Pretoria – Former president Nelson Mandela’s ex-wife, ANC MP Winnie Madikizela-Mandela, arrived at the Pretoria hospital on Thursday where he is being treated for a recurring lung infection.

She was accompanied by her daughter Zindzi, and arrived at the Medi-Clinic Heart Hospital in a black Audi with flashing blue police lights around noon.

The elderly statesman was spending his 13th day in the hospital.

On Wednesday, another of Mandela’s daughters, South Africa’s ambassador to Argentina, Zenani Mandela, arrived at the hospital with Madiba’s grandchildren Zoleka and Zaziwe Dlamini-Manaway.

They were with Zaziwe’s husband, American businessman David Manaway.

‘Serious but stable’

Mandela, 94, was hospitalised in the early hours of 8 June with a recurring lung infection. The presidency said he was in a “serious but stable” condition.
Several close relatives of the anti-apartheid icon have visited him daily.

Three police officers stationed at each entrance screened all vehicles entering the hospital.

Well-wishers have adorned the hospital’s perimeter wall with an assortment of get-well-soon cards, bouquets of flowers, balloons, sculptures, and flags.

One handmade card from Mamboleo Stephane Mandela had the words: “I’m waiting for you at my 18th birthday party. Get well soon.”

– SAPA

Johannesburg – The families who participated in a cleansing ceremony in Marikana this week were thanked for their role in the ritual, the North West legislature said on Thursday.

Police and security guards who participated in Monday’s ceremony should be thanked, Speaker Supra Mahumapelo’s spokesperson Mongezi Tsenca said in a statement.

“The speaker is happy that our communities and institutions are adding their effort to find closure to the tragedy.”

On 16 August, police shot dead 34 striking Lonmin miners at Marikana.

Ten people, including two policemen and two security guards, were killed during the violent strike in the preceding week.

President Jacob Zuma established the Farlam Commission of Inquiry to investigate the deaths.

The Bojanala Platinum district municipality said on Monday that the ceremony was successful and that 40 families attended.

Spokesperson Archie Babeile said the ceremony involved the slaughter of sheep at the site where the miners were killed.

– SAPA

Johannesburg – The Muslim Lawyers Association (MLA) intends taking the NPA to court for refusing to arrest US President Barack Obama on his South African visit later this month.

“We will ask the court to review the decision neither to investigate or prosecute and to order them to commence a full investigation in terms of the Rome Statute,” MLA attorney Yousha Tayob said.

The MLA said it submitted a complaint to the national director of public prosecutions and the SA Police Service, calling for Obama to be “investigated, charged, arrested, and tried in a South African court for war crimes, crimes against humanity, and genocide”.

The MLA cited the Obama administration’s drone programme as the reason for its action.

The association said the complaint was made in terms of international customary law, as well as the implementation of the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court, Act 2002 (the ICC Act).

“The [drone] programme is responsible for extra-judicial killings of both innocent civilians as well as US citizens abroad. The drone strike policy has continued unabated with total disregard for territorial sovereignty and this is cited as the primary reason that Obama should be investigated and tried for war crimes, crimes against humanity, and genocide,” the MLA said.

A drone is an unmanned aerial vehicle. In a recent speech Obama said the US used drones to target people it considered a threat to its national security when other measures were not possible.

The National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) confirmed receiving the MLA’s documents.

Tayob said the MLA received a letter of reply from the state attorney’s office on Wednesday.

MRN also opposed

“They have decided they are not commencing an investigation,” said Tayob.

The NPA was also not going to arrest or secure Obama’s attendance in a court room.

Tayob said the application for a review would be made next week, probably in the High Court in Pretoria.

The Media Review Network (MRN) was also opposed to Obama’s visit. Executive director Iqbal Jassat said the MRN planned a series of protests over Obama’s visits, over the US government’s use of drones, its failure to stop the “occupation of Muslim countries”, and its not shutting down the Guantanamo Bay detention centre as promised.

The MRN supports the MLA’s planned legal action.

