Johannesburg – City Press reports that the Arms Procurement Commission, appointed by President Jacob Zuma in November 2011, has been so “overwhelmed” by the more than 4 million pages of documents provided to it by the Hawks that it has disregarded most of it.

Three independent sources with knowledge of the commission’s work have confirmed that the Hawks are storing about 4.7 million pages of documentation that have been collected in successive criminal investigations by their predecessor, the Scorpions.

The documents are housed in three shipping containers at the Hawks’ headquarters.

These revelations add to the commission’s crisis of legitimacy, caused by a series of resignations by commission members, including the most recent high-profile one by Judge Francis Legodi.

These were allegedly caused by the so-called second agenda pursued by commission chair Judge Willie Seriti.

Evidence gathered by the Scorpions over the past decade would have been central to the commission’s work.

it was doing so without having scrutinised more than 3 million pages of documents.

The unit managed to secure the convictions of former ANC chief whip Tony Yengeni and Zuma’s former financial adviser, Schabir Shaik, on arms deal-related charges.

But the unit was criticised for not pursuing alleged bribes paid by other European arms giants to South African other politicians and lobbyists.

Wallowing

The three sources have confirmed that only about 1.3million pages, which relate to the Scorpions’ investigation of corruption charges against Zuma and Shaik, have been digitally scanned on to a hard drive that was provided to the commission.

But these documents are yet to be declassified and indexed.

Terry Crawford-Browne, the banker whose Constitutional Court case was widely believed to have forced Zuma to appoint the commission, said it was worrying that the commission had not made any attempt to sort through the evidence.

“It simply confirms they’re wallowing in so much paper that they haven’t a clue how to tackle the issue,” he said.

Crawford-Browne said he believed “Seriti and some of his staff were simply deployed….to chase red herrings so there would be no finality to the issue (of the arms deal)”.

A commission team, which included Seriti, visited the Hawks’ headquarters late last year.

They were shown the shipping container that housed the Zuma-Shaik documents.

The remaining 3.4 million pages, which are contained in two separate shipping containers, were seen by the team, but largely remained unsorted and do not exist in a digital format.

A commission source told City Press that Fanyana Mdumbe, the commission’s head of legal research, informed evidence leaders in February – a month before the commission was scheduled to commence its hearings – that the documents in the containers had not been scrutinised because the commission had been “overwhelmed” by the size of the containers.

Investigations

City Press understands that the commission has taken no further steps to examine the evidence stored in the containers.

Another source said the commission “never had any serious intention to utilise the work of the Scorpions and the Hawks, or to examine the documents”.

The “second agenda” term was first suggested by attorney Norman Moabi, who resigned from the commission in January.

The term refers to an alleged secret agenda that includes the strict control of evidence flowing to the commission, which has been interpreted by some staff members as an attempt to protect Zuma, and current and former ANC leaders.

City Press asked both the commission and the Hawks to comment on Thursday, but neither body had responded to questions at the time of going to press, despite numerous follow-up calls.

What is in the containers?

City Press understands that the unseen documents relate to the investigations into BAe, Conlog, Daimler Aerospace SA and Futuristic Business Solutions.

Former defence minister Joe Modise’s erstwhile adviser, Fana Hlongwane, is implicated in a number of these probes.

The Serious Fraud Office in the UK has alleged that Hlongwane was paid R65m by BAe and was the “main bag man” who distributed the funds.

BAe is the company that headed the consortium which was awarded the contract.

Hlongwane was on the commission’s original witness list, but his name was subsequently dropped.

City Press was told that the mysterious arms dealer’s name was “just put there to please the media”.

If he was forced to testify, Hlongwane could implicate senior politicians, City Press was told. 

City Press

By Obakeng Maje

Hopetown-The SAPS welcomes the rape and attempted rape sentencing which was passed on the 7 August 2013 in the Hopetown Magistrates’ Court. Simon Mans(20) was sentenced to an effective fifteen years imprisonment after he raped a 32 year old female and attempted to rape 26 year old female in Gou Trou Plakkers, Hopetown, during July and August 2012.

