Johannesburg – The State is expected to continue its cross-examination of murder-accused paralympian Oscar Pistorius’ agent Petrus van Zyl at the North Gauteng High Court on Wednesday.

Prosecutor Gerrie Nel began his cross-examination on Tuesday but requested that court adjourn early so that he could better prepare himself.

Van Zyl testified on Tuesday that Pistorius had planned to take his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp to two of his athletics meetings in Manchester and Brazil, which was the first time the athlete had asked a girlfriend to accompany him to sports meetings.

The travel plans were discussed on 7 February 2013 while he was visiting the athlete to plan their year. This was seven days before Pistorius shot and killed Steenkamp.

Pistorius had also planned to take Steenkamp to an Andrea Bocelli concert in Tuscany, Italy, the court heard.

Nel completed his questioning of sound expert Ivan Lin’s report on ambient noise on the morning of the shooting.

Lin did not rule out the possibility that one of Pistorius’s neighbours, Michelle Burger, whose house is 177m from Pistorius’s, could have perceived what she heard that night as a woman’s screams.

Burger told the court in March she heard “blood-curdling screams” followed by four gunshots the morning Steenkamp was shot dead.

Lin said the perception of what one heard was not reliable.

He said it was common sense that more often than not a woman’s voice could be distinguished from a man’s, but that one could not be 100% certain.
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Durban – KwaZulu-Natal premier Senzo Mchunu has received a report from the commission of inquiry into the deaths of eight applicants for traffic officer jobs.

“I will study the report and I will also ensure that it is tabled before the provincial executive council and acted upon,” Mchunu said in a statement on Tuesday.

The commission probed the deaths of eight people who took part in a four-kilometre run at the Harry Gwala Stadium in Pietermaritzburg in December last year.

This formed part of a fitness test for job applicants. More than 40 000 people qualified to apply for 90 advertised Road Traffic Inspectorate trainee posts.

Of these, 20 000 applicants attended the test on 27 December and a similar number on 28 December.

Mchunu said this was to keep the promise he made during his state of the province address on Thursday.

“In my address last week I pointed out that we are glad that the commission has finally finished its work after delays caused by requests from commissioners who wanted to interrogate more evidence,” he said.

He said the report was conducted thoroughly and dismissed claims that the inquiry was deliberately prolonged.

“Some in other quarters used our attention to detail to create the impression that we were deliberately prolonging the anguish of the families of the victims.”

In December, the Sunday Times reported that the commission was expected to cost about R14.2 million.

The newspaper reported that providing a meal of curry and rice and cooldrinks for the approximately 50 people attending the commission cost R494 962.

Other expenses include R424 164 for audiovisual services and R230 000 for travel costs.

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Johannesburg – A woman was handed 12 life sentences for sexual offences against her own children, North West police said on Tuesday.

The 37-year-old woman received six life sentences for rape, six for compelled rape and 20 years imprisonment for four other offences, Colonel Sabata Mokgwabone said in a statement.

The sentences were handed out by the Rustenburg Regional Court on Monday.

“The offences include six counts of sexual assault, four counts of compelled sexual assault and six of compelling or forcing children to witness sexual acts,” Mokgwabone said.

She was also sentenced on six counts of abuse and child neglect.

Mokgwabone said the woman and her 51-year-old husband abused their three children aged 7, 8 and 15, in Zeerust until the matter was brought to the attention of social workers.

The trial was set for 1 March 2013, but the husband was reported to be sick on the set date and the case was postponed to June.

The pair failed to appear in court and warrants for their arrest were issued. They were traced and arrested three months later.

The matter was then set for 18-30 June 2014.

“It was during the trial that the accused changed her plea which was accepted by the State. The court then ordered a separation of trials and the case against the father was postponed until 5 September 2014 to allow him to undergo a 30-days observation at a psychiatric facility,” Mokgwabone said.
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