Monthly Archives: June 2014

Blatter looks to tennis, cricket


Sao Paulo – FIFA chief Sepp Blatter on Wednesday called for football managers to be given two challenges per match when they could check key refereeing decisions against video replays.

The suggestion, which came out of left field at the close of the FIFA congress, would mimic systems used in tennis and cricket and comes with goal-line technology about to make its World Cup debut.

“I think it’s a good idea, if it’s feasible or applicable we will see in the future. But when I have an idea, generally I try to bring it through,” Blatter told reporters in Sao Paulo.

On Thursday, the tournament opener between Brazil and Croatia will become the first World Cup match to feature goal-line technology, a failsafe to check whether a team has scored.

Blatter’s enthusiasm for technology is counter to the views of UEFA chief Michel Platini, who is expected to challenge for the FIFA presidency next year and is an opponent of the goal-line system.

Blatter, who previously also opposed goal-line technology, said “if you have a mind you can also change the mind.

“I think when I’m analysing football you should not only analyse it outside the field of play but also inside. I spoke with former footballers, former coaches,” he said.

“You must have the feeling when you’re looking at so many matches of football and you’re having 34 cameras there and it’s so evident what happened,” added Blatter.

“I think it’s a good idea, if it’s feasible or applicable we will see in the future. But when I have an idea, generally I try to bring it through.”

He said he would raise the proposal with the International Football Association Board (IFAB), which oversees the laws of the game.

– AFP

Ramaphosa to replace Zuma at Kimberley celebration


Pretoria – President Jacob Zuma will be fit to deliver the state-of-nation address on Tuesday, his spokesman said.

“President Zuma is resting and working from home. He is currently busy working on the state-of-the-nation address, which he will deliver next week,” Mac Maharaj said on Wednesday.

On Tuesday, the presidency said Deputy President Cyril Ramaphosa would stand in for Zuma at Epainette Mbeki’s funeral and at other events.

Zuma would also not deliver the main address at the national youth day celebration in Kimberley on Monday, as earlier diarised.

“He must maximise the time he has to rest,” Maharaj said.

Ramaphosa would replace Zuma at the June 16 youth celebrations in Kimberley.

“The president will spend 16 June working on the Sona. He requested Parliament to bring forward the Sona date… to enable him to attend the African Union summit in Equatorial Guinea on 25-26 June, the dates that were initially scheduled for the Sona

debate.”

The Sona debate was moved to June 18 and 19.

Zuma was discharged from a Pretoria hospital on Sunday after spending a night there.

African National Congress secretary general Gwede Mantashe said at the weekend that Zuma, 72, went for a routine health check.

Mantashe said the ANC’s election campaign had been punishing and all senior members of the party would take time off one after another to “re-energise”.

Zuma was also not attending a three-day Cabinet lekgotla in Pretoria he was initially scheduled to lead from Tuesday.

Ramaphosa was chairing it.

Sapa

City maps road ahead for Lwandle evictees


Johannesburg -A new housing development project is being planned to accommodate evicted Lwandle families and others from surrounding areas, the City of Cape Town said on Wednesday.

“The city is already in the advanced stage of planning a major new housing project in Macassar,” mayoral spokeswoman Pierrinne Leukes said in a statement.

“This development will allow beneficiaries from Solis Town, Greenfields, Polile, Wag ‘n Bietjie, Macassar backyarders and families affected by the Sanral evictions to be accommodated.”

Some 846 families were evicted from the South African National Roads Agency Limited’s (Sanral) land in Lwandle, near Strand, a week ago.

Their shacks were demolished and set alight. Many lost their personal possessions and were left with nothing but the clothes they were wearing.

Following an uproar from many sectors of society, Sanral proposed to move the families to other land it owned as a more permanent solution.

The families were transported to alternative Sanral-owned land in Blackheath, which is a largely established residential area.

Residents of the area were reportedly outraged at the arrival of the families and demanded that the families leave the area.

In the interim, the families would settle in Blackheath, said Leukes.

“The city will provide the necessary emergency housing starter structure. The city will also provide sanitation, in the form of chemical toilets on the periphery of the Sanral land,” she said.

Over the next three months, the city would provide full flush toilets on the city-owned land on the periphery.

On Tuesday, Human Settlements Minister Lindiwe Sisulu held a meeting with Cape Town mayor Patricia de Lille to map a way forward for the families.

The two also visited the families at a hall they are being accommodated in. – Sapa

Cosatu: Police refuse to arrest white perpetrator


Ganyesa- The Congress of South African Trade Unions in the North West province is disappointed that a white person has not been arrested after he assaulted a nine year-old child on 28th May 2014 and putting the child in a room with snakes.

COSATU leadership has visited the child on Tuesday and found him still traumatised and still in a bad state; and the police has not yet arrested the alleged perpetrator.

COSATU is informed that this is the third time that the same person has assaulted a person and no arrest made due to his relation with the police management in the area.

COSATU has addressed the community which wanted to burn the property of this person and pleaded for calm, but COSATU cannot guarantee that calm will be there after the leadership has left and, should anything happen there, no one should be blamed except the police.

