Johannesburg – Trains were still being disrupted as a result of storms on Thursday, the Passenger Rail Agency of SA (Prasa) said in a statement on Friday.

“Our old infrastructure cannot cope with severe weather conditions,” Prasa rail CEO Mosenngwa Mofi said in a statement on Friday.

“Operational staff are doing their best to move the trains. However, during manual authorisation, trains move very [slowly],” he said.

“I have also emphasised safety to my team as the system is now dependent on people.

“We call upon our commuters to understand and allow us time to recover the network infrastructure.

Prasa rail, which operates Metrorail, said lightning had damaged its signals, electrical overhead wires, and Perway (bridges and platforms).

The Perway and rail track had been washed away in the Vereeniging corridor, “rendering it extremely difficult to run the service”, it said.

Areas affected by floods were Jeppe, Braamfontein, Randfontein, Rosslyn and Katlehong.

“Lightning strikes in the Mabopane corridor affected signals to the extent that the service has to be run on manual.”

Faulty signals were affecting the De Wildt corridor, Irene, Olifantsfontein, Van Riebeek, Germiston, Johannesburg, Springs, Leralla, Daveyton and Vereeniging.

Prasa said that, in the interests of passenger safety, Metrorail had introduced an alternative train movement schedule, but that it took time and was complex.

It said its ability to communicate with commuters in the Pretoria precinct had been affected by dysfunctional MTN lines, and that the recovery of the lines would take time.

It appealed to commuters to stay calm.

– SAPA

Pretoria – A group of aggressive mineworkers moved towards police officers deployed at Marikana to intervene in the violent wage related protest at Lonmin mine, the Farlam Commission heard on Friday.

Brigadier Adriaan Calitz was the police’s operational commander at Marikana in August last year. He told the Farlam Commission on Friday that he became worried about his subordinates’ lives when the miners were approaching.

“The group was moving towards Nyala Four, in a crouching position. I contacted Nyala Four and instructed the members that were outside to get back into the vehicle,” he said.

Head of evidence leaders Advocate Geoff Budlender, asked Calitz to explain whether he had managed to recognise some of the people in the advancing crowd.

“I could not identify the faces because of the distances. Someone was in green but I could not make out whether it was a green blanket or jacket.

“The group kept moving forward,” said Calitz.

“I jumped out of the Nyala and shouted to the members to get back into the Nyala. I screamed at them, then later communicated to them on the [police] radios. My concern was about those members who were outside the Nyala.”

He said the Nyala began to accelerate and the groups of miners kept moving parallel to the vehicle.

“I told them [the officers in Nyala Four] to move faster so that the group could not break though [the police line]. At that stage Nyala Five, which had been stationary, moved in.”

Calitz said he observed a difference between the attitudes of the “militant group” and the rest of the protesters at the Marikana koppie.

Movement of Nyalas

On Friday, Calitz was using several small blocks on a large map to illustrate the movements of the Nyalas and the protesters on 16 August.

Later that day, 34 people, mostly striking miners, were shot dead and 78 were wounded when police fired on them while trying to disperse and disarm the group gathered at the hill.

In the preceding week, 10 people, including two policemen and two security guards, were killed near the mine.

President Jacob Zuma appointed the commission, chaired by retired Judge Ian Farlam, in August last year to probe these events.

Earlier this week, Calitz told the commission that police crime intelligence gathered information that the protesting Marikana mineworkers were not going to disarm voluntarily before the 16 August shootings last year.

“It was indeed said [by crime intelligence] that there were already 3 000 people and they were not going to put down their weapons. They were going to resist the police and were going to fight,” he told the commission sitting in Centurion.

That account was communicated to police on the morning of 16 August.

– SAPA

Johannesburg – South Africa is disappointed at the failure of the latest round of Middle East peace talks, President Jacob Zuma said on Friday.

“It is with much concern that South Africa today joins pleas from the international community for Israel to freeze all settlement activity in order to give the current negotiations a fair chance for success,” he said in a message on the UN’s International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People.

The government called on Israel to realise peace would be achieved by creating an environment conducive to a two-state solution, in which Israel peacefully co-existed with a viable and fully independent Palestinian state within internationally recognised borders.

Zuma said South Africa believed comprehensive and unconditional negotiations were the only way to bring about genuine and lasting peace between Israel and its Arab neighbours.

These talks had to deal with the expansion of Israeli settlements in the occupied territories of Palestine and the continuing occupation of the Palestinian, Syrian and Lebanese territories.

This would contribute to peace and security throughout the Middle East.

