By Obakeng Maje
Vryburg- Police apprehended a 26-year-old suspect on Sunsday at about 03:40am in Akacia Street, Colridge in Vryburg, North West police said.

“It is alleged that a 21-year-old man was stabbed in the chest on the back and wrist after an argument ensued between him and the suspect. The victim died on his way to hospital” colonel Sabata Mokgwabone said.

A murder case has being investigated and the suspect is expected to appear in Vryburg Magistrates’ Court tomorrow.-TDN
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Basetsana head coach, Sheryl Botes said she was happy with the progress made in the last two days as the team prepares for a crucial FIFA U20 Women’s World Cup Canada 2014 first leg qualifier against Tanzania scheduled for 7 December

Several key players are expected to join the team in camp at the Edenvale Football grounds as they continue with preparations for this match.

“In the two days we’ve been together, preparations have gone well and we expect things to shape up once our key players join us this afternoon. The five that will be joining us had club commitments such as the Sasol Championships as well as the USSA games. Somehow this has affected our preparations because we needed to build the team around them. Hopefully in future we’ll have all the players here at the same time.

“But what we’re doing now is preparing these players so that they know what to expect and what to do without the aid of the players that faced Botswana in the first round,” said Botes.

Botes has called in additional players to fill in for the players such as Robyn Moodaly and key players from the Bantwana squad who sustained injuries in the U17 Women’s World Cup qualifier against Zambia played two weeks ago.

“We will be without the services of Robyn who’s recovering from an ankle injury she sustained in the first leg against Botswana. She is also scheduled to write an exam sometime this week and we are hoping she will be ready when we go into the second leg,” said Botes.

The coach added that Drishana and Chamelle were sent for scans to ascertain the extent of injuries they picked up in the qualifier against Zambia.

“I’ve brought in additional players that would cover for them while they are recovering but they are in our plans for future games like the return leg against Tanzania and beyond,” said Botes.

Basetsana were scheduled to play a practice match against Sasol League side, Croesus at the Edenvale Football grounds on Tuesday afternoon to give the technical an overview of what to work on ahead of the first leg against Tanzania.

“We have worked again on our defensive concepts because we’ve got fairly new players in the team, some coming from Bantwana. We need to teach them what to do in terms of defensive and offensive play, which is what we finalized this morning. With our match this afternoon, we are hoping they will apply what we have worked on over the past two days,” added the Basetsana mentor.

Basetsana will face Tanzania in the first leg to be played at the National Stadium in Dar es Salaam on Saturday, 7 December. Kick-off is at 16h00.

Cape Town – A Durban company’s former managing director appeared in the Bellville Specialised Commercial Crime Court in Cape Town on Monday to face charges of fraud.

Lynette Bruce was arrested on Sunday.

Prosecutor Juan Agulhas told the court she had been brought to court on a warrant for her arrest, and that she would appear later in the Specialised Commercial Crime Court in Durban.

Bruce worked for the Durban company, Metro Automation RSA, first as an accountant and later as managing director in charge of administration.

The State alleges that she misappropriated R1 085 089 in 2008.

Agulhas said the Specialised Commercial Crime Unit in Durban had no objection to Bruce’s release on bail.

He told the court she had come from Durban to Cape Town, and was in the process of relocating to Bloemfontein when she was arrested on Sunday.

He said he needed to verify her address in Bloemfontein before her release on bail.

At his request, the case was postponed until Wednesday, when legal aid attorney Hailey Lawrence is expected to launch a bail application on Bruce’s behalf.

 

Durban – Five men accused of killing a police officer can apply for bail once they all have legal representation, the Pinetown Magistrate’s Court ruled on Monday.

Mthozi Ngcobo, 25, Khulekani Vilikazi, 20, Lungani Mayiwa, 25, Anele Gumbi, 20, and Siyabonga Hlophe, 22, had been expected to apply for bail on Monday.

Their court-appointed lawyer, however, told the court she could not represent all of them due to a conflict of interest.

It was not explained what this conflict was.

Magistrate Ravi Pillay adjourned the matter to 17 December to allow four of the men to get new legal representation.

They are accused of being involved in the killing of Thabo Mlotshwa, 32, of the police’s national intervention unit, on 15 November.

He was buried in a shallow grave after the murder.

 

Standerton – Six Mpumalanga primary school teachers accused of stealing food meant to feed poor children will appear in the Standerton Magistrate’s Court on Tuesday.

The teachers, of Gugulabasha Primary School in Sakhile near Standerton, were arrested at the school on Wednesday.

The arrests followed a tip-off about the theft of groceries used in the school nutrition programme, a Sapa correspondent reported.

“Structures were put in place to observe and verify the allegations which were found to be true. The police applied for a search warrant from the local magistrate’s court and went to the school to do a search,” said police spokesperson Leonard Hlathi.

“During the search, police found groceries from six vehicles belonging to the suspects, and they were arrested and warned to appear before the Standerton Magistrate’s Court on Tuesday on charges of theft.”

Hlathi said the charges against the teachers, aged between 40 and 45, were disturbing.

“These schools were even declared non-fee schools because most parents of pupils are not working and poor. For a teacher to be accused of stealing such food is a disgrace to the society,” Hlathi said.

 

Cape Town – A former pastor with the New Apostolic Church in Durbanville, Cape Town, was jailed for in effect four years on Monday.

Craig Vernon Freeman appeared in the Bellville Specialised Commercial Crime Court before Magistrate Sabrina Sonnenberg, who also declared him unfit to possess a firearm.

Freeman pleaded guilty to falsely informing two members of his congregation that he was engaged in the development of the farm Rhebokskloof, near Paarl.

By offering them returns of between 28% and 38%, they were duped into investing in the non-existent development.

Richard Williams-Sims invested R3 350 000, and Deon Scritten R200 000, between July 2006 and January 2007.

Neither received their returns, or their money back.

The magistrate said Freeman, a high income earner, had been driven by greed.

She found the sentence suggested by defence attorney William Booth – a fine and a suspended prison sentence, or correctional supervision not involving incarceration – was too lenient.

She agreed with prosecutor Jannie Knipe that either option would send out the incorrect message to the community that prison sentences were reserved for violent crime, but not “white collar” crime.

She said the interests of the community far outweighed Freeman’s interests.

She sentenced him to eight years, of which four were conditionally suspended for five years.

She said Freeman had to repay both victims in full within five years of his release from prison as a condition of the suspended sentence.

The sentence would be put into operation if he failed to repay the money as ordered, she warned.