Johannesburg – Regulations that curtailed the rights of governing bodies of Gauteng public schools were set aside by the South Gauteng High Court in Johannesburg, Beeld reported on Thursday.

The Federation of Governing Bodies of SA Schools (Fedsas) submitted the application against the Gauteng education MEC and the court ruled on the matter on Wednesday.

Prior to the judgment, the regulations had led to dissatisfaction because the department had attempted to extend school admission application time, placing schools under pressure.

Fedsas’s chief executive Paul Colditz said the ruling was a warning to other provincial education departments.

“The judgment is an indication that provincial departments should plan better or bear the consequences.”

Colditz said he saw the ruling as a victory where the rights of parents and governing bodies to manage the best interests of pupils and to act in the interest of quality education, had been ratified by the courts.

According to the department, the regulations were necessary in order to place students well in advance before the next school year. 

SAPA

Johannesburg – The march by SA Police Service administrative staff will not affect services at the police emergency centre, a police spokesperson said on Thursday.

“The emergency centre is operating normally,” police spokesperson Lieutenant General Solomon Makgale said.

During the morning shift change, a head count was conducted and only 34 people had not reported for duty. 

This was despite the police and Prisons Civil Rights Union (Popcru) saying on Wednesday it was expecting 15 000 workers to be part of the march.

Makgale said they also had other support members on standby to assist.

Popcru said on Wednesday that workers wanted salary levels upgraded for all administrative staff.

“Popcru is demanding, on behalf of these workers, that management should implement a department of public service and administration directive which would upgrade the levels of all admin staff in line with other public service departments,” spokesperson Theto Mahlakoana said.

Makgale said it was disappointing that Popcru had chosen the strike action route as opposed to continuing with negotiations and correctly informing its members about progress made.

“Contrary to the statement made by Popcru, management has implemented the relevant agreement. Steps are planned to address the remaining factors,” he said. 

SAPA

Cape Town – BP Southern Africa CEO Gerard Derbesy has died. He collapsed while playing tennis on Wednesday, according to Eyewitness News.

Debersey became BP Southern Africa’s CEO on September 1 2011. He graduated with a Chemical Engineering degree from the University of Marseille and a doctorate in Chemistry from McGill University, Montreal. 

He subsequently accumulated over 15 years of refining and marketing experience in a variety of roles in continental Europe, the UK and the US, with responsibility for areas including refining, commercial optimisation, supply and marketing, according to BP’s website.

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East London – An Eastern Cape serial killer has said he is sorry for murdering 20 people, many of whom were raped.

On Tuesday Bulelani Mabhayi, 39, plead guilty to all 36 charges levelled against him, which include rape and murder, the Daily Dispatch reported.

If convicted, Mabhayi will be the worst serial killer South Africa has seen in over 15 years.

Mabhayi’s home village Tholeni, in Butterworth, became known as South Africa’s “village of death” under his reign of terror.

“Even to the people of Tholeni and to the citizens of South Africa, I would like to say I apologise and I am very sorry for what I did,” he told the Eastern Cape High Court sitting in Butterworth.

But Mabhayi admitted that if he hadn’t been arrested in August 2012, he would still be raping and killing.

Mabhayi said he killed his victims because they knew him and would be able to identify him, he added.

When asked if one of his victims, who was little more than a year old, could identify him, Mabhayi told the court he killed the child because he was “driven by an evil spirit”.

Mabhayi said he was still of value to society “because I have learnt from this experience and that what I was doing was not right and unacceptable”.

 But he also agreed that he did not have any respect for human life. 

News24

Durban – President Jacob Zuma is an improbable figure to imagine in the role of a Margaret Thatcher cracking down on South Africa’s trade union movement. Yet that is the reality behind the campaign being waged to oust or seriously weaken Zwelinzima Vavi, long-serving general secretary of Cosatu.

For more http://www.iol.co.za

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Johannesburg – President Jacob Zuma’s lawyer has dismissed claims by DA leader Helen Zille that the postponement of Zuma’s application for leave to appeal in the so-called spy tapes saga was “stonewalling”, The Star reported on Thursday.

“That’s nonsense. The fact is that our counsel has engaged the Supreme Court of Appeal [SCA] and as a matter of practice and ethics, they had to give us [the postponement],” lawyer Michael Hulley was quoted as saying.

“It’s a practical issue. People are looking for nonsense.”

Zille said on Wednesday that the postponement revealed “Zuma’s continued cynical use of taxpayers’ money to avoid handing over the ‘spy tapes’.

“After ten years of legal obfuscation, prevarication, evasion and stonewalling, they have still not exhausted all their options.”

Presidency spokesperson Mac Maharaj also reportedly dismissed Zille’s claims.

The appeal would be heard on 6 September at the South Gauteng High Court in Johannesburg. It was initially meant to have been heard on Thursday.

The tapes, transcripts and other documents, relate to a 2009 National Prosecuting Authority decision to drop corruption charges against Zuma.

SAPA

Johannesburg – Pan Africanist Congress (PAC) leader Alton Mphethi will lead a voter registration campaign in Ermelo, Mpumalanga, on Saturday, the party said.

“On Saturday we will be embarking on a campaign to tell the people why they must vote for the PAC, because to do so will be the first step to replace a government that is not responsive to the needs of communities,” Mphethi said on Wednesday.

Mphethi, who was sworn in as the party’s sole MP in Parliament two weeks ago, replaced expelled former leader, Letlapa Mphahlele.

He said the PAC would launch a “serious election campaign” as a first step to realising the objective of winning at least 10 parliamentary seats in next year’s elections.

The PAC, which has been rocked by leadership battles, performed dismally in past elections since 1994, and now has only one seat in Parliament.

Earlier this month, a faction of the divided PAC criticised National Assembly Speaker Max Sisulu for swearing in Mpheti to replace Mphahlele.

Mphahlele was expelled as party president at the end of May after a meeting of its national disciplinary committee.

Mphahlele’s backers then applied for a court interdict to stop Parliament from replacing him.

The faction vowed that legal action would follow.

SAPA

Johannesburg – The salary dispute at the Walter Sisulu University (WSU) will have a detrimental effect on the future of the students, the ANC Youth League said on Wednesday.

“There has been no learning and teaching for over three months now, which means effectively no academic activity has taken place in the second semester of 2013,” said spokesperson Bandile Masuku.

He said the department of higher education and university management had failed to resolve the salary dispute, which was currently in the labour court.

“WSU, like many historically disadvantaged universities, even post mergers, have been plunged into a permanent state of paralysis and crises, most being run by university administrators.”

The university was closed indefinitely on Tuesday following labour problems.

Masuku said the ANCYL called on the parties involved to speedily resolve the dispute as it was not in the best interest of the students.

SAPA

Bloemfontein – A Free State man was jailed for 18 years by the Vierfontein Regional Court on Wednesday for raping a teenager, police said.

Moepeng David Mahloko, 36, was arrested in 2012 for raping a 14-year-old girl in Vierfontein, said Captain Stephen Thakeng.

“He invited the girl to his house and raped her,” he said. The girl reported the matter to the police the same day.

SAPA