Johannesburg – A man was sentenced to two life tems by the Scottburgh Regional Court after pleading guilty to two counts of rape, the KwaZulu-Natal National Prosecuting Authority said on Monday.

Qunisela Gumede was sentenced on Friday last week for the rape of a 7-year-old and a 9-year-old, spokespersonn Natasha Kara said in a statement.

“The incident occurred in 2012 when the accused called one of the girls into his rondavel to dish food for him. He raped her and then gave her money to buy sweets,” Kara said in a statement.

“Her sister [the second complainant] was standing in the doorway and witnessed what had happened. She was raped by the accused on another occasion.”

He said the complainant told her teacher what had happened and the police were alerted.

Gumede initially pleaded not guilty to the charges, but changed his plea after the first complainant testified, she said.

She said the defence argued for the court to deviate from the minimum sentence applicable on the grounds that the accused had changed his plea.

“However, regional court prosecutor Kogilum Naick argued at length, citing various case laws about the seriousness of the offence. A social worker’s report was also handed in,” she said.

“Naick alerted the court to the fact that the children were blamed for the accused’s incarceration. They were constantly abused by their grandfather who blamed them when he was drunk.”

Kara said Gumede was given a life sentence on each count and the court ordered the sentences to run concurrently.

Johannesburg – A third of adults in South Africa fear the police, a Futurefact survey recently found.

“Three in 10 adults fear going to a police station to report a crime themselves, while a third say they are scared of the police,” the research company found.

Seventy percent of respondents indicated they were constantly alert to the risk of crime and afraid of it.

Nearly half, 44%, felt there was no point in reporting crime to the police.

The study was based on the results of a survey conducted late last year on a probability sample of 3 048 adults throughout South Africa, representing 22.8 million adults.

Given the findings relating to fears around reporting crime to the police, the research implied that a more distant method of reporting criminal activity, such as Crime Line, was likely to prove useful.

Last week the SA Institute for Race Relations (SAIRR) released a report, titled “Broken Blue Line 2”, that some SA Police Service members played a major role in perpetrating serious violent crime.

SAIRR CEO Frans Cronje said at the time that such police officers often used their policing powers and official equipment to perpetrate crimes, and that criminal gangs appeared to benefit from internal support from police.

SAPS management have questioned the methodology of the SAIRR report, saying it was based on assumptions and inferences and the research had not been stress-tested.

“The report contains dangerous generalisations, apparently mostly based on media reports, interviews with journalists and some form of engagement with the Independent Police Investigative Directorate,” police spokesperson Solomon Makgale said at the time.

Johannesburg – The SA Human Rights Commission on Monday called on the government to act on the “sporadic attacks” on immigrants and the looting of their businesses across the country.

The SAHRC said it had visited some of the communities affected by the attacks.

“We remain concerned at the attacks which have all the hallmarks of xenophobia, since only foreigners and their property seem to be targeted, save for the few nationals who were also caught in the cross-fire,” it said.

“The targeted approach of these attacks on foreign shop owners irresistibly bears xenophobic undertones and not only as criminality as it has been suggested in a number of statements by some government spokespersons.”

SAHRC said that acknowledging this would enable those responsible in dealing with these challenges to do so from a correct perspective.

The commission said the escalation in the number of non-nationals entering South Africa had posed various challenges and in some instances, human rights violations were reported to be perpetrated against non-nationals.

“The commission has been aware of the simmering tensions between locals and foreigners for some time from the number of complaints we have received and dealt with,” it said.

The commission said that in 2008, South Africa experienced unprecedented levels of violence and discrimination against non-nationals, during which more than 60 people were killed and thousands were displaced.

“The Commission calls on government to move quickly to address the underlying issues that continue to negatively affect foreign nationals in the manner the country has experienced in the recent weeks.”

It said dealing with xenophobia would need a multi-faceted, multi-dimensional and collective human rights approach based on basic human rights.

Cape Town – Sentencing proceedings are expected to begin on Tuesday in the case of a Zimbabwean man who pleaded guilty to stabbing Mbuyiselo Manona and removing his heart.

Andrew Chimboza, 35, entered into a plea agreement on the first day of his trial in the Western Cape High Court in Cape Town on Monday.

The State accepted his plea and Judge Ashley Binns-Ward found him guilty of murder without premeditation.

In his plea explanation Chimboza apologised for killing Manona, 62, at the Gugulethu home of a former female client of his, Chimboza’s, in June.

When he arrived there, he said, Manona insulted him, hit him in the face and accused him of having sex with his partner, Chimboza’s former client.

Chimboza said he was aware that Manona wanted to stab him.

He disarmed Manona and used his knife to stab him multiple times.

Chimboza said he knew his actions were wrong and exceeded the boundaries of self-defence.

On Monday, no mention was made of allegations that witnesses saw Chimboza eating pieces of Manona’s heart.

Prosecutor Jacqueline Sibiya said she believed the removal of the heart was not the cause of death per se and thus did not have too much bearing on the plea of murder.

The doctor who performed the post mortem was expected to testify in aggravation of sentence on Tuesday.

JOHANNESBURG – The South African Development Community, has condemned Sunday’s attack at Lesotho’s Royal Palace.

At least two bodyguards of Prime Minister Thomas Thabane were shot and wounded.
For more http://www.enca.com

Mahikeng- MEC for Local Government and Human Settlements in Bokone Bophirima, Collen Maine has welcomed the commitment by the Portfolio Committee on Local Government and Human Settlements to support the work done by the Department in rescuing ailing municipalities.

Chairperson of the Committee, Raymond Elisa, has also applauded the department for its tough stance on zero corruption in municipalities throughout.

This follows a recent report presented to the Committee on the progress registered on the Constitution’s Sections 139 and 154 interventions in Maquassi Hills, Ditsobotla, Matlosana, Madibeng, Lekwa Teemane and Ngaka Modiri Molema district and local municipalities.

When presenting the report to the Committee recently, MEC Maine said the Section 154 intervention in Maquassi Hills local municipality yielded positive result in that there exist a system to manage and monitor council resolutions and a financial recovery plan has been developed. Section 139(b) intervention at Ditsobotla local municipality resulted in all the bottle necks on service delivery issues such as water shortages, electricity connections and patching of potholes, being removed albeit shortage of funding. Matlosana local municipality was also placed under Section 139(b) in December 2014 and an Administrator and a team of officials from the Department have been deployed to rescue the situation.

“The financial position of the municipality is continuing to deteriorate as the main creditors i.e Eskom and Midvaal Company are increasing and standing at R240 million and R50 million, respectively. The debtors book stands at R1.1 billion”, he said.

MEC Maine concluded that stability has been brought to the council of Ngaka Modiri Molema district municipality, albeit challenges in the administration, filling of key positions, financial recovery, quality services delivery and labour matters.
-TDN
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