The Bafana Bafana team selected to play the world champions will be announced at a press conference in Johannesburg tomorrow.

World and European champions Spain will take on South Africa at the FNB Stadium in Johannesburg on November 19.

Danny Jordaan, the newly-elected president of SAFA, whose lobbying made the game possible said it will be a milestone for Bafana Bafana to be playing the best in the world.

“Every South African knows that Bafana Bafana has been underperforming. Well, we have a master plan that is going to change that, starting with Spain,” he said.

Jordaan said that competition for places is fierce. “They all want to be part of the team because to play the world champions is a massive opportunity, particularly in a game that is going to be televised live throughout Europe. This game will be one where reputations can be made overnight.”

Jordaan refused to speculate about the team selection. “I will say though, that in soccer you must always be prepared for a surprise.”

Tickets for the game which range in price from R50.00 to R200.00 went on sale yesterday and a SAFA spokesman Dominic Chimhavi said that sales had been brisk. “The R100.00 tickets that allow fans to be close to the action are proving to be the most popular and are going fast.”

Chimhavi also said that 3000 seats have been allocated for Spanish fans in a separate area. -TDN
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Pretoria – There is no reasonable prospect that another court will change the convictions of the 20 Boeremag members, the North Gauteng High Court in Pretoria concluded on Wednesday.

Judge Eben Jordaan dismissed an application by former Mokopane medical doctor Lets Pretorius for bail pending an application for leave to appeal against his high treason conviction and 30-year prison sentence.

Pretorius’s wife Minnie started crying and sat with her head between her hands for a long time after his bail application was dismissed.

Pretorius and his sons Johan, Kobus and Wilhelm were among the right-wingers sentenced to long prison terms last month for their plot to violently overthrow the ANC government.

The men were sentenced to between five and 48 years’ imprisonment, with parts of their sentences suspended.

This resulted in five of them walking out of the court as free men, and the others having to serve jail terms of, in effect, between five and 25 years.

One of the men, who is in an old age home after suffering a stroke, was not sentenced.

Pretorius, who has to serve a prison term of in effect 20 years, earlier claimed he was unlikely to receive parole because he was white and a political prisoner, and would probably get out of jail only at the age of 87.

He told the court he had not expected such a long sentence and needed bail so he could draw up a will, make proper provision for the care of his wife and grandchildren, and earn money for his appeal.

He said he had health problems for which he needed operations, and wanted to support his wife, who had previously had breast cancer and suffered from depression.

Bail application

Pretorius, who was out on bail for nine years of the decade-long trial, maintained that he did not pose a risk to the public.

The State opposed his bail application, arguing that he was an escape risk because of the long prison term he faced.

Jordaan said it was logical that Pretorius’s situation had changed since his release on bail.

He said he had to take into account the prospects of success on appeal, which in his view did not exist.

“In my view, there is no reasonable prospect that any other court would set aside the conviction… or impose any other sentence than long term imprisonment.

“The accused’s conviction rested on the sum total of numerous witnesses and a finding that he was not a credible witness,” Jordaan said.

Another troubling aspect was Pretorius’s bail of R500 000, which was secured by the property of a company in which he no longer had any interest.

He would, therefore, lose nothing if he fled.

“I cannot see why he can’t prepare his will while he’s in jail. His health problems can be treated while he is in prison,” Jordaan said.

He said Pretorius’s wife would have to fend for herself, but that this was a natural result of the long term of imprisonment imposed on her husband.

– SAPA

Cape Town – President Jacob Zuma on Wednesday denied claims by SA National Defence Force (SANDF) officials that he was involved in the “Guptagate” scandal.

“No, I have no prior knowledge, involvement or communication relating to the landing of a private plane at AFB [Air Force Base] Waterkloof,” he said while answering questions in the National Assembly.

“The president is neither directly or indirectly involved in the authorisation of civilian aircraft landing at airports such as AFB Waterkloof.”