All this came after Detective Sgt Japie Peterson of the Hopetown SAPS Family Violence, Child Protection and Sexual Offences ensured that he brought water tight cases to the Court of Law. 

“The first female victim(32) was enjoying a drink at a house where they were sitting around a fire during the evening of 7 July 2012. She decided to take a walk to a nearby tavern and this is when the accused met her along the way and offered to walk with her” Lieutenant Sergio Kock said. 

Kock said along the road the accused grabbed and dragged her into an unknown house. He threatened to stab her if she screamed. He then raped her and also forced her to have oral sex with him. 

“The accused then ran away and left the complainant inside the house” he said.

A month later the same accused followed another 26 year old female when she was walking home from a party at approximately 03:30am. The accused also offered to walk with her.  

“When they arrived at her house he asked her to give him a glass so that he could drink some brandy he had with him. After the drink she requested him to leave” Kock said. 

The accused then grabbed and choked the complainant and repeatedly assaulted her with his fists. 

He requested her to unzip the the pants he was wearing. The complainant continued to scream for help and this is when the accused ran away and was later arrested by the Hopetown Police. The Hopetown Magistrate’s Court imposed a sentencing of 15 years for the rape and 3 years for the attempted rape and this will be running con-currently, henceforth Simon Mans will be serving an effective fifteen years’ imprisonment for this intentional and unlawful crime he committed. “The police hope that this sentencing will serve as a deterrent to others who want to attempt similar crimes, especially as we are celebrating Women’s Month” police said.-TDN

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The sheriff of a Joburg court has attached office furniture belonging to musician-turned-businessman Sello “Chicco” Twala to recoup the rent he owes his landlord.

Octostar (Pty) Limited dragged Twala to the Randburg Magistrates’ Court after he refused to pay them more than R23 000 for office space. His office furniture was attached two weeks ago – on the day the order was issued.

Twala must now appear before the magistrate tomorrow to explain why the order should not be finalised.

In another twist, however, Twala obtained a protection order against his landlord Nick Katsaatas, claiming he threatened him and his customers.

He also alleges that Katsaatas was racist because he refurbished all the white tenants’ offices – and not his.

The sheriff seized Twala’s laptop, printer, desks, chairs, couches, boxes of DVDs and even the office fridge and microwave, worth a combined R30 000.

Katsaatas told City Press he obtained the order because Twala tried to remove his goods from the building without paying rent.

He also dismissed Twala’s claim of racism, saying he has more black tenants than white and refurbished many of their offices.

“I have been trying to have a meeting with (Twala) but he kept on ignoring my calls. Eventually, I found him in the building and asked if we could talk about this matter, but he said ‘f**k you’ to me,” Katsaatas said.

But Twala offered a different story in his protection-order application.

“His reason is that I refused to pay an additional R13 000 that he was charging me because he was not providing services.

“I advised him to abide by the lease agreement that we have signed and not use vulgar (language) and threats if he has a problem with me, but he continues to harass me and my staff in the office,” he said.

Twala refuses to move out.

“My offices were not refurbished and redemarcated according to my needs, but when I moved to the storeroom he renovated them and put in nice furniture for white people who occupied them,” he said.

“I pay him R4 500 for cleaning services, but look how dirty this storeroom and parking bays are. Look how clean and neat the office and parking bays of white tenants are. I’m being treated like this because I’m black. (President Jacob) Zuma must do something about this. We are being treated like visitors in our own country.”

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

Johannesburg – Embattled Cosatu boss Zwelinzima Vavi could face suspension this week if his opponents have their way at a trade union federation meeting scheduled for Wednesday.

According to the Sunday Times, Cosatu sources said they would push for the general-secretary’s suspension as well as for disciplinary charges to be laid against him. This comes after he was accused by a Cosatu staff member of having had non-consensual sex with her in her office in January.

Vavi denied raping her and insists that they had consensual sex.

