Bafana Bafana midfielder Dean Furman says he has no intention of playing in the PSL in the near future, though a swansong in South Africa might be on the cards.

Some media reports last month suggested that the 25-year-old midfielder, who recently joined English Championship side Doncaster Rovers on a two-year deal, could make a big-money move to Absa Premiership.

However, Furman insists it was just that – rumours – and that his long-term future remains in England.

“At the moment I see my future lying over here,” he tells KickOff.com.

“I’ve worked very hard to get to the position where I am; I’m really enjoying my football over here and it’s a big challenge for me at Doncaster, so for the foreseeable future I do see my football being played on these shores.”

But he adds: “However, football is a crazy game and just like I never thought I would be back involved with the national team, you can never rule anything out.”

Furman joined Doncaster upon the expiry of his contract at Oldham Athletic, where he was the captain, and says he has settled in nicely, having spent some time on loan at the club towards the end of the season.

“It’s many of the same players – pretty much the entire squad from last season baring a few changes here and there – so for me settling in was never a problem,” he says.

“We got up to the Championship and it’s a tough league with some top, top teams and players, but we are quietly confident.

“We’ve had a good pre-season and have built up our confidence nicely and I think as the season goes by our ambitions will become more and more clear as to what we want to achieve.”
For more http://www.kickoff.com

Former Kaizer Chiefs director Wilfred ‘China’ Ngema passed away in the early hours of Tuesday morning at the age of 79.

Ngema, who played a vital role in the early years of Chiefs, was admitted to hospital two weeks ago after suffering a stroke. According to family spokesperson Jeff Mazibuko, funeral arrangements are yet to be finalized.

“Mr Ngema sadly passed on at 4am this morning and the family is still in shock,” Mazibuko tells KickOff.com.

“Mr Ngema had three houses, in Soweto, KwaNongoma and Newcastle. But all the work will be done here in Newcastle because this is where he was staying.”

Former KICK OFF Magazine sub-editor Cyril McAravey, who was also instrumental in the formation of Chiefs, describes Ngema as a hard worker. “I’ve known China for than 50 years and he was one of the hardest working people I’ve ever known,” he says.

“While others were busy stealing the limelight, China was in the background doing all the hard work, organising and transporting players. The man epitomizes the phrase ‘for the love of the game’ because he didn’t do things for money.

“I want people to know that China was not only instrumental at Kaizer Chiefs, but in football as a whole. May his soul rest in peace.”
For more http://www.kickoff.com

Former Germany-based Zimbabwe international George Mbwando says Knowledge Musona’s return to Kaizer Chiefs is “shocking and disappointing”.

Musona returned to Naturena at the beginning of July after just two years in the Bundesliga.

The Zimbabwean international joined 1899 Hoffenheim in July 2011 on a five-year deal, but struggled to make an impression and spent the past season on loan at FC Augsburg.

The 23-year-old is back at Chiefs on a season-long loan.

“I was as shocked as I was disappointed with Knowledge’s decision to go back to Kaizer Chiefs,” Mbwando tells The Herald.

“It is retrogressive, how can you go back to high school when you have reached university? I know that at times it might not be easy to adjust to a new and tougher environment but it was not hell for Musona.

“Even if he could not play regularly in the Bundesliga he could have tried to have a season or two in the Second or even Third Division and I know that he would have bounced back into the Bundesliga a far much better player.

“With all due respect I don’t see how playing in South Africa will improve him or prepare him for European football when he has already been in Europe and knows what is required.”

The 37-year-old Mbwando adds that Musona “needs to return to Europe before it is too late”, as his return to Amakhosi is not a positive situation for the Zimbabwe national team.
For more http://www.kickoff.com

Cape Town – Two men accused of killing Cape Town schoolboy Glenrico Martin appeared in the Wynberg Magistrate’s Court on Tuesday.

Wilston Stoffels, 18, and Jevon Snyman, 19, will remain in custody until their next appearance on September 2.

The two previously abandoned their bail applications.

Martin, 18, was shot in May while entering the Spes Bona High School premises in Athlone.

Captain Frederick van Wyk said at the time that three men – two of them armed – wearing school tracksuit tops approached Martin. One of them shot him in the head.

Paramedics revived him and took him to the Groote Schuur Hospital. He died soon after arrival.

Snyman was arrested in Athlone a day after the shooting. Stoffels was arrested in Bonteheuwel the following day.

Sapa

Johannesburg – A bail application by nine policemen allegedly implicated in the death of a Daveyton taxi driver was postponed by the Benoni Magistrate’s Court on Tuesday.

This was at the request of lawyers for the accused, who said a third member had been added to their team.

