Kimberley – A 27-year-old woman was stabbed to death with an assegai in Galeshewe in the Northern Cape on Sunday morning, allegedly by her ex-boyfriend.

Lerato Olifant was stabbed several times with an assegai after running into a house, apparently to hide from an ex-lover who had dragged her from another house down the street.

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Galeshewe – A man was arrested in Lerato Park, Roodepan, on Monday for possession of suspected stolen copper valued around R50 000, Northern Cape police said.

Police received a tip-off about two men pushing a wheelbarrow loaded with copper, but when they arrived the police found only one man, Lieutenant Donald Mdhluli said.

The man would appear in the Galeshewe Magistrate’s Court soon.

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Kimberley – Disciplinary proceedings against the four Northern Cape Agricultural High School (Hoër Landbouskool Noord Kaap) pupils accused of raping and assaulting a fellow pupil at the school’s hostel in Jan Kempdorp, will commence this week at the school.

During the incident, which was captured on video, the four pupils allegedly raped the victim by inserting a toothbrush and mop handle into his rectum after tying him to a bed and smearing a white substance over his naked body and then shaving off his eyebrows and hair.

The four, two of whom are 18 years old, one a 15-year-old and the youngest being a 14-year-old, were suspended from the school on February 9 and will face a disciplinary committee on Thursday and Friday, after the unavailability of legal representation caused a postponement from the original date of February 25.

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Kimberley – A legal representative for Don Steenkamp, 18, who was convicted for the triple murder of his family and the rape of his sister, still has to be appointed to challenge his sentence in the Supreme Court of Appeal (SCA) in Bloemfontein.

Steenkamp was sentenced last year for shooting and killing his father Deon, 44, mother Christel, 43, and 14-year-old sister Marthella Steenkamp on their farm Naauwhoek near Griquatown on Good Friday 2012.

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Mmabatho – A woman appeared in the Mmabatho Magistrate’s Court on Wednesday for allegedly stabbing her partner to death, North West police said.

Barileng Pholoholo, 40, was granted bail at R500, Colonel Sabata Mokgwabone said.

She would appear in court again on April 30.

Pholoholo was arrested on Monday.

“Police were called to a certain house in Rooigrond 1/8Mahikeng 3/8 where a 53-year-old man was found dead with multiple stab wounds on the body.

“The victim was certified dead on the scene and the suspect, who was found in possession of a blood-covered knife in her hand, was arrested,” Mokgwabone said.

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Johanesburg – The Constitutional Court will on Tuesday hear an application on whether an admission statement in a criminal trial is admissible as evidence against the co-accused of the person who made it.

Boswell John Mhlongo, Alfred Disco Nkosi, and six others were accused of shooting and killing a police officer in his house in Mothutlung, North West, on August 3, 2002.

Some of the accused made out-of-court statements implicating Mhlongo and Nkosi.

In the North West High Court the eight all pleaded not guilty. The high court found the statements were admissions, rather than confessions, and that they were, therefore, admissible against the accused.

Under the Law of Evidence Amendment Act, such hearsay evidence is admissible, the court found.

The court considered the evidence credible and, on this basis, found all eight guilty and sentenced them to life imprisonment.

All but one appealed. The high court found the evidence was corroborated, and that crucial parts of the statements were confirmed in court proceedings.

The convictions were upheld and subsequent applications for leave to appeal to the Supreme Court of Appeal were dismissed.

Of the eight original accused only Mhlongo and Nkosi appealed their convictions to the Constitutional Court.

They argue that allowing out-of-court admissions, but not confessions, by one accused against a co-accused violates their right to equality before the law. Such evidence, they argue, is unreliable and should not be admitted because it compromises their right to a fair trial.

The State agrees that the distinction between confessions and admissions is problematic, but maintains there is an exception where statements are made in furtherance of a conspiracy or common purpose.

As such common purpose had been established, the State submits that the statements are admissible.

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Rustenburg – A woman was raped at an Anglo American Platinum (Amplats) mine in Rustenburg, North West, the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) said on Tuesday.

“It is alleged that a woman was raped in a female change room at the mine,” said Rustenburg NUM regional secretary Sydwell Dokolwana.

He said the woman was raped at Thembelani mine, on Sunday.

“Apparently a suspect entered the change room holding a screwdriver. He forcefully ordered the woman to undress and threatened to kill her if she resisted,” he said.

North West police confirmed a case of rape, and said a 28-year-old man had been arrested.

“It is alleged that the victim was taking a shower in the changing room. The suspect gained entry through the door of the room which was not working at that time,” said Sergeant Kealeboga Molale.

“The suspect raped the victim and fled the scene. The mine security managed to apprehend him and called the police to the scene.”

He was expected to appear in the Rustenburg Magistrate’s Court on Tuesday.

Dokolwana said they were told the man was not an Amplats employee, but wanted to know how he gained access to mine premises.

Amplats spokeswoman Mpumi Sithole said the same intruder had tried to harm a second female employee.

“Preliminary investigations indicate that one female employee was allegedly sexually assaulted by an outsider who gained access to the mine site illegally, while the same intruder also attempted to harm a second female employee.”

Both women were receiving trauma counselling and medical support provided by the company.

Amplats condemned violence against women in any shape or form.

“We are deeply saddened by and strongly condemn this violent criminal act. The safety of all of our employees is our number one priority. We are currently investigating how this incident could happen and, in particular, whether any security lapses occurred,” CEO Chris Griffith said.

“We are committed to doing everything in our ability to make any necessary changes to our security measures to ensure that this, or something similar, does not happen again.”

The company said it was working closely with the police and had launched an internal investigation.

Dokolwana said the NUM decided to fight for women to work underground at mines because the industry was untransformed and male-dominated.

But it was worried that not much had been done to change the culture of aggressive masculinity it said pervaded the mining sector as a whole.

Although women were now working underground in large numbers, he believed nothing had been done to make mines safe from sexual harassment and violence.

“There is no doubt that sexual abuse and gender-based violence in mines is still pervasive.”

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Taung- A school was damaged during a heavy rain storm in Itireleng village near Taung, North West, the Dr Ruth Segomotsi Mompati district municipality said on Tuesday.

Roofs were blown off Mmatlakitso Primary School, a church, and 33 houses during the storm on Saturday, spokesman Joseph Motlhasedi said.

“The storm swept heavily, uprooting a number of trees around the area. Luckily no-one was injured during the flood that left a trail of property destruction.”

Those displaced were accommodated at a community hall and given food parcels.

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