

They had allegedly tried to buy a docket from the police, said Malila.

– SAPA

Johannesburg – Urgent applications by two groups of informal traders will be heard in the South Gauteng High Court in Johannesburg at 14:00 on Tuesday.

The SA Informal Traders’ Forum and SA National Traders’ Retail Association (Santra) are seeking to interdict the City of Johannesburg and its metro police from removing informal traders from the streets.

Santra’s application was earlier stood down until 11:30.

Just after 11:30, Judge Ramarumo Monama said he would hear both the applications after lunch.

The two groups want to stop the city from demolishing further stalls and want traders to be allowed to resume their work in their previously allocated areas.

According to Michal Johnson, for Santra, the city, in its answering affidavit, called for the matter to be placed on the ordinary court roll.

“(But) it is extremely urgent,” she said outside court.

“People are living day to day without food to eat.”

Urgency

If the city was successful the matter might only be heard next year, she said.

Santra filed a replying affidavit to reassert the urgency of the matter.

Monama is expected to consider the urgency of the applications and whether they should be consolidated, which the city has argued for.

He is also expected to consider an application from an intervening party in the matter.

The applications were launched after the city started registering all traders on the streets. This was because of discrepancies between the allocated stalls on the city’s database and the number of stalls counted on the streets.

The city found that several traders were being allocated smaller areas, creating overcrowding. In addition some stands were being traded and leased illegally.

In front of the court’s main entrance, informal traders and their supporters sang and danced while they awaited the court’s decision.

– SAPA

Johannesburg – It appears the so-called “black caucus” in the DA has put leader Helen Zille firmly in her place, Cosatu in the Western Cape said on Tuesday.

“Helen Zille and the white defenders of the apartheid generational advantage in South Africa were soundly beaten by the black caucus of the DA,” Congress of SA Trade Unions provincial secretary Tony Ehrenreich said.

“Helen Zille and the DA appear to ‘kick her traditional white support base into touch’ at their policy conference in Cape Town over the weekend.”

Speaking at the end of her party’s federal council meeting in Cape Town on Sunday, Democratic Alliance leader Zille said race remained a legitimate measure of disadvantage in South Africa.

Support for BBBEE

She said the conference could be summarised in three broad themes.

“The first is we support BBBEE [broad-based black economic empowerment] that creates jobs… The second is that black advancement benefits everyone. And the third is we support BBBEE when it is broad-based and productive.”

She said this did not imply the party supported the African National Congress’s approach to redress.

Ehrenreich said it would be interesting to see how the DA’s white supporters reacted to what he called affirmative action with a few “frills” becoming part of the party’s policy to attract black voters.

“This poses an interesting dilemma for politics in the Western Cape and politics in the DA in the run up to the general elections.

“Zille is playing a high risk game assuming that whites will not go to another party and that blacks are the most important numbers for their party to secure,” he said.

– SAPA

Johannesburg – The Independent Electoral Commission says it is ready for the by-elections taking place in 22 wards in eight provinces on Wednesday.

“So far so good, we’re getting ready for by-elections,” IEC spokesperson Kate Bapela said on Tuesday.

“It’s quite a big group of by-elections… it’s quite a process.”

She said the IEC was not expecting any difficulties at any of the polling stations.

Eastern Cape

In the Eastern Cape four by-elections would be held after the councillors died.

Ward five and nine in Humansdorp would be contested by the African National Congress and the Democratic Alliance.

Ward five was previously represented by the DA which won 55.72% of the vote in the 2011 local government elections, while ward nine was previously represented by the ANC which won 64.95%.

Ward two in Butterworth would be contested by the ANC, the DA, the Pan Africanist Congress, and the United Democratic Movement. The ward was previously held by the ANC, which won with 49.07% in 2011.

Ward 13 in Alice, which was being contested by the ANC and PAC, was previously held by the ANC, which won the ward with an overwhelming majority of 95.97%.

Free State, Gauteng

In the Free State, ward eight in Bothaville was uncontested, with the ANC’s Pini Ruth Ramaele the only candidate. The party’s previous councillor died.

Two by-elections would take place in Gauteng.

Ward 96 in Ekurhuleni was being contested by an independent candidate, the African Christian Democratic Party, the ANC, the Inkatha Freedom Party, the National Freedom Party, and the PAC. The ward was previously represented by the ANC, which won it in 2011 with 83.08%, but became vacant when the councillor resigned.

