It has been a bad few days for Orlando Pirates, who now have to pay a massive fine for supporter misbehaviour, after an Arbitration hearing found that the club is responsible for its fans.

Pretoria – It was unclear by midday on Monday whether murder accused paralympian Oscar Pistorius would check-in at the Brooklyn Police Station, in Pretoria, as had been widely reported since Friday.

Journalists were divided about whether chief magistrate Desmond Nair had ordered Pistorius to report to the police station when he granted him bail in the Pretoria Magistrate’s Court on Friday.

Scores of journalists gathered outside the police station from around 6am on Monday, anticipating the arrival of Pistorius. Around midday, the journalists debated among themselves who had heard Nair pronounce on Pistorius’ bail.

Some journalists went back to their cars to listen to last week’s recordings. Convinced that Pistorius would not turn up at the police station, some journalists elected to leave.

National Prosecuting Authority spokesman Medupe Simasiku was not immediately available for comment.

The 2012 Paralympics 400m gold medallist has spent his first weekend at home, after being held for eight days at the Brooklyn police station.

He is charged with murdering his model girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp, who was shot at his home in Pretoria on February 14.

In an affidavit submitted as part of his application for bail, Pistorius said he had thought there was an intruder in his house when he fired the shots.

After listening to extensive argument, Nair ruled that the sprinter was not a flight risk, and that the State had not shown that he had a propensity for violence.

Pistorius was granted bail of R1 million. He was allowed to pay an initial instalment of R100,000, with the balance due by March 1.

The conditions of bail included that Pistorius not be charged with any offence relating to violence against women; not return to his home in Silver Woods country estate; not apply for travel documents; and not take banned substances or alcohol.

His next court appearance is on June 4. – Sapa

The North West Department of Health MEC, Dr. Magome Masike will tomorrow visit Lethabong Clinic in Hartebeesfontein (About 45km from Rustenburg) to attend to clinic committee and concerned residents’ plea for “superior” health services and offer tangible solutions.

” The clinic committee, which was appointed by the department to serve as service delivery “watch dogs” recently, brought to the attention of the MEC concerns about the state of the facility, inadequate ambulances, and health services at the 24 hour health facility” Tebogo Lekgethwane said.

“Community members will also be afforded an opportunity to air their concerns on top of those highlighted by clinic committee during a mini Imbizo” He said.

MEC will also use the platform to disperse 19 new ambulances to various service points across the province ınlcudıng the Rustenburg Sub District where Lethabong Clinic is based.

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The North West Province has established a Rhino Priority Committee in an effort to intensify the fight against the scourge of rhino poaching which claimed 77 rhinos last year as compared to the 21 Rhinos of 2011 and 57 of 2010.

Premier Thandi Modise reported that the province has lost 11 rhinos to poaching since the beginning of this year. In her report on rhino poaching in her State of the Province Address delivered on Friday, Premier Modise said that the committee serves to evaluate occurrence of the rhino incidents, plan jointly and give feedback on investigations.

“Rhino poaching is priority crime and therefore treated as a serious crime. We hope to make a breakthrough in combating rhino poaching. Miscreants will undoubtedly be put to book. We will arrest them, charge them, find them guilty and sentence them,” emphasised the Premier.

She credited the committee for its active involvement which resulted in 32 arrests that have been made thus far, the latest being the arrest of six poachers who were arrested in the Sandgate farm in Vryburg on Wednesday night.

The committee chaired by the South African Police Services is constituted of various government security agencies and stakeholders such as NPA, Justice, Unions, Traditional Leaders, North West Parks and Tourism Board, Private Rhino Association and the Provincial Department of Economic Development, Environment, Conservation and Tourism.

Pretoria – Scores of journalists milled outside the Brooklyn Police Station, east of Pretoria, awaiting the arrival of paralympian Oscar Pistorius on Monday morning.

Pistorius was granted R1 million bail on Friday in the Pretoria Magistrate’s Court. As part of the bail conditions, he was ordered to report to the Brookyln Police Station twice every week – on Mondays and Fridays.

News crews erected small tents and gazebos along Duxbury road, outside the police station. Passing motorists slowed down curiously  with a few asking if Pistorius had already checked in.

The world-famous athlete was arrested on February 14 for the murder of his model girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp at his home. – Sapa

Pretoria – The legal team of murder accused paralympian Oscar Pistorius declined to comment on Monday on reports that the athlete is considering approaching the High Court in Pretoria to ease his bail conditions.

“I can’t comment on that,” said one of his lawyers, Brian Webber.

The Times reported on Monday that Pistorius’ legal team was considering its position to approach the court.

“I have no comment on that at the present moment, unfortunately. We are still considering our position and this is really as much as I can say right now,” his advocate Kenny Oldwage told the newspaper.

He did not specify which conditions were undesirable.

The athlete was expected to report to the Brooklyn police station on Monday morning as part of his bail conditions, which were set down by magistrate Desmond Nair in the Pretoria Magistrate’s Court on Friday.

He was ordered to report to the station twice a week, on Mondays and Fridays.