The new lawyer, Marius van Wyngaardt, said he needed further consultations with the accused. He joins Patrick Sithole and Benny Ndaba.

The matter was postponed to August 13.

Some relatives of the policemen murmured in disagreement at the outcome of the proceedings.

Earlier, the group of relatives was called out of the court for a brief meeting with the lawyers.

The nine officers were re-applying for bail, after it was denied in March.

Their lawyers claimed to have new evidence which they believed would convince the court to overturn its decision not to grant them bail.

Mozambican taxi driver Mido Macia was filmed being tied to the back of a police van and dragged along a street in Daveyton on February 26. Police had 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.

The accused, Thamsanqa Ncema, Linda Sololo, Meshack Malele, Motome Walter Ramatlou, Percy Mnisi, Bongumusa Mdluli, Sipho Ngobeni, Lungisa Ewababa, and Bongani Kolisi were arrested shortly afterwards.

As in previous appearances, they were well-dressed when they entered the courtroom.

The men whispered among themselves as they sat in the dock.

Court officials had arranged for their families to sit on the bench directly behind them in the gallery.

The relatives huddled into the first bench, and a few took up seats in the second row. The second row had been reserved for Macia’s relatives, but none were present in court.

Jose Nascimento, who has a watching brief on behalf of Macia’s family and the Mozambican government, and Badanisile Ngwenya were the only recognisable people representing the Macia family.

Macia had rented a room outside Ngwenya’s house in Daveyton.

After the proceedings, Ngwenya told reporters Macia’s family (in Mozambique) were slowly trying to come to terms with what had happened.

She said she was in no rush to have the case wrapped up.

“I don’t want it to be rushed, so justice can be properly served,” she said.

Public attention had dwindled since the case first made headlines at the end of February.

At the start of the hearings several months ago, Daveyton residents gathered outside the court building and protested against the officers receiving bail.

In recent weeks, none of the protesters have returned to court. However, family members of the policemen have continued to pack the courtroom.

Sapa

Kimberley – A Kimberley police officer accused of corruption was released on bail by the Kimberley Magistrate’s Court on Tuesday, the Hawks said.

Colonel Priscilla Naidu said the warrant officer was granted R1000 bail and was expected back in court on August 29.

“It is alleged that the warrant officer offered to make an illegal firearm docket disappear at a price,” Naidu said.

The individual under investigation was allegedly instructed by the officer to make a deposit of R300 at a local retail store, where the officer could withdraw the money.

“The suspect met with the warrant officer again on July 27, where another R300 was exchanged and we then arrested him.”

An internal police probe was also being conducted, Naidu said.

Sapa

Pretoria – Home Affairs Minister Naledi Pandor arrived at the department’s offices in the Pretoria CBD on Tuesday to hand over a smart card ID to President Jacob Zuma.

Pandor toured the offices and spoke to members of the public who were there for help.

The home affairs department issued former president Nelson Mandela with a smart card ID on 18 July, when he celebrated his 95th birthday.

At that event, Pandor said the transformation from the ID book to the high tech ID card was symbolic of South Africa’s expedition in the democratic dispensation.

– SAPA

Cape Town – The murder trial of the wife of acting Judge Patrick Maqubela was delayed again in the Western Cape High Court on Tuesday.

Widow Thandi Maqubela and her co-accused Vela Mabena’s defence said a possible amendment to the charges could prejudice their clients.

The two have pleaded not guilty to killing the acting judge. Maqubela has also pleaded not guilty to forging her husband’s signature on his will.

Judge John Murphy had indicated that he intended amending the charges on the indictment, in terms of the discretion given to him in the Criminal Procedures Act.

On the murder charge, he wanted to extend the cause of death by adding “or means unknown” to “suffocation with plastic”.

Regarding Maqubela’s alleged forgery of her husband’s will, he wanted to amend the charge from “making of the signature” to “making of the will”.

Marius Broeksma, for the defence, said it would probably oppose the amendments because they would prejudice the defence’s case, as extra witnesses would have to be called and other evidence would have to be placed before the court.

It would also probably incur a cost and time prejudice because the trial would take longer to conclude.

He said he still had to closely study the amendments and the Criminal Procedures Act, but he believed the move could be against the “current constitutional order”.

Murphy said he would first have to consider what prejudice would be suffered before the amendments could be made.

Prejudice

The State and the defence both believed the onus rested on the opposite party to prove or disprove such prejudice.

Murphy postponed the trial until Thursday, at which time both sides would argue where the onus lay.

When that had been decided, the court would hear submissions in terms of prejudice and make a ruling.