The scandal has highlighted the split within Cosatu as Vavi’s opponents say he has brought the federation into disrepute. His supporters however, believe the scandal does not affect his ability to lead the federation. 

For more http://www.news24.com

Johannesburg – Government and the police minister have to pay for the damages caused by a run-away veld fire which started at a police training facility at Verdrag in Limpopo, the Saturday Citizen reported.

The North Gauteng High Court in Pretoria on Thursday ruled that the government and police had negligently failed to do everything in their power to stop the spread of the fire, which started at the Thabazimbi training Institute on the Verdrag farm.

The newspaper reported that the fire had spread to 14 neighbouring farms.

Judge Johan Louw declared that they were liable for the damage sustained by the 14 farm owners and Mr A A Rontgen, who suffered serious burns.

According to evidence a small fire started while trainees of the national intervention unit were busy with a shooting exercise on the skirmish range.

They tried to stop the fire with six small indoor fire extinguishers, but it started spreading rapidly.

The fire raged out of control for several days before it was finally extinguished.

SAPA

Johannesburg – A seven-year-old boy was shot dead when he and his mother were caught in crossfire in Atlantis, Cape Town, Western Cape police said on Saturday.

Spokesperson André Traut said: “The young victim was accompanied by his mother when criminals opened fire, supposedly at another group of criminals, and [they] were both caught in the crossfire.”

The boy’s mother was wounded in the neck and two men were also wounded in the shooting.

“Many people have been questioned and we will continue to question criminals until we find those responsible for the attack,” Traut said.

SAPA

Berlin – South Africa’s Olympic and world champion Chad le Clos claimed his second World Cup win of the week on Saturday with victory in the men’s 200m butterfly final in Berlin.

The 21-year-old, who shot to fame by beating Michael Phelps in the 200m fly final at last year’s London Olympics, set the event’s short-course world record in Eindhoven (1:49.04) on Wednesday.

Le Clos won both the 100 and 200m butterfly golds at Barcelona’s world championships, which finished last Sunday before the World Cup series kicked off in Eindhoven, the Netherlands, on Wednesday then continuing in the German capital this weekend.

Le Clos had to dig deep in Berlin as he clocked 1min 49.90secs in the 200m final with Poland’s Pawel Korzeniowski second at 0.53sec back and Japan’s Daiya Seto adrift at 1.06 in third.

Over the shorter sprint distance, Le Clos, who added the world title to his Olympic crown in the 200m fly at the world championships last week, then finished third in the 50m final behind compatriot Roland Schoeman.

With Le Clos also swimming the 100m fly and 200m individual medley on Sunday, he admitted racing two World Cup meets in a week, straight after the world championships, was taking its toll.

“I’m happy with the time and nice to get another win under the belt,” Le Clos told AFP.

“It’s been a great couple of days, I’ve got a couple of events to come and then I get about 10 days off.

“Everyone is in the same boat, it’s been a pretty tiring week.

“I was up at 5am on Friday to get the train from Eindhoven to Berlin, so it’s been a really busy few days after the worlds.”

Australia’s world champion James Magnussen had to settle for second in the men’s 100m freestyle final as he finished 0.3secs behind winner Vladimir Morozov of Russia, the 50m freestyle world silver medallist in Barcelona.

The 21-year-old Magnussen, who defended his 100m title in Barcelona, will race again on Sunday in the 50m freestyle.

Spain’s Mireia Belmonte, who won world silvers over 200m fly and 400m IM in Barcelona, broke the world short-course record in the women’s 800m freestyle final.

Belmonte clocked 7mins 59.34secs, with New Zealand’s Lauren Boyle came second and Denmark’s Lotte Friis finished third.

AFP

Johannesburg – About 35 000 jobs have been created in rural areas in the past four years, says the department of rural development and land reform.

“The introduction of rural development as an extra mandate of the department of rural development and land reform created 35 000 jobs and provided 17 279 individuals with various skills so they can help themselves,” spokesperson Mtobeli Mxotwa said in a statement.

