By Obakeng Maje
Vryburg- The North West Provincial Commissioner, Lieutenant General Zukiswa Mbombo welcomed the 18 years imprisonment sentence imposed on a former Police Captain, Shane Jacobs(49) by the North West High Court seating in Vryburg last week.

The crime was committed on 19 December 2010 in Colridge, Vryburg when Jacobs and six other accused  took the law into their own hands by assaulting the then 19-year-old boy, Patrick Modukanele. 

The victim was assaulted for allegedly robbing a woman who was a relative to Shane Jacobs. 

“The ordeal began on the street when the victim was kicked and beaten all over the body.  He was forcefully taken to Frank Anthony ‘s place where he was also assaulted, among others with plastic chairs.  The victim was then taken to Vryburg hospital with an ambulance where he died on arrival” colonel Sabata Mokgwabone said. 

By then Shane Jacobs was a Captain in the South African Police Service until his resignation in March this year. Out of seven accused, four including Shane Jacobs were found guilty of murder on 9 September 2014, while the other three were found not guilty. 

The three other accused were sentenced as follows:

Frank Anthony(52) was sentenced to 15 years direct imprisonment, Nathan Nieuwoudt(29) was sentenced to 16 years direct imprisonment while Solly Ferris(31) was handed 15 years direct imprisonment. 

“We have always maintained that South African Police Service is not home to criminals and that we will co-operate with any entity and the communities to deal effectively with our own members who disregard the rule of law” said Lieutenant General Zukiswa Mbombo. 
-TDN
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Former Bloemfontein Celtic and Platinum Stars coach Owen Da Gama has been linked with the coaching position at the national U23 team.

Interested in our players abroad? Get the latest news on their careers by clicking here

Sources within the South African Football Association have revealed that Da Gama is the favourite to land the role after being recommended by Bafana Bafana head coach Shakes Mashaba, as reported by the Siya crew in this week’s issue of Soccer Laduma. 
For more http://www.soccerladuma.co.za

Former Bloemfontein Celtic and Platinum Stars coach Owen Da Gama has been linked with the coaching position at the national U23 team.

Interested in our players abroad? Get the latest news on their careers by clicking here

Sources within the South African Football Association have revealed that Da Gama is the favourite to land the role after being recommended by Bafana Bafana head coach Shakes Mashaba, as reported by the Siya crew in this week’s issue of Soccer Laduma. 
For more http://www.soccerladuma.co.za

Injured Bidvest Wits duo, Papy Faty and Calvin Kadi, are still several months from returning to action due to their respective injuries.

Both players suffered bad knee injuries towards the end of last season, resulting in surgery for the pair, with ligaments being badly damaged in both cases.

Now, while Faty and Kadi are back walking again, they are likely to only start running again at some point next year.
For more http://www.soccerladuma.co.za

Johannesburg – The Tshwane University of Technology on Saturday said it was taking urgent steps to ensure the academic programme resumes at its Pretoria and Ga-Rankuwa campuses after student protests.

“The Tshwane University of Technology is aware that the majority of our students are concerned about the disruption to studies caused by the protest action at our campuses in Ga-Rankuwa and Pretoria,” spokesperson Willa de Ruyter said in a statement.

“The university is taking urgent steps to ensure that the academic programme resumes as quickly as possible and continues uninterrupted to enable our students to successfully complete the academic year.”

She said the university was committed to continuing negotiations with the student leaders.

On Thursday, the student representative council (SRC) said the protest would continue until the students decided otherwise.

SRC president Mboniseni Dladla said the students would not be threatened with evictions from the institution’s residences.

“No lies spread by the university spokesperson should be taken serious[ly]. We’ve consulted our lawyers and can assure all TUT students that threats of evictions will not see the light of day this time around,” he said at the time.

The institution earlier was forced to close its gates again on Thursday after students went on the rampage.

At the time, De Ruyter said this was despite university management accepting a memorandum of grievances from the students and agreeing to enter into talks with the SRC.

Classes were suspended on Tuesday and Wednesday because of student protests over a lack of funds in the National Student Financial Aid Scheme.

