Johannesburg – A court case against six Mpumalanga teachers accused of stealing from their school’s feeding scheme did not go ahead on Tuesday, police said.

The case was expected to take place in the Standerton Magistrate’s Court.

Police spokesperson Leonard Hlathi said the senior prosecutor decided to have the case further investigated before a decision was made on whether to prosecute.

The teachers, from Gugulabasha Primary School in Sakhile, near Standerton, were arrested at the school on 27 November.

Police found groceries meant for the school’s feeding scheme in their cars.

Hlathi said the school was a non-fee school because the parents of most of the children were unemployed.

– SAPA

Pretoria – He was not the monster people claimed he was and never assaulted his wife or her 3-week old baby, a Pretoria man testified in the North Gauteng High Court in Pretoria on Tuesday.

Christiaan (Chris) Oldewage said he could not explain how his stepson, 3-week-old baby Stiaan, sustained a fractured skull, 16 rib fractures, and multiple internal injuries which led to his death on 13 December 2011.

Oldewage’s wife Juanita was arrested with him, but committed suicide in August this year.

He said he thought the bruises on the baby’s head were from being scratched by a cat about a week before.

He later said in cross-examination the injuries were so severe his wife took the baby to hospital.

“The baby’s lips and eyes were swollen. I don’t know what caused it. Maybe he was allergic to the cat,” he said.

Oldewage said on the day before baby Stiaan’s death he had heard a “strange noise” in the baby’s cot.

He woke up his wife to get the baby to hospital, where CPR was started because the baby could not breathe.

He went home early that morning because his 12-year-old brother who was with him was tired. When he returned to the hospital he asked staff why the baby, who looked like he was sleeping, was so cold when he held him.

They told him the boy had already been dead for about half an hour.

“The baby was okay. He was a very good baby. He never cried a lot. I didn’t assault the baby under any circumstances. It is ridiculous to say that I did,” he said.

Oldewage admitted drinking too much after losing his job shortly after the baby’s death, but denied assaulting his wife or stepson.

Motive

In cross-examination by prosecutor Cornelia Harmzen, Oldewage said his wife gave the baby his last bath on the night before his death because he was fairly drunk and did not want to handle the child.

“It’s dangerous to handle a baby when you’re drunk,” he said.

Questioned by Judge Bert Bam, he said only he, his brother and wife had been at home that night. He did not think his brother had assaulted the baby, but it was possible that his wife did.

“There were serious injuries. A skull fracture, broke ribs, brain bleeding. Wouldn’t you have seen it?” Bam asked.

“When he went to sleep nothing was wrong with the baby. He was still quite happy,” Oldewage answered.

Harmzen put it to him that the motive for the murder was that he had a problem with the fact that the baby was not his.

Oldewage said he had accepted the child as his own and had often given it attention, for example playing “airplane” with him. He could not remember if he supported the baby’s neck while doing so.

Dr Christiaan van Wyk testified that the baby was blue and not breathing when he was admitted to hospital.

Doctors struggled in vain for four hours to save him. Van Wyk said he never seen such serious injuries, even in victims of car accidents.

The trial continues.

– SAPA

Johannesburg – Four men have been robbed of their stokvel money outside a bank in Pietermaritzburg, KwaZulu-Natal police said on Tuesday.

Two men confronted Jabulani Mdlalose, 56, and three other members of a stokvel when they left a bank in the city centre on Monday, said police spokesperson Thulani Zwane.

“One of them placed a cloth on Mdlalose’s face and forced him to the ground,” he said.

The robbers took a plastic bag containing R140 300 from Mdlalose and fled in a car.

No arrests had been made.

A stokvel is a group savings scheme, usually run by trusted friends or co-workers, where members contribute a set amount each month and either one member gets the total each month to spend on a personal need, or it is invested and divided among members at an agreed time.

– SAPA

Johannesburg – A photographic portrait of former president Nelson Mandela has been sold for a about R2m, the charity 21 Icons SA Africa said on Tuesday.

The money raised would be donated to the Nelson Mandela Children’s Hospital and the World Wildlife Fund.

