Pretoria – It was American Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan who made popular the maxim that one is entitled to one’s one opinion, but not to one’s own facts.
But Advocate Barry Roux might test this idea to its limits.
On Wednesday morning, the Colonel Johannes Vermeulen, a forensic investigator, began to give his testimony.
For more http://www.news24.com
By Obakeng Maje
The name Bathandwa Vazi must ring bell in your ears as a youth of South Africa.
A 24 year-old woman has achieved what most people of her age will only wish for.
As an Afro-Jazz musician, Bathandwa Vazi released her hot 10-track
album that was nominated for Satma award in 2013.
Vazi who is based in Kokstad, Kwazulu-Natal developed love for music,
fashion, style and manuvered her way up to prove her worth.
“I developed an immeasurable love for music at the tender age. I
released an album which is Afro-Jazz and little bit of love songs on
it. The 10-track album is doing well and receives warm welcome as most
of its tracks are on high rotations at various radio stations” said
Vazi.
A Chiawelo-born entrepreneur also runs her own youth magazine called
Expressions.
“As a youth I actually wants to. encourage the youth, inspires them
and give them tips, life-style and how to deal with the challenges
they come across daily, hence I say Expressions magazine is a youth
magazine for the youth by the youth” outlines Vazi.
An altrustics person Vazi is, she also has brain, yet so humble.
She said the legacy our late former president Nelson Mandela left is impeccable.
“I also run an internet cafe in Kokstad,in Kwazulu-Natal since 2011.
My message to the youth is that, one can become anything despite their
background”
A go-getter, self-driven and motivated singer said education is only a
gateway vehicle from poverty.
She is armed with National Diploma in (Town planning) from Durban
University of Technology and has certificate in Project Management.
Vazi also hosts her own show on Inanda fm every Mondays(16H10-16H20)
where she talks about life-style tips, fashion,career, life, relations
and social interaction.
“Running my own business and helping the youth was my ideal. We also
have a Communications company called YTE where we offer branding,
editing, printing and many things especially to small businesses” said
Vazi.
Vazi also have a slot on Khayna fm every Fridays at 15H50 where she
talks about fashion, make-over and style tips.
She was voted the Best Entrepreneur in Communication by NYDA back in 2011.
As they say, all entrepreneurs are idiosyncratic and Vazi is no exception.
To keep in touch with one of the most achievers in SA, follow her on:
Twitter@bathandwav
Facebook: Bathandwa
Tumbler: @lovefashionbybathandwa
Instagram: @bathandwav
Mothutlung- MEC for Human Settlements Public Safety and Liaison Nono Maloyi will on Thursday hand over about 1000 houses to the Mothotlung families in the Madibeng local municipality. The Houses are part of the 8000 houses that are expected to be handed over between February and March 2014.
“The benefiting families are mostly those that have been staying in informal settlements while others are from local areas like Diamonds Ville, Mothotlung and other neighboring areas. The department has also prioritized families headed by the elderly, child and people with disability. The Mothotlung area it was recently infested by service delivery unrests and the municipality placed under administration by the North West Provincial Government recently” departmental spokesperson Ben Bole said.
The handover is part of celebrating twenty years (20yrs) of freedom, and also in line with the Outcome 8 of the National Development Plan vision 2030 which is intended to improve the quality of people’s lives and bring back dignity to the marginalised communities across the province.
The hand over programme is also part of the department’s service delivery initiative and reduction of housing backlog in the province.
The handover will take place as follows:
Date: 13 March 2014
Time: 10H00
Venue: Mothotlung ext 2
Stakeholders in the transport industry will be afforded a chance to participate in the recapitalization and redistribution of busses to serve rural communities, Premier Thandi Modise assured in her response to the Debate of the State of the Province Address on Tuesday.
Premier Modise made the commitment in announcing that R30 million has been allocated to the North West Transport Investment (NTI) towards the recapitalization process.
“The recapitalization is necessary as some of the busses are over 40- years- old. New busses would be prioritized for learner transport and expand access to public transport for disadvantaged communities in our province,” Modise said.
The NTI bus fleet of 600 busses includes the Batswana Gare Transport, Botlhaba Transport Service and the Attridgeville Bus Service and operates mostly outside the province. -TDN
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SA Army: Training Programme
Location: ALL PROVINCES, South Africa
Closing Date: 31 March 2014
The SA Army, through its Military Skills Development System (MSDS), is offering young South African citizens an opportunity to serve in uniform over a two-year period. The Military Skills Development System is a two-year voluntary service system with the long term goal of enhancing the SA National Defense Force’s deployment capability.
