Cape Town – People wielding knobkerries and pangas disrupted an ANC meeting in Cape Town at the weekend, a Dullah Omar region official said on Monday.

The African National Congress was tipped-off that a group had been given alcohol and planned to disrupt the proceedings in Gugulethu on Saturday night, said regional secretary Vuyiso Tyhalisisu.

As a precaution, members were asked to stay inside the Baptist Church Hall in the Barcelona informal settlement, where registration was done.

“A bakkie full of drunk people arrived and stopped in front of the venue and jumped out. They started hitting people who had not heard the call to move inside,” Tyhalisisu said.

Four people were injured and were taken to a nearby hospital.

The meeting, which had to be cancelled, was part of the nomination process for next year’s provincial and national elections.

“Our suspicion is that there is a high level of desperation as this process is concluding,” Tyhalisisu said.

“The branch secretary indicated that those people are not from the ANC. Clearly, they are linked to some characters of the ANC. If they wanted to beat any people, why would they choose the ANC meeting?”

He said the provincial executive committee had agreed to investigate the attack.

Colonel Tembinkosi Kinana said a case of assault with intent to do grievous bodily harm had been opened.

He said the group fled in a white bakkie and no arrests had been made.

“The police can also not confirm at this stage if the incident was linked to the alleged ANC meeting which was taking place inside at the time,” he said.

– SAPA

Johannesburg – Police need more training to avoid the use of live ammunition when dispersing crowds, the Inkatha Freedom Party said on Tuesday.

“It is always said that police should not use live ammunition when they intervene in protests because they are likely to kill people,” IFP human settlements spokesperson Petros Sithole said in a statement.

“All police officers require more training in crowd dispersion techniques in order to avoid unnecessary deaths of innocent people.”

He was responding to the death of a 17-year-old woman during a service delivery protest in Cato Crest, near Durban, on Monday.

Colonel Jay Naicker said police were called to disperse protesting residents who were blocking a road.

The police could not get their vehicle through and used an alternative side road.

“About 500 people surrounded the vehicle. They started stoning the vehicle and broke all the windows. The suspects then tried to pull the police out of the vehicle,” Naicker said.

“They heard gunshots among the crowd. They fired shots into the crowd and the crowd dispersed… they used lived rounds. They definitely would have been killed by the crowd [otherwise].”

The police left the area and when they returned a while later they found a young woman had been shot. She died on the scene.

Mnikelo Ndabankulu, spokesperson for shack dweller movement Abahlali baseMjondolo, identified the woman as Nqobile Nzuzua, 17, from Maphumulo.

The Independent Police Investigative Directorate (Ipid) had opened a docket of public violence and one of murder.

Sithole said that the situation would not have arisen if the municipality had responded to residents requests for housing. “These people have been living in shacks for years with no development in their areas.

“The municipality should not wait for residents to lose their patience before they attend to their grievances.”

The IFP extended its condolences to Nzuzua’s family.

Sithole asked residents to remain calm and allow the Ipid to deal with the matter.

– SAPA

Johannesburg – The breakdown will be a key area when the Springboks take on the All Blacks in their Rugby Championship title decider at Ellis Park on Saturday, Springbok forward coach Johann van Graan said.

While the Springboks had improved tremendously in this area, the possible return of the All Blacks’ breakdown specialist and captain Richie McCaw would add another dimension to the battle.

“Both teams are very good at the breakdowns on attack and defence.

“After scrums, it is where the most penalties are conceded,” Van Graan said in Johannesburg on Tuesday.

“Any team in the world would like quick ball and, as we’ve shown this weekend, if we get quick ball we are a very dangerous team.”

Van Graan said the Boks’ improvements were down to a change in the way they approached the breakdown.

“We’ve made a change in mentality that all 23 players must be able to make the right decision at the breakdown,” he said.

“Even if you look at the weekend, when a guy like Gurthro (Steenkamp) and Jean (De Villiers) start stealing ball, that is where you want to be.”

He said the Boks managed to win eight turnovers in defence against the All Blacks in their previous Test in Auckland, and had also been good on their own ball.

