Port Elizabeth – An undertaker who ordered staff to saw off the legs of a corpse because it was too tall to fit into a coffin, has appeared in court charged with mutilation.

Ronel Mostert, who ran a funeral parlour in Grahamstown, appeared in Grahamstown Magistrate’s Court on Wednesday after one of her employees blew the lid on a three-year-old secret.

Mostert allegedly ordered staff “to get an angle grinder and cut off the legs” because the 33-year-old “man was too tall to fit into the coffin,” according to court documents.

The employee, Siphamandla Dyasi, claimed the incident had been haunting him and so he decided to come clean.

“I still hear the sound of the angle grinder in my head. I could not take it anymore,” he said in written testimony. “For all these years I have had difficulties sleeping.”

He alleged that Mostert had threatened them with dismissal if he told anyone about incident.

The remains of the man have been exhumed as part of the police investigation. They showed burn marks where the legs had been sawn off.

Police told AFP more allegations of corpse mutilation at Mostert’s Siyakubonga Funeral Services had surfaced since the case began last month.

The case has been postponed until June 27 for further investigation.

Sapa-AFP

North West Premier Supra Mahumapelo has applauded the life sentences that two men accused for the murder of a Tshwane Metro Police official were given by the North West Division of the High Court seating in Ga-Rankuwa this week
“The two life sentence that 31-year-old Jabu Javas Basaya and one that his accomplice, 26- year-old Lucky Edwin Baloyi received  should sent a strong message to criminals that there is no place in our society for those who attack and kill law enforcement officers,” Premier Mahumapelo said.

“We commend police for the swift reaction and teamwork that resulted in the speedy arrest and successful conviction and trust that the family of the deceased official finds closure in the knowledge that justice was served,” Mahumapelo added.  

According to police, the convicted pair was arrested shortly after shooting at three Tshwane Metro Police officials at a vehicle check point along Molefe Makinta Highway two years ago and robbing one of them of his service pistol.

“The officials returned fire and that led to injury of one of the accused who was admitted to hospital. A metro official who was wounded in the fire exchange was rushed to Legae Private Clinic where he later died,” Colonel Sabata Mokgwabone said.

“A joint intensive search by Ga-Rankuwa, Mabopane, Hebron, and Tshwane Metro police officials led to the arrest of one of the suspects shortly after the incident” Mokgwabone said.

Basaya was sentenced to life imprisonment for murder, twenty years for armed robbery, 3 years for each of five counts of attempted murder and 6 years for unlawful possession of firearm and ammunitions.  

The court also sentenced Baloyi to 25 years imprisonment for murder, 10 years for armed robbery, 6 years for each of 2 counts of attempted murder, and 3 years for possession of unlicensed firearm and ammunitions. Sentences will run concurrently.         

The conviction of the duo follows that of the murderers of Warrant officer Othisitse Ganenang of the Directorate for Priority Crime Investigations (the Hawks) who were last week sentenced to a total of 170 years in the North West High Court.-TDN
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By Obakeng Maje
Madibeng- The residents of Madibeng were left in the dark with no electricity in the cold weather after Tshwane municipality pulled the plug.

Democratic Alliance said the municipality defaulted on paying their electricity bill valued at R40 million arrears.

The Democratic Alliance spokesperson Tiaan Kotze said they will write to the Co-operative Government and Traditional Affairs Minister Pravin Gordhan and ask for his intervention in the Hartbeespoort electricity crisis.

Electricity in the area was cut off again by the Tshwane Municipality on Thursday after the Madibeng Municipality failed to pay its account which is R40 million in arrears.

“The Tshwane Municipality confirmed that they had pulled the plug after battling for weeks to get a response from Madibeng about the outstanding debt. A notice for the power cut was issued last week” he said.

DA said this is totally unacceptable and Madibeng municipality is quick to disconnect electricity when its residents just falls R400 in arrears  while the municipality fails to pay its own bills.

“This maladministration will no longer be accepted. I will write to Minister Gordhan and ask for his intervention to save Madibeng residents from future power cuts” Kotze said.-TDN
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Khunotswana- The residents of Khunotswana near Zeerust are to get houses and a tarred road as construction processes starts in July this year.

This was announced by a government delegation represented by MEC for Education and Sports Development Wendy Matsemela and MEC for Public Works and Roads Madoda Sambatha at a community meeting in the area yesterday. 300 low cost houses are to be constructed for Khunotswana residents and the 25 kilometer road which links Khunotswana and Zeerust town.

“The delegation also broke the much awaited news to residents that government has resolved that the construction of the houses will start as soon as the necessary processes have been followed in July and that of the tarred road in August 2014” departmental spokesperson Dineo Lolokwane said.

MEC Wendy Matsemela concluded by appealing to residents to allow children to go back to school.

In the meantime, Ramotshere-Moiloa Local Municipality in partnership with Ngaka Modiri Molema District Municipality will continue to distribute water tanks in the village as a temporary measure to relief shortage of water and Eskom has also began to deal with electrification backlog in the area.