Ward 12 in Vereeniging would be contested by the ANC and the PAC.

The previous ANC councillor died. The party won the ward in 2011 with 87.33% of the vote.

KZN

Five by-elections would be held in KwaZulu-Natal.

Ward 70 in Durban, which used to be represented by the Minority Front, was being contested again by the party, the ACDP, the ANC, the Congress of the People, the DA, and the IFP.

The Minority Front won the ward in 2011 with 43.75% with the DA coming in second with 33.48%.

Ward eight in Ladysmith would be contested by the ANC, the IFP, the National Democratic Convention, and the NFP. The ward was previously represented by the ANC, which won with 69% in 2011, but became vacant when the councillor died.

Ward two in Bergville would be contested by the ANC, the IFP, and the NFP. The previous NFP councillor resigned. The party won the ward in 2011 with 39.29% beating the ANC by 1.9%.

Ward three in Dundee would be contested by an independent candidate, the ANC, the IFP, and the NFP. The ANC had previously won the ward with 51.05% but its councillor died.

Ward 14 in KwaMbonambi would be contested by the ANC, the IFP, and the NFP. The ward was previously represented by the ANC, which had 83.92% in 2011, but the councillor resigned.

Limpopo, Mpumalanga

In Limpopo, ward eight in the Modimolle municipality would be contested by the DA and the Freedom Front Plus. The ward was represented by the DA and became vacant when the councillor died.

The DA had received 63.18% of the vote in 2011 while the FF Plus received 5.17%.

Five by-elections would take place in Mpumalanga.

Ward 16 in Piet Retief would be contested by the ANC and the NFP. The ANC received 76.84% of the vote in 2011. The ward became vacant after the ANC councillor resigned.

Ward 22 in Emalahleni would be contested by the ANC and the DA. This was after the DA councillor resigned. The DA won the ward in 2011 with 55.49%.

Ward six in Sabie would be contested by two independent candidates and the ANC. The ward was previously held by the ANC, which won with an overwhelming 94.42%, but the councillor resigned.

Wards 21 and 34 in Mbombela would be contested by an independent candidate, the ANC, and the PAC.

Both wards became vacant when the previous ANC councillors resigned. The ANC won ward 21 with 95.17% and ward 34 with 94.04% of the vote.

North West, Northern Cape

Two by-elections would be held in the North West.

Ward one in Koster was uncontested, with Canney Thabo Jacobs of the ANC the only candidate. The previous ANC candidate resigned.

Ward six in Lichtenburg would be contested by the ANC, the DA, and the FF Plus. The ward was represented by the DA, which won with 73.54% of the vote in 2011, but the councillor died.

Two by-elections would be held in the Northern Cape.

Ward nine in Kimberley would be contested by the ANC and the PAC. This was after the ANC councillor died. The ANC won the ward in 2011 with 83.44%.

Ward four in Kathu would be contested by the ANC and the DA. The ANC won the ward with 53.36% in 2011. However, the councillor died.

– SAPA

Johannesburg – Kaizer Chiefs Football Club has confirmed that a car, which was hijacked in Johannesburg central, has been found in the parking bay of one its players.

“Yes, we can confirm that. The player is dealing with the matter,” said club spokesperson Vina Maphosa on Tuesday.

“It is a private matter.”

He declined to say whether the car had been found in the club’s parking bay, or the player’s residential parking bay.

“You can find that out from law enforcers.”

Police spokesperson Lungelo Dlamini said the car was found at a complex in Meredale, south of Johannesburg.

“We are still investigating whether the owner of the residence could be linked to the hijacking. I cannot comment about who is the owner.”

In mid-November, a family was hijacked at the corner of Commissioner and Crown streets in central Johannesburg.

At the time, police said a car overtook the family’s silver Toyota Rav4 as they were waiting at the intersection, and parked in front of it.

Another car parked behind it and cornered them. The crime was caught on closed circuit television footage.

Four men, two armed, confronted the family. They also took two cellphones and R10 000 in cash.
Four days later, police arrested four men in connection with the crime.

The case against Siphelele Mdlalose, 29, Khanyisani Ngubane, 24, Mhlonishwa Mchunu, 36, and Ntobeko Hlatshwayo, 29, is still pending in court.

– SAPA

Pretoria – Police crime intelligence gathered information that protesting Marikana mineworkers had performed muti rituals and believed they were invincible before the 16 August shootings last year.

