Cape Town – All outsourced staff employed at the University of the Western Cape will receive a monthly allowance of R2 000 from December 1, the council said in a statement.

This is one of many agreements taken during a two-day meeting where council considered some of the issues raised by the students and the employees.

Council also condemned the recent acts of violence, vandalism, arson and intimidation that occurred on campus during recent weeks.

Council agreed that the university would issue a concessionary instrument that would provide debt relief for students eligible for UWC’s 2013–2015 National Student Financial Aid Scheme [NSFAS].

For more http://www.news24.com

Johannesburg – The Bedfordview house of Czech fugitive Radovan Krejcir has gone under the hammer at a high security auction that was attended by four bidders.

The auction took place on Saturday morning and lasted for about 10 minutes.

It is not yet known how much the home was auctioned for.

There were three bouncers in black suits outside the gate while another four people inside the yard checked names against a list of permitted individuals.

For more http://www.news24.com

Cape Town – Rescuers were still searching on Sunday morning for a fisherman lost at sea near Gordon’s Bay, Cape Town.

National Sea Rescue Institute (NSRI) spokesperson Craig Lambinon said their Gordon’s Bay team received news of a distress flare sighting on Saturday evening and cut through the sea in a gale-force south easterly to investigate.

They spotted a torch light flashing in the distance and found three men clinging to the upturned hull of a snoek fishing boat about three quarters of a nautical mile from Harbour Island.

For more http://www.news24.com

Durban – A woman who fell three storeys through a glass window is in a critical condition in hospital.

Netcare 911 spokesperson Chris Botha said paramedics received a call that a person had fallen from the third floor of a block of flats in South Beach Road on Saturday night.

“Reports from the scene indicate that she fell through the glass window before falling and landing on the concrete pavement three floors below.

For more http://www.news24.com

Not even the ANC’s behind-the-scenes efforts could stop trade union federation Cosatu this week from indirectly endorsing Deputy President Cyril Ramaphosa as its candidate to replace President Jacob Zuma in 2017.

The final resolution of the federation’s 11th national congress was that the ANC should follow its traditions and principles, which is a tacit endorsement.

The main reasons for supporting Ramaphosa were that he was a former worker leader and was known by workers. It was also felt that while many leaders were capitalists, this should not be used against him.

Furthermore, the fact that he had money could mean that he would not spend time trying to accumulate more for himself.

» Get your copy of City Press newspaper today to read more about the reasons why Cosatu is supporting Ramaphosa.

Johannesburg – A 45-year-old man was arrested outside a festival venue in Bronkhorstspruit after drugs were allegedly found in his car, police said on Sunday.

Police spokesperson Constable Connie Moganedi said the K9 Unit followed up on information that there were drugs in the Vaalbank area where a festival was taking place on Saturday.

She said they found drugs on a man who told them there were also drugs in a car parked outside the venue.

For more http://www.news24.com

Cape Town – At least two people were found dead and thousands of people lost their homes in a devastating fire that raced through an informal settlement near Fish Hoek, Cape Town, early on Sunday morning.

The blaze started in the impoverished Masiphumelele shortly after 01:00, destroying 800 shacks at last count, and causing two deaths.

Sixty-five firefighters and emergency workers with 14 firefighting vehicles finally brought it under control by mid-morning on Sunday.

An estimated 4 000 people have lost everything.

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

Durban – Six people were injured in a multiple vehicle accident on the N2 north-bound near Queen Nandi Drive in Durban on Sunday morning, KwaZulu-Natal paramedics said.

Crisis Medical spokesman Kyle van Reenen said paramedics, along with other emergency services, arrived on the scene to find nine vehicles had collided, leaving six commuters with minor to moderate injuries.

“The injured were triaged and treated on scene before being taken by ambulance to various nearby hospitals for further assessment and care,” he said.

Traffic was severely affected as emergency services worked to clear the scene and the authorities were on the scene to assist.

The cause of the pileup was unclear at present, he said.

African News Agency

Guatemalan murder accused Diego Novella is due back in the Cape Town Magistrate’s Court on Monday in connection with the murder of his US girlfriend, marketing executive Gabriella Kabrins Alban, for his third court appearance since he was referred to Valkenberg Psychiatric Hospital for observation.

At each of his appearances since his referral, the court has heard that there are no beds available at Valkenberg, and that Novella is on a lengthy waiting list.

On August 31, the magistrate’s court referred him for 30 days of psychiatric observation at the request of his defence attorney, William Booth.

The defence consulted psychiatrist Professor Tuviah Zabow and provided the court with an interim report, before requesting his urgent referral.

The defence has not publicly disclosed its reasons for referring Novella for observation.

Novella was arrested in July after Alban’s body was found in a room, which the two had shared, at a boutique hotel in Camps Bay.

Sunday Argus

Cape Town – What started out as an investigation into nuisance posters led the City of Cape Town’s metro police tactical response unit to a much bigger forgery operation, the city said on Sunday.

The unit stumbled upon an apparent counterfeit operation at an address in Bellville’s central business district on Thursday, mayoral committee member for safety and security JP Smith said.

The officers moved in on the premises to investigate a tip-off from the local ward councillor and the Voortrekker Road Central Improvement District (VRCID) who had been trying to track down the source of stickers advertising the illegal termination of pregnancies, which had become a problem in the Bellville area, he said.

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