Daily Archives: January 29, 2014

Khune: I made a mistake


Pretoria – Nissan South Africa says its sponsorship of a Nissan Juke to Kaizer Chiefs and Bafana Bafana captain Itumeleng Khune is not in jeopardy following his arrest for speeding at the weekend.

Khune has since apologised for his actions. The goalkeeper made a brief appearance in the Lyttelton Magistrate’s Court on Tuesday.

He told journalists outside court that he was extremely sorry for his actions. “I have made a mistake, and I will learn from it,” he said.

But he also had choice words for media photographers, warning them not to take pictures of the BMW X6 in which he arrived, saying that was for security reasons. He threatened to sue if his warning was not heeded.

The soccer star was arrested on Friday night on the N1 South in Centurion at the John Vorster off-ramp for apparently driving at 173km/h in a 120km/h zone.

He was released on R1 500 bail on Saturday morning. The case was on Tuesday postponed to March 6 for further investigation.

Before dashing to his vehicle, Khune read out a statement to the media and posed for photographs with fans.

In his statement, he said that, as Bafana Bafana captain, he appreciated his position as a role model in South Africa, especially to the youth.

“I humbly apologise for this indiscretion. I will ensure that I learn from this mistake and become a better person and role-model,” Khune said.

Nissan SA spokeswoman Veralda Schmidt said the company’s sponsorship agreement with Kaizer Chiefs includes a vehicle sponsorship to the Player of the Year. Khune is the current holder of this title.

“In terms of the contract, the football club is responsible (for settling) all traffic offences, damage repairs etc.

“We are aware of a recent incident involving Mr Khune. However, Nissan South Africa trusts that Kaizer Chiefs management will deal with it in the appropriate manner,” said Schmidt
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Malema back in court for speeding


Johannesburg – EFF leader Julius Malema is expected to appear in the Vanderbijlpark Magistrate’s Court on Wednesday for alleged reckless or negligent driving and speeding.

The case was postponed in December for the director of public prosecutions to instruct the State on further action on the case.

Malema was arrested in December for driving 215km/h in a 120km/h zone on the N1 in the Vaal.

He was released on bail of R5 000, Gauteng traffic spokesperson Busaphi Nxumalo said at the time.

Malema and the Economic Freedom Fighters apologised in a statement issued after the arrest

“The [Commander in Chief], who was on a tight schedule, was on his way from Bloemfontein to attend to an urgent programme in Alexandra.”

Afrikaans singer Steve Hofmeyr was arrested on the same night for speeding in Bronkhorstspruit.

After his arrest, Hofmeyer tweeted in Afrikaans: “Hier is plek vir net een tronkvoel n hierdie tronksel, Julius. Skuif op vetgat” (There is only room for one jailbird in this cell, Julius. Move over fatso).

In November, Malema went to court to try and persuade the State to withdraw criminal charges against him, but lost.

His trial on charges of fraud, corruption, money-laundering, and racketeering is due to start at the end of September.

SAPA

Two protesters shot dead by police


Johannesburg – Two men were shot dead by police during a protest in Relela outside Tzaneen, Limpopo police said on Wednesday.

The two men, aged between 25 and 40, were killed on Tuesday evening near the police station in the area, Brigadier Hangwani Mulaudzi said.

About 1 500 violent protesters armed with petrol bombs and stones attacked the police at the station.

“Fifteen officers were injured, three critically so and 19 police vehicles were damaged.”

Mulaudzi said the intentions of the protesters were clear and the officers did what anyone would have done to protect themselves.

“Anyone who was facing that situation last night would have no option but to do what the members did to protect their lives.”

Nine people were arrested for public violence, said Mulaudzi.

He urged Relela community members to stop abusing their constitutional rights by being brutal to police officers.

The community had been protesting since Thursday after the body of a woman was found in the area.

Mulaudzi said two people were taken in for questioning but later released. Their houses were burned on Saturday by angry community members.

During that protest a 15-year-old boy was shot dead by police, allegedly by police.

