Johannesburg – President Jacob Zuma has signed into law a bill that aims to promote access to justice, the presidency said on Tuesday.

Rigorous and urgent steps were needed to ensure that justice did not remain the privilege of the rich, but was a fundamental human right enjoyed by all, Zuma said in a statement.

“The Superior Courts Act is a step in this direction.”

The act provided for the re-organisation and rationalisation of high courts and their jurisdictional areas.

Currently, superior courts were structured in accordance with the Supreme Court Act.

With the implementation of the new act, the current 13 high courts, which included high courts inherited from the former self-governing apartheid homelands, would be rationalised into a single high court with a functional division of the court established in each province.

“The communities who live in the now Mpumalanga and Limpopo provinces have endured the hardship of accessing the high court in north Gauteng and the high court in Pretoria, since the formation of the Union of South Africa, for a period of more than a century,” Zuma said.

“Legally they can now have the benefit of having their own division of the high court right at their doorstep. This will happen as soon as the construction of the two high court divisions in Limpopo and Mpumalanga provinces has been completed.”

The construction of the Limpopo seat of the high court would be completed by June 2014, while the construction of the Mpumalanga seat was expected to start before the end of this year, Zuma said.

The act would also place magistrates in every division of the high court under the control of the judge president of the division concerned.

– SAPA

Pretoria – Health Minister Aaron Motsoaledi was admitted to the Steve Biko Academic Hospital in Pretoria on Tuesday, his ministry said.

“Dr Aaron Motsoaledi has this morning [Tuesday] checked into Steve Biko Academic Hospital for a surgical procedure and is likely to be out-of-office for at least a week,” health ministry spokesperson Joe Maila said.

Deputy Health Minister Gwen Ramokgopa wished Motsoaledi a speedy recovery.

“All of us wish you well minister, and a speedy recovery. It is our wish that you recover soon,” she said.

– SAPA

Johannesburg – A taxi marshal’s account of what happened the day Daveyton taxi driver Mido Macia died is untrue, the Benoni Magistrate’s Court heard on Tuesday.

Police Warrant Officer Meshack Malele disputed the testimony of Julius Skhosana.

Malele and eight other officers implicated in Macia’s death are re-applying for bail after their legal representatives told the court they had new evidence which could see the court overturn its earlier decision to deny them bail.

Malele, 46, denied Skhosana’s claim that police assaulted Macia at the scene.

“The witness does not even mention that ‘General’ tried to take my firearm,” said Malele.
General was Macia’s nickname.

“He doesn’t even mention that I was assaulted at the scene. Other police officers intervened. I nearly died [from the assault],” said Malele.

Macia was filmed being tied to the back of a police van and dragged along a street in Daveyton on 26 February.

Police confronted him because his taxi was apparently blocking traffic.

A scuffle ensued and he was taken to the local police station, where he was found dead in the holding cells several hours later.

– SAPA

Johannesburg – Gauteng lawmaker Mxolisi Eric Xayiya has been appointed MEC for economic development in the province, Premier Nomvula Mokonyane said on Tuesday.

He would replace Nkosiphendule Kholisile, who was recently killed in a car accident.

Xayiya would take office immediately, Mokonyane said.

He was previously chair of the Road and Transport sub-committee in the Gauteng legislature and is currently a member of the Oversight Committee on the Office of the Premier in the Legislature (OCPOL).

The African National Congress in Gauteng welcomed his appointment.

“He has a lot to offer both in terms of his experience and commitment. He is hard working and dedicated cadre of the movement,” spokesman Dumisa Ntuli said in a statement.

The Democratic Alliance described the appointment as a puzzling choice.

“He does not have a strong economics background, unlike his predecessor Nkosiphendule Kolisile,” DA Gauteng leader Jack Bloom said in statement.

“There are better qualified people in the ANC for this position, so it is a political appointment dictated by the balance of power between Premier Nomvula Mokonyane and Gauteng ANC chairperson Paul Mashatile.”

Bloom said Xayiya had a daunting task ahead of him as the department’s job creation efforts had mostly failed.

– SAPA

Johannesburg – Some people are bent on tarnishing the reputation and image of Cosatu general secretary Zwelinzima Vavi, Samwu in the Eastern Cape said on Tuesday.

“The SA Municipal Workers’ Union [Samwu] in the Eastern Cape is disturbed by the continuous discrediting of [Vavi] in the media and by other sources,” spokesperson Siphiwo Ndunyana said in statement.

“The agenda of the factionalists was defeated at the last Cosatu congress, when the general secretary received overwhelming support. Now some of the same people are trying to remove the general secretary via the ‘back door’.”

Ndunyana accused factions within the Congress of SA Trade Unions of being behind attempts to remove Vavi from the country’s most powerful trade union federation.

“They tried to use rape accusations, which have now been withdrawn by the woman involved. Over the next period these forces will undoubtedly try other dirty tricks,” he said.

“Our view in the Eastern Cape expressed by our provincial executive committee is that the Cosatu CEC [central executive committee] should constructively deal with the matter and act responsibly,” he said.

He said Vavi was persecuted for being outspoken about the situation facing ordinary people.

“Our people are suffering; the only crime that comrade Vavi committed is he is prepared to tell the truth about the day to day reality of our people.”