“COSATU calls on the senior management of the police to make sure that the person is arrested by the end of business today and be prosecuted; afterwards he should be removed from the village to ensure the safety of the community and all his victims” Cosatu Solly Phetoe said.

COSATU calls on the Department of Social Development to visit the family and make sure that the child gets proper care and support from them.

COSATU also calls on the provincial government to intervene immediately as the situation might get out of hand.
The family can be contacted through its representative, Onneilwe @ 0765948890
-TDN
Follow us on Twitter@Taung_DailyNews or @IceT_

North West furniture shop fined R20 000 over workers exploitation


The Congress of South African Trade Unions in the North West is disappointed to hear that the Reboni Furniture Factory employers are only paying the sum of R20 000 as an admission of guilt fine for not complying with almost all the labour laws and the Occupational Health and Safety Act and treating workers like slaves.

“It is on record with the Department of Labour (DOL) that both Sun City and Reboni have not been complying, and that many of our members and other employees have lost fingers and some other parts of their body and that their health is in a bad condition due to poor conditions of work, including not being provided with protective clothes” Cosatu secretary-general Solly Phetoe said.

“We have been told that Sun City also paid some few rands and now that Reboni have paid R20 000, when the lives of those poor workers is doomed due to their conduct. This means that the employer will continue to undermine the laws of this country with the view that he is the master of the bank. He will pay any amount that the court may demand them to pay while workers are dying and losing their body parts.”

Cosatu said it is disappointing to hear that the DOL is celebrating this, when their members are killed, injured or made ill due to the poor conditions of work.

Phetoe said they call on the DOL to also go public about all employers that have been taken to court for not complying and tell the public the amount paid by those employers, in particular farmers where workers have lost lives and been disabled due to non-compliance.

He said it must also include the amount that Sun City paid as they were also part of the court case in Mogwase for not complying.

“We are totally not happy for those who celebrate the paying of R20 000 when our members are in pain for what the capitalists did to them. The DOL must represent the interest of both parties and make sure that everybody complies with the laws of this country” Phetoe outlines.

He said they have gone public on some of allegations that employers do not comply knowing very well that they will use their money to pay, yet they cannot pay workers’ salaries.

Cosatu said employers cannot even pay to improve the conditions of workers, and refusing the pay the medical expenses when workers are hospitalised.

Workers have opened cases against the same man to both the Mogwase police station and the DOL after workers were shot by live ammunition and rubber bullets and assaulted by the security staff from the same company, yet till today the case is nowhere; nothing has happened.

Some people are celebrating the payment of R20 000 when poor workers are treated in that manner and being dismissed for demanding their rights, says Cosatu.

“We must also be told publicly about the allegation that workers made against certain officials of the DOL during that strike and why there is no public report on them, as they and their friends continue to exploit workers”.

“We call on the DOL to respect workers and their families, those who lost their body parts and were injured in the some company and those who are traumatized due to that situation.
We are highly disappointed about the paying R20 000 at the expense of the lives of the poor workers” Phetoe said.
-TDN
Follow us on Twitter@Taung_DailyNews or @IceT_

Eskom, platinum strike behind growth downgrade


JOHANNESBURG – The World Bank says its decision to lower its 2014 growth forecast for South Africa was taken because of the platinum strike and the fact that Eskom cannot produce enough electricity.
For more http://www.ewn.co.za

Free State two in court for hijack, murder


Bloemfontein – Two people, one a minor, appeared in the Lindley Magistrate’s Court on Wednesday in connection with the hijacking and murder of a Bethlehem man.

“Elias Moeketsi Lichakane, 20, and a 17-year-old appeared and were denied bail,” said Free State police spokesperson Constable Sinah Mpakane.

The matter was postponed to 25 June for further investigation.

It relates to the murder of Thamsanqa Vumendlini, 48, who was a Democratic Alliance branch chairperson in Bohlokong at Bethlehem.

It was alleged Vumendlini was on his way from Senekal to Bethlehem when he stopped to give two people a lift on Friday, 6 June around 17:00.

On the way the two passengers apparently asked him to stop near Paul Roux. Vumendlini also stepped out of the vehicle and was attacked by his two passengers.

Police said he was stabbed with a knife and strangled with a chain.

He died on the scene.

The two accused were arrested in Arlington while driving Vumendlini’s vehicle.

SAPA

CT domestic worker breaks down during testimony


Cape Town – A Cape Town domestic worker had to be consoled on Wednesday after testifying how her employer’s boyfriend allegedly assaulted and swore at her.

Gloria Kente, 50, told Cape Town magistrate Alta le Roux what happened last June between herself and Andre van Deventer at the home they all shared in Table View.

Van Deventer is on trial on charges of common assault and crimen injuria.

She said she had asked Van Deventer to look after her employer’s child while she took a shower at the end of the workday.

While in the bathroom, she said she heard Van Deventer shouting that they were “paying this kaffir R2 400 to look after the child”.

Kente said she left the bathroom and asked him whether he was speaking about her, which he confirmed.

“Andre came to me whilst I was standing in my room door. He grabbed my pyjamas in front of my chest and said he hated a kaffir. Then he said ‘I hate you as well, Gloria’. Then he spitted [sic] in my face,” she said.