“Attack-wise we had exactly 100 breakdowns on our ball and we managed to win 96 of those, so that is quite good but we want to aim for 100%,” Van Graan added.

He also emphasised the importance of discipline after their two previous matches had been severely affected by referees who dished out yellow cards.

The previous match between the two traditional foes was marred by controversial refereeing from Frenchman Romain Poite when he brandished two yellow cards to Springbok hooker Bismarck du Plessis.

Effectively, they played 50 minutes with only 14 men when Du Plessis was shown a red card in the 42nd minute.

Last weekend, Flip van der Merwe and Duane Vermeulen were also shown yellow cards, which had an adverse effect on their momentum against the Wallabies in Cape Town.

“The message is always the same.

“We want to keep improving on our discipline and as few penalties as possible.

“In the last three Tests, we conceded fewer penalties than our opposition.

“There were some incidents where we were unfortunate and some where we have got to take a hard look at ourselves.”

While Saturday’s Welsh referee Nigel Owens was a familiar face, Van Graan said they would still need to adapt to the way he controlled the game.

“We had Nigel for two matches last year – in Perth against Australia and England at Twickenham – so we know what he is about.

“He is one of the world’s best referees.

“Once you get onto the field, you can’t control anything.

“You just have to adapt and we have every confidence in him.”

He said the referee’s performance was also dependent on the way the teams approached the game.

“Both teams have shown that we like playing open, attacking rugby… it is easier for the referee, but I can assure you Saturday will be a dogfight.”
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Johannesburg – Forensic investigators from America will assist murder-accused paralympian Oscar Pistorius’s defence team with his trial, his spokesperson said on Tuesday.

 

“I can confirm that a team of forensic investigators from America will be working with the defence team,” spokesperson Anneliese Burgess said.

 

“It’s very standard practice to work with experts during the preparation of any trial.”

 

She said that the team arrived at Pistorius’s Pretoria home with his lawyers on Monday.

 

Burgess said they would not go into the details of the investigators’ work, and that she could not say any more.

 

Pistorius appeared briefly in the Pretoria Magistrate’s Court on 19 August for shooting his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp in his Pretoria home on 14 February.

At his bail hearing, Pistorius submitted that he thought Steenkamp was an intruder.

 

Along with murder, Pistorius was also charged with contravening the Firearms Control Act.

 

The trial was moved to the North Gauteng High Court and will run from 3 to 20 March. The indictment lists 107 witnesses to testify for the State.

 

SAPA

By TDN
Zeerust-The Congress of South African Trade Union is highly disappointed with the attitude of our government on the matter of e-tolling and the expensive toll gates.
Cosatu in the North West province said it is clear that the government, both national and provincial, respect the needs of the capitalists and those who are close to them.
“As the federation in the NW we have been raising the matter of the expensive toll gate since its inception but our fight, with memorandums submitted to both provincial government and the national minister has fallen on death ears. The former minister of transport agreed with the federation that the toll gate at Swartruggens is expensive, by not approving the increase in March during annual increase of all toll gates in the country” Cosatu North West spokesperson Solly Phetoe said.
Phetoe said he also agreed to establish a task team to look at the following three issues that were raised by the poor workers, with support of taxi industry: The state of the roads in the NW. The means and ways of looking to the expensive toll gate and what can be done to the demand of the workers for reducing of the toll gate. The alternative road for those who will not afford the toll payments.
“But it was not convened. We are disappointed that the new minister came and approved Sanral going ahead on the increase from R71 to R75 for small cars, thus highly demoralising our members, the public and the rest of motorists who have registered the same concerns as the federation about this expensive toll gate” he said.
“Now we see our president approving the implementation of the e-tolling system while we are still fighting against the implementation of the system on our national roads. We are asking many questions: is our government responding to the capitalists’ agenda or to the improvement of the transport system as it is facing the working class today. Our government must know that we will not rest until someone listens to our call on this expensive toll gate which is benefiting those who are close to Sanral and Bakwena” Cosatu sin doctor outlines.
Cosatu in the province said privatizing the roads, privatizing water, privatizing electricity is a clear capitalist agenda that will continue to demoralise poor communities and the rest of the working class.
“We are pleading with our national alliance to intervene against these criminals who are stealing from the poor by charging us R75 for small cars, and that while we are still waiting for a discussion with the minister of transport the R75 must be suspended”.
“We call on our president, the premier and the minister of transport to revisit their approval of Sanral increases. As the NW federation we are continue with our campaign on the N4 road as planned” he said.
Cosatu said in every after two weeks they will bar toll gate.
“We know that those who are celebrating are Sanral, Bakwena and their beneficiaries, while poor working class are in tears – TDN
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Rustenberg – While the Association of Mineworkers and Construction Union (Amcu) looks set to continue protesting against job cuts at Anglo Platinum (Amplats) [JSE:AMS], at least one worker is concerned about the no work, no pay policy.

