Durban – More bones have been discovered in the yard of a Pongola pastor who was earlier arrested following the discovery of a dismembered corpse of a four-year-old boy at his church, KwaZulu-Natal police said on Friday.

While the remains of Kiki Ntuli had been found in a plastic bag on Saturday, forensic specialists who probed the pastor’s yard found more bones on Thursday, said Captain Thulani Zwane.

“The bones have been taken for forensic analysis to verify whether they are those of a human being or not,” Zwane said.

The 51-year-old pastor had, however, not been charged.

Zwane said investigations were ongoing.

While searching for the rest of Ntuli’s body parts on Tuesday, police discovered a skull and skeleton at a woman’s house in Ncotshane.

It was unclear whether those bones were linked to the Ntuli case or whether they were that of a human being.

The bones were taken for forensic testing.

Angry Pongola residents went on the rampage on Tuesday and torched the pastor’s church and woman’s house.

Fifteen people were arrested for violence and were scheduled to appear before the Ncotshane Magistrate’s Court on Thursday.

The court was, however, petrol bombed on Wednesday night.

The group finally appeared in the Pongola Magistrate’s Court on Friday, where they were released on a warning.

Their case was postponed to 28 July.
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Cape Town – A court orderly, who allegedly accepted a R150 bribe to allow an awaiting trial prisoner to have sex with a prisoner’s girlfriend, was sent for 30 days’ psychiatric observation on Friday.

Warrant Officer Bongani Ndikho, 42, who is out on warning, was in charge of prisoners appearing in court, when the alleged incident happened in the holding cells at the Wynberg Regional Court in Cape Town in March last year.

He appeared before magistrate W Rixana, who at the request of prosecutor Simone Liedeman, ordered him to report at the Valkenberg psychiatric hospital for an assessment as an outpatient, and to be admitted as an in-patient as soon as a bed became available.

The prosecutor said she had a medical certificate as well as a psychiatric letter stating that Ndikho had severe depression, and was unable to focus on the proceedings.

He also had difficulty in interacting with people, poor memory, and concentration, she said.

Media presence

As Ndikho stepped out of the dock, he complained to the court that he had been chased through the streets in Bellville after his previous appearance, by a media cameraman.

He lamented that he was unhappy about the media presence in court, and did not want his photograph in the newspapers.

Ndikho added: “This is a corruption case, and the media presence affects me and my ailing mother.”

He said the photographer had chased him for about 500m, and “they abuse their right”.

Ndikho asked the court for help, and said he did not want to be chased through the streets.

The magistrate said the media had to bring a formal application if they wished to take photographs, or TV footage, in the courtroom.

However, the court had no control over what happened outside, the magistrate explained.

He said the court could not make an order that it could not enforce.

Right to privacy

He said Ndikho had the right to privacy, and he needed to discuss the problem with his lawyer, Chantelle Morgan, who could launch a civil suit on his behalf, for damages against the newspaper that published his photograph without his permission.

With Ndikho in the dock was prisoner John Maggot, who allegedly gave Ndikho the R150 bribe.

Ndikho faces two counts of corruption. One relates to the alleged R150 bribe for sex, and the other alleges that he received additional bribes totalling R12 000 to smuggle dagga parcels to Maggot.

Maggot similarly faces two counts of corruption.

Both also face one charge each of dealing in drugs.

The charge sheet tells of a number of cellphone sms messages, allegedly arranging for dagga in parcels to be given to Ndikho, to smuggle to Maggot in the court holding cells, and for the alleged payment of bribes.

In one sms, Ndikho is alleged to have said if the bribe was “not a block (R1000), don’t bother coming”.

The prosecutor alleges that Ndikho deposited R12 000 into his bank account on March 27 last year.

The case was postponed to 18 August, for the psychiatric assessment.
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Johannesburg – Cosatu general secretary Zwelinzima Vavi reiterated that political representatives should not get involved in business, following reports of dying animals on a farm owned by National Council of Provinces (NCOP) chairperson Thandi Modise.

Vavi expressed his shock over the issue in a speech prepared for delivery at the Food and Allied Workers Union’s regional congress in Port Elizabeth.

“We were all shocked at the story of the dead and dying animals on the farm of…Modise,” said Vavi.

“It reinforces our insistence that political representatives should not get involved in business. They must choose one or the other, and not try to fight for the poor, while enriching themselves from their businesses.”

Last weekend, police and officials of the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (SPCA) went to the farm and discovered pigs, sheep, geese, goats and ducks that had been without water and food for around two weeks.

There were no farmworkers on the property, no electricity, and the water pumps were broken.

At the time, Modise told the Sunday Independent newspaper that she was still “trying” to farm: “I am learning. But if you are a woman and you are learning you are not allowed to make mistakes.”

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