However, opposition party MPs, including DA parliamentary leader Lindiwe Mazibuko, pressed the president for more answers.

“Mr Speaker, a senior official in the SANDF stated under oath that a call was received from Mr Bruce Koloane informing her the president wanted to know and I quote ‘if everything is still on track for the flight’,” Mazibuko said.

“If the answer is that he did not know about the landing, can the president explain to this House how it could possibly be the case in light of the fact that the landing at Waterkloof Air Force Base included three fixed-wing aircraft, seven helicopters, 88 vehicles and 490 personnel, 194 of whom were employees of the state?” she asked.

Zuma said it was not his duty to know who landed at the country’s airports.

“There are so many that land… why should the president know about these numbers? I have given the answer. I had no knowledge. I know nothing about it,” Zuma said.

“I can’t answer on behalf of an official in some military tribunal, that’s not my business,” he said.

Military tribunal

Two SANDF officials have testified at a military tribunal that Koloane, former chief of state protocol, had indicated to them that Zuma was behind the irregular landing of the plane.

The chartered commercial aircraft, Jet Airways flight JAI 9900 from India, ferrying more than 200 guests for the wedding of Vega Gupta, 23, and Indian-born Aakash Jahajgarhia, landed at the base in April.

The passengers were then transported, either by light aircraft, helicopter, or in police-escorted vehicles, to attend the lavish ceremony at Sun City’s Palace of the Lost City in North West.

The landing sparked widespread criticism and several investigations were launched.

A government investigation exonerated Zuma and his ministers, and found that the landing was the result of collusion and name dropping by officials.

DA MP David Maynier said the real issue was Zuma’s relationship with the Gupta family.

“When the Guptas say jump, the Zumas say how high,” Maynier said.

Zuma responded: “I’ve answered the question. Maybe he [Maynier] jumps higher than others.

– SAPA

Pretoria – One of the four men arrested in connection with the murder of Major General Tirhani Maswanganyi was forced to “confess”, the Pretoria North Magistrate’s Court heard on Wednesday.

John Hlaisa, for Tshepo Mosai, said his client was kept at Brooklyn police station, in Pretoria, separate from other accused “so that his rights could be trampled on”.

“Why did members of the investigating team visit him at the cells, without his lawyer when the accused had indicated that he needs legal representation?” Hlaisa asked Colonel Abednego Shibiri.

“He was forced to admit involvement when the crime was committed. A [police] pocket book was given to him when he had not requested it,” said Hlaisa.

Shibiri said Mosai had voluntarily confessed to the murder.

“The officers didn’t have a writing pad and the station commander provided the pocket book,” said Shibiri.

He said the officers had visited Mosai to show him an identity kit of another accused person.

Shibiri is head of the police’s Gauteng provincial investigating team.

Hlaisa put it to him that the visit by the officers was meant “to induce Mosai to turn State witness”.

Shibiri argued that it was Mosai who had asked to be a State witness, but that such a process would be handled by the prosecution.

Earlier, Shibiri said the authorities had yet to ascertain how Maswanganyi was killed.

He said the cause of death would be known only when toxicology and histology reports were released.

“We can get the histology reports any time from now, but the toxicology reports do take time. We have requested the department of health to expedite the process,” said Shibiri.

“Normally those reports can take four to five years,” he said.

The health department had said the toxicology reports should be available in the first quarter of 2014.

Shibiri said indications so far were that Maswanganyi was strangled.

Bail application

He was opposing a bail application brought by Maswanganyi’s alleged killers Nditsheni Daniel Nefolovhodwe, Ndaedzo Isaac Vele, Tshepo Mosai and Roger Godfrey Moseki.

Shibiri said property stolen from Maswanganyi, including cellphones and a computer tablet, had not been recovered.

He said the police had yet to arrest other suspects related to the crime, and that if released on bail, the four would jeopardise the ongoing investigations.

Maswanganyi was found dead in a field near the R101, near Hammanskraal, north of Pretoria, in June.

