Johannesburg – A little girl watched as four men stabbed her parents multiple times during a home invasion in Benoni, east of Johannesburg, killing her father.

“The poor child. She cried while she watched her mother and father being stabbed,” police spokesperson Lieutenant Nomsa Sekele told News24 on Thursday.

For more http://www.news24.com

Cape Town -Trade union federation, Cosatu, has on Thursday morning welcomed the commitment made by UCT to end outsourcing of workers at the university.

The statement by Cosatu, the National Education Health and Allied Workers Union, reportedly signed an agreement with the university following a years-long campaign by students for an end to outsourcing of workers there.

Students have long argued that outsourced workers at UCT should be entitled to the same benefits as academic staff, including dispensations for their children to study at discounted rates at the university.

On Wednesday UCT announced it would begin a process to determine the modalities, framework and timeframes of the implementation of its decision to insource workers.

For more http://www.iol.co.za

Rustenburg – A man died and two others were admitted to hospital with serious injuries after they were allegedly tortured over a period of 12 hours by a farmer, his wife, and eight others in Stella near Vryburg, North West police said on Wednesday.

“Ten suspect were arrested on Wednesday, for murder, two counts of attempted murder and kidnapping,” Captain Paul Ramaloko said.

“This comes after a farm owner, his wife, his friends and four farmworkers at Soutpanfontein near Stella allegedly assaulted three men with knobkerries and pouring them with hot water over their bodies on Tuesday, between 11:00 23:00.”

He said the four farm workers accosted the three victims while they walking in the veld and accused them of stock theft. The victims were then allegedly dragged to the farm house.

The farmer was not at home and on his arrival he allegedly joined the farmworkers and his wife in assaulting the three men.

“One of the three victims died from the injuries later at home and the two were admitted at the hospital with serious injuries. The ten suspects will appear in the Vryburg Magistrates Court soon. Investigations continue,” Ramaloko said.

African News Agency

Picture: (Fury as NWU up in smoke)

Rustenburg – An enormous quantity of petrol and a large number of petrol bombs were found at the Mahikeng Campus of the North West University (NWU), Vice Chancellor Professor Dan Kgwadi said on Thursday.

“If the university did not react on time, it was possible that the university would have been burned down.”

He said the campus would remain closed until order was restored.

“Our approach has been to take the campus from the students and establish authority. We had a meeting with parents to explain the situation. We felt that the best thing was to close the campus so that sanity must prevail,” said Kgwadi.

He said there were damages at the campus and it was still risky for staff and students.

For more http://www.iol.co.za

Singapore – A 35-year-old father of five sustained fatal burns last week when his aromatherapy diffuser caused an explosion and fire in Singapore, a media report said on Thursday.

The family had been using the diffuser every night since haze from forest fires in Indonesia has been blanketing the city-state.

Mohammed Rizalludin Hassan was topping up the diffuser’s essential oil from a 5-litre container in the bathroom when the family heard a loud sound and saw him running out of covered in flames.

“When I saw my husband in flames, I was so shocked, I didn’t know what to do,” his wife Nurul Asyikin Norman told local tabloid The New Paper.

“I completely forgot all fire safety procedures in my panic.”

For more http://www.iol.co.za

Johannesburg – Tension at the City of Joburg’s Emergency Management Services (EMS) boiled over on Wednesday night when a firefighter from the Orange Farm station shot and killed his boss.

The man was one of the firefighters placed on suspension following an illegal strike over the deaths of two firefighters who died of smoke inhalation after being trapped in an inner-city building this year.

On Wednesday night, the Orange Farm fire station’s action commander, Lesedi Phatsoe, arrived at the firefighter’s Vanderbijlpark home to serve him with a notice to appear before a hearing. He was shot dead.

Police spokesman Captain Johannes Motsiri said an argument broke out between the two.

