Johannesburg – A policeman has been killed in a shoot-out in Elliotdale, outside Mthatha, Eastern Cape police said on Wednesday.

“It is with great sadness to report that one of our members paid the highest price in service of the people of the Eastern Cape,” said police spokesperson Marinda Mills.

She said Warrant Officer Rodges Sithelo and a colleague responded to a robbery at Boxer Super Store around 09:00 on Tuesday.

“Indications are that the two police officials assumed that all the suspects were inside the business premises.”

Mills said they noticed too late that one of the robbers was hiding outside the business entrance, and he started firing at them.

“A shoot-out ensued, as the other three suspects joined in the attack on the two police officials,” she said.

Sithelo and one of the gunmen was killed. Another gunman was wounded and was now under police guard.

“Two of the four suspects managed to flee the scene with an undisclosed amount of cash,” said Mills.

Police seized an AK-47 assault rifle and an R1 rifle.

Mills said a task team had been established to track down the remaining robbers.

“We want to extend our most sincere condolences to his beloved, family, friends, colleagues and all the people who shared his life,” said acting provincial commissioner Major General Chris Ntantiso.

– SAPA

Pretoria – Public Protector Thuli Madonsela on Wednesday dismissed claims that she plans to release her Nkandla report in March with hopes of influencing next year’s general elections.

“I never said the report would be released in March next year,” she told reporters in Pretoria.

“I said I was trying to have the report released by the end of the year, but the likelihood is that it will be released in January 2014.”

Madonsela said statements by her office consistently said the report would be released at the latest by mid-January.

ANC secretary general Gwede Mantashe on Tuesday demanded the speedy release of the final report pertaining to the upgrades of President Jacob Zuma’s Nkandla homestead.

Mantashe said releasing the report late could be seen as a delaying tactic and a political ploy to create negativity around the image and the integrity of Zuma and the ANC.

Madonsela said that as protector she had no role in politics and harboured no intentions of channelling voters in certain directions at next year’s polls.

She said the right to choose who governed the country was a fundamental part of the Constitution and something she would not tamper with.

“It is not for the public protector to advise or influence the exercise of the people of South Africa’s rights to choose political parties they would like to govern them,” she said.

“I am certain that this is a right the people of South Africa are fully aware of and I believe it is a right they would guard jealously against any interference. I have no intention or interest to interfere with this right and have never done so.”

She said she would ask for a meeting with the ANC. An earlier meeting scheduled with the party was postponed.

Had the two sides met, misinformed statements made by the party would have been avoided, Madonsela said.

– SAPA

Johannesburg – Leaks of incomplete reports by Public Protector Thuli Madonsela’s office happen regularly and prejudice its work, the ANC said on Wednesday.

“These leaks, that have become a regular feature in recent times, have the effect of not only undermining and prejudicing the integrity and the work of the public protector’s office, but also [of] harming the image and the standing of those who are being investigated,” ANC spokesperson Jackson Mthembu said in a statement.

“We also welcome that the public protector agrees that, as the ANC, we had every right to be gravely concerned with the leaks regarding her investigation into the security upgrade at Nkandla and other investigations undertaken by her office before they are finalised.”

He said he knew Madonsela shared the party’s concern that any leaks of any incomplete investigation could erode the standing and integrity of her office.

Mthembu recalled three other incomplete reports that were recently leaked. They concerned Independent Electoral Commission chair Pansy Tlakula, former communications minister Dina Pule, and Agriculture Minister Tina Joemat-Pettersson, he said.

“Our view and our take is that the final responsibility rests with her office on any leakage of incomplete investigations by her office,” said Mthembu.

He said Madonsela’s statement that she did not have the capacity to take those involved in the leakage to court, was an issue about which everyone should be concerned.

On Wednesday, Madonsela defended herself against claims that her office leaked the Nkandla provisional report.

“From where I’m sitting, I have no reason to suspect the leak is from my office. What do we benefit from leaking it to you [media]? It doesn’t make sense to me,” she told reporters

Madonsela said her office had had the Nkandla report since March, but that nothing was leaked.

It details her investigations into the R206m upgrade to President Jacob Zuma’s homestead of Nkandla in KwaZulu-Natal.

Releasing report

Mthembu said the ANC was happy there was no disagreement between the party and Madonsela that the report be released as soon as it was finalised.

“The ANC wants to assure all people of South Africa, including the office of the public protector, that there was no intention and there will never be any intention on the part of the ANC to inhibit the work of the public protector,” he said.

“We expect her to do her work without fear, favour or prejudice. We have on numerous occasions defended and stood by her final reports and recommendations, indicating our respect for the work of her office.”

He said the ANC welcomed Madonsela’s intention to meet for talks.

