North West Premier Thandi Modise has expressed shock that the incident in which a well known dog breeder Eric Labuschane was murdered and his 78-year-elderly mother locked in the bathroom and only discovered after a week. 

Modise said on Saturday the dog breeder’s death outside Rustenburg highlights the need for farmers to keep in regular contact with each other.

“An effective communication network with farmers should be maintained by rural safety co-ordinating structures in order to prevent farm attacks and improve response time in the event attacks occur,” she said.

Modise was reacting to the death of Eric Labuschane.

The farmer lay dead in his farm house for a week while his mother, who has Alzheimer’s, was locked in the bathroom, Beeld reported on Saturday.

Eric Labuschane, aged 51, who bred Great Danes, was found on Thursday, while police only found his 78-year-old mother on Friday, according to the report.

Recluse

Labuschane had been stabbed and assaulted with a rock.

The mother was found sitting in the bath, severely dehydrated and suffering from shock. She was taken to hospital.

Labuschane had been living in the four-bedroom house on Olifants Hoek farm, about 23km outside Rustenburg, since August last year.

He was renting the house from Peter Roberts, son of herbalist Margaret Roberts, according to the report.

Labuschane and his mother were last seen last Wednesday night.

Roberts said Labuschane was a recluse and he was not worried that he had not seen him or his mother.

He said he became suspicious when he saw how thin Labuschane’s dogs were looking.

“I went to the house, there was a bad smell and flies.”

No forced entry

Roberts called the police and they broke down the front door.

They found Labuschane’s body in the main bedroom.

“There was blood all over the walls and Eric was stabbed and beaten with a rock,” said Roberts.

North West police spokesperson Colonel Emelda Setlhako said Labuschane had also been strangled.

It did not look like there was forced entry into the house.

Labuschane had a worker who was also last seen last Wednesday.

A Volkswagen bakkie and two cellphones were missing.

“We wish Labuschane’s elderly mother a speedy recovery and pray for her strength to deal with her loss as she mourns the tragic death of her son,” Modise said.

She called on police not to leave any stone unturned until those responsible were behind bars.

– SAPA

Police in Kimberley in the Northern Cape have started with Operation Paseka, meaning Easter, ahead of the upcoming holidays. 

Police spokesperson Lieutenant Sergio Kock says they visited more than 32 liquor outlets and issued fines where they were found to be in contravention of the law. 

He says about 282 people were searched and several dangerous weapons such as knives and pangas were confiscated. 

Lieutenant Kock added that they are going to continue with the operation during the coming Easter holidays.

“The operation also concentrated on contact crimes against women and children and through the extensive visibility of police vehicles in the Galeshewe area. We also managed to curb the occurrence of rapes and murders,” says Kock.

He says that Operation Paseka is held throughout the Northern Cape Province and will be conducted on an on-going basis during the Easter holidays and beyond.  

“The operation is effected with the main focus of ensuring safety and security of visitors and residents to our province,” added Kock.

The provincial education department yesterday announced its R8.4m plan to turn 26 under performing schools around.

The department has previously implemented a plan to up performance and reports that the number of under performing schools has consistently dropped from 85 in 2009 to 26 in 2012.

For more details go to http://www.thenewage.co.za

 the survival of the party itself but also for the stability and cohesion of society in general, according to President Jacob Zuma.

Speaking at the KwaZulu-Natal provincial general council last week, Zuma said the ANC, which would be marking 20 years of freedom next year, would look back at what it had achieved and urged members to recommit themselves to strengthening and building the party and the country.

For more details go to http://www.thenewage.co.za

The trial of a 16-year-old boy accused of the Griquatown family farm murders continues in the Kimberley High Court on Monday.

The boy stands accused of the murders of Northern Cape farmer Deon Steenkamp, 44, his wife Christel, 43, and daughter Marthella, 14. They were shot dead on the farm Naauwhoek on April 6, 2012.

He pleaded not guilty to all the charges.

Last week, Griquatown farmer Joachim Scholtz told the court he was at a family gathering on his farm when a businessman in town phoned to tell him about the murders.

Scholtz told the court he grabbed his cellphone and called first Deon Steenkamp’s number and then Christel’s – but both went unanswered.

He then took a torch and drove to the Naauwhoek farm, which was 22km from his farm, on the opposite side of Griquatown.

At the farm he asked policemen on the scene if there were any survivors, but they did not know.

After asking permission, he and a policeman entered the house to check whether there were survivors, and found Deon, Christel and Marthella, already dead.

Scholtz testified that security cameras yielded no evidence of the murders.

A camera erected between the Steenkamp farm and Griquatown was not active because it was being moved.

He said a local farm organisation had been in discussion with Deon Steenkamp about finding a place to install the camera near his farm.

Scholtz confirmed during cross-examination that he and three other people went to clean the house on Saturday, April 7, the day after the murders.

He said a blood-stained carpet, which was under Marthella’s body, and Deon’s green Jeep jacket, had been burned because of the amount of blood on them.