For more http://www.iol.co.za

Johannesburg – The trial against a 21-year-old man alleged to have been behind the accident that led to the death of Top Billing presenter Simba Mhere and his best friend is expected to continue in the Randburg Magistrate’s Court on Thursday.

Preshalin Naidoo faces a case of culpable homicide and reckless and negligent driving.

He has made several appearances since his arrest earlier this year following Mhere and Kady-Shay O’Bryan’s death.

For more http://www.news24.com

Picture: (Fury as NWU up in smoke)

BY REGINALD KANYANE

STUDENTS and management at North West University Mafikeng Campus reached a compromise to go back to their residence on Wednesday afternoon.

  It was not clear what influence Premier Supra Mahumapelo exerted on the negotiations as met with students and management over the issue.

  University management had decided to indefinitely close the institution and evacuate all students from campus residence following a week of violent protests.

  Police moved in and drove students out around 6am and everyone was out of the campus by 8am.

Premier Supra Mahumapelo visited the students who were stranded on the road and called on them to remain calm while his office negotiated with the university.

  In his address, Mahumapelo said: “It is wrong that the university uses force to evacuate students because there could be injuries and even loss of life. We want them to talk to you so that an amicable solution is found.

  “We get worried that students coming from poor backgrounds and other African states can be given such a short notice to leave. How do they go back home and yet expected to be back in time for examinations,” Mahumapelo said.

  On the other hand, the student leadership rushed to court to try and interdict the indefinite closure.

The university has been closed down due to student protests that started on October 21.

  NWU vice chancellor, Prof Dan Kgwadi said that there was need to restore order and make sure that university staff is allowed back on campus to perform its duties.

   “The Mafikeng Campus of the NWU currently is under siege by students since October 21 and management and staff had been locked out of campus.

  “Considerable damage had been done to facilities on campus which must now be repaired to ensure that examinations can begin on Monday, 2 November 2015,” he said.

  Kgwadi added that there was need for police to remain on campus to make sure that there was no further damage to property.

  “Management will now assess the situation and take the necessary steps to prepare for the commencement of examinations,” he said.

  Student representative council (SRC) president Linda Mabengwana said they had worked hard to have students back on campus but they had three outstanding issues before business could return to normal.

  “We want the issue of the examination dates moved forward because November 2 is too close. We also demand that students who participated in the protests should not be charged and that police should not be allowed on campus. We are not criminals that they should patrol here.

  “If these are not met, we cannot allow staff members back on campus and we would continue our fight in the courts of law,” Mabengwana said.

  Students also had misgivings over the way they had been evacuated.

A final year Political Sciences and International Relations student, Ofentse Pilane said: “We do not appreciate the way the message was communicated to us. We learnt through media that we will be evicted. What about other students who are from various areas and countries? How would they find an alternative accommodation in the short space of time?”

  Another student from Rustenburg, Tshepiso Mataboge said that she will only be back at the campus after the situation has calmed down.

-TDN

Follow us on Twitter@Taung_DailyNews or @IceT_

A prestigious private school in Ballito said it stood firmly behind its no drug policy after a high court ruled in favour of a pupil who was expelled after being bust for smoking dagga.

Durban High Court acting Judge Cassim Sardiwalla on Tuesday ruled that a 15-year-old grade 8 pupil at Ashton International College, be allowed to return to school.

The use of the substance was discovered during a random drug test done by the school. Sardiwalla said the process the school followed was flawed because it did not abide by its own policies and rules.

In a statement, the school said it was “not the ruling that Ashton International College were hoping for”.

For more http://www.news24.com

A gang of ATM bombers escaped empty-handed in Stanger on Tuesday night, but not before wounding a KwaZulu-Natal policewoman in a hail of bullets.

It emerged that the ten-strong gang, who were apparently armed with high-calibre assault rifles, were unable to detonate explosive charges in the ATM gallery.

Two independent police sources with knowledge of the investigation, who could not be named as they are not authorised to speak to the media, confirmed that the gang escaped with nothing.

For more http://www.news24.com