Pietermaritzburg – A doctor, who testified that three people died of heat stroke after taking part in a KwaZulu-Natal Road Traffic Inspectorate (RTI) fitness test, changed her evidence on Tuesday.

Dr Carolyn Lee said she was not certain of her conclusion, after the transport department presented the blood and pathology results of the three participants.

She was testifying in Pietermaritzburg in an inquiry into the deaths of eight people, who took part in a 4km run at the city’s Harry Gwala Stadium in December. It formed part of a fitness test for RTI job applicants.

More than 34 000 people qualified to apply.

A total of 15 600 applicants attended a fitness test on 27 December and a similar number on 28 December.

Lee was the head of the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) at Grey’s Hospital.

She assessed two of the participants who died, Lungile Wambi and Ntuthuko Sibisi.

Lee did not assess a third victim, Bongiwe Mbatha, but made her findings based on medical notes she received from Edendale Hospital.

Lee said Sibisi might have suffered severe dehydration and had the precondition of diarrhoea. Wambi had multiple cardiac arrests and low blood pressure, which explained the dehydration he had, she said.

In Wambi’s case heat stroke was lower down on the list of possibilities. Mbatha had features of heat stroke, but may have had an underlying, pre-existing condition.

Weather conditions

Advocate Ravenda Padayachee for the department, said an expert would testify that if weather conditions were not conducive for fit people to participate in a 3.8km run, a 20% fatality rate of people with no pre-existing condition was expected.

He said genetics played a large part in someone surviving a 3.8km run in hot weather.

Lee said it was possible some of the participants could have had pre-existing conditions.

Padayachee said he would call a witness who would testify that Sibisi died of fluid overload.

Lee said the fluid replacement given to Sibisi was not unusual in dealing with someone who was dehydrated.

She said a healthy person would not die from 8l of fluid as they would excrete it as urine.

Padayachee said Grey’s Hospital had failed to cool Sibisi down, even though it was suspected she had heat stroke.

– SAPA

Johannesburg – Two children, two men, and a woman were killed when a bakkie and a truck collided in KwaDukuza, KwaZulu-Natal, on Tuesday evening, paramedics said.

Two people, including a 10-year-old girl, were critically injured in the collision on the R102 shortly before 20:00, Netcare 911 spokesperson Chris Botha said.

Three others sustained serious injuries. The cause of the accident was unknown.

– SAPA

Johannesburg – Ousted Tlokwe ANC mayor Maphetle Maphetle will return to the North Gauteng High Court in Pretoria on Wednesday, in another bid to regain control of the municipality.

Maphetle was supposed to have vacated his office by 10:00 on Tuesday by order of Judge Neil Tuchten.

On Monday Tuchten dismissed an application to nullify the council meeting at which Maphetle was unseated on 2 July.

But, when newly-elected DA Mayor Annette Combrink arrived to take office on Tuesday, Maphetle would not leave, saying he was going to appeal.

“Maphetle Maphetle is occupying that office because the ANC has decided to appeal against that judgment,” ANC North West spokesperson Kenny Morolong said.

North West DA spokesperson Tiaan Kotze said: “The DA has not received any [legal] papers yet. What they are doing is absolutely illegal.”

Meanwhile, the DA sent for the sheriff of the court to enforce the order. But later on Tuesday, Morolong said an application for leave to appeal had been filed in the north Gauteng High Court in Pretoria.

“The ANC is ready to exercise its right to appeal,” Morolong said.

“We believe the convening of that council meeting was inconsistent with what we call rules of order at the Tlokwe local council.

The mayor is hard at work. His focal point is service delivery. He is unfazed by this development.”

DA Councillor Hans-Jurie Moolman said the party would oppose the application, set down for 10:00 on Wednesday. Maphetle and Tlokwe speaker Barei Segotso had sought to have the meeting at which Combrink was voted in nullified.

The ANC’s North West provincial disciplinary committee expelled 14 of its councillors during the controversy.

– SAPA

After a memorable 2012/13 season for Platinum Stars, the team is looking to carry their form from last season into the new campaign.

With the Absa Premiership staring this weekend, where Dikwena take on Wits, they will face Free State Stars at the quarter-final stage of this year’s MTN8, on August 10, at the Royal Bafokeng Sports Stadium.
For more http://www.soccerladuma.com

Orlando Pirates will face SuperSport United in the quarter-finals of the MTN8 at the Mbombela Stadium, on Sunday August 10, as they begin their quest for silverware in the 2013/14 PSL campaign.

Bucs last clinched the trophy in 2011, on the back of triumphant 2010 campaign, which saw them win the lucrative MTN8 in two consecutive years.
Source: http://www.soccerladuma.com

The Chamber of Mines has declared a dispute with the trade union AMCU, after talks on a new pay deal stalled, a newspaper reported on Tuesday.

This meant the talks now fell under the auspices of the Commission for Conciliation, Mediation and Arbitration (CCMA) and two facilitators, the newspaper reported.

The Association of Mineworkers and Construction Union (AMCU) had reportedly tabled a 150% increase for entry-level underground workers.

“It was quite clear that we were at a stage where we could say we were not making progress from either side,” the chamber’s chief negotiator Elize Strydom was quoted as telling the newspaper.

“We were not going to move on our offer and they have no further proposal, so we declared a dispute with AMCU and we’ll refer the matter to the CCMA.”

AMCU president Joseph Mathunjwa reportedly said that he was not aware the chamber had declared a dispute, and that AMCU believed it was “premature to run to the CCMA”.
For more http://www.sabc.co.za

Public Protector Advocate Thuli Madonsela has paid a surprise visit to the Butterworth Community Clinic in the Eastern Cape.

The sister in charge of the clinic has highlighted some of the challenges facing them.

There is a shortage of staff, medicine and equipment, she said.

The clinic, which sees an average of 300 patients a day, plays a key role in taking care of the local people who would otherwise
have to seek medical attention at hospitals.

Madonsela is in the area to hold National Stakeholder Dialogue and Public Hearings.

The dialogue aims to strengthen government’s ability to deliver on the Millennium Development Goals, with particular focus on
health and poverty eradication.
For more http://www.sabc.co.za

Construction has not yet resumed at Eskom’s multi-billion rand power plant, Medupi, in Lephalale, Limpopo.

Workers downed tools last week in protest over travel allowances.

The trouble-hit Medupi power station had its timeline to provide electricity postponed from December this year to mid next year.

The delays were brought about by work stoppages related to labour unrests and shoddy work by some contractors.

The usually busy Medupi site is deserted – with only unmanned cranes visible.

The site has been closed for construction since Wednesday last week. During last weeks’s violent protest, about 20 workers were injured, five vehicles burnt and cranes damaged.

The unions’ representatives and the Medupi site management are in a meeting to resolve the dispute.
For more http://www.sabc.co.za