The 2012 Paralympics 400m gold medallist has spent his first weekend at home, after being held for eight days at the Brooklyn police station.

He is charged with murdering his model girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp, who was shot at his home in Pretoria on February 14.

In an affidavit submitted as part of his application for bail, Pistorius said he had thought Steenkamp was an intruder.

After listening to extensive argument, Nair ruled that the sprinter was not a flight risk, and that the State had not shown that he had a propensity for violence.

Pistorius was granted bail of R1 million. He was allowed to pay an initial instalment of R100 000, with the balance due by March 1.

The conditions of bail included that Pistorius not be charged with any offence relating to violence against women; not return to his home in Silver Woods country estate; not apply for travel documents; and not take banned substances or alcohol.

He would live at an undisclosed address until his next court appearance on June 4. – Sapa

Durban – Oscar Pistorius’s defence team is eagerly awaiting the opportunity to examine the toilet door through which Reeva Steenkamp was shot, calling it one of the most critical pieces of evidence still outstanding.

The door was removed by police before Pistorius’s team had the chance to examine the crime scene.

Durban forensic pathologist Reggie Perumal, who has been hired by the defence, said the State was only going to start its assessments of the door now that Pistorius’s bail application was over.

“It is critical that we examine this door so that we can see the trajectory of the bullets and establish exactly where she was in the toilet when she was shot. Next to the post-mortem results this is the most crucial information needed,” he said.

Perumal, who was present at the post-mortem of Steenkamp’s body and took more than 200 photos, said many of the rumours about the crime or events leading up to it, such as her having been pregnant, were easily ruled out.

“There was also a theory that Steenkamp had a clump of Pistorius’s hair in her hand when she died, but we even have photos of her hands and there were only two strands of hair on her hand and they were her own, long blonde hairs.”

“We decided to get as much of our evidence as we could through the investigating officer so that I did not need to be called as a witness during the bail application. He was at the autopsy so that was actually a blessing for Oscar.”

But it is not only the post-mortem that Perumal relied on as he also assessed the crime scene. In fact, it was he who, through seeing a particular mark on the toilet wall, realised that a bullet cartridge was in the toilet and suggested it be retrieved.

“A lot of injustices are done in criminal cases because of improper crime scene investigation,” he said.

Perumal also told how bloody swipes from Steenkamp’s hair – as well as other blood markings in the house – supported Pistorius’s story of where he picked her body up and carried it.

For more details go to www.iol.co.za

Bela-Bela, Limpopo – A prospective bridegroom who would have married next Saturday, was killed in a freak accident involving his own gun, Beeld reported on Monday.

Seymore Coetsee, 34, manager of the luxury game farm Swala Lodge, about 30km west of Bela-Bela, was shot on Friday while he was moving a washing machine in the home he and his fiancee would have occupied after their marriage.

An emotional Bryn Thomas, the owner of Swala Lodge, said the gun had been lying on top of the washing machine. It fell on the floor and went off, as the safety clip was not on.

The bullet hit Coetsee in the stomach and exited through his back, before it hit the roof.

His fiancee, Sam Sampson, 34, was standing a few steps behind him when the shot went off.

After the accident, Coetsee was still alive, but he died in the ambulance en route to Pretoria.

Coetsee’s sister, Annemie, who is married to Sampson’s brother, Marius, arrived from Britain on Sunday to attend the wedding, still  unaware of the tragedy.

Trudie Laubscher of Klerksdorp, Coetsee’s aunt, said the family was devastated.

“It is terrible to have to inform joyous relatives at the airport that they’re going to be attending a funeral instead of a wedding,” a tearful Laubscher said. – Sapa

The ANC is set to wrest back the Tlokwe mayoral seat from the DA tomorrow after ruling party councillors were ordered to reinstate ousted mayor Maphetle Maphetle.

ANC top leadership held a national working committee meeting in Potchefstroom recently and gave a directive that its councillors should work together and pass a vote of no confidence in incumbent Annette Combrinck.

The DA on the other hand boasts that the three months it has been in charge of the municipality has given it enough foothold to convince the electorate to vote for it in the coming elections.

Its leader, Helen Zille, visited the municipality at the weekend and expressed satisfaction with what she saw.

Zille said that under Combrinck, a municipal infrastructure grant unit was established to speed up the application and transfer process for national grants, ensuring that none of these grants go unspent and to speed up the roll-out of basic services to residents.

“Urgently needed repairs were carried out to the city’s fire fighting vehicles to allow them to function properly. Before this, several firefighting vehicles were standing idle, unable to carry out their crucial work – especially in Ikageng, where fires spread rapidly.

“The DA refused to accept that R736000 of public money was spent on a new mayoral car ordered by the former mayor.

“The new Mercedes Benz E-class with customised rose wood interior was delivered to the council because it was too late to stop the order, but we have referred this purchase to the auditor-general for investigation and to see if it is possible to recover any or all of the cost,” she said.

She added that townships in Potchefstroom were for the first time exposed to real service delivery issues where refuse was collected and connections to water and electricity made.

For more details go to http://www.thenewage.co.za