Johannesburg – Public Protector Thuli Madonsela on Wednesday expressed her surprise at the permanent appointment of controversial acting SABC chief operations officer Hlaudi Motsoeneng, SABC radio news reported.

“I don’t know what to make of it. I was surprised when I read this morning that he has been appointed,” Madonsela told the station.

“I’m still waiting for a response from the SABC and from the minister; until then I’m not in a position to understand what has just happened.”

Communications Minister Faith Muthambi announced Motsoeneng’s appointment on Tuesday night in Pretoria, saying she had made the appointment following a recommendation by the SABC board.

Damning report

In February, Madonsela released a report “When governance and ethics fail” which found Motsoeneng’s SABC appointment irregular. Among other things, his salary increased from R1.5m to R2.4m in one year.

She found he had misrepresented his qualifications – that he passed matric – to the SABC, and recommended that he be replaced.

At the time of releasing her report, Madonsela recommended that a new COO be appointed within 90 days. This deadline has since elapsed.

After a previous request for extra time, the SABC board was given until 17 August to respond to Madonsela’s report.

On Wednesday, Madonsela said she had had no response from either the communications department or the SABC.

Madonsela said that in reacting to Motsoeneng’s appointment, in addition to investigating “any alleged or suspected improper conduct”, she had the power to take appropriate remedial action.

“I’m not too concerned about what has happened. Of course the actors involved have done what they thought they needed to do. My way forward is to call them to my office to come and explain themselves and then I’ll take it from there.”

Parliamentary debate

Madonsela said one possible option was for her to approach Parliament to debate the matter.

The Democratic Alliance said Motsoeneng’s permanent appointment meant he could continue his “reign of terror” at the national broadcaster.

“We can expect more surveillance and purging of SABC staff, more clampdowns on editorial independence and more ‘happy news’ that reflects positively on the governing party,” DA MP Gavin Davis said.

The Media Workers Association of SA said the SABC needed to ensure its sustainability.

“The SABC needs a credible exit strategy from its persistent circumstances characterised by diminished public confidence, widening trust-deficit and compromised business competitiveness,” general secretary Tuwani Gumani said.

“Strengthening the SABC in terms of its independence from commercial, political and cultural influences is vital.”

Controversy

Last week, political parties called for Motsoeneng to be relieved of his duties. This was after Motsoeneng suggested journalists should have a licence to practice, as in the medical and law professions.

Also last week, Motsoeneng appeared before Parliament to present a strategic plan and budget for the SABC, which received a disclaimer of opinion from the Auditor General – the most adverse finding he can make.

Parliament heard the SABC was losing advertisers and viewers.

SAPA

Pretoria – Justice Minister Michael Masutha will announce on Thursday whether former apartheid-era police colonel Eugene de Kock will be granted parole.

The minister was expected to make the announcement in Pretoria.

De Kock, a former police death squad commander, approached the North Gauteng High Court for a decision in May.

Judge Thokozile Masipa gave Masutha 30 days to make a decision. The 30 days did not include weekends and holidays.

The national council for correctional services made a recommendation about De Kock’s parole in November last year. The recommendation was sent to then minister S’bu Ndebele. When he failed to act, De Kock approached the high court to force him to do so.

De Kock was in charge of a police “death squad” at Vlakplaas, outside Pretoria, and was arrested in mid-1994. He was convicted and sentenced in the High Court in Pretoria in 1996.

He was sentenced to two terms of life imprisonment for two murders and to a further 212 years’ imprisonment on charges including conspiracy to commit murder, culpable homicide, kidnapping, assault, and fraud.

Many of his former colleagues who committed murder under his command testified in return for indemnity from prosecution.

De Kock, nicknamed “Prime Evil”, has spent two decades in prison.

SAPA

By Obakeng Maje
Rustenburg- Following the signing of the memorandum of understanding  in October 2013, whereupon, Lonmin donated 50 hectors of land to government for housing development purposes; to this end, the North West Provincial Government and the mining giant will officially launch the Marikana Extension 2 housing project on Thursday.

Departmental spokesperson Ben Bole said 292 houses and 252 Community Residential Units (CRUs) will be constructed as part of the first phase of more than 2000 mixed housing typologies.    

“The Project which came out of the Special Presidential Package initiative is aimed at eradicating informal settlements and bringing development around the mining area of Marikana” Ben Bole said.

The project will further ensure housing ownership and further restore the dignity of local residents as they are staying under difficult conditions around the Mining Informal Settlements.

