Despite losing the final of the African Champions League last Sunday, Orlando Pirates senior team received a hero’s welcome when they touched-down at OR Tambo International Airport on Tuesday morning.

The Absa Premiership giants were received by Sports Minister Fikile Mbalula, Premier Soccer League CEO Brand De Villiers as well as Gauteng MEC for Sports, Arts, Culture and Recreation Lebogang Maile , who were part the welcoming support of the Buccaneers.

Minister Mbalula said during his short but powerful speech, that despite the loss to Al Ahly, the country is proud of the commitment the players showed throughout the competition.

“You did not win the trophy but you have won (the experience of being in the final) something which is invaluable,” said Mbalula.

“You played against a team that has respect for you. The captain of Al Ahly came to me while I was with you in Egypt and told that you were the toughest team they have come up against in this tournament – they respect you for you have showed them how capable you are…”

Source: orlandopiratesfc.com

Johannesburg – Wits are calling for disciplinary action from the PSL and the SAFA against Kaizer Chiefs’ player Morgan Gould and referee Lwandile Mfiki.
Gould fouled Wits’ player Getaneh Kebede with what appeared to be a punch in their PSL match at FNB Stadium on Saturday.

Mfiki did not send Gould off, but gave him a yellow card.

“Wits have written to both the PSL and SAFA demanding that immediate and exemplary disciplinary action be taken against both Kaizer Chiefs centre back Morgan Gould as well as match official Lwandile Mfiki, respectively,” Wits said in a statement on Tuesday.

PSL spokesman Lux September said: “We have received the letter from Wits, I can confirm, but I do not want to comment on anything else.” Wits CEO Jose Ferreira said he expected action from SAFA regarding the referee.

“This situation is intolerable for us and accordingly, going forward, we will be formally demanding that action be taken against match officials.

“In so far as the match official is concerned, we have asked the SAFA to take action against Mr Mfiki for his failure to send Morgan Gould off for violent conduct.” I

n response to requests for a statement, SAFA said it was a PSL matter.

“Was it a SAFA or PSL game? New breed desk-bound journos! Ever wondered why circulation is dropping at alarming rate?” SAFA commented on the social network Twitter on Tuesday afternoon.

Ferreira said there was consistently poor officiating in the PSL.

“At Wits, we have a reputation for not formally complaining about poor officiating, but we feel that we have kept quiet for far too long and that we need to take formal steps against the persistent and continuous poor refereeing decisions in the Premier Soccer League,” he said.

“As a club we understand and respect that match officials have a very difficult task and the nature of the job is such that they will always make mistakes, but increasingly, the performances of our match officials in PSL matches have deteriorated to unprecedented levels.”

Johannesburg – A total of 101 pupils died in Gauteng last year because of violence, the provincial education department said on Tuesday.

This emerged from the Annual Survey data collected by the department which shows that a total of 1 043 pupils died in Gauteng in 2012.

These deaths occurred outside school premises and school time, said spokesperson Gershwin Chuenyane.

“Only one death was as result of violence committed on the school premises,” he said.

The other deaths were due to illness, accidents and suicide.

Sixty nine Gauteng pupils committed suicide last year, 604 died of illnesses, and 269 died in accidents.

The department would conduct another survey for 2013.

– SAPA

Johannesburg – The odds are that former Ekurhuleni metro police chief Robert McBride will head the Independent Police Investigative Directorate (IPID), an analyst said on Tuesday.

Johan Burger, a senior researcher at the Institute for Security Studies, said the recommendation of McBride for the position would be considered by Parliament’s portfolio committee on police within 30 days.
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Cape Town – Changes to the law governing weather forecasting were approved by MPs on Tuesday.

The SA weather service amendment bill aims to make it an offence for a person other than the statutory SA Weather Service (SAWS) to issue warnings of severe weather.

According to the measure, the SAWS is the “single authoritative voice” on severe weather forecasts, and anyone who knowingly issues a false or misleading warning will face severe penalties.

Those found guilty of contravening this provision face a fine not exceeding R5m or imprisonment for a period not exceeding five years.

