Cape Town – An office building in Newlands caught fire on Thursday morning, as Cape Town firefighters continue to monitor unrelated wildfires which have devastated parts of the South Peninsula in recent days.

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Pretoria – Three Winterveld men who gunned down an elderly couple in a busy Soshanguve street three years ago will have to wait until next week to hear their fate.

North Gauteng High Court Judge Lettie Malopa-Sethosa on Wednesday postponed the trial of Victor Mbuyseni Simango, Solomon Selekane and Collen Peter Malopo to 11 March for sentencing.

The three were convicted in December 2014 of murdering Chris Jooste and his wife Katrien and robbing them of cash and a toy gun.

Shot

The couple, both in their sixties, were shot dead while delivering stock to a spaza shop in Soshanguve. Chris Jooste was shot in the stomach while on his way back to his bakkie. His wife was shot in the chest when she tried to defend herself with pepper spray.

She managed to phone her daughter Belinda. They died on their way to hospital.

The accused were also found guilty of illegal possession of firearms and ammunition.

Simango was convicted of robbing the Joostes of R500 in cash while they were delivering stock in Soshanguve 16 days earlier.

A fourth accused, Nkomo Romeo Mathebula, is still being sought by the police after escaping from the Ga-Rankuwa Magistrate’s Court while in custody last year.

Malopa-Sethosa earlier rejected the three accused’s protestations of innocence to the cold-blooded murders as lies and fabrications.

She said all of them had known what was going to happen and conspired to rob the Joostes.

No remorse

Prosecutor Mari Marriott argued that the accused’s actions showed life had no meaning for them and they had no respect for other people’s property. Their calculated actions had devastated their victims’ family.

They denied responsibility and showed no remorse for what they did, Marriott said.

A letter by the couple’s daughter Belinda, in which she described the effect of her parents’ death on the family, was read to the court.

Nothing could have prepared her for the call from her mother saying they had been shot, she wrote.

The family could never say goodbye to her parents as they died before she arrived at the scene, which she said would forever remain imprinted in her mind.

“My whole life changed and that of my family. In an instant. One moment I had a mom and dad and the next they were gone. Dead. Shot.

‘Massive loss’

“Our life was affected in a massive way. We suffered a massive loss. Two people who still had a lot of life left to live were rudely taken out of our lives,” she said.

Her parents’ death had particularly hit her son very hard, as he lived with them permanently and regarded them more as parents than grandparents.

His whole personality changed. He went from being an A student to scraping by. He was still receiving counselling.

Belinda Jooste had a job that entailed a lot of travelling, but had to relocate, causing her job to suffer.

Her elderly grandfather could not handle the shock either and went from a busy farmer to dying as an invalid in a very short period.

Counsel for Simango and Malopo argued that they were first offenders, the fathers of young children and had shown remorse.

Malopo’s advocate said his client was HIV-positive and on medication for his condition.

Counsel for Selekane argued that his client had shown remorse by crying while he gave evidence. He said Selekane was “very much sorry” for the situation that happened that day, and stressed Selekane’s version that he had not been armed and was not aware that the others were armed.

Cape Town – The DA on Thursday will challenge legislation allowing for the arrest or removal of people who create a disturbance in the National Assembly.

The party approached the Western Cape High Court after the removal of Economic Freedom Fighters MPs from the National Assembly during the State of the Nation address on 12 February.

The DA also wants an order preventing the Speaker from calling in police pending the outcome of its challenge to the constitutionality of section 11 of the Powers, Privileges, and Immunities of Parliament and Provincial Legislatures Act.

EFF MPs were removed by police and parliamentary protection officers after Speaker Baleka Mbete invoked section 11 of the act.

The DA wants the section removed from the act, saying it clashes with section 58 of the Constitution.

Written questions

Meanwhile, the SA Police Service will also receive written questions about its activities during the State of the Nation address, DA Western Cape community safety spokesperson Mireille Wenger said.

Wenger, who heads the provincial committee on community safety, said in a statement that questions would be directed in writing to provincial police commissioner Arno Lamoer and national police commissioner Riah Phiyega.

Lamoer was in the provincial legislature on Wednesday morning. The committee had called him in to get answers about what police did in the parliamentary precinct during President Jacob Zuma‘s address.

“We are most disappointed that many of the pertinent questions remain unanswered,” said Wenger.

National operation

At the time, Lamoer said he could not answer questions about action taken on that day as it was a national operation. “It is a national event. It is a national operation. There are different role players in that.”

He said the committee needed to address questions to the National Joint Operational and Intelligence Structure (Natjoints).

Natjoints, which is mandated to secure major national events, includes the police, defence force, metro police departments, and intelligence bodies.

Wenger said that while it was understandable that some matters fell under national co-ordinating structures, the committee had hoped to get clarity on provincial police matters, especially in light of media reports claiming that provincial police were deployed to the National Assembly.

Lamoer said he could not discuss any operational details about that day because the media was present.

Wenger told him that the provincial legislature could not exclude the public and media unless it was reasonable and justifiable to do so.

The committee had asked questions relating to the arrest of four Democratic Alliance members on charges of public violence, ahead of the state-of-the-nation address.

