North West Premier Thandi Modise is demanding answers as to why a rape suspect alleged to have raped a nine- year- old Itsoseng girl has not been arrested and why police are allegedly giving conflicting account as to whether a case has been registered or not registered.

“We cannot tolerate a situation where law enforcement is vacillating on a sensitive issue such as rape which has reached unacceptable and alarming proportion. Victims cannot live in fear while perpetrators who are supposed to be behind bars are roaming our streets freely eyeing their next victims,” said Premier Modise on Friday.

Daily Sun newspaper reported that the victim is too scared to leave her house after hearing that the man who allegedly raped her was released by police.

The attacker allegedly came to the victim’s house and gave her sibling R2 and told them to go and buy sweets and when she was alone with him, he kissed her, took off her panties and raped her. The victim was purportedly rescued by a neighbour who heard her screaming.

Although two doctors are alleged to have submitted that they could not find proof that she was raped, Local Councillor Andy Montsho alleged that the girl could not walk for a week after the incident.

According to the article by the newspaper, the girl’s mother died a few years ago and she lives with her grandmother and her siblings.

Johannesburg – The former lead investigator in the Oscar Pistorius case told The Star this morning that foreign media had offered $50 000 (R458 000) for a photograph of the toilet door that the athlete shot through when he killed Reeva Steenkamp on Valentine’s Day.

Hilton Botha said police were being offered extraordinary amounts of money for pictures of the crime scene.

The former policeman, whose resignation from the SAPS was made public last night, confirmed that an officer at Boschkop police station was offered $50 000 for a picture of the door.

Pistorius has testified that after he shot through the locked door, he tried to kick it open and finally smashed it with a cricket bat so that he could get to his girlfriend.

Botha said the offer had been made by an international media house to “an officer Van der Merwe” who worked on the crime scene. He did not know the officer’s first name.

But it wasn’t just the international media that were clamouring for pictures of the inside of Pistorius’s house and the crime scene. Local media were also offering money to police officers.

Police crime scene tape marks the home of Oscar Pistorius.

REUTERS

Botha said he and other officers who worked on the case were offered between R5 000 and R10 000 a picture by local media houses.

He declined to name which media were involved.

“If that happens (the leaking of photographs), both the State and the defence’s cases could be destroyed,” said Botha.

“I decided at that point that all pictures should be sent off to forensics immediately. That way we had no pictures and there could be no leak.”

For more details go to www.iol.co.za

BY Staff Reporter

North West Premier Thandi Modise has expressed shock and called on the public to assist police trace a rapist whose tongue was bitten off by a 12- year- old Tlhabane girl he had abducted and repeatedly raped. Premier Modise commended the grade 7 girl for her courage after learning of her ordeal in “Daily Sun” newspaper on Friday.

“Though it served him right that the teenager bit off his tongue, the heartless criminal should be apprehended and removed from society. He should pay for the trauma and ordeal that he put the young girl through in his quest to satisfy his lust. As long as he is out there young girls and women are not safe,” stressed Premier Modise.

Modise called on police not to leave any stone unturned until the suspect who was recorded on close circuit television approaching the girls at Foro Spar Shopping Mall is behind bars.

The Premier warned women and girls not to accept lifts from strangers or leave their girl children no matter how young with male strangers given the increase in rape incidents.

According to the victim, the man had called her by name and said that he had been sent by her mother who is a police officer to take her to church. Instead of proceeding to church, the perpetrator took her to the bush, beat her with his fists and choked her with her braids.

He had raped repeatedly throughout the night until she passed out, gaining consciousness in the early hours of while he was raping her again. She eventually plucked up courage to bite his tongue when he put his tongue in his mouth to kiss her.

The unconscious young girl was found by a passerby under a bridge after she had managed to crawl to the gravel road.

Efforts by police to trace the suspect at Job Shimakana Tabane Provincial Hospital drew a blank as a person who had registered with a false name and address left the hospital before he could be attended to.

After claiming just a single point in their previous two league outings, Orlando Pirates coach Roger de Sa says victory is crucial in the Soweto derby against Kaizer Chiefs if his side are to defend their league title.

The Buccaneers, who hold a game in hand, fell five points behind AmaKhosi after settling for a draw against Bloemfontein Celtic in a midweek Absa Premiership clash, but De Sa insisted his side were still in control of their destiny ahead of the match at FNB Stadium on Saturday.

“For us, we’re looking for that moment of magic, that game that sort of ignites us once again and maybe sends us off for the final stretch with a good performance. For us, a win is almost a must at this stage,” De Sa said.

“In some ways it’s still in our hands. If we win every game we play we can still finish ahead of Chiefs because we have a game in hand.”

The former Wits coach, chasing his first league title at the helm of Pirates, believed his team would need to take the attacking initiative in the derby.

