Johannesburg – A 24-year-old Kagiso man accused of statutory rape appeared in the Krugersdorp Magistrate’s Court on Thursday, police said.

The matter was postponed for further investigation and to allow him to apply for bail, Warrant officer Solomon Sibiya said.

The man was arrested on Tuesday for the statutory rape of a 13-year-old girl, Sibiya said.

The teenager’s sister reported her missing on Tuesday after she failed to return home since Friday.

After opening a missing persons docket, the teenager’s sister received a phone call from a neighbour who claimed he knew where the teenager was.

She was then found at a house in Riverside, Kagiso with the 24-year-old man.

“The teenager allegedly told the police that she had been sleeping with the suspect,” Sibiya said.

Sapa

Cape Town – Cape Town is bracing itself for an illegal march in the city on Friday, Western Cape police said.

“There will be heavy police deployments in the CBD as well as areas of congregation for the marchers,” police spokesman Tembinkosi Kinana said on Thursday.

“The deployment will comprise members of public order policing (POP), metro police, traffic officials, law enforcement and emergency officials.”

Police on horseback would monitor the protest as well.

“Members of railway police will also be on high alert and deployed in and around train station precincts,” said Kinana.

“The City of Cape Town’s traffic officials with the SAPS Flying Squad will be deployed on the city’s highways and byways.”

Kinana said air support would be deplored if required.

He warned that protesters breaking the law would be arrested.

On Wednesday, Cape Town mayor Patricia de Lille said the city had filed for a court order to try to stop the protest.

“A golden triangle meeting, which incorporates the SA Police Service, did not approve their application due to credible evidence received under oath indicating that such a gathering could result in a serious disruption to vehicular and pedestrian traffic; injury to persons; and possible damage to property,” she said on Wednesday.

“Law enforcement authorities have also established there are serious threats of unprecedented levels of violence erupting in the event that the march takes place.”

De Lille said she did not want to see a repetition of disorder last month when protesters claiming to be part of a service delivery demonstration looted shops and vendors’ stalls, and damaged property in central Cape Town.

Sapa

Standerton – Six teachers at the Gugulabasha Primary School in Sakhile near Standerton have been arrested for allegedly stealing food, Mpumalanga police said on Thursday.

The teachers, between the ages 40 and 45, were taken into custody on Wednesday for allegedly taking food meant for the school’s feeding scheme, Colonel Leonard Hlathi said.

Police found the groceries in their cars. Hlathi said the school had been declared a non-fee school because most parents were unemployed.

The teachers were expected to appear in the Standerton Magistrate’s Court on December 3.

Sapa

Johannesburg – A Congolese couple arrested for alleged possession of explosives and detonators worth about R1.5 million appeared in the Springs Magistrate’s Court on Thursday, the Hawks said.

The case was postponed until December 5 for a formal bail application, Hawks spokesman Paul Ramaloko said.

The couple was arrested in Springs, on the East Rand, on Tuesday.

Police seized devices usually used in ATM bombings and illegal mining, gold concentrates, platinum concentrates, pyrobor chemicals and mercury and smelting apparatus, Ramaloko said.

Sapa

Durban – Durban freelance photographer Geoff Brink, who was stabbed in an attempted hijacking while on assignment on Wednesday, may have to thank that “protective layer of fat” around his waist for saving his life.

Brink, 41, was in Ntuzuma with Sunday Tribune journalist Ayanda Mhlanga when they stopped at an intersection to get directions.
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Durban – Charges of intimidation and pointing a firearm were laid at the Melmoth police station after a mayor’s bodyguard allegedly attacked community members at a public meeting.

A fracas ensued, during which the bodyguard was attacked by members of the community. Mayor Maureen Ndlangamandla and her two bodyguards fled the hall and the meeting was disbanded.
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Cape Town – The City of Cape Town obtained a court interdict on Thursday preventing the city’s informal settlements’ organisation from holding a march, said mayor Patricia de Lille.

The march was scheduled to take place on Friday.

“I appeal to the organisers of the illegal protest to respect the court interdict,” said De Lille.

She said the order was obtained as a last resort, as she did not want to see a repetition of the disorder last month, when protesters claiming to be part of a service delivery demonstration looted shops and vendors’ stalls, and damaged property in central Cape Town.
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Zeerust – Three justice department employees appeared on a theft charge in the Zeerust Magistrate’s Court on Thursday, police said.

They and two alleged accomplices, who appeared on the same charge, were released on bail of R1000 each, said Brigadier Thulani Ngubane.

The case was postponed until February 14.

Ngubane said Precious Lerato Moitlobo, Isaac Mabaso, Denis Ntshole, Lerato Ikutlweng and a fifth person, whose name he could not provide, were arrested on Wednesday and Thursday. He could not say who the officials were.

The five allegedly worked together to steal R500 000 in child support grants from the department during 2010 and 2011.

He said the three officials were assigned to pay child support. One of their alleged accomplices worked for the health department as an emergency vehicle driver.

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Advocate Dali Mpofu couldn’t sleep with his “mother”, Winnie Mandela, Julius Malema told his supporters outside the Polokwane High Court today.

Malema was busy attacking the ANC and its leaders, saying they had “sold out” South Africans, when he turned to Winnie Mandela who, he said, “remains the only loyal cadre to the revolution”.

The alleged affair of Winnie Mandela and Mpofu in the early 1990s – which also reportedly contributed to her divorce from former president Nelson Mandela – has not been top of mind for some time, but Malema seemingly felt he had to set the record straight.
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Julius Malema said his party can be trusted by women and children as there was no “history of rape” in the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF).

In an indirect reference to President Jacob Zuma’s rape trial – in which the president was accused of raping a friend’s daughter but was later acquitted – Malema said those who have been accused of rape have no right to say they can protect women and children.

“Some people have history of rape and do not have the right to protect people from rape. We don’t have a history of being accused of rape and therefore women and children can trust us,” he said.
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