The community had previously embarked in several violent protests which saw them burning tyres and blockading the road with stones. They complained about poor conditions of roads, insufficient water supply, lack of housing and electricity supply and these protests led to children not going to school.

“Residents wanted government to prioritize and in earnest begin the construction of 300 low cost houses and the 25 kilometer road linking their village and Zeerust town” Lolokwane said.-TDN
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Banyana Banyana have completed their preparations ahead of their international friendly match against neighbours Botswana.

The squad held their final training session at the Isak Steyl Stadium, University of Technology in Vanderbijl Park where the match will be played on Saturday, 07 June 2014.

Kickoff is at 15h00.

Head coach Vera Pauw concentrated mainly on tactics in their one-hour training session.

”We are looking forward to this match and we can’t wait for tomorrow where we will go full strength at our opponents. Unfortunately we have only one injury, defender Amanda Sister failed to recover from her groin injury, but the rest of the players are fit and raring to go. Tonight I will announce the 21 players who will form part of the playing squad from the 26 that we have,” said Pauw.

“What I would like us to see against Botswana is that we are in full control of the match both defensively and in attack. By that I mean I want to see teamwork, all the players working for each other all over the pitch and I believe if we can get that right we will emerge victorious.”

Her words were echoed by striker Leandra Smeda who was on the score-sheet when South Africa defeated Comoros in the first leg of the 2014 African Women’s Championships qualifier held in that country two weeks ago.

“We played very well against Comoros and I believe we will continue from where we left off when we face Botswana. Yes, tomorrow will not be as easy as it was in Comoros but I am confident we will do well against them. Training went very well this week and we put in a lot of work which should give us positive results tomorrow. I also think I will score again,” said Smeda.

Botswana arrived in South Africa on Thursday, 5 June and held their training session at the match venue on Friday afternoon (6 June).
-TDN
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Johannesburg – The South African Football Association have refused to divulge the identity of they want as the new Bafana Bafana coach, but revealed they will “announce the candidate soon”.

According to the football411 website, South Africa are currently in search of a new tactician after Gordon Igesund’s tenure came to an end earlier this week, with Sochaux manager Herve Renard and Stephen Keshi, currently in charge of Nigeria, considered favourites for the role.

However, SAFA refused to give anything away regarding the potential replacement, saying only that a decision would be revealed in time.

“The identity remains confidential and will only be made public once all details have been concluded,” SAFA spokesperson Dominic Chimhavi told Kick Off.

“The process of identifying the new Bafana Bafana coach has already began and we will be in a position to announce the candidate soon.”

He added: “Bafana Bafana are the country’s prime football brand; therefore we are looking at an individual who will take our senior national men’s team back to the golden days.”

Sport24

Johannesburg – Electricity in areas south of Johannesburg was expected to be restored by the end of Friday, except for Lenasia, City Power said.

“By the end of the day we think that all areas that were affected by power disruptions will be restored, with Lenasia perhaps being the only exception,” said spokesperson Sol Masolo.

“At the moment, the situation hasn’t changed compared to last night.”

On Thursday evening power went out in Lenasia, Eldorado Park, Klipspruit, Nancefield, Devland, and surrounds.

The power interruption was caused by the theft of 88kV electricity pylons between the Nirvana and Nancefield substations.

“A pylon is a major thing, it is not a street light at all. We are replacing them and connecting them,” he said.

“It’s a major concern. It is a very expensive exercise. We are taking as many measures as possible to ensure the pylons are protected and we are in contact with police in regards to this matter.”

City Power was ready for the winter electricity demand but appealed to residents to use energy sparingly.
SAPA

Johannesburg – A person’s past could make them unsuitable for a certain position, the Electoral Court sitting in the South Gauteng High Court heard on Friday.

This is according to David Unterhalter SC, for five political parties calling for the removal of Electoral Commission of SA (IEC) chairperson Pansy Tlakula.

The United Democratic Movement, the African Christian Democratic Party, the Congress of the People, Agang SA, and the Economic Freedom Fighters want the court to issue a recommendation to Parliament to have Tlakula removed from office after allegations of misconduct.

Their bid followed a forensic investigation by the National Treasury which found the procurement of the IEC’s Riverside Office Park headquarters building in Centurion, Pretoria, was neither fair, transparent, nor cost-effective.

The Treasury’s investigation followed a recommendation by Public Protector Thuli Madonsela in her own report into the matter.

Madonsela found Tlakula had a relationship – possibly of a romantic nature – with then chairperson of Parliament’s finance portfolio committee Thaba Mufamadi.

He was a shareholder in Abland, which owns the IEC’s current premises.

Tlakula has submitted that she made an “honest mistake” during the procurement process.

On Thursday, Daniel Berger SC, for Tlakula, said the court should take into consideration that the procurement took place when she was CEO of the IEC, not the chairperson.

He argued the issue had not affected how she conducted her duties and the country held successful elections under her leadership last month.

Unterhalter, however, argued on Friday that the matter could not be swept under the carpet just because it was not revealed when she applied for the chairwoman position.

The matter continues.
SAPA