Johannesburg – A desperate Midrand father has taken to illegally protesting outside his baby’s mother’s workplace every day in a bid to get her to agree to let him see his child.
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Johannesburg – A claim for damages of at least R6m for the “wrongful suffering” of a child born with Down’s syndrome was heard in the Constitutional Court, The Times reported on Friday.

The mother, who cannot be named to protect the child’s identity, wanted the foetal assessment centre in Claremont to pay damages for failing to recognise that her unborn son was at “very high risk” of Down’s syndrome, according to the report.

Had she known the severity of the risk, she would have aborted the foetus, according to the report.

Instead of the parents having to bear the costs of caring for the child the foetal assessment centre should be responsible, she argued.

The High Court in Cape Town dismissed the mother’s application earlier this year.

The Claremont centre opposed the application.

Citing case law, the high court noted that such a claim, which would require a court to determine whether a child should have been born,”goes to the heart of what it is to be human, [something that] should not be asked of the law”.

But in the Constitutional Court, the mother denied basing her damages claim on “wrongful life”, instead making the novel claim of “wrongful suffering”.

She said that instead of considering whether her son should have been born the court should determine whether the centre’s alleged negligence should result in it paying damages, according to the report.

Judgment was reserved.

SAPA

Johannesburg – A woman died and a man was critically injured when their car hit a tree in Carletonville on Friday, Gauteng paramedics said.

“When paramedics arrived on scene, they found the light motor vehicle wedged up against a tree on the side of the road,” ER24 spokesperson Russel Meiring said.

“On assessment, paramedics discovered that a female passenger had sustained fatal injuries in the collision. The male driver lay pinned inside the vehicle and was in a critical condition.”

The man was extricated and taken to Carletonville Hospital.

Meiring said the cause of the accident was not known.

SAPA

Johannesburg – Twelve people were arrested for public violence in Sophiatown informal settlement in Tembisa on Friday morning during a “cat and mouse” protest, Ekurhuleni metro police said.

– Are you there? Send us your eyewitness accounts and photos.

“They will probably appear in court on Monday,” said spokesperson Chief Superintendent Wilfred Kgasago.

“The people in this area are playing a cat and mouse game with us. They block the roads and when police get there they run off.”

Residents of Sophiatown began a service delivery protest at 03:00.

They were burning tyres and placing rocks on roads.

A main road that had earlier been barricaded was reopened after 09:00.

Kgasago said municipal officials were due to visit the area on Friday to address residents and resolve the matter.

SAPA

Taung- As the nation pulls down the curtain on Women’s Month, North West MEC for Local Government and Human Settlements, Collen Maine will recognize the role played by women in disaster management, fire fighting and rescue services, by awarding them with certificates of appreciation in Women in Disaster management event to take place at Taung Sports Ground on Friday at 09h00. 

Ten women (10) women have been selected from different wards in Greater Taung Local Municipality and have been trained on Fire Fighting and First Aid. The training was to introduce disaster risk reduction at ward level to enhance the survival skills of vulnerable communities, especially women and children who bear the brunt of disasters.

“The programme is in line with the National and Provincial Disaster Management Policy Framework and the Disaster Management Act. The project seeks to present women from historically disadvantaged communities with information on first aid and fire-fighting” departmental spokesperson Ben Bole said.
-TDN
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Basic Education Minister Angie Motshekga is considering opening a camp for matriculants from Kuruman after a lengthy protest over a road closed schools.

“It is a huge concern for us because learners haven’t been to school since June 4,” Motshekga’s spokeswoman Troy Martens said on Thursday.

“We are looking at different options at the moment, including taking matriculants to a camp to learn. The plans are in place, we just need the learners to come back to school.”

She said 16,000 pupils from 54 schools in different villages were affected. Of these 496 were matriculants.

Motshekga was in the area on Wednesday to talk to the community, with the expectation of re-opening schools.

However, the community was adamant that the situation would not change.

A group calling themselves the Road Forum began protesting in June demanding that a 130km stretch of road in the John Taolo Gaetsewe district municipality be tarred.

The protesters were barring pupils and staff from going to school to get the attention of the authorities.

In that month, Northern Cape premier Sylvia Lucas’s spokesman Monwabisi Nkompela said the tender to tar the road was opened on June 12 and closed on July 18.

“The tender is at a stage where the project managers at the [roads and public works] department are evaluating which bidder met the specific requirements,” Nkompela said at the time.

He could not be reached for comment on Thursday.

In July, the administration blocks of some schools in the area were set alight.

Martens on Thursday said Motshekga was worried about the safety of pupils, and would be engaging with the provincial department of education and parents about the matter.

-Sapa

Cosatu in the North West is up in arms over the continued lockout of workers who took part in a metalworkers strike over wages, spearheaded by Numsa last month.
For more http://www.thenewage.co.za