The proceedings will be led by MEC Collen Maine who is responsible for housing development in the province and Lonmin CEO Mr. Ben Magara.

The event will take place as follows:

Time: 13H00
Date: 10 July 2014
Venue: Marikana Ext 2 (Marikana West)
-TDN
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Maseru- The South African Men’s Under-17 National Team (Amajimbos) arrived in freezing Lesotho where temperatures dropped to as low as -0 degrees Celsius on Monday.

Amajimbos face Lesotho in two matches this week on Thursday and Sunday- as part of preparations for Tanzania in a 2015 African Youth Championship qualifier. The match against the East African country will take place in Dar es Salaam on 18 July 2014.

The boys had their first training session on Tuesday after travelling from Botswana.

“It is cold but I think it is important for the players to undergo these conditions so they become mentally strong and get used to all weather conditions. We need to take them out of their comfort zone and start conditioning them into men at this early age so they can withstand the rigours of international competition,” said head coach Molefi Ntseki.

“We played on two different surfaces in Botswana – on normal grass and on a synthetic turf – this is also part of the building process for this team so they can be ready for any condition. I must say they acquitted themselves very well. I think we will do the same here and have made a request for two different surfaces because you never know which field you are going to play on when outside the country. But for Tanzania we have been informed that we are playing on an artificial grass, which means we are ready for it.”

The South Africans return home on Monday, 14 July before jetting out to Tanzania the following day (Tuesday, 15 July).-TDN
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Pretoria – Final arguments in Oscar Pistorius’s murder trial will be heard on 7 August, the North Gauteng High Court ruled on Tuesday after the defence closed its case.

“No heads of argument can be published in print or electronic media until the commencement of the arguments in court,” Judge Thokozile Masipa said.

Prosecutor Gerrie Nel made the application to prevent publication after the defence closed its case.

Masipa said the broadcast or publication of such documents, before they had been heard in court, was theft.

“I am concerned about what you are saying… it has happened before, it is theft actually. It is a disservice for the justice system,” Masipa said.

Closing arguments

Nel said the State would file its closing arguments on 30 July. The defence, led by Barry Roux, would file its papers on 4 August.

The court would hear the arguments on 7 August.

Earlier, Roux said that most witnesses refused to testify for the defence because they didn’t want their voices heard all over the world”. The defence thus closed its case.

The paralympian is on trial for shooting dead his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp on 14 February last year.

He claims he shot her by accident through the locked door of his toilet in his Pretoria home, thinking she was an intruder about to emerge and attack him. The State contends he killed her during an argument.

Pistorius underwent a month-long psychiatric evaluation at Weskoppies Psychiatric Hospital, after which the court heard he did not suffer from general anxiety disorder.

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Johannesburg – National Council of Provinces (NCOP) chairperson Thandi Modise was attached to her pigs, and a report stating she suffered more than them was untrue, her spokesperson said on Tuesday.

“She was not only misunderstood, she was misquoted,” Modise’s spokesperson Neo Moepi said.

“What she was saying was that despite losing money and investment in the farm, what was of even more great importance was the loss of livestock because she was so attached to the animals.”

‘I suffered more than the pigs’

Moepi was reacting to Tuesday’s front page headline in the Sowetan newspaper: “I suffered more than the pigs”.

The newspaper quoted Modise saying in a statement issued to media on Monday: “The suffering that the animals endured does not compare to the financial loss that I suffered.”

The Sunday Independent reported that Modise bought the multi-million-rand farm Modderfontein, near Potchefstroom around three years ago.

The remaining 85 pigs on the farm had begun cannibalising 58 dead pigs, and were reportedly drinking their own urine. Sheep, geese, goats and ducks had also died on the farm. Police and officials from the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (SPCA) made the discovery on Saturday.

Beeld reported on Tuesday that nearly 120 of the animals had been put down since Saturday.

“It was one of the worst scenes I witnessed in my 20 years at the SPCA,” Andries Venter, manager and senior inspector of the organisation’s farm animal unit, told Beeld.

Farm manager absent

According to the Sunday Independent it appeared the animals had been without water and food for around two weeks. There were no farmworkers on the property, no electricity, and the water pumps were broken.

Modise said over the past three years, she had visited the farm every two weeks. She had appointed vets, an environmentalist, an interim farm manager and lawyers to deal with problems on the farm. She learnt of the neglect late on Saturday.

Modise said the manager of the farm had asked for a leave of absence two weeks ago to attend an urgent family matter. She said she believed his replacement had matters under control and was shocked to learn he had disappeared.

SAPA