The bill was passed by the National Assembly, with the support of all parties in the House, and will now go to the National Council of Provinces for concurrence.

The measure also deals with air quality monitoring, and the management of air quality data.

Once promulgated, it will allow SAWS to issue – subject to ministerial approval – ambient air quality forecasts and warnings.

– SAPA

Johannesburg – A woman has died after being overcome with emotion watching her granddaughter win R250 000 in a dance competition on TV, the show’s producer said on Tuesday.

The executive producer of South Africa’s version of So You Think You Can Dance, Ed Worster, said 72-year-old Beatrice Tshibika, from Khayelitsha, collapsed while watching Sibahle Tshibika being crowned the show’s winner in an episode broadcast on Saturday.

“We are very saddened to hear of your recent loss and would like to express our sincere condolences to you and your family, Sibahle,” read a message on the show’s official Facebook page.

Sibahle, 23, who has lived in a shack all her life, has promised to build her family a house with her winnings, the Daily Sun reported.

– AFP

Johannesburg – The assets of an Umhlanga couple accused of fraudulently winning tenders worth over R26m were preserved by the KwaZulu-Natal High Court in Pietermaritzburg on Tuesday.

Judge Johann Ploos van Amstel ordered that the assets of Shamla and Ravan Chetty be preserved, as a possible precursor to the assets being forfeited to the state.

They were awarded tenders by the KwaZulu-Natal and Eastern Cape public works departments by allegedly using fraudulent documents and bribing officials to verify the legitimacy of the documents.

An employee of the Construction Industry Development Board was also allegedly paid to verify the couple’s associate company as legitimate.

Kenneth Samuel, of the KwaZulu-Natal directorate of public prosecutions, said the value of the tenders awarded was R26.9m.

The couple were expected to face charges in the Durban Commercial Crime Court.

A property in Harrier Crescent, Umhlanga, other properties in the Durban area, a Porsche Cayenne, a Mercedes Benz, and 15 other cars were listed as the couple’s assets.

– SAPA

Johannesburg – Police did not know the whereabouts of businessman Radovan Krejcir following a bomb explosion outside a shop he owns near the Eastgate shopping centre, in Bedfordview, late Tuesday afternoon.

“The scene is still on lock down. Our forensic experts and the bomb squad are still combing the scene,” police spokesperson Neville Malila told reporters.

Malila said police did not know whether there were still explosives inside the Money Point shop.

Ekurhuleni emergency services spokesperson William Ntladi said earlier that two people were killed, three were critically injured and two others suffered minor injuries.

The injured were taken to Bedford Gardens Hospital.

Malila said that while the information police had was limited, it was believed a person walked into the shop with a bag, with the bomb inside it.

“Shortly afterwards there was an explosion.”

He did not know how many people were inside the shop at the time of the explosion and police would go to the hospital to interview the injured.

‘Mafia tactics’

A Sapa reporter on the scene said bystanders were unwilling to speak to reporters as they feared “mafia tactics”.

The explosion took place on the corner of Bradford and Nicol roads, with the intersection closed off to traffic and cordoned off by police.

Eyewitness News reported that the two men killed were close associates of Krejcir, who is currently fighting his extradition to the Czech Republic where he is facing a prison sentence.

Sapa was unable to contact Krecjir.

In July, Krejcir was the target of an apparent bid to kill him outside his Bedfordview office.

“It is alleged that he [Krejcir] arrived at the premises and parked his vehicle,” police spokesperson Lungelo Dlamini said at the time.

“As he was leaving the parking spot, an explosive device was detonated from the back of a vehicle, a VW Polo, parked opposite his vehicle.”

Krejcir escaped unharmed.

That blast, in the parking lot of the Money Point gold and diamond exchange’s head office, where Tuesday’s blast also took place in Bedfordview, left several holes in Krejcir’s car.

The VW Polo was stolen in Brixton, Johannesburg, in April.

Krejcir said he heard noises, like bullets being fired, from a car he parked next to.

“I managed to get away and saved my life… someone out there tried to kill me,” Krejcir told Sapa at the time.

