Johannesburg – Gauteng’s deputy police commissioner for visible policing Major-General Phumzo Gela allegedly believes himself above the law and has been quoted in a report as refusing to respond to various allegations saying he is too senior to be subjected to processes.
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Daily Archives: January 26, 2014
Malema’s Nkandla stunt backfires
Julius Malema’s grand stunt of building a house for a poor family in Nkandla has turned sour – because the family is anything but destitute.
For more http://www.timelive.co.za

Malema’s Nkandla stunt backfires
Julius Malema’s grand stunt of building a house for a poor family in Nkandla has turned sour – because the family is anything but destitute.
For more http://www.timelive.co.za

32 die in retirement home fire
L’Isle-Verte – Rescuers on Saturday recovered two more bodies as they struggled with frigid temperatures and ice as thick as 60cm to search the ruins of a burned-out Quebec retirement home. Ten bodies of the 32 presumed dead have been recovered.
A massive blaze swept through the three-storey building in L’Isle-Verte, about 225km northeast of Quebec City early on Thursday. Quebec Provincial Police lowered the number of missing from about 30 to 22 based on more detailed information.
The coroner’s office identified two victims on Saturday, Juliette Saindon, 95, and Marie-Laureat Dube, 82. A third person has been identified but his or her name will not be released until Sunday.
The cause of the blaze that burned down the Residence du Havre was under investigation, and police asked the public for any videos or photos that might yield clues. Quebec Police Lieutenant Guy Lapointe declined to confirm media reports that the fire began in the room of a resident who was smoking a cigarette, describing it “is one hypothesis among many.”
“When you conduct an investigation of this magnitude, you have to determine all the facts and not simply just one or two in order to achieve a conclusion,” he said.
Search teams brought in equipment normally used to de-ice ships that pushes out very hot air.
“You can imagine how difficult it is to go through the ice, melt it, and do it in a way that we preserve the integrity of potential victims,” he said. “So it’s very difficult work again today. It’s very cold.”
Officials said they would end the day’s search at 19:00 on Saturday due to the difficult conditions and resume on Sunday morning.
On Friday, teams of police, firefighters and coroners slowly and methodically picked their way through the ruins, working in shifts in the extreme cold with temperatures hovering around minus -20’C.
As crews used steam to melt thick sheets of ice coating the rubble, Marc-Henri Saindon waited for his mother’s body to be recovered. Marie-Jeanne Gagnon, five months shy of her 100th birthday, had moved to the home on New Year’s Eve, her son said.
“She really liked it there. She was well treated and she had friends there,” Saindon said.
Spray from firefighters’ hoses left the home resembling a macabre snow palace, the ruins encased in thick white ice dripping with icicles. Workers took a break over night because of the freezing cold.
The tragedy cast such a pall over the village of 1 500 that psychologists were sent door to door.
“This is a horrible tragedy,” Mayor Ursule Theriault said.
Elderly survivors were moved to other residences for the elderly in the area, and the Red Cross had raised about C$200 000 to provide clothes, hearing aids, wheelchairs, and other urgent needs.
“Because they left their residence so quickly, they left with nothing,” said Myrian Marotte, a Red Cross spokesperson. “We’re looking at providing them with those very urgent articles.”
Witnesses told horrific tales of people trapped and killed by the flames. Many of the 50 or so residents were over 85 and used wheelchairs or walkers. Some had Alzheimer’s.
Pascal Fillion, who lives nearby, said he saw someone use a ladder to try to rescue a man cornered on his third-floor balcony. The man was crying out for help before he fell to the ground, engulfed in flames, Fillion said.
“I lost my friends,” said Nicole Belanger, who worked at the home part-time for the past four years. “The residents loved us and we loved them.”
Quebec Minister of Social Services Veronique Hivon said many of the village’s volunteer firefighters had relatives at the retirement home.
“People are in a state of shock,” she said. “We want them to know the services are there by going door to door. It’s an important building that’s a part of their community that just disappeared.”
AP
Fisherman dies on fishing vessel
Cape Town – A fisherman died from a heart attack on Saturday while on board a fishing vessel in Struuisbaai, Western Cape, the National Sea Rescue Institute (NSRI) said.
The captain called the authorities to the ship and gave the 64-year-old man Cardio Pulmonary Resuscitation (CPR) while he waited for rescue workers, said NSRI spokesperson Reinard Geldenhuys.
A boat, helicopter, swimmer and medics were sent to the scene.
“On arrival… five nautical miles off-shore the Agulhas lighthouse, the NSRI rescue swimmer was hoisted from the helicopter onto the casualty boat and the patient was secured into a stretcher,” said Geldenhuys.
Once he was transferred to the rescue ship, the man was hoisted into the helicopter.
He was given medical care as he was being transported to shore but he did not survive.
“Despite the extensive medical rescue effort on the helicopters arrival in Struuisbaai the doctor declared the man to be deceased,” said Geldenhuys.
SAPA
Relatives identify Witbank crash victims
Mbombela – Family members of the 15 people killed in an accident in Mpumalanga were identifying their relatives on Saturday, the provincial community safety department said.
“Family members have been coming [to] the Klipfontein police mortuary in Witbank since in the morning,” spokesperson Mmusi Moeti said.
The accident happened on Friday afternoon on the R555 between Witbank and Ogies.
Earlier, Moeti reported that four children died in the accident but later said only three had died.
He said a woman who was the only survivor in the taxi was in the critical condition at Cosmos Life Hospital in Witbank.
Paramedics said they found people’s bodies scattered across the road when they arrived at the scene.
“Paramedics that attended the scene explained that people were ripped apart during the collision,” said ER24 spokesperson Werner Vermaak.
He said several paramedics who attended to the scene received trauma counselling due to the horrific nature of the accident.
Mpumalanga MEC for transport Vusi Shongwe called for a high level probe into the accident and harsh punishment for those found to have caused the accident.
The minibus taxi was travelling from Germiston in Gauteng to Ogies and the truck was travelling to Witbank.
SAPA
Breytenbach to quit NPA, stand for DA
ohannesburg – Glynnis Breytenbach is leaving her job at the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) to stand for the DA in the general election, the Sunday Times reported.
Breytenbach is one of six candidates whose names were kept confidential when the Democratic Alliance released its consolidated lists of who it wants in Parliament after the elections, according to the newspaper.
DA federal executive chairperson James Selfe said Breytenbach’s move would add momentum to the party’s campaign.
“Advocate Breytenbach is on the DA’s Gauteng list for the National Assembly, in a position which makes her election as a member of Parliament for the DA very likely,” he said.
‘Valuable addition’
“She will be a valuable addition to the DA’s team in Parliament. She is principled and brave, with a passion for the law and a sharp eye for detail. I have no doubt she will be an exceptional legislator.”
Breytenbach’s lawyer Gerhard Wagenaar confirmed to the newspaper that Breytenbach had given notice to the NPA on Friday that she would leave on 30 April.
It was believed Breytenbach was the confidential candidate listed at number eight on the DA’s Gauteng list.
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The Guardian 