Scholtz said he checked with police investigators before destroying the two items. – Sapa

Cape Town – Bafana Bafana coach Gordon Igesund says his side’s crucial 2-0 victory over the Central African Republic (CAR) in their World Cup qualifier will set the tone as they look to book their place in the 2014 showpiece in Brazil.

In his first qualifying game in charge, Bafana played with confidence, and managed to get the ball in the back of the net at Cape Town Stadium on Saturday night.

The win temporarily lifted South Africa to the top of the Group A qualifying table. Ethiopia regained a two-point lead after a 1-0 win over Botswana in Addis Ababa on Sunday, leaving Bafana in second place with five points.

“I’m quietly confident,” Igesund said after his team’s dominant performance.

“At the end of the day I thought we were better than them in every department.

“Our preparation was good and the guys are starting to believe in themselves.”

The hosts were in control throughout, but missed a flurry of late chances which could come back to haunt them later in the qualifying campaign.

Igesund, however, was pleased to secure the victory.

“I don’t think we were careless in front of goal,” he said.

“We beat a team 2-0, playing attacking football and creating at least 10 chances. We could have won 4-0.”

Bafana will next travel to CAR, where another victory could be difficult, though Igesund, buoyed by the win, believed they had the ability to pocket another three points away from home.

“I’m confident in this group of players and we can get a result there.

“We have just under two-and-a-half months before our next match and I need to have another good look at our players.

“Now I can sit down on Monday and plan our way forward.”

Herve Loungoundji, the CAR coach, raised concerns about the refereeing and the behaviour of the SA players after the visitors had a goal disallowed following an apparent handball.

Bafana captain Itumeleng Khune was the key figure in the home team’s intimidating behaviour towards officials, but the skipper stood by his conduct.

“People might question our behaviour on the pitch, behaving the way we did, but it was a clear handball,” Khune said.

“The way it was so crowded in the box, nobody saw anything.

“Even the linesman, as short as he was… and we pressurised him. He was so confused, he didn’t know what to tell the referee. It was a handball.

“That guy (CAR player Romaric Liganzi) was supposed to show good sportsmanship by heading the ball with his head instead of his hand.

“You have to be cruel in this game, because sometimes it’s a cruel game and sometimes you have to bring other elements into the game.”

There was good news for influential midfielder Dean Furman, who left the field just before half-time after a collision in the Bafana area.

Medical staff attempted to strap his head and face, to no avail. He left the field and was taken to hospital, but was later released with no serious injuries. – Sapa

Johannesburg – A retired judge will be appointed to probe allegations of impropriety against South African Revenue Services (Sars) Commissioner Oupa Magashula, Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan said on Sunday.

“I have decided to institute a thorough investigation of the matter,” he said in a statement.

“After consultations with the minister of justice (Jeff Radebe), I will appoint a retired judge to establish whether there was any breach of Sars processes, good governance, the nature of any possible indiscretion and to advise on appropriate remedies where breaches may have occurred.”

The South African Revenue Service said a tape recording in which Magashula appears to offer a job to an associate of a convicted drug dealer revealed nothing scandalous, the City Press reported.

“Sars has no reason to doubt the integrity of the Sars commissioner in either his professional or private life,” Sars spokesperson Adrian Lackay told the Sunday paper. – Sapa

By Obakeng Maje

Ventersdorp-The residents of Ventersdorp and its surroundings has been experiencing lack of water in their area for sometime now.

North West province is one of those where water is a problem and left many residents bristled.

The provincial government came under fire after they were accused of dealing with water issue ineptly by opposition parties.

At one stage, DA wanted to take the provincial government to court.

However residents of Ventersdorp can breath a sigh of relief after the water storage tank built in the area is almost half done.

“The tank will reach its completion at the end of the year. We will provide the residents with 14 million litres of water per day” Lobakeng said. 

The shortage of water in North West province left many businesses and residents alike wracked.

The provincial government is dealing with water issue earnestly as there are now many projects lined-up to curb the problem.

The water shortage once had impact on Marikana Commission last week where it was subsequently adjourned.

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Johannesburg – A woman motorist was arrested at her home after allegedly killing a pedestrian and fleeing the scene, Johannesburg metro police said on Sunday.

“(The JMPD) arrested a 24-year-old woman at her home in Radiokop last night, after she bumped and killed a male pedestrian along Northumberland Road in North Riding at about 9.30pm,” said Chief Superintendent Wayne Minnaar.

The woman allegedly spoke briefly to a man who witnessed the incident, then she drove off.

“The man rode behind her to where she lived and called JMPD who went to the address and arrested the woman.”

The pedestrian was identified and taken to a mortuary.

The woman will appear in the Randburg Magistrate’s Court on Monday. She faces charges of culpable homicide and leaving the accident scene. – Sapa

Johannesburg – Oscar Pistorius’s appeal against his bail conditions will be heard on the same day his older brother Carl is due in another court to stand trial for culpable homicide.

The double-amputee Olympic athlete’s legal team would challenge some of his bail conditions in the high court in Pretoria on Thursday, the family lawyer said. His brother’s trial is set for Wednesday and Thursday in the Vanderbijlpark Magistrate’s Court.

For more details go to http://www.iol.co.za