– SAPA

Johannesburg – The bail application by Czech fugitive Radovan Krejcir and three co-accused was postponed by the Palm Ridge Regional Court on Wednesday.

Magistrate Reginald Dama said it would resume at 08:00 on Friday when investigating officer Mashudu Freddy Ramuhala would testify.

Krejcir, Desai Luphondo and two members of the Hawks, Warrant Officers Samuel Modise Maropeng and George Jeff Nthoroane, are applying for bail.

They were arrested last month and face charges of assault, kidnapping and attempted murder.

Maropeng and Nthoroane are attached to the Hawks organised crime unit in Germiston.

They submitted through their lawyer Francois Roets, that the State had no case or evidence against them.

They denied the charges and that they had threatened witnesses.

Luxury cars, properties

Roets said it was not true that Maropeng owned four luxury cars and four properties.

Dama asked why there was no further evidence, such as documentation, from the traffic department to support the State’s claims.

Prosecutor Louis Mashiane said the State stood by its submissions regarding Maropeng.

Mashiane contended that the accused should not be granted bail as they were accused of threatening several witnesses.

“The accused have threatened to eliminate the witnesses. Hence our submission that they should not be granted bail.”

Maropeng and Nthoroane would be free to get to witnesses in their line of duty, he said.

He said Krejcir could flee to the Seychelles with his family if granted bail.

His wife Katerina Krejcirova and their son had “conveniently” returned to South Africa from overseas a day before the bail application could continue.

“This is a man well-equipped to flee at any time. It is on record that the family have several passports, some in assumed names.”

Assault claims not new

He said Krejcir’s claims of assault by the police were not new.

Krejcir had a trend of claiming assault whenever he had to face the law.

These dated back to 2007, during Krejcir’s application to oppose his extradition, when he allegedly made similar claims but would not lay charges.

Earlier, Dama turned down an application by the defence to access the police docket.

The docket contains an apparent confession by Luphondo to the police.

Andre Steenkamp, for Luphondo, said his client had been unlawfully arrested, assaulted and had made the confession under duress.

Dama ruled that handing over the confession to the defence would prejudice the State and he turned down the defence’s request.

He also turned down an application by the State to submit an affidavit in response to a statement made in reply by the defence.

Mashiane had claimed to have been ambushed with allegations by the defence and contended that he had a right to reply. The defence objected.

– SAPA

Johannesburg – One in 10 young South Africans trust the police, according to a survey by consumer rights company Pondering Panda.

“It’s very concerning how few young South Africans trust the police – the majority only trust them in certain situations, and as many as a third don’t trust the police under any circumstances,” spokesperson Shirley Wakefield said in a statement on Wednesday.

“If younger people feel they can’t trust the police, or rely on them, they are more likely to take matters into their own hands – as we have seen in the vigilantism that continues to occur in communities across South Africa.”

Pondering Panda interviewed 3 991 people, between the ages of 18 and 34, across the country by cellphone between 4 and 11 November.

Eleven percent of respondents said they trusted the police most or all of the time. Fifty-three percent said they only sometimes trusted the police, and 33% said they never trusted the police.

The survey found that responses to the question differed only slightly among race groups.

“Younger coloured and black South Africans were the least likely to trust the police, with 10% and 11%, respectively, saying they trusted the police most or all of the time,” the company said.

“In comparison, whites were more trusting, with 15% saying they trusted the police.”

By province, respondents were most trusting of the police in Limpopo and the Eastern Cape, with 17% of respondents in each province saying they trusted the police most or all of the time.

Respondents in Gauteng were the least trusting of police, with just seven percent saying they trusted them.

Trust in the police was also low in KwaZulu-Natal (8%) and the North West (9%).

Wakefield said that if the government wanted to restore faith in the police, it needed to improve police discipline and training, and show that communities could turn to the police for help.

– SAPA

Johannesburg – The State has no case or evidence against two members of the Hawks, the Palm Ridge Regional Court heard on Wednesday.

“Accused three and four have been accused of threatening witnesses by the investigating officer… no such evidence was presented by the State implicating them directly or indirectly,” submitted their lawyer Francois Roets.

Hawks members Warrant Officers Samuel Modise Maropeng and George Jeff Nthoroane were applying for bail with Czech fugitive Radovan Krejcir and estate agent Desai Luphondo. They were arrested last month and face charges of assault, kidnapping, and attempted murder.

Roets argued that the policemen were not a flight risk and should be granted bail. They denied any involvement in the alleged crime.

‘Cop doesn’t own a Maserati’

Roets said there was no truth in the State’s allegation that Maropeng owned four properties and four luxury cars. His client owned only one property and was renting in Germiston, on the East Rand.

