Johannesburg – Public Protector Thuli Madonsela has been scathing in her Nkandla report of the conduct of government ministers and top officials involved in the Nkandla upgrades.
The building of a clinic on Zuma’s doorstep would benefit the family forever, Madonsela found, and the official acts and omissions that let this happen were an act of maladministration and improper conduct.
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Govt to ‘reflect’ on Nkandla findings
Pretoria – The government welcomes Public Protector Thuli Madonsela’s report on President Jacob Zuma’s Nkandla home, Justice Minister Jeff Radebe said on Wednesday.
“Government will reflect on the findings and recommendations contained therein with a view to determining the way forward,” he told reporters in Pretoria.
“The ministers of public works, police, defence have taken full accountability for this project and through government investigation, has unearthed issues of maladministration and corruption in this project,” he said.
Radebe said the Special Investigating Unit is investigating the matter “to bring those in the public and private sectors who are implicated to book”.
Madonsela released her final report on the security upgrades to Zuma’s homestead in KwaZulu-Natal earlier the day.
She found that Zuma and his family had unduly benefited from the upgrades.
Madonsela recommended that the president pay back a percentage of the cost of measures which were not related to security.
SAPA
Zuma takes positives on Nkandla report
Johannesburg – The presidency has reacted to Public Protector Thuli Madonsela’s report on upgrades to President Jacob Zuma’s Nkandla home, saying it would be used as an added tool to address claims of maladministration.
It noted in a statement that Zuma directed the Special Investigating Unit in December to probe alleged maladministration in the security upgrades at Nkandla.
He had also appointed an inter-ministerial task team to look into the matter.
“In this context, the public protector’s report will be an additional tool which will fall under the consideration of President Zuma in addressing allegations of maladministration.”
In her report released earlier in the day, Madonsela’s found that Zuma and his family had unduly benefited from the upgrades to Nkandla.
The presidency said Zuma “has consistently been concerned about the allegations of impropriety around procurement in the Nkandla project”.
Zuma would study the findings and recommendations of the public protector in the context of the existing government interventions.
“[He] will communicate his response in due course.”
The presidency said Chapter 9 Institutions, such as the public protector, were vital for strengthening democracy.
“President Zuma reaffirms the important role of the Chapter 9 institutions and emphasises that the country should take pride in their existence, as we celebrate 20 years of freedom and democracy and guard against the abuse and misuse of these institutions.”
SAPA
NWest Exco applauds parental acceptance of life saving immunization
North West Provincial Executive Council (Exco) has applauded parental acceptance of the roll out of the Human Papilloma Virus (HPV) vaccine as an effective life saving immunization.
“The Community mobilization and consultation with school communities has ensured that parents are informed to make healthy lifelong decisions for their children. The HPV vaccination campaign is an investment in the health of our young girls and that of future generation of women from contracting cancer of the cervix,” Premier Thandi Modise said.
The provincial government has budgeted R6 million for the roll out of the national vaccination which commenced with the first dose being administered as from the 17 February-14 March 2014 through the Integrated School Health programme implemented by sub district school health teams. For the adequate lifetime protection against cervical cancer to be achieved, the World Health Organisation recommends that a minimum of two doses should be administered with a six months interval between doses before a girl is sexually active.
Girls aged nine and above in grade 4 in all public schools across the province who received the first dose will receive the second dose to be administered from 29 September to 24 October 2014.
From next year, the target will be extended to other groups but girls in grade 4 each year will be the main target group.
Cancer of the cervix caused by HPVs transmitted through sexual contact is among the common cancers affecting women in sub-Saharan Africa. Women in the region are said to be 5 times more at risk than their European counterparts.
In South Africa cervical cancer is ranked as number 13 on the list of causes of deaths among females resulting in 67000 cases and 3498 annual deaths while it is among the first ten causes of death for women above the age of 45 years in the North West Province.-TDN
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A girl who was raped and set alight dies
Johannesburg – The 9-year-old girl who was set alight after being raped in Delft, Cape Town, three months ago, has died, Western Cape police said on Tuesday.
Police spokesperson FC van Wyk said the girl died on Tuesday morning at the Red Cross Children’s Hospital, where she had been receiving treatment.
The girl was found by relatives after a 27-year-old man allegedly raped her then set her alight in bushes along the R300 highway.
The man abandoned his bail application during his last appearance in the Bellville Magistrate’s Court in January.