“The firearms of officers who attended the protest were taken for a ballistic test to confirm if the boy was indeed killed by police.”
SAPA

Research Group: Ramphele unlikely to lift DA


Johannesburg – The DA was unlikely to grow its media presence because of Agang SA founder Mamphela Ramphele’s decision to join the Democratic Alliance, research company Media Tenor SA said on Wednesday.

“The research suggests that there is little benefit in it for DA at present,” said senior researcher Stephano Radaelli in a statement.

On Tuesday, Democratic Alliance leader Helen Zille announced that Agang SA leader Mamphela Ramphele would be the DA’s presidential candidate in the upcoming general elections.

Research by Media Tenor found that Agang SA, started as a “political platform” about a year ago, then launched as a party six months ago, offered little reputational benefit to the DA.

“After Agang SA was officially launched, media attention for the party slowly waned and the party together with its leaders struggled to make the same in-roads that other parties like Cope and EFF [Economic Freedom Fighters] have done immediately subsequent to their launches,” states the research.

Media Tenor said its research was based on an analysis of 199,646 statements on South African political parties and their leaders in 47 newspapers and television news programmes between 1 January 2013 and 15 January 2014.

SAPA

Mantashe: Agang SA was stillborn


Johannesburg – Agang SA had been a “stillborn” party, ANC secretary general Gwede Mantashe said on Tuesday, when Agang’s leader Mamphele Ramphele announced she was throwing her lot in with the DA.

“I was listening today of the announcement of a stillborn,” Mantashe said in an address to the Black Business Council in Johannesburg.

During the announcement of the merger of Agang and the Democratic Alliance, former president Nelson Mandela had been used as an example of someone who took decisions, often against the opinions of his colleagues.

“Everybody talked about Mandela. They didn’t talk about their leader, but they talked about [the] ANC… You cannot separate Mandela from the ANC,” Mantashe said.

‘Rent-a-black’

Speaking to EyeWitness News earlier on Tuesday, Mantashe said the Democratic Alliance was renting a leader in Ramphele, whom the opposition party has announced is its candidate for president candidate.

“Two things: It is a report of another stillborn party. It is dead before it was born, called Agang…. Number two, it is rent-a-black, rent-a-leader. We can’t be concerned about that,” he said.

The Congress of SA Trade Unions (Cosatu) said Ramphele’s acceptance of the DA’s invitation had proved it right about Agang SA’s prospects when the party was formed.

“When Mamphela Ramphele launched her new ‘party political platform’ on 18 February, 2013, the headline of Cosatu’s response was spot on: ‘Cosatu sees no future for Agang’,” spokesperson Patrick Craven said in a statement.

“Just how right we were was proved today, less than a year later.”

Craven said Ramphele had found her true political home, as the DA was the party of big business.

This was exactly what Cosatu expected of a person who was the former managing director of the World Bank and chairperson of Gold Fields.

‘ANC voters won’t be fooled’

“DA leader Helen Zille says that there was ‘no better person’ than Ramphele to lead their election bid, but very few ANC voters will be fooled by this move,” he said.

“The DA’s policies remain just as bankrupt, including lowering entry-level wages for young workers, weakening the laws which protect workers’ rights and attacking the trade union movement.”

The ANC had a far superior track record of struggle, with the country far more likely to begin its economic transformation under a movement forged in the furnace of the liberation, Craven said.

Today’s announcement that Ramphele will front the DA’s presidential campaign during the elections did not come as a surprise to the African People’s Convention.

“For a long while we have been suspecting that Agang was purely established as a vehicle to lure African voters into the DA,” said the APC.
SAPA

By Elections to take place in three provinces


Johannesburg – Sixteen wards will be contested in three provinces during municipal by-elections on Wednesday.

Fifty-two candidates representing nine political parties and five independent candidates would contest the by-elections, the Independent Electoral Commission said.

Fourteen by-elections would be held in the Eastern Cape.

