Pretoria –  Wouter Basson’s long fight to prove to the Health Professions Council of South Africa (HPCSA) that he did not breach medical ethics when he manufactured and provided poisonous substances to apartheid security forces, has come to an end.

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The ferocious stabbing and rape of two Klerksdorp women call for an intensified effort to fight the scourge of gender-based violence that continues unabated in the province, North West Thandi Modise said on Wednesday.

Premier Modise’s reaction follows media reports that two women from the Khuma location in Stilfonein near Klerksdorp  were severely beaten and repeatedly stabbed before being raped by two men.

“These cruel and rapacious acts call into question our own moral uprightness as a society. It is even more disconcerting that these deeds were committed at the same time as we were busy in Orkney not far from Klerksdorp paying our respects to the world’s greatest icon Tata Nelson Mandela,” said Modise calling for a speedy arrest of the suspects..

Premier Modise, who wishes to extend her heartfelt condolences to the family of the victims said she was baffled that gender-based violence continued unabated in spite of intensified efforts and various initiatives to curb the scourge.

The first incident reportedly took place at around 5pm when a 23-year old woman was accosted by the suspects who allegedly stabbed her 32 times before raping her and having her private parts cut-off. She is currently being treated in an Intensive Care Unit, in critical condition.

The second incident happened about three hours later when a 29-year old woman was attacked and raped.

 “We want these women to know that we are keeping them in our prayers and wish them speedy recovery. We are also requesting our police officers to do everything in their power to apprehend the suspects. They cannot be allowed to roam our streets,” reiterated Modise.-TDN

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Mbombela – Residents who were left homeless when a storm tore through their town on Thursday night believe it was the hand of late president Nelson Mandela passing over them.

Two people were killed and more than a dozen people injured in the storm in Matsulu, in Mpumalanga.
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Johannesburg – “Critical but stable” was the phrase that defined much of 2013 in South Africa.

During multiple stays in hospital it was the only phrase used by the government to describe Nelson Mandela’s health, the only clue about the status of a man revered by millions.

Although so vague as to be meaningless, it was readily repeated by a media desperately trying to slake intense public interest in Mandela’s health.
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Johannesburg – A man accused of killing forensic auditor Lawrence Moepi has dropped his application for bail in the Johannesburg Magistrate’s Court, The Star reported on Wednesday.

Remember Siphoro appeared in court on Tuesday and the matter was postponed to 7 January.

His lawyer reportedly told the newspaper that “a bail application would not be necessary, for now”, but that Siphoro could still apply for it in January.

Siphoro was arrested last month in Soweto.

Moepi was followed into the parking lot of the SizweNtsalubaGobodo offices in October, allegedly by Siphoro and an accomplice in a Volkswagen Golf.

He was then shot allegedly by Siphoro and his partner, while he was getting out of his car.

The pair then allegedly fled the scene. The accomplice is still at large.

The State reportedly asked for a postponement on Tuesday, for further investigations, as the police continued to search for the accomplice.

– SAPA

Johannesburg – The African National Congress is failing to produce members with a revolutionary consciousness, Numsa general secretary Irvin Jim said on Tuesday.

“Its leadership rejects our principled defence of a pro-working class ANC,” he said, delivering his secretariat report at the National Union of Metalworkers of SA’s special national congress in Boksburg, on the East Rand.

“There is internal conflict and factionalism despite communist leadership.”

Numsa identified the Freedom Charter as the benchmark for judging the ANC, said Jim. If the ANC “dumped” the charter it could not claim it was a revolutionary formation.

“Why must Cosatu call on workers to continue to vote for the ANC if it has taken a decision not to implement the Freedom Charter?” he asked.

“Why should black and African workers not simply directly vote for the DA?”

Earlier, Numsa’s newly-elected president Andrew Chirwa asked delegates to consider calling for President Jacob Zuma to resign following the R206m upgrade to his homestead in Nkandla.

The Numsa congress was expected to discuss whether it should support the ANC in next year’s elections. It would also discuss the possibility of withdrawing its membership from the Congress of SA Trade Unions.

Jim stopped before finishing his report because of time constraints.

He would continue doing so on Wednesday.