He faces charges of rape, sexual assault, abduction and attempted murder, and is expected back in court on 27 March.
The National Prosecuting Authority said the man could not be identified as he had not yet pleaded.
SAPA
Mr X a muderer-Mpofu
Pretoria – An SA Police Service (SAPS) protected witness, identified as Mr X, is a murderer, liar and habitual criminal, the Farlam Commission of Inquiry heard on Monday.
Dali Mpofu, for the arrested and injured miners, opposed a special arrangement sought by the police to have Mr X testify from a remote location, through a video link.
“He is a multiple murderer and a self-confessed habitual criminal, having at least three murders under his belt. We have not been told what the deal is [between the police and the witness],” said Mpofu.
“Has this habitual criminal been charged, has he been promised immunity? Is he exchanging his so-called safety for frying other people falsely? Is he staying in some posh hotel so that he can come and lie?”
The man identified as Mr X was apparently part of the group of protesting Marikana miners who underwent a ritual that includes two sangomas, the burning of live sheep and swallowing the ashes on 11 August 2012.
In Mr X’s sworn statement, seen by Sapa, he details how the belligerent miners attacked and killed Lonmin security guards Hassan Fundi and Frans Mabelani.
Hassan’s body parts were removed and taken together with Mabelani’s ashes for further muti rituals, according to Mr X.
He details how the sangomas cut Fundi’s parts into smaller pieces and mixed with blood and burnt to ashes.
“We were instructed by the inyangas [traditional healers] to stand in a line and the ashes were put in our mouth using a spoon which we licked and swallowed,” Mr X wrote in his affidavit.
“After this, the inyangas told us that they had accomplished their mission in protecting us from police bullets, made us fearless, strong and invisible to the police.”
Cop killings
Mr X also narrates how he, with other protesters, attacked and killed some police officers on 13 August.
He said they also robbed the officers of their cellphones and service firearms.
Sesi Baloyi, for the police, brought the application, requesting the Farlam-led inquiry to give an order that Mr X should testify in-camera from a remote location.
Baloyi said Mr X’s name would be disclosed only to the commissioners of inquiry, and lawyers for the wounded and arrested miners, but they could not disclose his identity to anyone.
She said it was inherent for the commission to exclude certain members of the public from the inquiry while someone testified.
When Mr X testified, the police wanted only the commissioners, lawyers, and accredited media to be present in the auditorium.
Mpofu said once he received Mr X’s picture, he would share it with his clients.
“The commission cannot be asked to grant an order whose practical effectiveness is doubtful. As soon as Mr [Dumisa] Ntsebeza gives me the photo, I am going to share it with them, all 300 of them,” said Mpofu.
“Mr X says the whole crowd intended to attack the police, it’s so far-fetched that it borders on being ludicrous. All those people, 3 000 people [at the koppie] have a right to refute what is being said about them.”
Testifying in-camera
Mpofu said it was beyond the authority of Farlam to instruct that Mr X testify from a remote location far from the auditorium in Centurion.
“SAPS is entitled to protect its witnesses … they have the methods to meet those dangers. They can provide him with security, we won’t quarrel if he is brought here surrounded by hundred people – that is SAPS’ problem,” said Mpofu.
“He must be sitting in that chair [in the auditorium] like anybody else.”
Evidence leader Kameshni Pillay supported the application to have Mr X testify in-camera through a video link.
“On a factual basis, having regard to all the factors, it has been shown to be reasonably necessary for Mr X to testify in-camera and via the video link,” she said.
She said the life of Mr X and his family would be in danger if the commission demanded that he travel to testify daily at the public hearings in Centurion.
The inquiry is investigating the deaths of 44 people during strike-related violence at Lonmin’s platinum mining operations at Marikana, near Rustenburg in the North West.
The police shot dead 34 people, mostly striking mineworkers, wounded over 70, and arrested 250 on 16 August 2012 while trying to disarm and disperse them.
In the preceding week, 10 people, including two policemen and two security guards, were killed.
The public hearings resume on Tuesday.
SAPA
A thief stuffs 20 sheep in Toyota Tazz
Johannesburg – A Toyota Tazz with 20 sheep inside landed an Mpumalanga man behind bars in Ermelo on Monday, police said.
The man was caught by patrolling police between Lothair and Mpuluzi, said police spokesperson Leonard Hlathi.
“Police were busy with their routine patrol when they spotted a suspicious-looking Toyota Tazz.”
He said all passengers seats were removed and the vehicle was loaded with the livestock.
