Although his bid to appeal and overturn a murder conviction and 18-year prison sentence failed in court this week, Rajiv Narandas is “100 percent” certain he will be acquitted eventually.

Narandas, 29, was charged with murder after he stabbed Veenand Singh with a Swiss army knife during a brawl outside a Sandton nightclub in 2008.

However, judges Rean Strydom and Motsamai Makume reduced Narandas’s sentence to 15 years when the matter came before them at the South Gauteng High Court on Wednesday, extending his bail.

The judges said they took into account Narandas’s age and the fact that he was part of a group when Singh was attacked and killed.

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Johannesburg – Shoes, handbags, vehicle debris and shattered glass lay scattered eerily a few metres from the charred shell of the minibus taxi. Bodies lay strewn across the road. Fresh blood spatters glistened on the tar.

This was the horrific scene near Westonaria on the West Rand on Sunday after 19 people were killed when the taxi they were travelling in collided with a heavy-duty truck and burst into flames.

The accident happened on the R28 in Jagersfontein towards Vereeniging just after 12.30pm.

Five children and 14 adults died in the crash, according to Gauteng police spokesman Lieutenant-Colonel Lungelo Dlamini.

“Five others were taken to hospital, two with serious injuries and three with slight injuries,” he said.

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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].

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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.

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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