Around 2 000 striking Amcu workers rallied on Monday at Amplats over the retrenchment of 3 300 workers.

Union leaders said the strike will continue on Tuesday.

“We are leaving for Johannesburg, they called us for a meeting, but the strike continues,” said Gaddafi Mdoda, a local union leader.

He said striking workers would meet again at the Thembelani shaft for a report on the meeting.

“We will give feedback tomorrow [Tuesday] on what happened in the meeting.”

“We hope the employer will reconsider the decision to retrench workers,” he said.

Thebe Maswabi, an Amcu branch chairperson, told Reuters: “If they do not meet us at least half way, the strike will continue.”

Now in its fourth day, the strike has hit production at the mining company, which is still reeling from labour unrest last year.

The company said it needs to drastically cut jobs to return to profit.

One of the workers, Amos Menzi, from the Eastern Cape, said it would be better if the strike was not prolonged because workers were losing money.

“I think we should be paid for the days we are on strike because the strike is protected. But now it is ‘no work, no pay’, meaning we are losing money on the days we are on strike.”

Police in armoured vehicles looked on as miners marched and waved sticks in a barren field near the company’s Thembelani Mine near the mining town of Rustenburg.

“It is not fair for the mine to retrench workers and hire contractors in their place. It is painful to see people you know being retrenched,” Paku Litau said.

“Some of us are from Lesotho and have been working in the mines for a very long time. This is the only job I can do. I do not think I will be able to do another job.”

He said he had been working as a rock drill operator since 1990.

“I have worked in various South African mines. I do not see retrenched workers doing well in other jobs; even though they could be trained their heart will be at the mine.”

The company announced in January that 14 000 jobs would be cut as part of its restructuring process.

“We have previously stated that the company is under tremendous economic pressure. Strikes and work stoppages will result in further losses that will hamper plans for future sustainability and further threaten the future of our 45 000 employees,” CEO Chris Griffith said in a statement.

He said the company would continue to talk with Amcu through established channels to try to bring the business to normality.

– Sapa, Reuters

Bloemfontein – The Democratic Alliance urged state power utility Eskom to reconsider the planned disconnection of bulk electricity supply to two Free State municipalities.

Free State DA leader Patricia Kopane said on Monday that Premier Ace Magashule and Eskom should immediately take steps to prevent cutting electricity to paying consumers.

“Premier Ace Magashule established a committee in September 2010 to address the non-payment of municipal accounts,” she said.

Eskom was a member of this committee.

Last week, Eskom published a notice that it was planning to disconnect electricity to the Maluti-A-Phofung municipality, which failed to settle a bill of more than R205m.

Some of the money was outstanding for more than 90 days.

Eskom planned to disconnect power to the municipality on 4 December 2013. Towns and municipal areas affected would be Harrismith, QwaQwa, Kestell, Tshiame, Phuthaditjhaba, Tsheseng, and Witsieshoek.

A similar notice was published for the Ngwathe municipality, which apparently owed more than R188m.

Towns and areas which would be affected by this notice were Edenville, Heilbron, Koppies, Parys, Phiritona, and Vredefort.

Eskom wants submissions on why it should not cut the power to Maluti-A-Phofung and Ngwathe respectively on 6 November and 8 November.