MSDS Candidates will be appointed in a specific corps career and will be called up to a Training Unit, where members will complete their Basic Military Training, Corps Functional Training, in the first year and be utilized and deployed in the second year of the MSDS.
Requirements
Be a SA Citizen
MSDS Applicants must be between the ages of 18-22 years
MSDS Graduates up to the age of 25 years
Successfully completed Grade 12
Not be area bound
Have no record of criminal offense
Preferably Single
Comply with medical fitness requirements for appointment in the SANDF
Be prepared to serve in uniform, undergo Basic Military and Functional Train
Training
The SA Army’s mandate focuses on the provisioning of combat ready forces and plays a leading role in landward operations. Training will be decentralized to operational units where members will be appointed to undergo Basic Military Training, Corps training and deployment. MSDS applicants must be between the ages of 18 to 22 to be considered. Applicants who are in possession of a post Grade 12 qualification (Degree, Diploma or N6) must be between the ages of 18 to 25 may also be considered.
Successful applicants will be required to serve in uniform and undergo Military Training. Incomplete forms will not be considered. Only applicants who have passed Grade 12 may apply and must not be older than the age as stipulated above on the date of reporting for training.
How To Apply
Download Application Form (after the link opens, please click File | Download)
Certified copies of ID document, Grade 12 certificate or Post grade 12 qualifications and CV must accompany this application form to SA Army Recruiting, Private Bag X 981, Pretoria 0001
Enquiries
Administrative enquiries can be directed to the SA Army Recruitment Center at (012) 355 1438 or (012) 355 1420. If you are interested in the Military Skills Development System in the SA Army, please complete the coupon with the requested documentation enclosed and post it to
SA Army HQ, Dir Army HR, SA Army Recruiting Centre, Private Bag x981, Pretoria, 0001.
Specific related enquiries can be directed to (012) 355 1420 or (012) 355 1438. Further information can be obtained on http://www.dod.mil.za, http://www.army.mil.zaShould you not hear from the Department of Defence by 31 October 2014 please assume that you application has been unsuccessful.
The Department of Defence reserves the right to employment.-TDN
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PRETORIA – It will now be up to an expert witness to dispute the findings of the state pathologist after Professor Gert Saayman dismissed attempts to discredit his testimony.
Saayman gave an extensive account of the injuries suffered by Reeva Steenkamp on the night she was shot dead by the ‘Blade Runner’.
For more http://www.ewn.co.za
Johannesburg – Around 1.8 billion litres of illegally sold alcohol were seized around the country in the 2012/13 financial year, police said on Tuesday.
Thousands of illegal shebeens were also shut down during this period, said national police commissioner Riah Phiyega.
Following a press briefing in Isando, on the East Rand, she and Gauteng acting police commissioner Lieutenant General Joel Mothiba poured out thousands of litres of alcohol.
The two were joined by other police officials as they emptied different beer, cider, wine, and whisky bottles into a make-shift drain.
The stench of alcohol filled the air as the different coloured liquors frothed in the drain.
“Alcohol is socially acceptable but has a negative effect on families and communities,” said Phiyega.
People who owned illegal shebeens operated until the early hours of the morning, and patrons walking home from these shebeens at those hours became a target of crime.
“We want to decrease the amount of crime [which stems from] the illegal use of alcohol,” said Phiyega.
Mothiba said in Gauteng alone, 97 000 bottles of liquor were confiscated from illegal shebeens during the festive season.
About 350 000 illegal DVDs and CDs were also taken off the streets.
Most of the illegal goods were seized in Hillbrow in Johannesburg and in Pretoria.
Mothiba and Phiyega crushed the CDs and DVDs on Tuesday.
‘Crime is our enemy’
Phiyega said police were clamping down on people who operated their businesses illegally, as they hampered the growth of the country’s economy.
“We are not friends to crime, crime is our enemy,” said Phiyega.
She said illicit trading was not just limited to alcohol, CDs and DVDs, but included clothes, shoes, and even medicines.
“People selling counterfeit goods think it’s violentless crime,” said Phiyega.
The illegal traders also did not pay tax, and infringed on design and copyright, among other laws.
Phiyega said that in June 2013, police raided the premises of two Chinese nationals in Sunnyside, Pretoria, where they found illegal medicine worth R7m.
Police seized sexual enhancement medicines, contraceptives, slimming tea, and high blood pressure medication.