“Today, our attention is focused on the great importance of making progress, not only with negotiations towards the conclusion of the Middle East peace process, but also on the fact that the current state of affairs are leaving deep scars on the psyche of ordinary citizens living daily in circumstances which leave much to be desired,” said Zuma.

South Africa supported all international efforts aimed at brokering a just resolution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

“In doing so, South Africa has voiced its support at multilateral forums such as the United Nations, the African Union, and Brics [the Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa grouping] to request for all parties to the conflict to negotiate in good faith in order to reach a permanent and just solution,” he said.

– SAPA

Klerksdorp-Cape Town Roses where made to eat humble pie after going down to Mamelodi Sundowns in a penalty shoot out in the second Sasol League National Championship semi-final played at Matlosana Stadium on Friday afternoon.

But the Cape side will take heart at the way they stretched the champions to the limit.

Sundowns will meet Ma-Indies in the the final that will be staged at Matlosana Stadium on Sunday, 1 December. Kick-off is at 15h00.

Two quick goals by Cape Town Roses’ Nangamso Nokwatsheka and Nocawe Skiti in opening minutes of the game, threatened to turn this game on its head.

It was a sterling performance by Roses who dominated proceedings and frustrated the Sundowns Ladies who tried effortlessly to turn the result in their favour.

But constant performer Maria Mutola soon halved the deficit just before the break and that goal gave the Gauteng side a ray of hope as they went onto the break trailing 2-1.

Both sides came back from the break looking more energized but it was the Mamelodi side that finished stronger and duly equalised through Alochia Thobokela.

Both teams then tried to win the match in regulation time but both defences held firm.

During the penalty shootout, Sundowns proved more composed and won the match 4-2.-TDN

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Cape Town – Cabinet ministers in the security cluster met with Public Protector Thuli Madonsela on Friday following the release of parts of a provisional report into President Jacob Zuma’s Nkandla homestead upgrade. 

Madonsela “recommitted” herself to “following the proper process of handling such reports”, government spokesperson Phumla Williams said in a statement.

“The security cluster wishes to reiterate the integrity of government’s own investigation into the Nkandla security upgrades. 

“This investigation established, among other things, that no state funds had been spent on improving Zuma’s private houses at Nkandla,” Williams said.

She said that while government still believed the security upgrades were justified, the manner in which the department of public works handled the matter was inappropriate.

Government’s own investigation found there had been irregularities in the appointment of service providers and the procurement of goods and services.

Madonsela found a swimming pool, visitors’ centre, amphitheatre, cattle kraal, marquee area, extensive paving, and new houses for relatives included in the upgrade at “enormous cost” to the taxpayer, the Mail & Guardian reported on Friday.

Madonsela’s report recommended the president be called to account by Parliament for violating the executive ethics code on two counts.

These were for failing to protect state resources, and misleading Parliament for suggesting he and his family had paid for all non-security-related features.

One of the key allegations listed in the report stated that costs escalated from an initial R27m to R215m, with a further R31m in works outstanding. News24

Johannesburg – The Press Ombudsman has dismissed a complaint by ANC chair Baleka Mbete over a recent Mail & Guardian headline about her.

However, the newspaper was ordered to apologise to Mbete about the content of another article.

The newspaper had to apologise for claiming Mbete misused state funds for her own benefit and for neglecting to state she was found not guilty after having received an illegal driver’s licence, Ombudsman Johan Retief said in his ruling on Friday.

It also needed to apologise for casting doubt on Mbete’s integrity and dignity without enough justification to do so.

“I cannot determine if the reporter deliberately caused Mbete unnecessary harm by publishing unfair comments about her without justification to do so, causing her huge unnecessary harm. What I can say, though, is that the article surely resulted in just that,” he said.

Mbete and the ANC complained about the article headlined “Mbete looks out for number one – Behind the Gold Fields pickle is a powerful politician who favours progress over principle”, on 13 September.

Mbete complained that the story intended to cast aspersions on her integrity and her standing in society.

Retief found that the newspaper had breached certain sections of the Press Code.

He dismissed some of Mbete’s complaints and her arguments.

The Mail & Guardian was directed to publish an apology. Retief said the newspaper could appeal the ruling within seven working days.

In the second complaint, the ANC and Mbete complained about the headline of a story published on 6 September.

‘Deliberately misleading’

Mbete and the ANC claimed that the headline “Gold Fields bribed Mbete -US investigators have concluded that a R25 million share handout to Baleka Mbete constituted corruption by Gold Fields, which then buried the findings” was deliberately misleading and defamatory and did not reflect the story.

Mbete did not complain about the actual content but said the headline had caused her, her family, and the ANC “unwarranted harm”.