“We are the ones that are five points behind so we have to take the game to them,” he said. “We know what’s at stake.”

De Sa was not concerned about his side’s defence, which had been shaky in the last two weeks, including a shock 4-1 defeat to amateur outfit Maluti FET College in the first round of the Nedbank Cup.

“That’s football. You can’t keep a clean sheet every game.”

Chiefs coach Stuart Baxter believed the result would play only a small part in the title race, with one third of the leage campaign remaining.

“I don’t think this is the decider, but the win will give one of the teams very strong impetus,” Baxter said.

“It won’t be the decider unless you allow it to be. There’s still too much football to be played.

“Both teams will have difficult games, both teams will have banana skins and slip up at some point.”

Even with a win in the derby encounter, Baxter believed it could prove insignificant to their title ambitions, and they needed to stay focussed on their long-term goals.

“To look at this as the be-all-and-end-all, I’m afraid the winner could lose three on the bounce because they can’t get their head out the clouds.

“This is a very important game, but in many ways it’s going to be a challenge to move forward afterwards.”

Baxter was relieved to welcome back Tsepo Masilela and Bernard Parker, but Lehlohonolo Majoro and Matthew Rusike had been ruled out for the clash.

“People at the beginning of the season were saying that we didn’t have a big enough squad,” he said.

“I’ve been very pleased with the way the squad has stood up.”

De Sa, meanwhile, was still waiting on a decision on the fitness of Siyabonga Sangweni.

      
-Sapa

Leopard Park Golf Club employees and caddies are spending sleepless nights after reports of possible retrenchments and the ultimate closure of the facility.

This is after the club’s holding company allegedly failed to account for its financial expenditures.

An investigations carried by an ad hoc committee established by the provincial standing committee on public accounts (Scopa) found that the company, Signal Development, failed to produce financial statements from 2007 until last year.

Among other woes, the committee was concerned about the assets of the entity and wanted to know the viability of selling it to private investors.

It was also concerned about the money obtained from the sales of erven in phase 1 and the current status of the phase 2 development that was never undertaken.

The club has employed 18 people on the greens including gardeners and has more than 100 caddies who all expressed shock at news of the facility’s possible closure.

“I’ve worked here since 1991 and have four children to look after,” said a 64-year-old gardener, Andries Modise from Tsetse village.

“My appeal to the government is to make plans to save our jobs and keep this club running, otherwise we will be unemployed and our families will starve.”

Eric Kekgaretswe, a caddy, said: “I have a child to look after depending on the money I get on days when the club is busy.

“Sometimes it’s dry and we sleep with empty stomachs. I’ve worked here since 1992 and we ask the government to save this club.”

A club committee member who declined to be named said: “The situation is bad and we are worried because the club could shut down, followed with retrenchments.

“We will not give up but talk to the government for something to be done to sustain the club.”

Signal Development was incorporated by the erstwhile Bophuthatswana government that was the only shareholder in the company tasked to ensure proper maintenance and upkeep of the club.

Committee chairperson Mahlakeng Mahlakeng said it was regrettable because the company was not under any particular department in the province.

Scopa chairperson Hlomane Chauke said: “Heads are going to roll because the club is state owned.

“People used to make money from the sale of the land and we are going to serve them with notices to appear before us and account next week.”

For more details go to www.thenewage.co.za

Johannesburg – Six medical students from South Africa studying on scholarship in Cuba have returned home following a disagreement about their allowance, wasting over R2 million as a result, it was reported on Friday.

The students were more than halfway through their six-year training programme, which cost the government R500,000 a student, the New Age reported.

They decided to quit after going on strike about food and their monthly allowance of R1600, which they wanted increased to around R5 600.

Dr Mzulugile Nodikida, who studied in Cuba, could not understand why the students were complaining about the allowance, as their accommodation and food was free.

Health department spokesman Joe Maila said the department was saddened by the students’ decision.

“Money was the main thing that they wanted, and we made it clear that we were not going to increase their stipend,” he said.

“We are extremely disappointed, as we were doing everything for them. They are unreasonable because the issue of diet was not a big problem.”

Eastern Cape health department spokesman Sizwe Kupelo backed the national department’s decision.

“They (the students) have embarrassed the country and contravened the laws of Cuba,” said Kupelo.

“Most of these students come from destitute backgrounds…. The Eastern Cape has a shortage of doctors and we cannot afford this.”

According to the newspaper, the incident is the first of its kind since the programme began over a decade ago. – Sapa

Archbishop Emeritus Desmond Tutu’s son Trevor has appeared in the Randburg Magistrate’s Court for failing to pay maintenance, it was reported on Friday.

Tutu, 56, appeared in court on Thursday after being released on bail of R1500 last week, The Star reported.

According to court documents, Tutu was in arrears with his maintenance payments and had absconded when sought. It had been difficult to trace him.