His hands and feet were bound. A police patrol found Maswanganyi’s abandoned Isuzu bakkie next to the road.

A police uniform and police identification card were in the bakkie, which prompted a search.

Three of the four accused, Moseki, Vele and Nefolovhodwe, were members of the SA National Defence Force.

– SAPA

Johannesburg – The National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) advised businesses on Wednesday to be on the lookout for criminal elements using fraudulent NPA requests for quotations and government orders.

“We have been able to establish that these criminals send a request for a quotation and thereafter issue a fraudulent government order to convince businesses to process the order,” NPA spokesperson Bulelwa Makeke said in a statement.

The people would then call businesses persistently with the view to pressure them into immediate delivery.

Makeke advised businesses to pay attention to the orders they received.

Possible signs of a fraudulent order included receiving and sending e-mails from/to a gmail address and phone calls from a cellphone.

“All legitimate requests for the NPA should come from an e-mail address ending @npa.gov.za. Where faxes are used, they will generally originate from the NPA official numbers.”

She encouraged businesses to verify quotations by calling the NPA supply chain management office at 012 845 6000.

– SAPA

Cape Town – DA parliamentary leader Lindiwe Mazibuko has proposed a private members’ bill to replace the contested National Key Points Act.

Mazibuko said on Wednesday the law was unconstitutional and should make way for legislation that would protect the country’s critical installations in a transparent manner.

It was adopted by the apartheid regime in 1980.

Her proposal, which she will hand to Speaker Max Sisulu, would see the power to declare a national key point – currently held by the police minister – passed to a board of officials and strict criteria introduced to make sure it was used only to protect areas of national security.

It would also oblige the state to make public the full list of such protected places.

Opposition parties and rights groups have in recent years, petitioned government to end the practice of keeping its list of national key points under wraps.

Mazibuko said the law was used by the apartheid regime to combat political resistance by declaring places key points so that any attack on them could be prosecuted as sabotage or terrorism.

“It was used to wage war on our own people… It is clear that this legislation is unconstitutional and has no place in a democratic South Africa.”

She said the law was being abused by the current government to cover up the use of state funds, such as the R206m in taxpayer’s money spent on improvements at President Jacob Zuma’s private homestead in Nkandla, KwaZulu-Natal.

“When the public outcry mounted, President Zuma and his cabinet ministers used an archaic, unconstitutional piece of legislation to not only justify the expenditure but to hide its true extent.”

She added: “These actions are congruent with the behaviour of the apartheid regime.”

Public Works Minister Thulas Nxesi said earlier this year that Zuma’s home in Nkandla was declared a national key point in 2010.

The Right2Know campaign and the South African History Archives last month launched a court bid to force the minister of police to release a list of national key points.

The activist group said the post-apartheid government had on numerous occasions used the law to prevent democratic protest in public places.

It went to court after its application in terms of the Promotion of Access to Information Act to have the list released was refused.

– SAPA

The framework agreement for a sustainable mining industry must be implemented, Cosatu said on Wednesday.

“Cosatu demands that the SA Police Service [SAPS] and National Prosecuting Authority [NPA] do everything possible to implement that agreement, so that people can walk in the streets in safety and enjoy their constitutional human right to move freely without fear of attack,” said Cosatu spokesperson Patrick Craven.

He was reacting to the death of former National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) Lonmin shop steward Percy Letanang, 45.

Letanang died in hospital on Tuesday night after being shot seven times when he arrived home in Segwaelane, near Marikana, in North West, on Sunday night.

“Cosatu is outraged by the continuation of what are clearly deliberate assassinations of NUM members in the area, and the failure of the police to arrest most of the perpetrators and bring them to justice.”

The framework agreement, which was signed in July, demanded that the police, the intelligence service, and the courts act effectively and without delay to bring to justice those guilty of violent crimes.

“Impunity must be rooted out and the confidence in the justice system restored. Government must implement these measures without any further delay,” Craven said.

