By Obakeng Maje

Taung-A 23 year-old man who was arrested early last year for rape of a 14 year-old girl appeared briefly in Taung Magistrate Court.

Sokhupha(23) appeared before Taung Magistrate Court for raping Matlapaneng-born teenager.

His case was postponed until 15 May 2013 for formal bail application.

“Sokhupaha’s case was postponed yesterday after he acquired a new lawyer” police said.

He was subsequently arrested last year for raping a teen in Matlapaneng village said North West police.

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North West Acting Premier, Raymond Elisha is deliver the provincial government’s message of support at the COSATU-North West 2013 May Day Provincial rally to be held at the Olympia Park Stadium in Rustenburg tomorrow.

The rally to be held under the theme “united working class for a radical economic transformation.” where the Deputy President of the ruling party, Cyril Ramaphosa to commence as from11:00am is expected to attract thousands of workers.

In acknowledging the critical role that workers continue to play in building a prosperous country and economy and wishing workers who will be celebrations workers day across the province a joyous May Day, Acting Premier Elisha said that the celebrations should remind everyone that creating decent work is the most effective weapon in the campaign against poverty and that the challenges of unemployment, poverty and inequality are not insurmountable.

Elisha called for increased productivity and for workers to defend the strength of their unity, the gains of freedom and progressive labour laws, fight corruption wherever it raises its ugly head and the scourge of rape.

North West Acting Premier Raymond Elisha and MEC for Human Settlement

  and Public Safety, Nono Maloyi are to visit the homes of 11-year-old rape victim Odentse Mogale,13 –year-old muti killing victim Neo Ramaswe and the 92-year-old rape victim granny in Mmakau tomorrow morning.

The visits to the crime victims’ homes are to precede the Anti-crime prayer and commemoration service in honour of the late Kgosi Bazabaza Motsepe to be held as from 9:00 am at the Bakgatla Ba-Mmakau Tribal Kgotla in Mmakau.

The prayer and commemoration service for divine intervention is also aimed at mobilising the community for a partnership against crime which in recent months have claimed the lives of 11-year old rape victim Ofentse Mogale and 13-year-old muti killing victim Neo Ramaswe. Another crime victim in the area was a 92-year- old granny who was repeatedly raped by a parolee.

The service at which Acting Premier Elisha is to deliver the keynote address is also intended at praying for peace and unity within the community and promoting harmonious relationship between the community and the police which is at its all time low given escalating crime in the area.

Premier Thandi Modise has called for united action against crime and the scourge of rape and for crime prevention efforts involving Community Policing Forums, Street committees and neighbourhood watch to prioritise elderly women and orphans who are staying on their own.

In response to the Premier’s call, the province has started with distribution of a crime prevention safety kit that includes whistles and pepersprays to elderly women and intensified mobilisation for the one million signature anti-rape campaign.

Rustenburg – 

Police did not foresee the reaction of protesting Lonmin miners to the deployment of barbed wire, the Farlam Commission heard on Monday.

Maj-Gen Charl Annandale, who led the police special tactical operations team, said no one considered the possibility that the miners would see the situation as an attempt to encircle them.

It was therefore not anticipated that the miners would try to breach the barbed wire or run ahead of the path of police Nyalas deploying the wire.

The commission is holding public hearings at the Rustenburg civic centre into the events at Marikana on August 16.

On that day, 34 striking miners were shot dead and 78 wounded when the police opened fire on them while trying to disperse a group gathered on a hill near the mine.

In the preceding week, 10 people, including two police officers and two security guards, were killed in strike-related violence near the mine.

Evidence leader Geoff Budlender said evidence suggested that deployment of the wire took about nine minutes.

“Did no one say: ‘If it takes a long time to roll out the barbed wire some protesters might run out, in front of (it)’?”

Annandale said this was the first time he had heard that it took nine minutes to unroll the wire.

“In the past 17 years, on the basis of experience gained in police operations… and also on the basis of my personal experience of 30 years, people would (normally) move away from an obstruction of this kind.”

He earlier denied the plan intended to encircle the miners with the wire.

Budlender cited evidence from two policemen involved in the wire  manoeuvre, who seemed to think encircling was the aim of the exercise.

He quoted national police commissioner Riah Phiyega’s testimony,  where she repeatedly spoke of plans to “encircle” protesters.

Ishmael Semenya, for the police, said the word did not refer to the use of wire, but to the action of surrounding protesters with police members.

Earlier, the commission heard that a police decision to end the gathering of striking Lonmin miners at Marikana was taken before the fatal shooting.

Budlender said this emerged in a Joint Operations Centre (JOC) briefing held at 1.30pm on August 16.

Provincial police commissioner Lt-Gen Nosaziso Mbombo took the decision and communicated it to her deputy the night before.

Annandale said he could not comment on the discussion between Mbombo and her deputy Maj-Gen William Mpembe.

Budlender referred to a video clip and press cuttings about the situation at Marikana before the 1.30pm meeting.

The video shows Mbombo talking at a press briefing in the morning, saying police would ask protesters to disperse, and adding: “Today we are ending this matter”.