The Mail & Guardian argued that Mbete omitted to state that the headline had been presented as reported speech by the use of quotations marks, signifying an allegation or opinion.

It also argued that the headline was accompanied by a sub header that both attributed the reported speech to an “identified accused”, and gave context to the accusation.

In his finding on the headline, Retief found that the newspaper correctly stated “if the report itself was justified, which is common cause as it is not complained about, and the headline reasonably reflected it, the complaint must fail”.

He, therefore, dismissed Mbete’s complaint.

SAPA

Klerksdorp-Ma-Indies is through to the final after a hard fought 2-1 win over favourites Bloemfontein Celtic in the first Sasol League National Championship semi-final played at Matlosana Stadium in North West province.

The two teams went to the break deadlocked at 0-0 despite frantic efforts to open the encounter.

The battle continued into the second half and Ma-Indies were first to get onto the score sheet when they were awarded a penalty 10 minutes into the second half. Banyana Banyana goal-getter Noko Matlou made no mistake from the spot to make it 1-0.

The goal galvanized Celtic Ladies came back into action but were denied the equaliser on several occasions. They duly equalised when they were awarded their own penalty which was converted by Leah Sethunya.

But Ma-Indies had the last laugh though when Maite Magoro caught the Celtic defence napping to slip through a clean goal which proved decisive.-TDN

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Bloemfontein – The Constitutional Court on Friday ruled that the awarding of the multi-billion rand social grants administration contract to Cash Paymaster Services (CPS) is invalid.

AllPay Consolidated Investment Holdings took the matter to the country’s highest court after it lost the tender to CPS.

The tender, worth R10bn, for the administration of social grants, was awarded by the SA Social Security Agency (Sassa).

AllPay initially approached the high court alleging there had been irregularities in the tender process. The high court found the tender process had not complied with the requirements set out in the tender documents and was procedurally unfair.

It declared the process invalid, but declined to set the tender aside because it would disrupt the payment of social grants.

AllPay appealed to the Supreme Court of Appeal (SCA), which overturned the high court’s order. The SCA said a fair process did not demand perfection at every step and a tender need not be set aside for “inconsequential irregularities”.

On this basis it concluded that the award of the tender to CPS was not unfair.

AllPay then approached the Constitutional Court which, in a unanimous judgment, upheld the appeal.

It found the assessment of the fairness and lawfulness of the procurement procedure had to be independent of the outcome of the tender process and assessed in terms of the provisions of the Promotion of Administrative Justice Act.

The court found Sassa had failed to give due regard to the importance of black economic empowerment in procurement.

Sassa had an obligation to investigate and confirm the empowerment credentials of the bidders before the award.

The Constitutional Court thus declared the decision to award the tender to CPS constitutionally invalid.

However, due to the serious disruption which could be caused to the payment of social grants if the tender were set aside, it made no decision on whether to do so.

The court suspended the declaration of invalidity pending the determination of a just and equitable remedy.

A further hearing to decide the remedy was scheduled for 11 February.

– SAPA

The burning of a church is a devious and wicked act and anyone who defiles the sanctuary of God should face the wrath of the law, North West Premier Thandi Modise said in condemning the torching of a church in Taung.

“A church is a holy place which must be respected and anyone who undermines it must be dealt with according to the law. We cannot have people going around and burning places of worship for no apparent reasons,” said Premier Modise.

Modise was reacting to reports that a church and surgery were set alight by a 42-year old man in Taung yesterday afternoon.

Police believe that the suspect used petrol to ignite the buildings.

The suspect has been arrested and would appear in the Taung Magistrate’s Court next week Monday.-TDN
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By Obakeng Maje

Kimberley-Northern Cape police cannot confirm nor deny the horrendous news that hit social networking early.

The South Africans have mixed feelings after frightful news came about a suspect who alleged raped an infant.

According to http://www.nctimes.co.za on their official facebook page, the dreadlock uncle committed suicide while in custody.

A man appeared before Kimberley Regional Court on Wednesday after he allegedly raped a six-weeks child.

Police said a child who was born on the 17 of October 2013 was asleep in their shack along with her 22 year-old mother when the dreadful event took place.

The suspect allegedly grabbed the child nex to her mother and raped her.

He was busted by the child grandmother at 2am.

Police where summoned to the scene and arrested him.

His case was postponed to 12 December 2013 for bail application.

Lieutenant Sergio Kock said he have not yet received the news of alleged death.”I have not received the news and I will investigate if there is any truth in the matter”.

Police said the child was admitted and is in ICU for medical attention-TDN

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