TUT staff returned to work on Wednesday, but were told on Thursday to stay away due to the protest.

SAPA

Sydney – Australian authorities are investigating the death of a Malaysian girl who was flung “like a doll” from a spinning ride at the Royal Adelaide Show where show goers laid flowers for her on Saturday.

The girl, 8, who was reportedly visiting Australia with her family, was thrown from the AirMaxx 360 ride on Friday afternoon, South Australian police said in a statement.

She was treated by paramedics and taken to an Adelaide hospital but died a short time later, police said.

Malinda Dunwoodie said she was near the ride when she saw the child “flying through the air”.

“She was hanging by her legs off the ride, trying to block herself,” Dunwoodie told Adelaide newspaper The Advertiser.

“She went flying through the air about 10 to 15 metres up in the air and I started sprinting toward her. I was shaking so much, she looked like a doll flying through the air.

“It was so shocking – it was like a horror movie. I didn’t see her land in the crowd but when I made it over to her I couldn’t see her eyes moving. Everyone was screaming.”

Makeshift memorial

Show goers on Saturday laid stuffed teddy bear toys and flowers at a makeshift memorial in the show grounds.

“It’s just complete sadness and it’s a tragedy that should have been avoided,” Katherina Ritson, one of the event’s staff who placed flowers, told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation.

A spokesperson for the High Commission of Malaysia said they were working with the country’s Honorary Consul in South Australia to assist the family.

South Australia’s work health and safety agency, SafeWork SA, said the ride – which was operating for the first time at the show – would be shut for the rest of the event as they investigate the incident with police.

The ride, about 15m long and 18m wide, resembles a giant spider and can carry up to 24 people.

The Royal Adelaide Show attracts about half a million visitors every year and is South Australia’s largest event. It features amusement rides as well as farming exhibitions with live animals.

AFP

Durban – The reburial of anti-apartheid journalist Nat Nakasa closed a tragic chapter of South Africa’s history, Arts and Culture Minister Nathi Mthethwa said on Saturday.

“The act of reburial solidifies that which is a part of our heritage,” Mthethwa said speaking at the memorial service in Durban’s city hall.

He said Nakasa had challenged the apartheid system through the pen.

“Much as he was not politically affiliated, an individual like Nat Nakasa was unavoidably a conduit for what the National Liberation Movement fought for.”

Hundreds attended the memorial service, including KwaZulu-Natal Premier Senzo Mchunu, SA National Editors’ Forum executive director Mathatha Tsedu, Inkatha Freedom Party leader Mangosuthu Buthelezi, numerous well known local personalities and Nakasa’s family.

Nakasa’s last remaining sibling, who last saw Nakasa when she was 13-years-old, sat between Mchunu and Mthethwa.

Suicide

Nakasa worked for publications including Drum magazine, the Rand Daily Mail and Illanga newspapers.

He was forced to leave SA on an exit visa when the apartheid government refused to grant him a passport after he was awarded a Nieman Fellowship at the Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

Nakasa died after falling from a building in New York in an apparent suicide in 1965. He was 28. He was buried at the city’s Ferncliff Cemetery, until his exhumation earlier this year.

However, Nakasa’s nephew Dr Sipho Masondo said on Saturday that he rejected all claims of suicide.

He said that he had been told the night before Nakasa’s body was found on a New York pavement, that Nakasa had received a telephone call at Miriam Makeba’s New York home where he was interviewing her.

The next day on 14 July 1965, he was dead, without having completed the interview.

“I do not accept that he committed suicide. He was a victim of the cold war,” said Masondo.

Tsedu said the reburial of Nakasa showed that government and the media could work together.

He praised Nakasa’s sister Gladys Mazibuko for being unwavering in her love and efforts to bring Nakasa back.

The ceremony was preceded by a procession of his coffin through Chesterville in Durban, where Nakasa originally came from.

Nakasa remains, which arrived at Durban’s King Shaka International Airport in August, are expected to buried in Chesterville’s Heroes Acre later on Saturday.

SAPA