Johannesburg – Parolees, people out on bail and those awaiting trial are being monitored using ankle bracelets, Correctional Services Minister Sbu Ndebele announced on Monday.

“Electronic monitoring is a giant leap forward, and is the solution to various challenges,” he said in a speech prepared for delivery in Tshwane, Gauteng.

Ndebele said the electronic monitoring pilot project was started in March 2012, involving 150 offenders, mostly prisoners serving life terms.

“Electronic monitoring is economical, effective, efficient and relevant to the broader goals of the department 1/8of correctional services 3/8 and that of the justice, crime prevention and security cluster,” he said.

“On average, 15 to 20 percent of awaiting-trial detainees are in custody because they cannot afford bail,” he said.

At the moment, it cost the taxpayer R9876 a month to incarcerate an inmate.

“For electronic monitoring, the monthly cost per offender is R3379….”

The bracelet resembled a wristwatch, was waterproof and shock resistant and was generally fitted to the ankle. Attempts to remove it would trigger an alarm.

The department had chosen a two piece GPS tracking system, which integrated tracking, communication and mapping technologies.

It enabled operators to effectively track offenders, virtually anywhere, anytime at varying levels of intensity, said Ndebele.

“A National Control Room is now operational here at our head office. This control room is manned on a 24-hour basis, seven days a week, 365 days per year.”

Ndebele said this type of alternative non-custodial sentencing would place the responsibility for rehabilitation and reintegration on the community and its stakeholders.

“… We urge society, communities and families to work with us in order to derive the desired benefits of public security, managing inmate population, offender reintegration as well as cost reduction,” he said.

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Durban – A man was shot dead at a pre-wedding function in Mankwanyaneni, the KwaZulu-Natal community safety department said on Monday.

Unknown people opened fire, killing a 55-year-old man and wounding two people at the function on Saturday, said department spokesman Kwanele Ncalane.

“Apparently, some people had arrived at the homestead and claimed that they had not yet been provided with food.”

Immediately after this, gunshots were heard.

MEC Willies Mchunu condemned the killing.

“We are disturbed at this killing in eMankwanyaneni as the area is now becoming notorious for killings and violence,” he said.

“This has a potential to destabilise the area and could plunge the area into unending faction fighting.”

Mchunu said the community owed it to themselves to ensure the area remained peaceful and free of senseless killings.

“Violence begets violence, chases away development and plunges the community into endless poverty,” he said.

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Pretoria – Mechanical engineer Sibusiso Langa, who is accused of killing a group of joggers in Midrand, tried to leave the scene of the accident, the High Court in Pretoria heard on Monday.

Doctor Zulu was testifying in the trial of Langa, 46, who has pleaded not guilty to five charges of murder, one of attempted murder and one of driving under the influence of alcohol.

“He climbed back into his Mercedes and then tried to start it. He could not get it started,” Zulu told the court.

“A tow vehicle arrived at the scene and stopped next to him. The doors of the truck were standing open and the driver of the Mercedes then tried to get into the tow truck.

“I alerted the driver of the truck who rushed to his truck and removed the keys,” he said.

Zulu said Langa walked away from the scene when the metro police arrived, and they had to chase after him in their car to bring him back.

Reneilwe Lesenyeho, 31, Gaolojwe Isaac Tlale, 37, Moroesi Margeret Mokoatsi, 35, Given Mills, 30, and Nomvula Regina Dumako, 35, died and Abegail Stengile nearly died when Langa allegedly hit them while they were jogging on the gravel next to Lever Road, in Midrand, on October 22, 2011.

Trevor du Toit told the court he saw a man in a Mercedes-Benz driving erratically near Lever Road that morning.

While fiddling with something in his car, the driver crossed the yellow line and, at one stage, stopped in the middle of an intersection at a red light.

Zulu testified that six joggers passed him while he was walking to work early that morning.

They were jogging on the gravel next to the road when he heard a car approaching at speed.

“When the vehicle approached the corner, the driver couldn’t control it. It drove straight at the people and it drove into those people and knocked them down,” he told the court.

“As the vehicle ploughed into them I saw them being thrown into the air and dropping down.

“Five of those people died as a result. He knocked down the five almost at the same time.

“I immediately tried to call the police or an ambulance. The driver of the vehicle alighted and went to check the vehicle in the front.

“I asked him why didn’t he assist the lady who was crying… Why kill people in this manner in front of me?

“His response was that these people’s behaviour surprised him.”

Zulu said Langa’s trousers were wet in front, but that he had no injuries and appeared to be either drunk or sleepy.

He testified that he had seen the accident clearly, that the joggers were not in the road when they were hit and that no other car was involved.