Mxotwa said the department’s enterprise development arm generated 16 044 of these jobs, while infrastructure development created 5 838 jobs. 

This was reinforced with the enrolment of 12 881 rural youths into the skills training programme called the national rural youth service corps (Narysec)

“Narysec youths are recruited from the 3 000 rural wards between the ages of 18 and 35, irrespective of gender and any disability.

“They are trained in various skills like waste water management, water purification, construction, electricity and agriculture so they can be marketable and also so that they can open their own businesses,” said Mxotwa.

The rural development jobs were created through various initiatives such as building of bridges, schools, health facilities and the construction of roads.

SAPA

Johannesburg – A car accident in Kempton Park, Johannesburg, caused a fire to break out at a factory on Saturday evening, paramedics said.

Netcare911 spokesperson Chris Botha said a car had veered off the road at the intersection of Griffiths and Jet Park Roads and crashed into the factory’s flammable liquid store.

“… [The] factory [was] engulfed in flames with balls of fire shooting a 100m into the night sky,” he said.

Paramedics had to wait while firefighters worked to control the blaze.

It was not immediately known whether the occupants of the car managed to escape the fire.

SAPA

Kaizer Chiefs (1) 3 (Mashamaite 5, Mathoho 64, Tshabalala 70)

University of Pretoria 0 

Kaizer Chiefs got their revenge over the University of Pretoria thanks to a 3-0 win in a MTN8 quarterfinal clash played at the FNB Stadium on Saturday evening. 

Centre back pairing Tefu Mashamaite and Eric Mathoho grabbed a goal apiece before Siphiwe Tshabalala wrapped things up 20 minutes before the final whistle. 

The University of Pretoria were fast out of the blocks, with only a superb block from Tefu Mashamaite in the second minute denying Obadiah Tarumbwa a certain goal.

Charly Moussono-Moussono broke down the left before playing the ball into the area, Tarumbwa looked destined to meet the cross and find the back of the net, but the Glamour Boys centre-back denied the Zimbabwean. 

Mashamaite then got on the score sheet three minutes later. Siphiwe Tshabalalas corner-kick was flicked on by Bernard Parker and brilliantly cleared off the line from Moussono, but Mashamaite was well positioned and thundered the ball into the back of the net from the rebound. 

The Glamour Boys controlled the ball well, camping at times inside the University sides half. The Soweto giants, though, failed to convert possession into goals and nearly paid the price in the 29th minute when Mpho Marupings header went just wide of Itumeleng Khunes left hand upright following good work from Thabo Mosadi. 

Knowledge Musona went close just before the break, but his powerful effort only managed to rattle the side-netting. 

Chiefs went into the break a goal to the good, thanks to some killer instinct from centre back Tefu Mashamaite. 

Ayanda Lubelo had an opportunity to square things up on the hour mark. Lubelo flung himself at a Mosadi cross, but failed to make contact at point blank range, to the relief of Mzansis No 1 Itumeleng Khune. 

Eric Mathoho doubled the Glamour Boys lead in the 64th minute of the encounter. The centre back rose highest before nodding in Tshabalalas corner-kick. 

Tshbalala then grabbed one himself six minutes later. The Bafana Bafana midfielder played a neat one-two with Bernard Parker before slotting the ball past a helpless Washington Arubi to seal matters on the night. 

The Amakhosi join Bidvest Wits and Platinum Stars in the semifinals. The Clever Boys and Dikwena also put three past Bloemfontein Celtic and Free State Stars respectably. 

Chiefs: Khune, Gaxa, Mathoho, Mashamaite, Masilela, Lebese (Gould 78), Letsholonyane, Katsande, Tshabalala, Parker (Masango 88), Musona (Majoro 83) 

Tuks: Arubi, Kekana, Mkhwanazi, Shoyisa, Moussono-Moussono, Maruping, Selolwane (Sibande 75), Matsi, Lubelo (Mathosi 60), Tarumbwa (Fikru 75), Mosadi-TDN

For more http://www.kaizerchiefs.com