It was further reflected on court documents that he had requested a legal aid lawyer, the newspaper reported.

When Tutu took the stand, he had no lawyer to represent him. However, he said he had been told a lawyer was being sent. “I spoke to him literally five minutes ago,” he said. The matter was rolled over until Friday.

According to The Star a Zimbabwean woman now living in Canada took him to court two years ago to force him to pay monthly maintenance of about R5550 for her now 14-year-old son.

The woman reportedly sought help from a Canadian court, which ruled that Tutu pay. The matter was transferred to the Randburg Magistrate’s Court.

However, Tutu failed to appear in court and was caught at a roadblock by Swaziland police, who handed him over to South African authorities.

-Sapa

Political economist Moeletsi Mbeki has filed papers in the High Court in Johannesburg in an attempt to evict his former lover and her children from a Dainfern property, it was reported on Friday.

Shehnilla Mohammed, who has been in an “intimate relationship” with Mbeki since 2005, was fighting his efforts to evict her from the R3 million house they jointly own, the Mail&Guardian reported.

She told the newspaper Mbeki had been trying to drive her out of the house and had launched a court action to evict her.

Mohammed reportedly said this was an attempt to bully her “into submission on his terms and to punish her for taking the decision to end the relationship”.

Mohammed had been Mbeki’s friend for the past 30 years.

According to the Mail&Guardian, in his motion for eviction Mbeki alleged that Mohammed and her children Zayaad Khan, 18, and Feroz Khan, 23, were making his occupation of the house untenable.

Mbeki asked the court to grant him an eviction order.

Mohammed told the newspaper that, as a co-owner of the house, she was entitled to live there until they reached a solution about its disposal on equitable terms.

Mbeki reportedly refused to comment on the matter when contacted by the newspaper.

-Sapa

By Obakeng Maje

Three men and two women who were arrested for defrauding the City cellphone retailers with fraudulent Identity document, appeared briefly yesterday before Kimberley Magistrate’s Court on charges of fraud. 

However the matter has been postponed for further investigation and they will remain in police custody until the next court date on March 15 police said.

“One of the accused was arrested inside the retailer while waiting for the application to be processed. His accomplices were arrested in a Nissan bakkie on the N12 just outside the Northern Cape Mall” Lieutenant Olebogeng Tawana said.

“Thorough investigation and search conducted inside the bakkie, four fraudulent Identity Documents were found hidden inside the speaker box. Expensive cellphones such as Blackberry Z10, I Phone 5, Motorola as well as Samsung SIII Galaxy phone, still sealed in boxes which they obtained from the retailers using the fraudulent Identity Documents” said police. 

Police said more than ten second hand cellphones, bank debit cards and credit cards also found in their possession were also confiscated, as well as the Nissan bakkie.  

Investigation continues

By Obakeng Maje

Johannesburg-Banyana Banyana head coach Joseph Mkhonza remains confident of finishing in a good position in the Cyprus Cup despite watching his side lose 2-0  to Korea Republic in the opening match of the tournament on Wednesday, 06 March 2013.

Korea Republic scored two goals in each half to go second of  Group C behind Republic of Ireland who hammered Northern Ireland 5-1 in the other group match played last night on goal difference.

Mkhonza, the current South Africa Coach of the Year who led Banyana Banyana to the 2012 London Olympics and to a runners-up finish at the 2012 African Woman’s Championship (AWC), may have been disappointed at the end of the match but quickly picked himself up. He also lifted the spirits of the Sasol-sponsored girls in encouragement that they can still turn things around in the tournament.

“We started brightly in the opening 10 minutes but soon after we gave away a soft goal from a defensive mistake and miscommunication between our goalkeeper and right fullback. What is pleasing is that the girls fought back bravely and we regrouped, but it was too late,” said Mkhonza.

Banyana Banyana accepted the invitation to participate in the tournament (South Africa is in its fourth year of the tournament – they finished 10th out of 12 teams in 2012), to prepare for the upcoming AWC qualifiers and also create a large pool of players by trying out emerging talent such as Robyn Moodaly, Gloria Thato and Shiwe Nogwanya to name but a few.

“Our objectives to be in Cyprus can’t change overnight because of our opening day defeat. We will continue to look into giving other players a chance especially in midfield and upfront to also gain experience, and for us to see how they can handle themselves at this international level looking ahead of the qualifiers starting later this year,” he said.

Banyana Banyana face Republic of Ireland on Friday, 8 March (14h30 SA time).

“We learned the hard way from our defeat. For our next match we will look at pushing up from midfield and supplying our forwards quickly to also force the opposition into making mistakes for us to profit from. I watched Northern Ireland last night and I believe they are beatable if we knock the ball around and into space on the wings where they are not very strong,” concluded Mkhonza.