Accident investigator Johannes van Loggerenberg testified that he saw a sock still stuck to the vehicle, which had human remains and blood on its right side and roof.

It was clear from the damage to the vehicle that there had been a severe impact.

Langa did not have any visible injuries, but his eyes were bloodshot, he looked sleepy and there was a strong smell of alcohol on his breath.

Johannesburg metro police officer Sibongile Makhubela, who chased after Langa as he was leaving the scene, testified that she asked him why he had driven over those people.

“He told me they were in the way.

“He was unsteady on his feet… He was slurring his words. His eyes were bloodshot and his breath smelled of alcohol,” she said.

Langa’s advocate Richard Mkhabela put it to her that Langa was “not that drunk”, because he was able to hand over his identity document.

The trial continues.

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Johannesburg – Four men are still at large after escaping from a truck transporting them to the Johannesburg Magistrate’s Court in October, said police on Monday.

“Police were transporting suspects from Johannesburg prison to the Johannesburg Magistrate’s Court,” said Warrant officer Xoli Mbele.

He said the men broke a window and jumped out of the truck near Westgate railway station.

Two are Mozambican nationals, one a Zimbabwean and the other a South African. Their charges range from murder, robbery to housebreaking.

Police are searching for the men.

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Johannesburg – Thirteen people accused of being involved in illegal dog fighting on the East Rand were denied bail by the Tsakane Magistrate’s Court on Monday, the NSPCA said.

“The National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (NSPCA) applauds the decision,” said senior inspector Jaco Pieterse.

Fourteen pitbulls were rescued in the raid in Tsakane and 18 were people arrested. Police released five of them.

“We are saddened that eight of the remaining dogs removed during the NSPCA dog fighting bust last week Sunday had to be euthanised by a veterinarian due to the seriousness and extent of their injuries and suffering,” said Pieterse.

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Johannesburg – The family of Diepsloot toddlers Yonelisa and Zandile Mali killed last month have expressed shocked over the death of a baby in the same area.

“We are surprised about (the child’s death) because we thought all this was over when they arrested that man but it’s still continuing,” the toddlers’ grandmother Vinah Mali said in Xhosa on Monday.
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CApe Town – Farmworkers set a truck alight in Wellington on Monday, Western Cape police said.

Captain Frederick van Wyk said about 120 workers at Sandrivier estate prevented other workers from entering the premises and burned the vehicle and a piece of field on the farm.

No orchards were damaged.

He said police were deployed to prevent more damage and the workers were escorted to an open field.

Twelve people were arrested on charges of public violence and malicious damage to property.

No injuries were reported and no shots were fired.

Agri Wes-Cape spokeswoman Porchia Adams said the workers were seasonal and had been taking part in an unprotected strike on the farms of the JC Le Roux group, in Paarl, Wellington and Piketberg.

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Harrismith – The adopted son of a Free State dominee pleaded guilty to his murder when he appeared in the Harrismith Circuit Court on Monday, Free State police said.

Martin Brits, 28, and Elliot Mhlambi, 41, both pleaded guilty to killing Dutch Reformed Church Rev Willem Brits, 60, in Harrismith, on the evening of Thursday, November 8 last year.

Brits’s future son-in-law Gerhard Vermeulen, 25, was also killed in the attack. His wife Dorothea, 59, was seriously wounded.

“The men pleaded guilty through… statements that were read in court,” said Sergeant Mmako Mophiring.

He said they could be sentenced sooner than expected because of the guilty plea.

“The trial is due to continue until next week Friday, but because of the plea a sentence could be handed down as early as Friday,” he said.

The men were expected to take the stand on Tuesday.

Brits faced two charges of murder, one of attempted murder and one of robbery. Mhlambi faced additional charges of possession of an unlicensed firearm and ammunition.

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Mossel Bay – A man was arrested in Uniondale on Monday for possession of dagga with an estimated street value of R2.6 million, Western Cape police said.

The dagga, weighing about 2.6 tons, was found concealed in 73 bags inside a Mercedes-Benz Sprinter, which was stopped and searched by the highway patrol on the road between Oudtshoorn and Uniondale, said Captain Malcolm Pojie.

He said the dagga was believed to have been destined for distribution in the Cape Peninsula.

The 49-year-old KwaZulu-Natal man would appear in the Uniondale Magistrate’s Court on Tuesday.

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Two teenage boys drowned in a quarry in Wolmaransstad, North West police said on Monday.

Four boys went swimming in the quarry near a dumping site on Sunday when two of them got into difficulties, said Sergeant Kealeboga Molale.

The two other boys managed to get out of the water and alerted police.

Andries Masilo and Adam Mpisa were certified dead on the scene.

An inquest docket had been opened. – Sapa