“The driver failed to produce any permit to transport the stock or proof of purchase on request.”
Sixteen of the sheep had died of suffocation when the police stopped the man.
Hlathi said the interrogations revealed that the sheep were stolen from a farm in Lothair.
The man would appear in the Ermelo Magistrate’s Court on Tuesday.
Mpumalanga police chief Lieutenant General Thulani Ntobela said the man could be further charged with animal cruelty.
“Twenty sheep in a Toyota Tazz? How on earth can somebody do such a cruel act? This is quite strange and must be condemned in the strongest terms.”
SAPA
Thuli Madonsela baffled by Joemat-Pettersson’s action
Johannesburg – Public Protector Thuli Madonsela believes no court of law is likely to conclude she was irrational in finding that Fisheries Minister Tina Joemat-Pettersson had acted recklessly in the awarding of a tender, her office said on Monday.
“The public protector further firmly believes that no court of law is likely to find that with the facts before her, she was irrational in finding that the minister acted recklessly and improperly,” said spokesperson Kgalalelo Masibi in a statement.
This was in respect of preserving the sea patrol and research functions of the department of agriculture.
Joemat-Pettersson was taking the public protector to court to challenge her report on the tender to manage the state’s fishery vessels.
Masibi said Madonsela commended the minister for respecting the rule of law by seeking to get a higher authority to review her decision.
“She [the public protector], however, believes the action is premature as the president has to apply his mind to the report and decide what to do with it.”
Joemat-Pettersson told a media briefing in Cape Town on Sunday, “I will be asking the North Gauteng High Court to declare that the report including the findings and recommendations, are reviewed, corrected and, or, set aside.”
Papers were served on Madonsela on Friday, according to Kanthi Nagiah, the head of legal services in the department.
Legal action
Joemat-Pettersson said she was launching the legal challenge because Madonsela refused to reconsider her findings that the minister was guilty of improper conduct and maladministration in regard to the tender.
Madonsela had responded that her findings were final, the minister said.
“The public protector further advised that if I wished to challenge the findings, I should engage the president or subject the report to legal review,” she added.
“I am thus following the advice of the public protector by taking the report on legal review.”
In her report, titled “Docked Vessels” and released on 4 December, Madonsela recommended that President Jacob Zuma consider disciplinary action against the minister.
This was due to Joemat-Pettersson’s “reckless dealing with state money and services, resulting in fruitless and wasteful expenditure, loss of confidence in the fisheries industry in South Africa, alleged decimation of fisheries resources in South Africa and delayed quota allocations due to lack of appropriate research.”
Madonsela said the director general in the presidency should chart a course for taking action against Joemat-Pettersson within 30 days.
Her probe followed a complaint from the DA.
R800m contract
The DA asked Madonsela to probe the awarding of an R800m contract to the Sekunjalo consortium to manage the department’s fleet of research and patrol ships.
The contract was later withdrawn.
Joemat-Pettersson said she had consulted two senior advocates who supported her view that it was wrong of Madonsela to find her “guilty” early in December of delaying quota allocations when the deadline to issue these were only at the end of that month.
Joemat-Pettersson refused to say whether Zuma had raised the report with her, firmly stating that their discussions were not the subject of Sunday’s media briefing.
Her announcement came before Madonsela was due to release her long-awaited report into the refurbishment and security upgrades at Zuma’s home in Nkandla on Wednesday.
The department launched a tender process in 2011 before Smit Amandla Marine’s contract to manage the vessels expired.
Smit Amandla complained that documents in which it tendered for the new contract had been leaked to the rival Sekunjalo Marine Services Consortium.
The department had awarded the deal to Sekunjalo but subsequently withdrew it and ordered Smit Amandla to hand over the management of the vessels to the navy in less than a month, which drew a rebuke from Madonsela for the “abrupt” handover.
The navy was unable to keep the fleet seaworthy, forcing the department to issue an emergency tender to restore them to that state.
SAPA
Cape judge warns against ‘Oscar’s trial’
Johannesburg – Judge President John Hlophe reprimanded a prosecutor in the murder trial of gay night club owner Bruno Bronn, for asking questions that are too long, saying he did not want the case to turn into an “Oscar Pistorius trial”.
The first of three men on trial for the murder of Bronn, was accused on Monday of fabricating events.
Frederick Willem John Coetzer was queried by Arno Nell, for accused number two Fareez Allie, about his version of events on 6 February 2012 when Bronn was strangled.