She was being cross-examined by Van Deventer’s lawyer, Henry van der Westhuizen, who questioned her version of events.

At lunch, Kente left the stand and sat with her head in her hands. A group of women consoled her.

After lunch, she continued to explain what happened after she was spat at.

“That’s when he mentioned that there are black people throwing kaka at the airport. We are not the ones who are going to be cleaning that. That’s when I broke loose from him and didn’t do anything at all.”

Kente demonstrated how she took her hands and forced Van Deventer’s grip loose by pushing back.

“He further mentioned that these kaffirs stole their land and he wishes that [the late statesman Nelson] Mandela died in hospital.”

Van der Westhuizen said her employer, Mariechin Pienaar, and Van Deventer would both testify to a different version that never included assault.

The lawyer said Pienaar would testify that Kente and her boyfriend had shouted at each other and she broke up the fight.

They would also testify that Kente had told Van Deventer: “You sleep with a black woman. You have black kids. Why are you saying these things to me?”

Pienaar would testify further that she went into Kente’s room afterwards to see if she was okay and had told her to ignore her boyfriend because he had been drinking.

Kente denied this version and said Pienaar had stayed in her bedroom instead of intervening and could thus not testify as to what she had seen.

Kente has also applied to the Equality Court in Cape Town for R100 000 in damages and an unconditional apology from Van Deventer.

The equality case was expected to be heard next month.

SAPA

Zuma will be fit for State of the Nation – Maharaj


Johannesburg – President Jacob Zuma will be fit to deliver the State of the Nation address on Tuesday, his spokesperson said.

“President Zuma is resting and working from home. He is currently busy working on the State of the Nation address, which he will deliver next week,” Mac Maharaj said on Wednesday.

On Tuesday, the presidency said Deputy President Cyril Ramaphosa would stand in for Zuma at Epainette Mbeki’s funeral and at other events.

Zuma would also not deliver the main address at the national youth day celebration in Kimberley on Monday, as earlier diarised.

“He must maximise the time he has to rest,” Maharaj said.

Ramaphosa would replace Zuma at the 16 June youth celebrations in Kimberley.

“The president will spend 16 June working on the Sona. He requested Parliament to bring forward the Sona date… to enable him to attend the African Union summit in Equatorial Guinea on 25-26 June, the dates that were initially scheduled for the Sona debate.”

The State of the Nation debate was moved to 18 June and 19 June.

Zuma was discharged from a Pretoria hospital on Sunday after spending a night there.

African National Congress secretary general Gwede Mantashe said at the weekend that Zuma, 72, went for a routine health check.

Mantashe said the ANC’s election campaign had been punishing and all senior members of the party would take time off one after another to “re-energise”.

Zuma was also not attending a three-day Cabinet lekgotla in Pretoria he was initially scheduled to lead from Tuesday.

Ramaphosa was chairing it.

SAPA

Witness: Many prostitutes worked at brothel


Durban – As many as 35 prostitutes were operating from a hotel owned by a doctor in Durban’s notorious Point Road area, the Durban Regional Court heard on Wednesday.

One of them testified that all the girls were working for Sandile Patrick Zweni, who is accused of operating a prostitution ring from the Inn Town Lodge.

She said she stayed at Inn Town Lodge for three years.

“We were all prostitutes. All 30, 35 of us went to Inn Town Lodge. We stayed at the bottom floors next door to each other,” she said.

The woman, who cannot be named, said the prostitutes had been moved from a building known as Adrinic House to the hotel owned by Dr Genchen Rugnath.

She was giving evidence in the trial of Rugnath, his wife Ravina, as well as Zweni, Nonduzo Dlamini, and Bhabha Dubazini.

They have all pleaded not guilty to 156 charges, including assault, rape, sexual exploitation of a child, and racketeering.

Girls as young as 12 allegedly worked as prostitutes from Inn Town Lodge.

The witness named Dlamini and Dubazini as being “runners” for Zweni, making sure that the girls were out on the streets soliciting clients.

She said the very same day the women moved into Inn Town Lodge they started working.

She said they were not required to work during the day, but at night Zweni would insist the girls were out soliciting clients.

“At night we all got wake up and then started to work,” she said.

She described “wake up” as “the cocaine they would give us to arouse our feelings”.

After each client she would return to the hotel to get some more cocaine.

She said she lived at the Rugnath’s hotel for about three years and Zweni was at the hotel every day.

“He would come every day, because it was his business. We wouldn’t wake up without him being there. He is the one that cuts the crack cocaine.”

Earlier in the day, another prostitute, who previously testified that she started working for Zweni when she was 13 years old, told the court that her money would be stolen while she was sleeping.

She said she had suffered cigarette burns at the hands of one of Zweni’s runners.

“If I took off all my clothes you would see all the burn marks,” she said.

Rugnath’s hotel manageress Veena Budhram was initially charged in the matter but has since turned State witness.

Rugnath claims he knew nothing about prostitution at the hotel, located in Durban’s Point Road area – known for its red-light activities – and left the running of his hotel to Budhram.

SAPA