Brigadier Adriaan Calitz told the Farlam Commission of Inquiry in Centurion on Tuesday that even though the strikers believed they were invincible police had to intervene to curb the violent strike.

“We had received intelligence that there was this story around the muti and these people believed that the police would not be able to do anything to them. They believed that their [police] weapons would not be able to do anything.

“The police are being subjected to such things on a daily basis, for example in the cash-in-transit robberies. People use muti and believe that nothing will happen to them. At the end of the day, we had to act,” he said.

Calitz was one of the police commanders assigned to the operation during the labour unrest at Lonmin’s platinum mining operations at Marikana, near Rustenburg in North West last year.

‘These methods work correctly’

He said the police had been threatened and told to leave the Marikana koppie (hill), where the strikers had gathered, six times in the hours before the shooting.

Ishmael Semenya, for the police, asked Calitz to explain whether police were sure that methods like verbal orders, use of stun grenades, water cannon, rubber bullets, and the display of force would not have caused the protesters to disperse from the koppie.

Calitz said: “From my own experience based on around 20 years in charge of the POP (public order policing), it is not the first time I was giving instructions for dispersal. These methods [the water cannon, stun grenades, and verbal orders] always work correctly.

“People [protesters] take the easiest way out to avoid being shot or being arrested.”

He rubbished claims that the mineworkers “misunderstood” the purpose of barbed wired, which led to the chaotic confrontation.

“It [the rolling out of barbed wire] was not misunderstood. The purpose of the barbed wire had been explained to them. It [the confrontation] was a deliberate action by protesters,” said Calitz.

On Monday, Calitz told the commission he was unaware that mineworkers “lying around” after the encounter with police were dead.

Tactical response team

In a sworn statement submitted to the commission, Calitz testified that due to the noise around the koppie, he had not heard the police tactical response team (TRT) firing live ammunition at the strikers.

“I contacted LieutenantColonel [Solomon] Vermaak on radio and inquired from him why the TRT was not following our dispersal action. He said he would go and check and later reported that the TRT were at the kraal and there were bodies lying around,” said Calitz.

“I thought, given my experience and the absence of such a report to me, that the bodies referred to people who were injured by the dispersion action or lying down to be arrested.”

Calitz detailed how he instructed officers to pursue protesters who were escaping in the northern and western directions. He urged the officers to arrest the fleeing protesters.

“I gave clear instructions over the radio to the dispersion group [police officers] ‘do not shoot unless the target engages you’. I repeated the instruction to ensure that members understood me clearly,” said Calitz.

“The shooting I was referring to [meant the use of] rubber rounds and not sharp ammunition. They were to use rubber only as a last resort if the armed strikers approached them with dangerous weapons.”

The three-member commission led by retired judge Ian Farlam is holding public hearings. The other commissioners are senior advocates Bantubonke Tokota and Pingla Hemraj.

– SAPA

Johannesburg – South Africa’s biggest union is considering pulling out of the ANC-aligned Cosatu labour federation to form its own political entity, a split that could hurt the ruling party in next year’s elections, senior union sources said on Tuesday.

The National Union of Metalworkers of South Africa (Numsa) is increasingly at odds with the African National Congress (ANC) and Cosatu – part of an official, three-way governing alliance that also includes the Communist Party – over labour policies it says are too pro-business.
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North West Premier Thandi Modise has commended the community for apprehending a suspect for the alleged rape of a 78-year- old granny in Maphoitsile village near Taung. The 31-year old suspect who was handed over to police is expected to appear in the Taung Magistrates Court tomorrow.

In condemning the incident and calling for no bail for the arrested suspect, Premier Modise said that it is shocking that alleged rape committed by a parolee happened on the first day of the 16 Days of activism on no violence against women, children and people with disabilities.

“It is shocking that this despicable act happened to an elderly woman who was known to the alleged perpetrator. We call on our rural communities to unite against the scourge of gender based violence and to take active steps to protect our grannies,” said the Premier.

She said it was clear that South Africa was faced with a very serious problem that needs to be confronted through concerted efforts by all members of society and wiped out.

According to police the granny was gathering firewood when she was allegedly accosted by the suspect and raped at about 2 pm yesterday. The granny told her son about her ordeal who alerted members of the community.

The suspect was subsequently apprehended by members of the community who found him drinking at a shebeen around 8pm.
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