“We have rallied behind these actions. Levels of pressure developed by civil society would force the US government to review the purpose of this visit and possibly lead to the cancellation,” said Jassat.

A row is reportedly also brewing over plans by the University of Johannesburg to award Obama an honorary degree.

According to a report in the Sunday Independent, students were split on this.

But deputy vice chancellor Tinyiko Maluleke said the process was a lengthy one, requiring high levels of consultation and agreement, and had not been finalised.

The process of nominating someone for an honorary degree began with discussions in the honorary degrees committee, where candidates had to receive 100% support.

From there, the nomination went to the senate, which consisted of senior academics and representatives of the Students’ Representative Committee. After that it, went to the council, which also consisted of student representatives.

At each stage, a certain amount of support was required.

“So when people say stuff has not been consulted or students have not been included, it’s simply not true. It’s a very lengthy process,” said Maluleke.

The same process applied to all nominees.

– SAPA

Cape Town – A group of Khoi activists, who invaded a District Six apartment complex, has been denied Legal Aid, the Western Cape High Court heard on Thursday.

Legal Aid principal Cobus Esterhuizen said he received and reviewed an application from Tania Kleinhans, of the Institute for the Restoration of the Aborigines of SA (Irasa).

Kleinhans, listed as the fourth respondent, is representing about 60 people occupying flats earmarked for beneficiaries in Zonnebloem.

They claim this part of Cape Town is ancestral Khoi land.

Esterhuizen said he drafted a merit report and based on that, decided not to grant the group legal representation.

Judge Robert Henney asked him to explain what the grounds were for denying the application. Esterhuizen said he could not because of attorney-client privilege.

Kleinhans said it was the first time she heard about the denied application.

Some of the activists, dressed in animal print tops and headbands, shook their head at the development.

The court adjourned for parties to discuss the matter in chambers.

It then emerged that the judge appointed an advocate to formally represent the Khoi group.

The case would resume later on Thursday, once the advocate had consulted his clients.

The applicants in the matter are the rural development and land reform department and the trustees of the District Six Beneficiary and Redevelopment Trust.

The applicants want the court to make an eviction order final.

An interim order was obtained on Monday, but the activists had not yet vacated the premises.

– SAPA

Polokwane – Expelled ANC Youth League leader Julius Malema on Thursday accused President Jacob Zuma of orchestrating a political conspiracy against him.

“All charges, it’s a political conspiracy by [Zuma] and his administration,” Malema told the Polokwane Magistrate’s Court, where he appeared on corruption charges.

Malema is accused of making nearly R4m from corrupt activities.

He is out on bail of R10 000 and faces charges of fraud, corruption, money-laundering, and racketeering.

His co-accused are his business associates Kagisho Dichabe, Lesiba Gwangwa, Helen Moreroa, and Makgetsi Manthata, who are out on bail of R40 000 each.

The State and the defence teams argued for and against the matter being postponed on Thursday.

The court was expected to transfer the matter to the high court and set a trial date.

The State alleges the accused misrepresented themselves to the Limpopo roads and transport department, leading to a R52m contract being awarded to On-Point Engineering.

According to court papers, Malema had business ties with Gwangwa, a director of On-Point Engineering.

Malema’s Ratanang Family Trust was an indirect shareholder in On-Point.

The department paid the company R43m.

According to the charge sheet, Malema substantially benefited from this payment, using it to buy a farm and a Mercedes-Benz.

Malema allegedly did this knowing the money formed part of the proceeds of crime.

All five have proclaimed their innocence.

– SAPA

Cape Town – Phumelele Stone Sizani will replace African National Congress chief whip Mathole Motshekga, ANC secretary general Gwede Mantashe announced on Thursday.

Sizani is currently chairperson of the National Assembly’s rural development and land reform committee.

Mantashe said the reason for the change was that Motshekga was not a member of the ruling party’s national executive committee (NEC) – a pre-condition for being chief whip which the ANC set in 2008.