The Mandela portrait was sold to a New York private art collector, who did not want to be named. The price was the highest ever fetched for a South African photograph.

“The portrait, by Adrian Steirn, depicts Nelson Mandela’s face reflected in a mirror and was the first of 21 signed portraits of iconic South Africans to be unveiled during the debut season of this three-year project.”

Photographer Steirn said Mandela’s pose in the portrait was intended to convey the 95-year-old former statesman reflecting on his life journey.

“As he reflects on his life, we reflect on his legacy and our future,” he said in a statement.

Portraits of retired Anglican Archbishop Desmond Tutu and former president FW De Klerk would be auctioned at an event in March 2014. The proceeds from these sales would be donated to charities chosen by those depicted in the portraits.

The art collector who bought the Mandela picture said: “In a single frame the photographer has captured the essence of dignity, principle, conviction and courage in this great man…”

The Nelson Mandela Children’s Hospital is being built in Johannesburg and is expected to open late next year.

Mandela’s granddaughter Swati Dlamini said: “To see this beautiful and moving portrait of our father and grandfather, [raise] such a significant sum for causes dear to him is heart-warming for our family.”

Earlier this year, Mandela spent almost three months in hospital for a recurring lung infection before being discharged on 1 September to continue receiving treatment at his home in Houghton.

– SAPA

Johannesburg – The ANC accused Public Protector Thuli Madonsela of being “comfortable” with the leak of parts of her report into President Jacob Zuma’s Nkandla homestead, City Press reported on Tuesday.

The Mail & Guardian on Friday published extracts from the leaked document on the security upgrades at Zuma’s private home.
For more http://www.news24.com

By Obakeng Maje
Vryburg- Police apprehended a 26-year-old suspect on Sunsday at about 03:40am in Akacia Street, Colridge in Vryburg, North West police said.

“It is alleged that a 21-year-old man was stabbed in the chest on the back and wrist after an argument ensued between him and the suspect. The victim died on his way to hospital” colonel Sabata Mokgwabone said.

A murder case has being investigated and the suspect is expected to appear in Vryburg Magistrates’ Court tomorrow.-TDN
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Basetsana head coach, Sheryl Botes said she was happy with the progress made in the last two days as the team prepares for a crucial FIFA U20 Women’s World Cup Canada 2014 first leg qualifier against Tanzania scheduled for 7 December

Several key players are expected to join the team in camp at the Edenvale Football grounds as they continue with preparations for this match.

“In the two days we’ve been together, preparations have gone well and we expect things to shape up once our key players join us this afternoon. The five that will be joining us had club commitments such as the Sasol Championships as well as the USSA games. Somehow this has affected our preparations because we needed to build the team around them. Hopefully in future we’ll have all the players here at the same time.

“But what we’re doing now is preparing these players so that they know what to expect and what to do without the aid of the players that faced Botswana in the first round,” said Botes.

Botes has called in additional players to fill in for the players such as Robyn Moodaly and key players from the Bantwana squad who sustained injuries in the U17 Women’s World Cup qualifier against Zambia played two weeks ago.

“We will be without the services of Robyn who’s recovering from an ankle injury she sustained in the first leg against Botswana. She is also scheduled to write an exam sometime this week and we are hoping she will be ready when we go into the second leg,” said Botes.

The coach added that Drishana and Chamelle were sent for scans to ascertain the extent of injuries they picked up in the qualifier against Zambia.

“I’ve brought in additional players that would cover for them while they are recovering but they are in our plans for future games like the return leg against Tanzania and beyond,” said Botes.

Basetsana were scheduled to play a practice match against Sasol League side, Croesus at the Edenvale Football grounds on Tuesday afternoon to give the technical an overview of what to work on ahead of the first leg against Tanzania.

“We have worked again on our defensive concepts because we’ve got fairly new players in the team, some coming from Bantwana. We need to teach them what to do in terms of defensive and offensive play, which is what we finalized this morning. With our match this afternoon, we are hoping they will apply what we have worked on over the past two days,” added the Basetsana mentor.

Basetsana will face Tanzania in the first leg to be played at the National Stadium in Dar es Salaam on Saturday, 7 December. Kick-off is at 16h00.