Twelve of them were in the Mbhashe municipality (Dutywa) and became vacant when the councillors’ party membership was terminated. They were all previously represented by the ANC.

Eastern Cape ANC spokesperson Mlibo Qoboshiyane said the councillors were removed after they decided to remove the mayor without the party’s “blessing” and without following the proper procedure.

A by-election would also be held in the Buffalo City Metropolitan municipality and the Elundini municipality (Mount Fletcher).

One by-election each would take place in Veereniging in Gauteng, and Vredendal in the Western Cape.

SAPA

Agang Official: We will elect another leader


ohannesburg – Agang SA intended electing another leader to contest the general elections, a Gauteng official told The New Age in a report on Wednesday.

The party will hold an urgent media briefing at 10:00 to react to Tuesday’s announcement that its leader, Dr Mamphela Ramphele, will run as the Democratic Alliance’s presidential candidate.

“Our leader is taking us where we never wanted to go. If she wants a merger with the DA, she should have consulted us first,” acting Agang Gauteng secretary Yako Sakhiwo told the daily.

He said most Agang SA members learned via Tuesday’s news conference of Ramphele’s decision to become the Democratic Alliance’s presidential candidate in upcoming general elections.

“I was with many other fellow leaders and members at our Braamfontein offices and we were all surprised. We even got calls from other party leaders and other provinces who were also surprised,” said Sakhiwo.

He said the political party, formed by Ramphele about a year ago, would still contest the elections with another leader.

Some senior DA members complained to Beeld that they too had to find out about Ramphele’s move in the media.

“It is being forced onto us,” a member of parliament who was not named told the Afrikaans daily.

Ramphele said the decision not to inform members was “what visionary leadership is”, according to The Star.

“Obviously we haven’t consulted the last village, the last township where we have been and are active. But the leadership of Agang in the provinces have been abreast.”

Ramphele denied she was joining the DA because her own party was going broke, saying “the only party that is bankrupt is the ANC, which is morally bankrupt”.

ANC general secretary Gwede Mantashe described the development on Tuesday evening that as a “rent-a-black, rent-a-leader. We can’t be concerned about that”.
SAPA

Attempted robbery foiled, two dead


Johannesburg – Two would-be robbers were killed in a shoot-out with cash-in-transit security guards in a shopping centre in Witbank on Tuesday, Mpumalanga police said.

“A group of about five men, who were armed to the teeth, accosted and attacked the SBV security van at Safeway shopping centre in Witbank,” said Brigadier Selvy Mohlala.

“The security personnel in the van were in their official capacity at First National Bank.”

Mohlala said the men opened fire at the guards, using AK-47 assault rifles and pistols. The guards returned fire.

“Two suspects were fatally shot and another unidentified man, who was described as a hawker, was also fatally shot,” said Mohlala.

He said the robbers who were shot were thought to be from Botswana and Zimbabwe. Both had been armed with 9mm pistols.

The robbers who escaped were dangerous as they were armed with AK-47s and evidently had no regard for human life, said Mpumalanga commissioner Lieutenant-General Thulani Ntombela.

SAPA

DUT to meet some students demands


Johannesburg – The Durban University of Technology (DUT) said on Tuesday it would be willing to address some of the demands of protesting students.

“We have analysed these demands and some of them are reasonable and we shall address them if this is at all possible,” DUT vice chancellor and principal Professor Ahmed Bawa said in a statement.

Protesting students pulled others out of lecture rooms on Monday.

“The SRC has made… demands through two memoranda: one from the Durban Centre and the other from the Midlands Centre,” Bawa said.

Students’ main demand was that those whose fees had not been paid by the National Student Financial Scheme (NSFAS) be allowed to re-register despite the non-payment. Bawa said that 4 600 returning students had been unblocked, to enable them to register and access financial aid.

“We want to enable our students to succeed, however, we also need to accept the NSFAS rules and regulations,” he said.

The university would also allow 394 first year students, who are “zero rated” (a special category of poor students), to register at DUT without having to pay the first instalment.