“I put it to you that you are fabricating this story,” Nell said.
Coetzer, Allie and Achmat Toffa have pleaded not guilty before Judge President John Hlophe and assessor Jaco van Reenen, a retired chief magistrate, to charges of premeditated murder and robbery with aggravating circumstances.
Bronn owned the night club, The Bronx, in the Cape Town, and was strangled in his Sea Point home.
Coetzer, a bouncer at The Bronx, was questioned at length about his relationship with Bronn.
He said he had enjoyed a good working relationship with Bronn, but denied that the relationship was sexual.
Coetzer sniggered at suggestions that he was homosexual or bisexual.
He added: “Bruno was HIV-positive, but always had respect for me and never tried anything with me.”
Coetzer was warned several times by the judge not to be argumentative.
The judge explained that Nell’s function was to cross-examine Coetzer, and Coetzer’s role was simply to answer the questions.
The judge asked Coetzer pointedly: “Did you have a sexual relationship with the deceased or not?”
Coetzer said he had not.
Nell said Bronn had told four people about his sexual relationship with Coetzer, and asked why he would have said so if it were not true.
Coetzer replied: “I do not know.”
Nell said that, according to Allie, Coetzer had boasted about having a relationship with “someone in an affluent neighbourhood”.
Coetzer said he had not told anyone of any sexual relationship with Bronn.
He said the closest, physically, that he had ever gotten to Bronn was shaking his hand two or three times in the seven years that he had known him.
“It could be that Bruno told others that he had a sexual relationship with me, but if he did it was not true. I never slept with him,” he said.
Claims of harassment
Nell said Bronn had complained that Coetzer repeatedly harassed him, and had said he was terrified of Coetzer.
Coetzer said Bronn was in fact terrified, but not of Coetzer.
He added: “The first time that I ever heard that he was terrified of me, was here in court.
“If Bruno had a problem with me, he would have discussed it with me himself.”
Questioned about the happenings on the night in question, Coetzer said he visited Bronn to discuss problems concerning traveller’s cheques.
He was dropped near Bronn’s home by his co-accused, and inside the house Bronn had “rolled himself a joint” as they discussed the cheques.
He said Bronn got a fright when Allie suddenly appeared and gave Coetzer a firearm, with the words, “keep him [Bronn] here, and keep him quiet”.
Coetzer said Bronn tried to struggle past him, and Coetzer grabbed Bronn around the neck to restrain him.
He said he managed to “disarm” the firearm, and in the struggle they both fell to the floor.
At one stage, Nell asked several questions as one, prompting the judge to intervene.
The judge asked Nell to break his long question into several smaller ones, and added: “I don’t want this case to be converted into an Oscar Pistorius trial.”
The trial continues.
SAPA
Pretoria flood damage estimated at R124m
Johannesburg – Early estimates of flood damage in and around Pretoria after the recent heavy rains in Gauteng stood at about R124m, the City said on Monday.
“These figures will be updated as inspections and evaluation of the road and stormwater network continues,” spokesperson Blessing Manale said in a statement.
He said the full extent of the damage was being assessed in seven regions in the City of Tshwane.
Manale said stormwater not running off road surfaces, and road seals absorbing water, caused potholes to develop on the roads.
The potholes could not be immediately repaired due to the wet conditions and maintenance teams had to use “holding” actions, by filling up potholes with gravel or a mixture of gravel and cement.
“Permanent repair and possible reconstruction will proceed once conditions are suitable for these actions,” Manale said.
He said extra money would be required to repair the damage and that the focus was on preventative measures on the road.
Road repair operations would begin on public transport routes and main arterial routes, with the extent of the damage determining the repair phase.
“Certain roads will have to be reconstructed as the asphalt surface of the road and layer work was extensively damaged,” said Manale.
Social relief
The health and social development department would be part of a task team that would assess the flood situation within the city.
“The department activated emergency social relief within its means including food supplies, blankets and clothes to the displaced families,” he said.
The department had also initiated a surveillance programme, to monitor water-borne diseases and other environmental health hazards which could cause health problems.
“The water-borne diseases under surveillance include cholera, hepatitis and traces of sewerage pollution in the water courses,” said Manale.
Environmental health services were on high alert to prevent an outbreak of diseases, and to swiftly respond to outbreaks.
He urged people to report potholes and other surface defects in order to limit the cost of repairs and to reduce risks to the municipality.
SAPA
The Guardian 