– SAPA

Johannesburg – Judgment on the professional conduct of apartheid-era chemical warfare expert Dr Wouter Basson is due to be delivered on Wednesday.

The six-year long hearing, initiated by the Health Professions Council of SA, was held at the organisation’s offices in Pretoria.

Jaap Cilliers SC, for Basson, presented closing arguments in November.

He said Basson should be acquitted as the hearing was unfair and unreasonable, and the HPCSA had not proved its case.

Basson was the project officer of Project Coast, a secret biological and chemical warfare research project which violated international protocols and conventions. Basson allegedly acted unethically during his involvement in the project from the 1980s to the early 1990s.

Cilliers argued that Basson’s conduct at the time was mainly to ensure the safety of the populace in the least harmful way.

A charge sheet was provided in 2006, five years after the complaint was laid, said Cilliers.

Basson is accused of acting unethically by being involved in the large-scale production of Mandrax, cocaine and teargas, of weaponising teargas, and of supplying it to Angola’s Unita leader Jonas Savimbi.

He is also accused of acting unethically by providing disorientating substances for cross-border kidnappings and making cyanide capsules available for distribution to operatives for use in committing suicide.

In 2002, Basson was acquitted by the North Gauteng High Court in Pretoria of criminal charges arising from his conduct.

The HPCSA reviewed the judgment to establish if there were grounds to continue with an inquiry.

The State appealed against the decision in the Supreme Court of Appeal, but the appeal was dismissed.

The State then went to the Constitutional Court but it was dismissed in September 2005.

– SAPA

Johannesburg – The case against two men caught in possession of unenriched uranium is due to resume in the Durban Magistrate’s Court on Wednesday.

The case was previously postponed for further investigation and for the prosecution to receive a report from the SA Nuclear Energy Corporation on the substance they had seized.

Sibusiso Mkhize and Sasa Vulay were arrested on 14 November. In addition to the uranium, they were found in possession of ecstasy tablets.

The two were also due to apply for bail.

The National Prosecuting Authority previously said Mkhize was a South African and that investigators were still trying to confirm Vulay’s nationality.

The Agence France-Presse news agency reported last month that the uranium was 0.38 percent made up of the U-235 isotope, which is split in a fission reaction.

That level is well below the average 0.7% U-235 found in natural uranium and the 90 percent level needed to be considered weapons grade.

– SAPA

Johannesburg – Traffic will be disrupted in front of the Wanderers Cricket Stadium from Wednesday to Saturday because of the South Africa versus India Test cricket match, said Johannesburg metro police.

Traffic in Corlett Drive, Sandton, would be affected from 07:00 to 19:00 on each day, said Chief Superintendent Wayne Minnaar.

“Traffic officers will divert traffic from Athol Road to Rudd Road,” he said, and advised motorists to use alternative routes such as 11th Avenue and Oxford Road.-SAPA

Johannesburg – Gauteng Premier Nomvula Mokonyane has thanked the province’s residents for the respect they showed during the mourning period for former president Nelson Mandela.

“We should all emulate Madiba’s good traits,” Mokonyane said in a statement on Wednesday.

“We can all aspire to be more like him by serving our local communities and community organisations with integrity and compassion.

“This will ensure that Gauteng and South Africa will be a better place to live in.”

During Mandela’s memorial service at FNB stadium, in Soweto, last Tuesday, President Jacob Zuma was humiliated when large sections of the crowd booed him whenever his face appeared on the large screens.

The open hostility embarrassed the African National Congress, whose deputy president Cyril Ramaphosa called for restraint.

ANC spokesperson Jackson Mthembu said the party was shocked that the event had been politicised.

“We are not happy at all. We would have preferred that all who attended this ceremony gave Madiba a well-deserved send-off. It came as a bolt to all of us.”

The crowd’s reaction to Zuma marked a sharp contrast to the applause given to former president Thabo Mbeki and US President Barack Obama.

Anglican Archbishop Emeritus Desmond Tutu reprimanded the crowd, asking them to be disciplined.

“I want to show the world we can come out here and celebrate the life of an icon. You must show the world that we are disciplined,” a visibly angry Tutu shouted at the crowd in FNB stadium.

“I want to hear a pin drop.”

– SAPA