The defence would then decide whether witnesses should be called. The State also had the option of re-opening its case.

– SAPA

Johannesburg – South Africa on Tuesday condemned an attack on a building housing Turkish embassy staff in Mogadishu, Somalia, that claimed the lives of six people.

“The government of the Republic of South Africa condemns in the strongest terms the bomb attack that targeted a building in Mogadishu, Somalia, on Saturday,” the international relations department said in a statement.

“South Africa welcomes the announcement by Turkey that it will remain steadfast in its support for Somalia despite the attempts by terrorists to plunge the country into further disarray.”

The attacks, carried out by Al-Shabaab militia, claimed six lives, including a Turkish official, two Somali security guards, and a university student.

Nine people were injured, including four members of the Turkish security force charged with protecting the complex.

The department called on parties and individuals in Somalia to renounce violence.

“We call on groups and individuals who remain outside of the political process to desist from cowardly acts of terrorism and join the peace-driven political processes of reconciliation to ensure the development and prosperity of Somalia.”

– SAPA

By TDN

Rustenburg-The South African Police Service in the North West, continues to monitor and maintain stability in the North West Platinum Belt.

This comes after a media statement by the NUM that alleges that Police are failing to control the situation in the Platinum Belt. 

“It is important to note that we have seen only one untimely death to date in the area of Wonderkop Sports grounds on Sunday” Brigadier Thulani Ngubane said. 

This is an isolated incident where one man was found dead at about 20h00 Sunday, 28 July 2013. 

Ngubane said he was in his mine gear on his way to work and was allegedly shot with two bullets on the neck and the upper body. “This is an isolated incident which does not mean the situation is volatile in the platinum belt. It is an unfortunate taking of a man’s life and we cannot at this point, determine whether the murder pure criminality or lined to any mine related situation” he outlines. 

Police are still investigating and believe perpetrators will be arrested and brought to book. This incident occurred during awkward times. 

“It is a fact Police cannot be everywhere and guarding each and every individual in the area. Police continue to patrol and ensure that people of Marikana and Nkaneng are and feel safe” said Ngubane.

“It is wrong to continue making misinformed statements and remarks that are not verified in public platforms like the media. A wrong mischievous, malicious and an ill-informed comment was made last week to confirm death of a National Union of Mine Workers member in a NUM official statement” said police. “He was attacked last Sunday, 21 July 2013, he was wearing a NUM T-shirt, it is alleged that this man was on his way to a NUM rally. His attackers were unknown men with knobkieries”. “We would like to place it on record as the South African Police Service that NO NUM person died on that said date especially the man in question”. The man was treated and released by doctors where he was treated at Brits Hospital and Police reiterate this and place it again on record, and the warm blooded man is a living testimony to these facts. 

“This has a potential of sending shock waves and unnecessary tension amongst the people and destabilize the sector, which is the backbone of the South African Economy” police said.

Ngubane said it is the request of the SAPS to all parties involved in the Platinum situation to take caution when making statements that may instill unnecessary fear and uncertainty in the Platinum Belts. 

Police spokesperson Thulani Ngubane said It remains their call as the SAPS that every stakeholder takes their meaning full role in ensuring total peace and stability in the belt. 

He said Safety and Security is a shared responsibility that all must ensure that the people are safe,and this should be from the side of both Unions, NUM and AMCU, and the employer to join hands with the SAPS. 

“It is critical that we all report to the nation and base our assertions on facts and present a true picture to the people of South Africa, Africa and the world”.

“We can put it on record that the South African Police Service will never deter from upholding the rule of law in the Platinum Belt” he said. 

The situation is currently under control and police investigations are ongoing on certain cases that are working in the Platinum Belt. “We must further be very careful when analyzing or commenting on any situation in the areas of Marikana and Nkaneng not to link any crime that is taking place in the area to some instability in the Platinum belt. There were criminal activities taking place in the area before the situation in the Platinum Belt started hence we have Marikana Police Station tasked with security in the area”. 

Ngubane said these criminal activities will continue even today and that does not mean there is instability in the Platinum Belt.

The current status quo in the Platinum Belt is that there are no escalating levels of violence in the platinum belt, workers are going to work, and life continues as normal in the area. 

“Police continues to ensure that local residents are living in a safe and secure environment. The North West Provincial Commissioner, Lieutenant General Zukiswa Mbombo said “Our duty is to ensure that we act as per the dictates of section 205 of the Republic of South African Constitution to prevent, combat and investigate crime and that is what we continue to do in the Platinum Belt” concludes Ngubane.-TDN

Follow us on Twiter@Taung_DailyNews or @IceT_