Break-in

About three weeks earlier, Krejcir’s Bedfordview business was broken into and jewellery worth R3m was stolen.

“It is on the same premises where an attempt to kill him was executed. On 3 July, unknown suspects broke into the premises through the roof, cut open a safe, and stole jewellery worth approximately R3m,” Dlamini said at the time.

Several men reportedly associated to Krejicir have been shot and killed over the last two and a half years.

Veselin Langanin, 54, was shot dead around 04:00 in his Bedfordview home on 2 November, Malila said at the time.

Langanin was reportedly arrested for armed robbery last year with Krejcir.

Reported drug trafficker Sam Issa, a 49-year-old Lebanese citizen allegedly linked to Krejcir, was shot and killed on 12 October in Bedfordview while waiting in his Audi Q7.

A white Ford Ranger pulled up next to him and the occupants opened fire and killed him.

Krejcir told Sapa the day Issa was killed: “I did not have any association with the man, I only [knew] him as a resident of Bedfordview.”

Lolly Jackson, the owner of the Teazers franchise of strip clubs and linked to Krejcir, was shot dead at a house in Edleen near OR Tambo International Airport on 3 May 2010.

Jackson’s alleged killer George Luca meanwhile had been granted 40 days to appeal against his extradition to South Africa, it was reported in September.

The Supreme Court of Appeal in Cyprus ruled on 17 September that Luca would be in mortal danger if he returned to South Africa.

The court believed South African authorities would not be able to protect Luca.

Alleged underworld leader Cyril Beeka, 49, was gunned down execution-style by unidentified gunmen on a motorcycle in Bellville, Cape Town on 21 March 2011.

Beeka was allegedly an associate of Krejcir’s.
SAPA

Pretoria – Details of serious injuries suffered by one of five joggers killed in Midrand when a car hit them two years ago, emerged in the North Gauteng High Court in Pretoria on Tuesday.

Pathologist Dr Shirley Moeng, who performed an autopsy on Gaolojwe Isaac Tlale, testified that his multiple blunt force injuries indicated a high speed impact.

Apart from bleeding and swelling of the brain, Tlale had fractures of the spine and neck which in effect separated his head from his neck.

He also suffered pelvic fractures, broken ribs, contused lungs, a severed aorta in the upper chest, a severed gullet and windpipe and multiple fractures of his left arm and leg.

The evidence was presented in the trial of mechanical engineer Sibusiso Langa, who earlier this week pleaded not guilty to five charges of murder, one of attempted murder, and two of driving under the influence.

He allegedly drove his car into Tlale, 37, Reneilwe Lesenyeho, 31, Moroesi Margaret Mokoatsi, 35, Given Mills, 30, and Nomvula Regina Dumako while they were jogging on the gravel next to Lever Road, Midrand, on Saturday, 22 October 2011.

Abegail Khanyisa Stengile was seriously injured.

Metro police officer Bongani Nkosi testified he took Langa to a district surgeon in Hillbrow, Johannesburg, to have his blood drawn about three hours after the accident.

“In my opinion he tried to behave properly, but he appeared to be drowsy and was unable to walk properly. He looked like a person who was tired and had consumed a lot of alcohol. I could smell alcohol on his breath. At the district surgeon while we were waiting he at times fell asleep. Once awake, his only concern would be his vehicle,” Nkosi testified.

He said he first took Langa for a breathalyser test at a testing centre in Johannesburg before taking him to the district surgeon.

Concerns over vehicle

Langa’s lawyer Richard Mkhabela said his client would deny expressing concern about his vehicle.

Nkosi said Langa had mentioned several times that the people had been running in the middle of the road.

A police accident investigator, Warrant Officer Terry Murphy, testified that he examined Langa’s Mercedes-Benz ML500 after the accident.

It was severely damaged on the front and driver’s side and there were high-velocity blood splatters on it.

The car was highly sophisticated and expensive and fitted with an ABS braking system which prevented the wheels from locking and allowed the driver to retain control.

