Krugersdorp – A man has been arrested for raping a 24-year-old woman in Kagiso, near Krugersdorp, police said on Wednesday.

Warrant Officer Solomon Sibiya said the victim identified the man and he was arrested on Tuesday morning.

“He has been in hiding until yesterday (Tuesday) when he was spotted hanging out at the shops.”

The woman and a friend were walking along Thulami Street shortly after 1am on Sunday when a man approached them.

“The suspect allegedly held the two women at knifepoint and further put the knife to the complainant’s neck,” said Sibiya.

One woman managed to escape, but the man forced the other woman to a house, where he raped her.

The 27-year-old would appear in the Kagiso Magistrate’s Court on Thursday. – Sapa

Polokwane – A bail application by five Limpopo policemen accused of beating to death a Nigerian man was postponed by the Polokwane Magistrate’s Court on Wednesday.

Independent Police Investigative Directorate (Ipid) spokesman Moses Dlamini said it would resume on Thursday.

One of the policemen, Clement Tsotsane, was denied bail on Tuesday.

On Wednesday, he appeared with the other four, Lieutenant Boitumelo Ramahlala, 32, and constables Mashiba Mothata, 30, Collins Sekwadi, 38, and Thabo Mabotja, 31.

They are accused of assaulting Onyechiabi Iwuaka while he was visiting a friend last month. His friend escaped the assault. Iwuaka died on the way to the Polokwane police station.

Ipid said the policemen had gone to the friend’s house during an investigating into a case of armed robbery in Mokopane. – Sapa

Bloemfontein – A Bloemfontein man was jailed for 21 years by the Free State High Court on Wednesday, for killing his pregnant girlfriend.

Quewin Coetzee, 31, was found guilty of murdering Celeste Fraser-Carson, 28, last February, National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) spokeswoman Phaladi Shuping said.

He buried her body in a shallow grave near Naval Hill, in Bloemfontein.

“The body was in such a state of decomposition that the cause of death could not be established. The mother of the deceased could only identify her through her underwear and bra,” Shuping said.

Coetzee told the court he went to Naval Hill with Fraser-Carson for an outing. They got into an argument and he gave her coffee containing 24 sleeping tablets.

Fraser-Carson lost consciousness and would not wake up when Coetzee tried to rouse her.

“He got frightened and put her body in the boot of the car,” Shuping said.

He then stripped Fraser-Carson down to her underwear and buried her. Using her cellphone, he texted her mother that she was fine and with a friend, Shuping said.

Coetzee escaped police custody twice before his trial. On March 1 last year he escaped while being taken to show the police where he had left the body.

He was arrested days later in Graaff Reinet, in the Eastern Cape, and was taken to Grootvlei prison in Bloemfontein.

Later that month, Coetzee paid a lawyer R4000 to prepare paperwork which stated that he had been granted bail. He was allowed to leave on the assumption bail had been granted, Shuping said. – Sapa

Johannesburg – Five provinces have recorded a drop in their share of the country’s population in the past 12 years, the SA Institute of Race Relations (SAIRR) said on Wednesday.

Although the country’s population had grown by 18 percent, the Eastern Cape, Free State, KwaZulu-Natal, Limpopo, and North West all currently contributed smaller numbers to the total population than they did in 2001, the SAIRR said in a statement.

“In 2001, KwaZulu-Natal held the biggest share of the total population but is now second to Gauteng,” researcher Thuthukani Ndebele said.

“The Northern Cape’s change in proportion was highest, although it still contributes the least to the whole population.”

The institute obtained the figures from the national census conducted by Statistics SA in 2001 and the 2013 mid-year-estimates.

The statistics reveal that the Eastern Cape made up 14.4 percent of the country’s population in 2001. The number dropped to 12.2 percent this year.

The Free State contributed six percent of the country’s total population 12 years ago. It decreased to 5.2 percent in 2013.

KwaZulu-Natal made up 21 percent of the population in 2001 but recorded a 19.7 percent contribution this year.

Limpopo’s population made up 11.8 percent of the total in 2001, and fell to 10.4 percent in 2013.

The North West contributed 8.2 percent of the country’s population in 2001 but experienced a significant drop to 6.8 percent in 2013.

Gauteng, the province with the largest growth population, contributed 19.7 percent of the country’s population in 2001. The number increased to 24 percent in 2013.

The country’s total population had increased to 52,982,000 in 2013. Twelve years ago the figure was 44,819,778.

Sapa

Johannesburg – The Gauteng education department is investigating reported abuse at a school in Soshanguve, north of Pretoria, an official said on Wednesday.

“We have been told that a homework supervisor made a learner eat food off the ground,” department spokesman Charles Phahlane said.

“We will have a clearer picture when we send a team there tomorrow (Thursday).”

Eyewitness News (EWN) reported that the supervisor allegedly took food from the Kutung Primary School’s feeding scheme, placed it on the floor and ordered a Grade Six pupil to eat it in front of the class.

“We are shocked by these allegations. We view such matters in a serious light,” Phahlane said. – Sapa

Johannesburg – A man was killed in an apparent gang-related shooting in Reiger Park, Boksburg, on Wednesday police said.

Desmond Mannetjie Tombeen was walking at 4pm, when three people in a silver-grey Renault sedan opened fire on him, said Lt-Col Katlego Mogale.

One of the gunmen then got out of the car and shot him again.

Mogale said Tombeen was thought to be a member of the Dougens Gangsters. – Sapa

Bafana need victory over Les Fauves to stay on course for a ticket to Brazil for the 2014 World Cup and Parker believes Bafana are capable of winning their match at Stade Ahmadou Ahidjo in Yaoundé, Cameroon.

“We know it is not gonna be easy, because we don’t have a good history playing away from home but I’m sure we can turn things around.

“The coach is always reminding us what we will be up against,” he tells KickOff.com.

He adds: “The whole nation is backing us so we are confident.”

Source: http://www.kickoff.com

Bafana Bafana head coach Gordon Igesund said on Wednesday he was still very much upbeat despite travelling disruptions that saw the team staying overnight in Douala after failing to get the scheduled connecting flight to Yaoundé yesterday (Tuesday).

Bafana Bafana’s plans were thrown into disarray on Tuesday after their connecting flight to Yaoundé was unexpectedly cancelled and had to alter their plans after they could not proceed to their base camp.

This means the national team can only fully train twice – tomorrow (Thursday) and Friday – before the crunch match on Saturday against Central African Republic (CAR).

“Ideally, I would have liked to be on the training field today (Wednesday) but there is nothing we can do, we have to make the best of the situation. The boys will have a light session in the pool as there is no time to arrange a training pitch. 

“Of course, the swimming pool activity was not part of the plan but we have to keep the players busy. That leaves us with two days of training and I cannot blame anybody. These things happen but it would be quite interesting to know what exactly happened,” said Igesund.

 “The good thing is that before we left, I told the players to be mentally strong and expect such disruptions. But we should not take it to head; we must just continue to be strong and know what task lies ahead. If it was not for team manager Barney Kujane leaving ahead of the team, we would have found ourselves totally stranded.”

The Bafana Bafana mentor believes the Lesotho international match, which Bafana won 2-0, in the bigger scheme of things, has become an important factor. 

“Following that match, we now know what we have to do, and we will do the best we can in the remaining two days. It is a setback that we cannot fit in a third training session but it is not a train-smash. The boys are professionals, and being at the end of the season their fitness levels are very high. Now it becomes even more important that we played the Lesotho match because it gives us a lot of ideas on areas to work on,” added Igesund.

The team will have their first training session in Yaoundé on Thursday afternoon (6 June).