Vavi made headlines last month after a junior employee at Cosatu accused him of rape.

He subsequently admitted to having a sexual affair with the woman but said it was consensual. The woman subsequently withdrew her sexual harassment complaint against him.

– SAPA

Durban – Anele Ngcongca has failed to arrive for Bafana Bafana duty, an infuriated national coach Gordon Igesund confirmed on Tuesday.

The Belgium-based defender was expected to arrive in Durban a day later than the rest of the squad, along with Tokelo Rantie, but was held back by his club Genk, who claim he was carrying an injury ahead of Bafana’s friendly against Nigeria on Wednesday.

Igesund said that those excuses would not be tolerated, insisting it was a ‘fabricated story’.

“He was supposed to leave from his club on Monday morning, but his club wanted to hold him back,” Igesund said at the Moses Mabhida Stadium.

“They then phoned me up and requested I release the player because of some important games coming up. I explained the situation to them, saying we can’t release him.

“He needs to be here and he needs to be on that flight. Then late last night I got a call from the coach saying he’s picked up an injury. Where it happened I don’t know.

“At the end of the day, it’s a fabricated story and I expect justice to take its course.”

The match against the African champions forms part of the Nelson Mandela Challenge, with South Africa scheduled to face Burkina Faso in a Nelson Mandela Sport and Culture Day clash at FNB Stadium on Saturday.

Igesund said the matter has been reported to SAFA and they will take it up with world governing body Fifa as the match fell on an international date.

No replacement will be called up for Ngcongca.

Following the arrival of Rantie from Sweden, the squad now sits at 22 players from its initial 28.

On Monday, SuperSport United captain Bevan Fransman was given off until Thursday to be with his wife for the birth of their child.

SAPA

Bloemfontein – A Free State bridegroom was found guilty of arson for burning down the conference centre that cancelled his wedding booking, the Volksblad newspaper reported on Tuesday.

Jean Greyling, 28, pleaded guilty to arson when he appeared before the Bloemfontein Regional Court after a conference centre at the Emoya Estate, outside Bloemfontein, was destroyed in a fire.

“It broke my heart to see my future wife in tears the whole day,” Greyling said in his plea explanation in court, the newspaper reported.

The bridegroom admitted he set fire to the building during the early hours of 27 July. The wedding ceremony was apparently cancelled the previous day after deposits were not paid.

Greyling told the court he did not think the whole building would be destroyed.

He contacted the police’s investigator about a week after the fire to confess to the crime. Greyling would be sentenced next month.

He married his girlfriend, Lianne Meyer-Bekker [now Greyling], at a restaurant at Bloemfontein’s Loch Logan Waterfront.

– SAPA

Cape Town – The office of the chief justice on Tuesday cautioned the media for “misleading” headlines concerning a speech by Mogoeng Mogoeng.

This follows the publication of an article by the Daily News, picked up by News24, stating that Mogoeng had “lashed out at his white brothers” in the legal fraternity.

In a statement to News24, Mogoeng’s spokesperson Lulama Luti wrote: “Please note that this headline is incorrect; totally misleading and it is without basis.”

Luti states that what the chief justice actually said was: “In case my white brothers in the audience were wondering whether I was racist or sexist; they should rest assured that I am not. If I were racist, then transformation would only benefit black women and if I were sexist, only women would be advantaged by transformation.”

Mogoeng was speaking at the South African Chapter of the International Association of Women Judges’ conference on Women’s Day where some of the audience members were white males.

Luti said Mogoeng in fact felt “constrained to re-assure them that he was neither sexist nor racist”.

The chief justice did not at any point refer to impeachment proceedings in which he is involved, she said.

Luti said that Mogoeng rejected the generalisation because it could be misunderstood to suggest that a group of his “white brothers” or all his “white brothers” are behind the impeachment bid.

– News24

Johannesburg – Two men are being sought after a woman was raped and robbed in George, Western Cape police said on Tuesday.

“The 36-year-old woman was doing her washing in the backyard of her home at around 14:30 on Monday,” Captain Malcolm Pojie said.

“When she went back to the house she found two men inside, a coloured and black man. They threatened her verbally and demanded cash. While one of the suspects ransacked the house looking for [valuables], the other raped the victim.”

The men took R2 000 before fleeing the scene.

They were believed to have gained entry through an open door.

Police were offering a reward, and anyone with information should call 044-803-4638 or 086-846-3633.

– SAPA

Johannesburg – The case against two men charged with illegal possession of protected game was postponed in the Mankweng Magistrate’s Court, Limpopo police said on Tuesday.

Nakampe David Malatji, 41, and William Madimetja Monyela, 45, appeared in court on Monday.

The case was postponed to 20 August for a formal bail application, police spokesperson Ronel Otto said.

The men were arrested on Sunday for allegedly attempting to sell crocodiles to the Mankweng community.

“Information was received that two men were selling crocodiles from a house at Nobody, Ga-Mothapo.

“Police pretended to be interested in buying some of the animals and the suspects led the members to where the animals were being kept,” Otto said.

“The suspects alleged that they obtained the crocodiles from Acornhoek, but a full investigation into where the animals came from will be conducted,” Otto said.

The crocodiles were removed by Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (SPCA) inspectors and taken to an animal sanctuary.

– SAPA