Kopane said due to the urgency of the matter Magashule and Eskom should attend to the issue without delay.

– SAPA

Durban – The trial of Joseph Ntshongwana, the former Blue Bulls player accused of killing four people with an axe, was postponed in the KwaZulu-Natal High Court on Monday after his legal representative failed to arrive at court.

Acting Judge Irfaan Khalil said he had received an e-mail informing him that Themba Mjoli could not make the case on Monday as he was himself an acting judge in a matter being heard in Pietermaritzburg.

Khalil said Mjoli’s failure to inform the court timeously of his ability to attend Ntshongwana’s trial caused “a great deal of inconvenience and prejudice” as well as “fruitless expenditure” that resulted from witnesses and attorneys arriving at court for a case that could not proceed.

Khalil said Mjoli would have to explain his “default” at not being in court on Monday.

The case was postponed to Tuesday.

Ntshongwana is charged with the murder of Thembelenkosini Cebekhulu in Montclair on 20 March 2011, Paulos Hlongwa two days later, Simon Ngidi the following day, and an unidentified man sometime that week.

All were hacked to death with an axe.

He is also accused of kidnapping and raping a woman on 28 November 2010, and of assault with intent to do grievous bodily harm.

He also faces two charges of attempted murder. He has pleaded not guilty.

The woman, who cannot be named, was kidnapped in central Durban and held captive for three days.

– SAPA

Johannesburg – Over 300 cases of corruption in schools have been reported in a survey via instant messaging service Mxit, Corruption Watch said on Monday.

Seven out of 10 respondents claimed school principals were responsible for misusing money or school property, spokesperson Patience Mkosana said.

Six out of 10 respondents said teachers were responsible for soliciting favours in exchange for better marks.

Consumer insights company Pondering Panda was commissioned to conduct a survey in August, using a sample of 3 284 people aged between 13 and 34.

The survey concluded that teachers were often responsible for selling exam and test papers to pupils.

“Half of the respondents were pupils at a school, or at Further Education and Training Colleges,” Mkosana said.

The rest of the respondents included teachers and school governing body members.

Comment from the education department could not immediately be obtained.

– Corruption Watch report.

– SAPA

Cape Town – The DA’s court application to compel government to hand over a report on the upgrade of President Jacob Zuma’s Nkandla homestead is “opportunistic and attention-seeking”, ANC Chief Whip Stone Sizani said on Monday.

“We have become accustomed to the DA’s tendency to undermine the constitutional functions of Parliament by constantly calling on the judiciary to interfere in matters before the institution,” Sizani said.

He was responding to news that Democratic Alliance parliamentary leader Lindiwe Mazibuko approached the Western Cape High Court on Monday for an order overturning Public Works Minister Thulas Nxesi’s decision to classify the report detailing the over R200m upgrade to Zuma’s private KwaZulu-Natal homestead.

The report was currently before Parliament’s joint standing committee on intelligence (JSCI).

“We are confident that the parliamentary committee’s work on this report will not be distracted by the DA’s shenanigans,” Sizani said.

Application

Earlier on Monday, Mazibuko said she went to court in her personal capacity and as leader of the opposition in Parliament.

“When the DA submitted a Promotion of Access to Information Act (Paia) application to obtain this report in an effort to make it public, minister Nxesi’s department gave no reply to our application,” Mazibuko said.

“In terms of the Paia, the application is thus deemed rejected as per section 28(1)(b).”

Nxesi rejected a subsequent appeal, saying it was premature as the report had already been sent to the JSCI. The JSCI meets behind closed doors.

“We have long held that the classification of the report is invalid, and constitutes yet another attempt to shield President Zuma from public accountability,” Mazibuko said.

She was asking the court to declare the rejection of the DA’s Paia application and appeal unlawful and invalid.

Should she succeed, Mazibuko wanted the so-called “Nkandlagate” report handed over within five days of a court order.

“Alternatively, that the court orders that the parts of the report pertaining to state security be severed and the report then be made public,” Mazibuko said.

– SAPA