NUM Rustenburg regional co-ordinator Mxhasi Sithethi said Letanang had been employed at Lonmin’s Eastern Platinum mine, and took a voluntary severance package (VSP), after Lonmin de-recognised the NUM when its membership numbers fell below the required threshold.

The Association of Mineworkers and Construction Union (Amcu) has since become the majority union at Lonmin.

Rivalry between unions

Several killings of union members are believed to be due to rivalry between the two unions.

“After Lonmin decided to de-recognise us, most comrades took their VSPs fearing for their safety at the mine, and comrade Letanang was one of them,” said Sithethi.

The NUM was worried about the increasing number of murders of its shop stewards in Marikana and in the greater Rustenburg area.

“In less than three months, four of our members have been killed… How long is blood going to have to flow in Marikana?” he asked.

“It is impossible not to feel heavy-hearted when our shop stewards are brutally killed…” he said.

North West police said Letanang was shot around 21:00 when he arrived home from work.

“It is alleged that the victim was shot seven times in his shoulder, right upper arm, ribs and in his stomach.

“The victim was taken to a nearby hospital where he died on Tuesday,” said police spokesperson Thulani Ngubane.

No arrests had been made.

– SAPA

Johannesburg – Less than half of eligible voters under the age of 30 are currently registered to vote, the Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) said on Wednesday.

Only 8.7% of eligible voters were aged between 18 and 19, compared to the average registration levels of over 90% for older age groups, IEC chairperson Pansy Tlakula told reporters in Centurion.

“As of 31 October 2013 there were 23 139 142 people registered to vote, representing 73.6% of the voting age population according to the latest census figures.

“Through its registration drive, the electoral commission hopes to increase registrations to 80% of the voting age population, in line with levels of previous elections, which would require an additional two million voters to register,” she said.

Tlakula was briefing the media on the IEC’s readiness for its registration weekend.

All 22 263 voting stations around the country would be open from 08:00 to 17:00 on Saturday and Sunday for people to register, change their registration details or verify their details.

Tlakula said Gauteng had the lowest number of registered voters, at 69.2%, followed by Mpumalanga, the Western Cape and North West, all at 70.3%.

The Free State had the highest, at 80%; the Eastern Cape 79.6%; Northern Cape 77.6%; Limpopo 77%; and KwaZulu-Natal 75%.

– SAPA

Pretoria – The accurate collection and capturing of crime information at police stations is vital for crime prevention, a security consultant said on Wednesday.

“The police Crime Administration System [CAS] will give you what has been put into it. It all depends on what you feed into the system,” retired police Major General Chris de Kock said at an Institute for Security Studies seminar in Pretoria.

De Kock was responsible for crime data collection at the SA Police Service 18 years ago.

He said the CAS was developed in the 1970s to administer crime.

The information captured on the system should be analysed all the time to obtain information on hotspots, peak times and the modus operandi used by criminals.

The information was correlated from stations, to clusters, and then to provincial level before it reached head office.

“It is impossible to say that every station does the analysis every 24 hours. If this is thoroughly done, it automatically ensures accurate and quality data to the head office,” said De Kock.

The reason why crime went down in 2009, 2010, and 2011 was because of the soccer Confederation Cup and the 2010 World Cup, he said.

“Police analysed the system daily and accurately, and used it to prevent crime during that period.”

– SAPA

Johannesburg – Residents of Zonkizizwe, on the East Rand, must stop illegally burying people in Magagula Heights, the Ekurhuleni municipality said on Wednesday.

“It has come to our attention that some families are utilising the piece of land unlawfully to bury their deceased loved ones,” parks and cemeteries director Victor Nesengani said in a statement.

“This might seem like a cheap alternative for families, but it places them at risk, as the graves are not protected by the municipality and anyone utilising the land might find themselves at risk of being arrested.”

Nesengani said the illegally buried remains would have to be exhumed and reburied in another, official cemetery.

The municipality urged those who had buried people at Magagula Heights to contact it, so the correct processes could be followed.

– SAPA