“The reason for that is that we have always viewed it as correct to have the chief whip sitting in the NEC as part of the decision-making structures,” Mantashe told a media briefing in Parliament.

He said this was essential to keep a direct line of communication between top party structures and Parliament to resolve problems that arose in the legislature as soon as possible.

Motshekga failed to make it onto the NEC at the ANC’s elective conference in Polokwane in December.

He was not at the media briefing, but said afterwards that he would remain an ordinary MP.

“I will be here,” he told reporters.

– SAPA

Pretoria – Lawyer Dali Mpofu is to take President Jacob Zuma and Justice Minister Jeff Radebe to court to get state funding for victims of last year’s Marikana shooting.

Speaking on the sidelines of a Farlam Commission of Inquiry hearing in Centurion on Thursday, he said he would lodge an urgent application in the North Gauteng High Court in Pretoria this week.

“This is about what we call equality of arms. This inquiry is not an investigation, but a mission to find the truth… You cannot sponsor one party and ignore the other.”

Mpofu represents the miners injured in the shooting in August, and those arrested afterwards.

He said his clients had the right to get financial assistance, just as SAPS was getting state funding for legal representation.

Mpofu successfully lodged an application with the commission, and asked that the inquiry be moved from its original venue at the Rustenburg Civic Centre to Pretoria.

He cited limited resources at his disposal and mounting expenses due to the travelling to, and accommodation costs in, Rustenburg.

Mpofu would not say how much money he was seeking from government.

The court papers were expected to be filed on Friday.

Police shot dead 34 striking miners in Marikana, North West, on 16 August year when trying to disperse them.

The commission is investigating events that led to the shooting, and the death of 10 people in strike-related violence the previous week.

– SAPA

Cape Town – The ANC recalled Mathole Motshekga as its chief whip on Thursday.

Stone Sizani will replace Motshekga. 

ANC secretary general Gwede Mantashe said on Thursday that Motshekga will remain an MP. 

Mantashe said Motshekga was replaced because he is not a member of the party’s NEC following the national conference in Mangaung in December last year.

More details to follow.

News24

Durban – The KwaZulu-Natal health department has been ordered to pay R2.2m within 14 days for a botched circumcision operation, The Mercury reported on Thursday.

According to the paper, the mother of a 9-year-old boy sued the department after her son was circumcised at a Vryheid hospital in October 2009.

The boy suffered severe burning, infections, and loss of his normal penile tissue after the procedure.

“The words lazy, incompetent, and disinterested accurately describe the treating doctor’s actions,” The Mercury quoted a report before the court by plastic and reconstructive surgeon Paul McGarr.

“In essence, nine minutes of a rushed, incompetent circumcision has significantly and severely impacted on the child for the rest of his life,” McGarr said.

KwaZulu-Natal Deputy Judge President Achmat Jappie also ordered the department to pay the family’s legal costs.

SAPA

Johannesburg – President Jacob Zuma has defended his relationship with the Gupta family, saying South Africans can befriend whoever they want, Eyewitness News reported on Thursday.

During question time in the National Assembly on Wednesday, Democratic Alliance parliamentary leader Lindiwe Mazibuko asked Zuma why the Gupta family had direct contact with members of his Cabinet.

Zuma reportedly responded by saying any member of the public was free to contact any member of his Cabinet or the public service.

His administration promoted open and accessible government.

“It is because any member of the public within South Africa and beyond our borders is free to contact any members of my Cabinet, the executive, or the public service directly.”

Independent Democrats MP Joe Mcgluwa reportedly asked Zuma: “Are you, Mr President, willing to cut your ties with the Gupta family?”

Zuma responded that everyone had the right to make friends.

However, that did not mean endorsing wrongdoing.

“We are not in the state that burns people because they are friends with others,” Zuma was quoted saying.

“But we are also in the state where if there are specific issues that have affected either the interests of government or whatever, people will come back and say these are facts that say this thing has happened and therefore this thing is not good.”

SAPA