There were, however, signs that the front wheels had locked for a fraction of a second, causing short skid marks on the road.

Murphy stressed that the car’s brakes had never been compromised and were “100% operational”.

“I could find nothing in the mechanics of the vehicle which could have contributed to the incident or caused the driver to lose concentration,” he said.

The trial continues.

– SAPA

Cape Town – The legal practice bill, which has far-reaching implications for the legal profession, was approved by the National Assembly on Tuesday.

Provisions that were bitterly contested by the profession and opposition parties in extended negotiations remained intact.

The legislation will bring an end to the long tradition of self-regulation by the legal fraternity.

It will replace bar associations with a single council, which the minister of justice can dissolve if he loses confidence in it.

It also allows him to designate three of the 22 members of the council.

The government insists that the 120-clause bill is vital for transforming the legal profession and improving access to justice.

However, it has not managed to allay scepticism, especially since it defers dealing with fee structures that are prohibitive to the poor.

Opening debate on the bill, Justice Minister Jeff Radebe sought to pre-empt criticism by saying the search for agreement on the bill could not continue forever.

The legal profession could not operate in a vacuum where the government’s policy imperatives did not matter.

“The legal profession does not only operate in its own space, but also operates in a space where all of our people, rich or poor, converge in pursuit of justice,” Radebe said.

The laws of the government and those of the profession had to be seen against this background.

Radebe said the government had a legitimate interest in ensuring that constitutional imperatives were complied with.

“The transformation of the legal profession is one of these constitutional imperatives.”

Right to regulate

Parliament had the constitutional right to regulate any profession.

Parliament’s portfolio committee on justice chairperson Luwellyn Landers accused the legal profession of blocking change.

“The bill seeks to transform an extremely conservative and yet fragmented sector of our society…. The legal profession has, until now, successfully resisted change and transformation.”

Radebe said the African National Congress had heeded pleas from the legal profession to drop long-held plans, partly motivated by cost concerns, to do away with the distinction between advocates and attorneys.

The bill, nevertheless, retained a provision that would allow clients to brief advocates directly.

But, the minister conceded, despite such compromises deep disagreement remained over the bill.

“Complete consensus became an impossible task and this is borne out by the almost 20 years of negotiations, but now we have reached the stage where we simply have to forge ahead.”

All opposition parties voted against the bill, which also provides for community service by law graduates, but it was passed with ease thanks to the ANC’s majority.

The Congress of the People’s Luzelle Adams said the ministerial powers in relation to the new council flouted United Nations principles on the independence of the legal profession.

Dire consequences

Democratic Alliance MP Dene Smuts agreed that the bill was “inimical” to the independence of legal practitioners and said this would have dire consequences for the quality of jurisprudence and for society as a whole.

Independent-minded advocates were needed to take on cases that were politically and socially unpopular, and were as needed now to fight injustice as they were in the apartheid era, she argued.

Smuts rubbished the ANC’s claims that transformation would be served by merging the advocates and attorneys’ professions.

She said the ANC was ignoring progress made towards racial representivity, proven by the fact that for the past decade equal numbers of black and white attorneys had been admitted to the bar.

“The advocates’ profession has been sold down the river because the ANC is lost in transformation. We are here legislating for failure and we oppose,” she said.

African Christian Democratic Party MP Steve Smuts said the bill clearly made advocates the junior partners in the new statutory council, and posed the threat of draconian ministerial interference through the council.

He had backed pleas by the DA during drafting that the bill should include a clause on cost disclosure, as it would make it easier for poor South Africans to negotiate fees with lawyers.

However, as the bill stood, this would be deferred to an inquiry, to be conducted by the proposed new council.

Smuts said this would leave South Africans waiting longer for something overdue, and by failing to deal with fees the bill therefore missed its stated aim of improving access to justice.

The legislation makes provision for community service for law graduates, establishes an ombudsman for legal services and sets out more transparent disciplinary processes for legal practitioners.

The Law Society of SA has pleaded for ministerial powers to be limited, and has warned that if the legislation curtails the profession’s independence, the courts will lose their independence.

– SAPA