In the press clippings, police spokesman Captain Dennis Adriao is quoted as saying: “Today, unfortunately, is D-Day”.

Police had expected the miners to disarm on August 16, after Association of Mineworkers and Construction Union president Joseph Mthunjwa urged them to do so.

In the event, the protesters did not heed Mthunjwa’s advice. Budlender said in other evidence before the commission there were indications police only intended to move in on protesters, referred  to as “stage three” of the plan, if the risk of violence escalated.

“In the event, a decision had already been taken to implement stage three, even though no escalation had taken place… that was a deviation from the original plan.”

Annandale said crime intelligence reports, although vague, implied the situation had escalated.

The hearings continue. – Sapa

Durban – A year after his teenage daughter died during a bizarre “exorcism”, a south Durban man has married a woman charged with her murder.

Sinethemba Dlamini, 15, was found dead at her uMlazi J-section home in March last year. Her body had been disembowelled and her intestines were found lying next to her.

For more www.iol.co.za

Johannesburg – The military is not aware of any permission granted for the Gupta family to use the Waterkloof Air Force Base in Pretoria, SA National Defence Force (SANDF) spokesman Siphiwe Dlamini said on Tuesday.

“As far as I know, no permission has been granted to a private citizen to use the base. It is a military base and a national key point used by government and its guests.”

For more www.iol.co.za

Johannesburg – The military is not aware of any permission granted for the Gupta family to use the Waterkloof Air Force Base in Pretoria, SA National Defence Force (SANDF) spokesman Siphiwe Dlamini said on Tuesday.

“As far as I know, no permission has been granted to a private citizen to use the base. It is a military base and a national key point used by government and its guests.”

For more www.iol.co.za

Northern Cape 

An elderly woman was stabbed to death when she tried to defend her dog, who minutes earlier attacked a 17-year-old in the street.

The Jack Russell cross-breed was also killed while the alleged attacker later stabbed his 36-year-old uncle in the hip after the uncle confronted him about the stabbings.

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

The Hendler commission of enquiry that was investigating the management of the royalties and or income derived from mining companies and alleged activities of corruption and maladministration of the funds of the Rakotea community near Brits is to resume with public hearings as from next week Monday 6 May to Friday 10 May 2013, the Office of Premier of the North West Province announced on Tuesday. 

The continuation of the commission of enquiry with its original terms of reference was approved by Premier Thandi Modise recently. The commission was initially appointed in 2008 by then Premier Edna Molewa  in terms of the North West Commissions Act, 1994 (Act No. 18 of 1994) 

The commission had adjourned in 2010 because the leader of evidence Adv. Senne resigned from the commission on the grounds that he had joined government from the private sector and could not proceed in his role as leader of evidence, without his impartiality being an issue. 

The work of the commission was also interrupted because its chairperson Judge Hendler had to go for a medical procedure overseas and the Office of the Premier had to wait for his return and full recovery. The appointment of another chairperson to replace Judge Hendler would have meant that the commission had to start the hearings afresh.

Family members of the joint co-owners, the family representatives and the residents of Rankotea are invited to the inquiry. The persons who previously gave testimony during the hearings are requested to be in attendance. The commission further invites any person who wishes to give testimony at the commission to be in attendance during its sittings to be held at the Madibeng Local Municipality Offices in Brits.

Among its terms of reference, the commission was also appointed to investigate:

∙         the functionality of the Executive Committee if any and other committees or subcommittees entrusted with the general management of the affairs of the community.∙         To collect and examine information relating to the administration and management of the financial affairs of the community.∙         the cause of continuous battles between all committees that were ever elected or appointed and recommend scenarios to be considered to ensure non-recurrence of such problems. 

Upon completing its investigations, the commission has to make recommendations to the Premier Modise on any proposed actions and/ or steps to be taken to prevent the mismanagement of the funds of the community including the appropriate financial and management structures that must be put in place for future management of the funds and general administration thereof.

Tuesday is the last day for social grants beneficiaries to re-register. The South African Security Agency, Sassa, introduced the roll-out of the new bio-metric card system for pay-outs in February last year, which required all beneficiaries to re-register. 

Last month Social Services Minister Bathabile Dlamini said 19 million out of a target of 21 million people have already re-registered. Sassa spokesperson in Mpumalanga, Senzeni Ngubeni says they have re-registered about 95% of the 1. 5 million grant beneficiaries.

Ngubeni says after Tuesday’s closing deadline: “Sassa will be issuing out letters to cancel those who have not come forward.”

“Our suspicions are maybe it will be ghost beneficiaries or for further various reasons which will tell us maybe those grants, even the beneficiaries were not even there, were fraudulent. So Sassa will be closing those that have not come forward to re-register up until this point in time,” says Ngubeni. 

When the system was launched in 2012, Minister Bathabile Dlamini said there are currently over 15 million beneficiaries, ten million of whom are children. Dlamini added that this is part of efforts aimed at eliminating fraud and corruption.

 “With older persons, because they have people who get the grant on their behalf we want to ensure that we go to where they stay so that we register them correctly, take their biometrics,” said Dlamini.

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