Ladysmith – A spokesperson for the KZN emergency medical services says five people, among them a child, have died in an accident involving a truck, a minibus and a car on Peters Road.
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Johannesburg – While witness testimony in the Shrien Dewani trial made news headlines the past few days, revelations around the murder-accused husband’s sexuality set social media alight, says media monitoring group ROi Africa.

“In news media, Qwabe’s testimony takes the forefront, but in social media, Dewani’s sexuality is the focus,” ROi Africa’s managing director Tonya Khoury said in a statement on Saturday.

Khoury said that in the South African media, nearly one third of all items were about the honeymoon murder trial which began on Monday.

This coverage was second only to news about President Jacob Zuma, which made up just over 40% of all national media reports.

Honeymoon

Statistics about media coverage for the first week of the trial were obtained by assessing almost 200 million international social networks, 60 000 online newspapers around the globe, thousands of printed publications from SA and other parts of Africa, as well as 40 South African radio and TV stations.

Dewani, a British businessman, is currently on trial for the murder of his wife, Anni Hindocha, after she was shot during a hijacking while on their honeymoon in Cape Town in November 2010.

Three men have already been convicted of the crime. It is alleged that Dewani masterminded the plan. He has pleaded not guilty to all the related charges.

Khoury said that the fact that the trial was not being televised or broadcast had left social media as the main source of coverage.

“For every 8 news items, social media delivered 92.”

Just over 40% of all social media discussion focused on Dewani’s revelation of his bisexuality, followed by posts about his internet activity on fetish and gay websites as well as his alleged interaction with a male prostitute, Leopold Leisser, dubbed the ‘German Master’.

However, just over 1% of posts questioned the relevance of these discussions: “Some viewed it as homophobic commentary,” said Khoury.

Testimony

Twitter contained a “good chunk” of the social media buzz, followed by a blog called ‘Gay News Headlines’, as well as various international and national news blogs. British blogs about women’s issues and opinions also contributed to the discussion.

In terms of all international and national media coverage of the trial – from both news and social media platforms, nearly half dealt the testimony of convicted killer Mziwamadoda Qwabe.

Abut a fifth of the reports addressed Dewani’s disclosure of his bisexuality.

Discussion about the stomach cramps of Dewani and Qwabe that stopped the trial on Thursday, just pipped media discussion of femicide with 4.61% to 4.11%.

Anni Hindoncha was mentioned in 8% of worldwide media coverage of the case.

Khoury said that proportionally Anni was in fact being mentioned more in the media than Reeva Steenkamp was during the trial surrounding her death.
Steenkamp was the girlfriend of Paralympian Oscar Pistorius who last month was convicted of culpable homicide for shooting her dead.

Pistorius has said he believed there was an intruder in his house.

His sentencing is due to start on Monday.

Global news

Khoury explained that – at the height of the Pistorius trial, details of Steenkamp’s life were covered in about 15% of media reports on the matter.

Thus far, however, Hindoncha’s life was being reported on in about 25% of media sources on the Dewani trial.

Furthermore, a total of 7.5% of news and social media discussion about the Dewani trial, included comparisons to the Pistorius case.

In fact, while internationally, the Dewani trial made almost no impact in global news – 0.04% of articles were about it – South Africa retained some presence internationally with 1.5% of global news reporting on the upcoming sentencing of Pistorius.

Nevertheless, of the countries following the Dewani case, SA was at the top, followed by the United Kingdom and the United States.

Other countries where the trial had a media presence included Australia, Ireland, India, Sweden, New Zealand, France and Jordan.

Khoury said Jordan seemed to be picking up the news from international wire agencies.

SAPA

Johannesburg- Bafana Bafana firmly entrenched their sights for the Road to Morocco 2015 with a hard fought but deserved 2-0 victory over Congo Brazzaville at the intimidating Pointe Noire cauldron on Saturday afternoon.

Second half goals from Bongani Ndulula and a killer breakaway goal by Tokelo Rantie took Shakes Mashaba’s boys top of the standing with seven points.

It was a deserved win for the visitors who did most of the running in the first half and missed some gilt edged chances but finally came good in the second half.

First Ndulula outfoxed the Congolese defence in the second stanza with an overhead kick before moments later, Rantie scored a brilliant goal to silence the vociferous Congolese supporters.

The two teams meet again on Wednesday at Peter Mokaba stadium and another win for Bafana will all but seal a berth in the final scheduled for Morocco next January.

Even before they scored the two goals, Bafana Bafana had wasted some good chances in the first half in which they over elaborated inside the box instead of taking shots.

But some pep talk by coach Mashaba during the break seemed to have done some trick as the visitors came firing from all cylinders.

After taking the two goal lead, Bafana started to boss things around as the hushed Pointe Noire crowd was stunned into silence.

Mandla Masango and Rantie could have added late goals but the 2-0 win was full value of the day’s proceedings.

The Congolese tried to come back into the game but goalkeeper captain Senzo Meyiwa stood firm thwarting each and every raid of the hosts.

Bafana Bafana starting 11 vs Congo: Senzo Meyiwa (c), Thabo Matlaba, Eric Mathoho, Rivaldo Coetzee, Thulani Hlatshwayo, Dean Furman, Andile Jali, Mandla Masango, Thulani Serero, Tokelo Rantie, Bongani Ndulula

SA Subs: Darren Keet, Sibusiso Khumalo, Sibusiso Vilakazi, Tefu Mashamaite, Reneilwe Letsholonyane, Oupa Manyisa, Kermit Erasmus
-TDN
Follow us on Twitter@Taung_DailyNews or @IceT_

Johannesburg – A 27-year-old man was killed when he was hit by a train near the Ilembe District Municipality, north of Durban, on Friday, paramedics said.