The Student Representative Council (SRC) had demanded that all first year students accepted by the university be allowed to register and get accommodation.

Bawa said NSFAS received 4 355 first-year applications, but that only 2 600 packages were available.

“The need for financial aid is much greater than the funding that is available from NSFAS.”

He said the university had made plans with numerous companies to allow students to purchase devices, such as laptops, tablets, e-book readers at reduced rates.

“The demand by the SRC is for the university to provide all students with devices. This is well beyond the affordability of the university,” he said.

The book allowance would also be increased from R1 000 to R1 500.

DUT spokesperson Alan Khan said the university’s full academic programme had been suspended until further notice.

Bawa said that this was because of the violence of students’ protest, and reports of intimidation and damage to university property.

“All students in residence, both on and off campus at DUT, will have to vacate their rooms by no later than… midday on Thursday,” Khan said.

“The university has been forced to make this decision as the SRC-led student protests compromised the safety of our students and staff and resulted in unfavourable conditions on campus,” Khan said.

He said the shutdown period would be used to bring about stability on the campus.

“We are working hard and around the clock to get the university back to normality,” Bawa said.

SAPA

Questions over Ramphele to draws votes


Johannesburg – An anti-apartheid stalwart, respected academic and successful business executive, Mamphela Ramphele – tapped to take on President Jacob Zuma at upcoming elections – has an impressive CV, but may not always connect with voters.

As an activist, she fearlessly fought against white minority rule, and had a child with slain black consciousness leader Steve Biko.

A respected academic, she landed at that bastion of free market capitalism – the World Bank.

With such anti-apartheid and economic credentials, Ramphele, 66, might appeal to a broader section of voters than most South African politicians could dream of.

But as the head of the DA’s election campaign, she faces the unenviable task of upending the ANC’s crushing electoral dominance.

Born in 1947 to two teachers near the northern city of Polokwane, Ramphele was exposed to political activism in the late 1960s while studying medicine.

That was when she met Biko, a founder of the Black Consciousness Movement inspired by Malcolm X, whose story is portrayed in the 1998 movie Cry Freedom.

In the wake of the 1976 Soweto uprising – when police opened fire on student protesters in the black township – she was detained for five months without trial.

By 1977, she was exiled to Tzaneen, an area she had never been to, in the northern Limpopo province.

That same year, Biko was killed in police detention.

After his death, she gave birth to their son, Hlumelo, whose name means “the shoot growing from a dead tree trunk”. He was her only surviving child with Biko.

The couple’s daughter, Lerato, died at two months of age in 1972.

While exiled in Tzaneen, she set up a clinic at the backyard of a church and developed it into Ithuseng Community Health Centre, which is still operational today.

‘Dust off my boots and struggle’

After her banning order was lifted in 1983, she completed a business degree.

She would go on to get a PhD in social anthropology from the University of Cape Town, before being appointed vice chancellor, the first black person and the first woman to hold the post.

After that she worked as a managing director at the World Bank.

Since then she has served as chairperson on a number of boards, including Gold Fields, one of the world’s largest bullion producers.

She has held several other board member posts including at Anglo American and Standard Bank.

Ramphele, who often paints her nails a signature fire truck red, has also authored several books on social issues.

Openly critical of the ANC government, Ramphele once said she never thought she would have “to dust off my boots and struggle” after the advent of democracy.

A vociferous critic of the ANC government, Nobel peace laureate Archbishop Desmond Tutu lauded her as “a brave and principled leader who has been ready to take costly stands for social justice”.

She has also suggested the country would be a better democracy had South Africa’s first black president Nelson Mandela served a second term.

“He was a committed democrat,” she said.

In February last year, Ramphele launched Agang SA, a political movement whose name means “let’s build” in the Sepedi language.

Five months later it became a party.

But she struggled to build a wide grassroots support base, appealing only to a narrow constituency of educated urbanites.

At the helm of the DA’s election campaign she will be able to harness a broader network.

But it remains to be seen if she can translate that clout, and her resume, into votes.

AF