“My client only owns the Nissan Navara and not a Maserati, Range Rover and a Mercedes-Benz as stated before this court.”

Maropeng was a widower and looked after seven children.

Roets said Nthoroane’s wife was also a member of the police. Nthoroane denied threatening any witnesses, he said.

“My clients are members of the police, have no previous convictions… they are not streetwise thugs.”

He asked why his clients were arrested five months after the alleged crimes were committed in June.

Willie Vermeulen, for Krejcir, told the court his client would not leave the country or threaten any witnesses if he was granted bail. Krejcir also denied the charges against him.

Earlier, Luphondo’s lawyer said his client was a sole breadwinner who looked after eight children, and should be granted bail.

“The State alleged he is a drug-pusher, but [he] has not been charged or arrested for such drug allegations.”

Drug smuggler

He said there was only one complainant in the case, and that the State had resources such as the witness protection service to ensure he was not harmed.

The State alleges that Krejcir, Luphondo, Maropeng and Nthoroane, were involved in the kidnapping and assault of a man whose brother was recruited to smuggle drugs through OR Tambo International Airport to Australia. The alleged smuggler, known as Doctor, worked at the airport.

He disappeared after handing airport clearance receipts to Luphondo. The consignment did not reach Australia.

The bail hearing continues.

– SAPA

Cape Town – If it becomes clear that President Jacob Zuma misled MPs over spending on his Nkandla residence, the DA will move to have him impeached and removed from office.

“I absolutely will. Absolutely,” Democratic Alliance parliamentary leader Lindiwe Mazibuko told reporters at Parliament on Wednesday.

She was responding to a question on what she would do if Public Protector Thuli Madonsela’s yet-to-be-released report on the controversy over upgrades worth R206m at Zuma’s private Nkandla homestead in KwaZulu-Natal contained findings that he had misled Parliament.

Motion

Mazibuko said the Constitution enabled the impeachment of a president through a motion tabled in Parliament.

“It would require the putting together of an ad hoc committee to investigate whether or not the president deliberately misled the House. The critical word here is deliberately,” she said.

In March Zuma told Parliament he was never informed about the costs of renovations to his homestead.

Mazibuko said she would have an opportunity, as the initial complainant, to read Madonsela’s report in January. She would also have an opportunity to make an input to the final document.

Once this was tabled, “if it becomes clear that the president did deliberately mislead the House, then I will certainly move an impeachment against him”.

Asked how easy this would be, she suggested the African National Congress would try to block such an attempt.

ANC caucus

“I certainly don’t anticipate that it will be a picnic. I am quite sure that, given the ANC’s record of placing the protection of the government and President Zuma above all things, that the ANC caucus in Parliament will be reluctant.

“But I think, in the face of a report by an independent Chapter Nine institution which, if it implicates the president in misleading the House, will be prima facie evidence, it’ll be very hard, legally, for the ANC to argue that we cannot so much as investigate this matter.”

Mazibuko said she was confident that “at the very least we’ll be able to assemble an ad hoc committee to investigate… I cannot see how it can be legitimately blocked”.

While this would not be easy, the rules and Constitution were on the DA’s side.

“And at the very least, Parliament has a duty to investigate if it is alleged that he did mislead us.”

Questioned on the impeachment process, she said it was necessary to raise the motion, which would then appear on the parliamentary order paper.

The establishment of an ad hoc multi-party committee to investigate the matter should be automatic, she said.

Report

Asked if she believed Zuma knew what was going on at Nkandla, she said that while she did not know the answer, it was hard to believe he did not.

“It’s very, very unlikely you could come home… [during recess] and find 31 new houses being built around your house, and not ask yourself how much does this cost, and who is responsible for it… I find it very hard to believe… he had absolutely no questions about what was happening at his home,” Mazibuko said.

Following the publication at the weekend of details from a leaked copy of Madonsela’s provisional report, and amid mounting criticism of Zuma, the ANC on Tuesday called on her to release the full report.

“As the ANC, we… demand that the final report, not leaked snippets, is released to the public with immediate effect by the office of the public protector,” ANC secretary general Gwede Mantashe told reporters at the party’s Luthuli House headquarters in Johannesburg.

– SAPA

Johannesburg – The mechanical engineer who drove into a group of joggers in Midrand two years ago, killing five of them, regretted the loss of life, his pastor testified in the North Gauteng High Court in Pretoria on Wednesday.

Pastor Sakhile Sibeya testified that he had unsuccessfully tried to make contact with the families of the victims to convey Sibusiso Langa’s remorse.

Langa was found guilty last month on five charges of culpable homicide and one of drunk driving.

Sibeya said Langa had told him he would be willing to consider some form of financial contribution to the families of the victims.