The accident happened between the Groutville and Charlottedale train stations, said Emergency Medical Services spokesperson Robert Mckenzie.

The man was confirmed dead at the scene.

SAPA

Johannesburg – A man found guilty of rape was sentenced to life imprisonment by the Greytown regional court, the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) said on Friday.

Bheki Mchunu, 50, was sentenced for raping a seven-year-old girl, said NPA spokesperson Natasha Ramkisson-Kara.

Mchunu, who was in a relationship with the girl’s aunt at the time and was a friend of her father, raped her on two occasions.

The court heard that the girl’s mother confronted her after being told she was walking strangely.

The girl told her that Mchunu had raped her and testified in court through an intermediary.

“Further evidence from the doctor confirmed that the bruises to the child’s body were indicative of rape,” said Ramkisson-Kara.

She said state prosecutor Premie Naidoo had argued that there were “no substantial and compelling circumstances to deviate from the minimum sentence of life”.

SAPA

Johannesburg – The ANC is “unfazed” by a report that President Jacob Zuma was part of a broad corruption scheme intended to benefit the party in perpetuity, it said on Friday.

“We are unfazed. There is nothing new in the report,” spokesperson Zizi Kodwa said.

“This is an old concoction of a campaign that never dies, that seeks to discredit the leadership of the ANC.”

He said the ANC urged anyone with proof of such allegations to come forward.

“People peddle lies in public to drive vindictive agendas against President Zuma. Nothing of credible note has been presented so far.”

Kodwa said the party would be going against its own moral code if it allowed itself to benefit from corruption.

Beeld newspaper reported on Friday that the graft case against Zuma carried “utmost gravity”, and that he was part of a broad corruption scheme intended to benefit the ANC in perpetuity.

The case against Zuma was strong and would also show that the ruling party was meant to be an “eternal beneficiary” in an “extended scheme of corruption”, senior National Prosecuting Authority prosecutor Billy Downer, who wanted to prosecute Zuma, wrote in a memorandum in 2009.

The memo was addressed to then acting national director of public prosecutions Mokotedi Mpshe, according to the newspaper report.

A month later, Mpshe dropped the corruption charges against Zuma.

On Friday, Mpshe declined to comment on the report.

“I have no comments until the matter is heard in court,” he said in an SMS.

Presidency spokesperson Mac Maharaj has yet to respond to e-mailed questions sent to him earlier on Friday.

In the memorandum, obtained by Beeld, Downer wrote that the case against Zuma carried “utmost gravity”.

He said the Scorpions investigation originated in the arms deal probe, but that the ultimate investigation and the basis of the indictment was only fractionally related to the deal.

Benefitting from the scheme

Downer wrote that, in reality, it was an “overriding and pervasive scheme of corruption”, designed to be of extraordinary duration and ultimately to keep Zuma indefinitely on the payroll of the company of his former financial adviser Schabir Shaik.

Both Zuma and the ANC would benefit from the scheme.

“The mode of conferring benefits on Zuma extended to the ANC and Zuma in his capacity as the highest office-bearer of the ANC which was also to be an eternal beneficiary in the extended scheme of corruption,” Downer reportedly wrote.

“To accede to the representations in a summary manner would abandon all the ground won by the expense of extraordinary effort and resources and with the approval of the highest courts in our country.

“A retreat for no good reason at this stage would not be explicable, understandable or defensible.”

Mpshe announced on 6 April 2009, that the charges against Zuma would be dropped because there was a political conspiracy against him.

Shaik was found guilty of corruption and fraud in 2005 He was sentenced to 15 years in jail, but served only two years before being released on medical parole.

SAPA

Johannesburg – An 8-year-old boy is missing after being swept out to sea in Schulphoek, Hermanus, on Friday, the National Sea Rescue Institute (NSRI) said.

The boy was washed out of a tidal pool during the incoming tide, NSRI Hermanus station commander Henk Henn said.

“It is believed that the child was with friends in the tidal pool at the time of the incident, which may have happened at around 13:00.”

“[A] rescue helicopter was activated to assist in an extensive search in very rough sea conditions, but despite the extensive air, sea and shore search no sign of the child has been found and the child is missing,” said Henn.

The police dive unit would continue with the search.

SAPA

Johannesburg – Johannesburg Mayor Parks Tau will on Friday visit the people who were left homeless after a fire erupted at the Kya Sands informal settlement, the City said.

Tau would visit the area to determine how the city could assist the displaced residents, spokesperson Nthatisi Modingoane said in a statement.

Tau would be accompanied by Housing MMC Dan Bovu, Health & Social Development MMC Nonceba Molwele and Environment, Infrastructure & Services MMC Matshidiso Mfikoe.

The fire swept through the informal settlement on Thursday afternoon, razing over 500 shacks and leaving around 2000 people homeless. Eight people were treated on the scene by paramedics for smoke inhalation.

The fire was extinguished after 19:00.

Johannesburg emergency services spokesperson Nana Radebe said no fatalities were reported.

“We are still working on the figures. Today [Friday] we will continue with lists where people must fill in their names so we can determine exactly how many people were affected.”

The dozens of displaced people, whose homes were destroyed in the fire that erupted on Thursday, took shelter at a church overnight.

“The Judah Africa Church in Kya Sands accommodated many people but some went to stay with their relatives,” said Radebe.

“Church volunteers and emergency services personnel cooked for them and blankets were handed to them. But we are still asking people to donate blankets by calling 011 286 6009.”

SAPA