“Some of these products contained dagga,” said Phiyega, who added that consumers could not tell as the products’ lists of ingredients were in Chinese.
Phiyega called on the public to alert police about people who operated their businesses illegally.
SAPA
Johannesburg – Oscar Pistorius’s murder trial is bigger than the Fifa World Cup, according to figures by media monitoring group Data Driven Insight (DDI).
“Unbelievable, worldwide the Oscar trial is bigger in media than the Fifa 2014 World Cup,” said DDI spokeswoman Tonya Khoury on Tuesday.
DDI said despite restrictions on reporting, media coverage of the paralympian’s trial skyrocketed.
The social media platform Twitter added to the Pistorius news coverage of the trial in the High Court in Pretoria, DDI said.
On Monday, Judge Thokozile Masipa banned blogging and tweeting of graphic evidence by pathologist Gert Saayman. She reversed this decision on Tuesday morning.
DDI said this temporary restriction prompted about 2500 articles.
In the past 24 hours, news and social media hit over 106 000 unique inserts relating to the Pistorius trial, Khoury said.
Pistorius having retched in court was carried in 2300 news articles.
“The press in nine days hit the 750,000 mark,” she said.
“In a remarkable media frenzy, DDI has seen the media interest rise from an astonishing 8800 articles an hour (on day one) to 9200 in the 3pm hour on Friday. Seems the media , despite the critics, is on the rise.”
DDI also measured South Africa’s news headlines against the Pistorius trial and found that “nothing can move the media attention from Oscar”.
The data was compiled from 6.2 million social media platforms including blogs, forums, social networks and commentary, 60 000 global online newspapers, 2000 South African print publications, and 66 radio and television stations.
Sapa
Johannesburg – Eleven people drowned in Mpumalanga in the past week because of heavy rains and 12 were rescued, police said on Tuesday.
Persistent rain and flooding had hit large parts of the province, including in Tonga, Nelspruit, Greylingstad, Piet Retief, and Badplaas, said police spokesperson Leonard Hlathi.
Three children, aged between 2 and 11 years old, were among those who had drowned from last Tuesday.
“The 2-year-old boy from Piet Retief fell into a hole that was dug for erecting a pit toilet,” said Hlathi.
Several people drowned when they attempted to cross flooded rivers in the area.
Two of the bodies had not been retrieved because of the dangerous condition of the rivers.
The 12 people, including motorists whose vehicles were swept away in flood water while they attempted to cross flooded bridges, were rescued by the Inland Water Police and Diving Service, said Hlathi.
Mpumalanga Co-operative Governance and Traditional Affairs MEC Simon Skhosana had handed over relief supplies to residents affected by flooding in the Nkomazi local municipality near Badplaas.
Skhosana, accompanied by Nkomazi Mayor Thulisile Khoza, handed over food parcels and blankets to the 38 affected families on Monday, department spokesperson George Mthethwa said in a statement.
“The provision forms part of the government’s relief effort for the affected families,” Mthethwa said.
Skhosana also visited several bridges in Mzinti, Tonga and Mlumati, to determine the extent of the damage caused by heavy rain and flooding in the area.
He said the department was co-ordinating reconstruction of the damaged bridges and the matter had been discussed with sector departments.
Motorists in the area were urged to avoid flooded rivers, bridges or dams.
“Parents are also urged to look after their children and discourage them from playing around rivers and dams because of the inherent dangers,” said provincial commissioner Lieutenant General Thulani Ntobela.
SAPA
Johannesburg – Progress made since South Africa’s first democratic elections has been reversed under the leadership of President Jacob Zuma, the DA said on Tuesday.
“It is clear that the nation’s current leaders are not able to provide the leadership required to continue that progress,” the DA leader Helen Zille said in a statement.
Zuma released the country’s 20-year review document in Pretoria earlier in the day.
Zille said he highlighted progress made since 1994 under the leadership of former president Nelson Mandela and former president Thabo Mbeki, but failed to show what he himself had achieved.
“[He] disingenuously bracketed his term in office with that of his predecessors because he knows that the Jacob Zuma presidency is not a good story to tell,” said Zille.
She said the country’s political economy was now marred by corruption and declining accountability.
Unemployment and corruption became worse since Zuma took office and the gross domestic product had shown a decline, Zille said.
“The problem is not South Africa – the nation is strong, but the government is weak.”
Zille said her party had the ability to turn things around.
SAPA
The Guardian 