Asked if Langa was willing to take responsibility for driving drunk and killing five people while driving on the wrong side of the road, Sibeya said they did not talk about this.

“He communicated regret for the loss of life, that he had remorse and that this incident had affected him terribly,” he said.

Mashudu Mills, whose daughter Given died in the accident, laughed when she heard this evidence.

She testified that her daughter was a passionate runner who had won 53 medals, including one in the Comrades marathon and two in the Soweto marathon for which she was training when she died.

She had a business management and marketing degree and was a sales manager at Protea Hotels at the time of her death.

She was an enthusiastic, lovable person whose friends called her “Diva” because of her love of drama and life. They still celebrated her birthday every year.

“All I see is a man who has no remorse at all. All I see is a man who holds a mirror in his hand. All he sees is himself,” she said.

‘He deserved to be sent to jail’

Her daughter had adopted a younger sibling’s child, who now had to be raised by her grandmother.

Mills still felt that Langa had murdered her daughter and said he deserved to be sent to jail so that South Africans would know they did not have to fear being knocked down from behind while running.

She said she would not accept Langa’s insistence that what happened was just a tragic accident.

“After two years, it’s not a sorry. It’s just words,” she said.

Reneilwe Lesenyeho’s younger sister Nkhotseng testified that the family had lost a friend, breadwinner and mother figure with the death of her sister, who was a chemical engineer employed as a senior project manager.

Lesenyeho had been supporting her and the 4-year-old child of a family member, and life without her was a tragedy, she said.

She had tried to reach out to Langa, and had even gave him her telephone number in an effort to obtain closure, but was rebuffed every time.

Isaac Tlale’s wife Kgomotso was eight months pregnant with their second child when her husband was killed.

He was an electrical engineer who had just been promoted to director of his company.

Tlale said in a statement her husband’s death had changed her life drastically overnight.

She battled with depression and had become a single working mother who had to raise two toddlers on her own.

No remorse

Seeing Langa in court without any sign of remorse had brought back all her anger and hatred for him, she said.

Tlale was contemplating selling her house because she lived near the accident scene, and had to pass the place where her husband died every day.

Nomvula Dumako’s mother Madiepo said her daughter had loved life and her family.

She had an honours degree in information technology, had worked as a developer, and had planned to do her MBA.

Nomvula’s son was 22-months-old when his mother died, had no recollection of her and would never feel the motherly love her daughter would have given him, she said.

Margaret Mokoatsi was studying for a BCom degree and was working as a specialist in information security at a bank at the time of her death.

She was a breadwinner, supporting her sickly father and unemployed younger brother.

“She was the golden girl to the family. Our hearts will remain sore because she was brutally murdered,” her family said in a statement.

Judge Bert Bam postponed the trial to 11 December for the evidence of a psychologist.

– SAPA

Johannesburg – The Palm Ridge Regional Court turned down the prosecution’s request to submit an additional affidavit on Wednesday in the bail application of Czech fugitive Radovan Krejcir and three others.

Magistrate Reginald Dama made the ruling after the defence objected to the submission of a document containing replies by the State to replies made by the defence.

Willie Vermeulen, for Krejcir, said court rules did not permit a reply to a reply.

“The State stated its case on Tuesday, and all members of the defence replied. The nature of a bail application does not permit this… otherwise, when are we going to end?” he asked.

Krejcir’s co-accused are estate agent Desai Luphondo and Hawks members warrant officers Samuel Modise Maropeng and George Jeff Nthoroane.

They were arrested last month and face charges of assault, kidnapping, and attempted murder.

Andre Steenkamp, for Luphondo, and Francois Roets, for Maropeng and Nthoroane, also objected to the State’s new affidavit.

“Why was this new evidence never presented to the court before? This means we have to reply again and that means the applicants have to spend more time in custody,” Roets said.

Prosecutor Louis Mashiane had asked the court for time to liaise with the investigating officer so he could respond to the defence statements presented earlier.

He told Dama he had been ambushed with all sorts of allegations against the State by the defence and, therefore, had the right to reply.

Mashiane argued that the law permitted that the rules be relaxed when it came to bail applications.

Dama turned down his request.

The bail hearing continues.

– SAPA

Johannesburg – Three people died and three others were injured when three vehicles collided on Sir Lowry’s Pass near Gordon’s Bay in the Western Cape on Wednesday, paramedics said.

“One of the vehicles attempted to overtake and then crashed head-on with another vehicle, flipping the car on top of the other on the N2 just before the lookout point,” ER24 spokesperson Christo Venter said.

Two adults and a child were declared dead on the scene.

One of the occupants sustained critical injuries and was airlifted to hospital.

Two others suffered moderate injuries and were taken to the Helderberg Provincial Hospital by ambulance.

– SAPA