Charges against MPs withdrawn

Last week, the National Prosecuting Authority confirmed the charges against DA MP Marius Redelinghuys, DA Cape metro chairperson Shaun August, and two other party members, were withdrawn due to insufficient evidence.

Lamoer said police officers had the power to arrest someone suspected of breaking the law.

His department would investigate allegations that the party’s members were driven around for four or five hours in a police van.

“If any of my members transgresses, I will take action against that. We are still looking at what is going on there… so the investigation is not yet concluded.”

He said the DA members could approach the provincial police ombudsman, public protector, or the police’s own inspectorate.

Wenger said there seemed to be quite a heavy police presence on that day and asked whether there had been a particular threat to national security or fear of disruption.

Lamoer replied that the police presence that day was not out of the ordinary. He would be able to provide figures in writing on how many officers were present that day and how many arrests were made.

“The threat itself, that is really a question that needs to be asked to state security,” he said.

Harare – Zimbabwe has confirmed eight cases of cholera, including two on the border with South Africa, state media reported on Thursday.

Two children, aged five and 10, had been quarantined with cholera at Beitbridge District Hospital, the official Herald reported.

Six other cases had been recorded in Mudzi and Chiredzi, the state Zimbabwe Broadcasting Corporation said.

Mudzi is on the border with Mozambique, where 41 people have died of cholera. Chiredzi is in south-eastern Zimbabwe.

Another possible case was being investigated in Chirundu on the Zambian border, the report said.

Beitbridge district administrator Simon Muleya told the Herald: “The two victims are from the same family and according to our rapid response team there are no other cases from the same village.

“The situation is now under control and there is no need for people to panic,” he said.

The children were reportedly in a stable condition in the Cholera Isolation Centre of Beitbridge District Hospital.

Cholera killed more than 4000 people in Zimbabwe in late 2008 to early 2009. The disease spreads particularly fast during the rainy season through contaminated food and water.

Johannesburg – A man accused of killing a two-day-old baby by using her as a weapon to beat his girlfriend abandoned his bail application at the Pretoria Magistrate’s Court, the Star reported on Thursday.

Alexander Forba, aged 32, was expected to appear for his bail application on Wednesday, but instead decided to withdraw his application. He faces a charge of murder and assault.

The case was moved from the Kgosi Mampuru II prison court to the Pretoria Magistrate’s Court last month.

His lawyer Bronwinn Marshall reportedly objected to the application made by media houses to have her client’s picture taken and published, but Magistrate Desmond Nair overruled it.

Forba allegedly came home in the early hours of Sunday in a drunken state and argued with the baby mother’s over the paternity of the child.

The court heard that he allegedly assaulted the mother, then followed her to a nearby filling station where he pulled the baby from the mother and used her as a weapon.

The baby was rushed to Kalafong Hospital but later died from her injuries.

The case has been postponed to 13 April for investigation.

Cape Town – Lieutenant Colonel Mike Barkhuizen says the first time he laid eyes on a girl at the centre of a 17-year-long kidnapping saga, he knew she was the baby kidnapped in 1997.

According to Netwerk24, Barkhuizen, who works for the Hawks, had been searching for the girl, now 17, for the past five years.

The results of the DNA tests were just a formality to him, he said. He knew instantly it was her after meeting her on the afternoon of 24 February.

For more http://www.news24.com

Cape Town Disaster Risk Management says the Muizenberg fire that broke out over the weekend is under control, and firefighters are dealing with hotspots in Clovelly and Constantia north.

“The crews remained through the night and this morning [Thursday] helicopters will go out and inspect the area but currently the fire is under control.”

For more http://www.news24.com

Bidvest Wits coach Gavin Hunt aimed a swipe at a specific newspaper article after his side deservedly beat defending champions Mamelodi Sundowns.

Sibusiso Vilakazi’s goal 13 minutes from the end handed Gavin Hunt his eighth win over Pitso Mosimane in a game the Clever Boys dominated for large periods.
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Mahikeng – The North West Department of Local Government and Human Settlements is on track to take over the completion of the 2400 social housing units in Mahikeng’s Unit 3. This follows after the project came to a halt following a dispute between the developer and the Social Housing Regulatory Authority (SHRA) over the incomplete structure. The Department is currently in discussions with the Ministry of Human Settlements for additional funding.

At the start of the project, the Department entered into an agreement with the developer and subsequently injected R54 million into the project which was to been undertaken in three phases. The first phase comprises of 612 rental units, second phase – 844 units and last phase – 944 rental units.

The agreement was in a tripartite form where Social Housing Regulatory Authority (SHRA) agreed with the developer on their part and the Department also had a direct agreement with the developer with their own contribution. One of the conditions of a social housing project is for development to have a social housing institution (SHI) and the province did not have one when the project started.

The Department has recently conducted an assessment on the works already done on the project and submitted a business plan to both the national Departments of Human Settlements and Treasury to facilitate the resumption and completion of the first phase of the project.

MEC Collen Maine says the Department will in the meantime hire a security company to safeguard to avoid the ongoing vandalism.

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