Cape Town – Police have paid out more than R200 million to settle civil claims in the past financial year, Parliament heard yesterday.

National police commissioner General Riah Phiyega also conceded that the police’s image was in tatters and in need of fixing, following cases that made international headlines – like the Marikana massacre and the alleged murder of Mozambican taxi driver Mido Macia by police last year.
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Durban – The skeletal remains of an iLembe District Municipality official have been found two months after the woman was reported missing.

The police search and rescue unit found the body at the bottom of a 300m cliff in dense bushes in Ndwedwe, on the KwaZulu-Natal North Coast.

A man known to the woman who lived in Morningside, Durban, handed himself over to police on Friday in connection with her disappearance.
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Pretoria – One of four men arrested and charged with the murder of Maj-Gen Tirhani Maswanganyi worked closely with the police, the Pretoria North Magistrate’s Court heard on Wednesday.

Roger Godfrey Moseki, an employee of the SA National Defence Force, told the court he had helped in many police investigations and would frequently be paid for this.
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Potchefstroom – Residents of Tlokwe’s Ward 26 threw their weight behind independent candidate Butiki “Stone” Mahlabe on Wednesday and lambasted the lack of development in the area.

“I have been living here for 18 years and the ANC has only built me a toilet,” said resident Mary Setona.

She said she had voted in every election, but had nothing to show for it.

She did not have a house, but her neighbours did. The Tlokwe municipality had told her there was no money to build her a house.

“I went to the department of housing in Pretoria, where I was told that on the system it showed a house had been built in my yard,” she said.

Setona said that she had decided to vote for Mahlabe because of the “negligence and corruption” of the African National Congress.

She said Mahlabe understood the people’s needs and would respond to their calls at any time, which ANC candidate Oupa Mogoshane would not.

“Stone would risk his life just to be able to help us, and this is why we vote for Stone,” said Setona.

Mahlabe was one of 14 councillors expelled by the ANC in July after its provincial disciplinary committee found them guilty of misconduct for participating in a motion of no confidence against Tlokwe mayor Maphetle Maphetle.

Maphetle was replaced by Democratic Alliance councillor Annette Combrink.

The ANC’s national disciplinary committee later overturned the expulsions.

Despite this, eight of the councillors registered as independent candidates for the by-elections.

Philemon Alwin, another resident, echoed Setona’s sentiments.

He said it appeared as if the government believed toilets were more important than shelter for the people.

“No one in the community is happy about that,” he said.

He said Mahlabe worked well with residents and had confidence in his abilities to lead and to bring change to the area.

Earlier, ANC spokesman, Jackson Mthembu said the party was not worried about Mahlabe and expected to win the by-elections.

He said the people of Tlokwe were aware of what the ANC had done for them and that the party had a track record of service delivery.

Sapa

Bloemfontein – A former Free State teacher, one of several men accused of being part of a child porn syndicate, appeared in the Bloemfontein Magistrate’s Court on Wednesday.

The case against the man was postponed for further investigation to 28 October.

In August, five other men, including another teacher and a retired school principal, appeared in various South African courts.

Police were following up a tip-off from Interpol on 15 August when it arrested the six men in four provinces for possession of child pornography. They were arrested in Lichtenburg, Potchefstroom, Bloemfontein, White River, Douglasdale, and Florida.

A lawyer, a dermatologist, and a businessman are among the six. All are suspected of involvement in an international child pornography syndicate, police said at the time.

Police were investigating whether the six were involved in distribution and manufacturing child pornography, and if they were linked to an international syndicate.

Investigators raided several homes in various provinces in August. Among the items seized were 672 dvds, 22 memory sticks, eight laptops, two computer tablets, 39 external hard drives, and 25 books containing explicit photos.

It was reported the case had links to Canada, the United Kingdom, the United States, western Europe, and Australasia.

– SAPA

Pretoria – Two police officers accused of stealing from a crime intelligence fund appeared in the Pretoria Magistrate’s Court on Wednesday.

The matter was postponed to 12 November for the State to respond to the defence’s request for further particulars.

The two officers are crime intelligence unit chief financial officer Major General Solly Lazarus and the unit’s head of logistics Colonel Hein Barnard.

Both have been suspended and charged with theft, fraud, and corruption.

This was initially said to involve R1.1m, but on 17 July the amount they were accused of stealing was reduced to R370 000.

Prosecutor Gerrie Nel said on Wednesday an application by the defence for further particulars was received on Tuesday.

He said it was an attempt to get a postponement and to blame the State for not providing certain details.

‘Special account’

The defence said some of the requested information related to a “special account” used by the policemen.

It argued that the complete details of the account needed to be provided, including all transactions and creations.

Lazarus and Barnard were granted bail of R10 000 each in December.

In 2011, the unit’s former head Richard Mdluli was also charged with fraud and corruption following alleged misuse of the unit’s funds.

Mdluli allegedly used the money to purchase luxury vehicles.

The charges against him were later withdrawn.

– SAPA

Potchefstroom – Tensions were simmering on Wednesday in Tlokwe’s wards 26 and 18, where the ANC was facing off with two of its former councillors in by-elections.

“The tension is understandable,” African National Congress spokesperson Jackson Mthembu said outside a voting station at St Augustine’s Anglican Church in ward 26.

“We’re going for the same constituency. We going for the same people who voted for them in 2011 when they were ANC members,” he said.

A police Nyala and a police van were parked outside the voting station.

The ward is being contested by ANC candidate Oupa Mogoshane and independent candidate Butiki “Stone” Mahlabe, who was an ANC councillor in the area for 12 years.

Expulsions overturned

Mahlabe was one of 14 councillors expelled by the ANC in July after its provincial disciplinary committee found them guilty on four counts of misconduct for participating in a motion of no confidence in Tlokwe mayor Maphetle Maphetle.

Maphetle was replaced by Democratic Alliance councillor Annette Combrink.

The ANC’s national disciplinary committee later overturned the expulsions.

Despite this, eight of the councillors registered as independent candidates for the by-elections.

Mthembu said the ANC was not threatened by Mahlabe and was confident residents would vote for the party.

“The people of Tlokwe know in their hearts what the ANC has done for them. We come with a track record of having improved their lives.”

He said the independent candidates wanted to “grab this electorate” for themselves, but they would not succeed.

Jesus on the donkey

Mthembu made reference to the story of Jesus riding into Jerusalem on a donkey. The roads were beautifully decorated, but when the donkey returned alone the roads were not decorated and it was beaten.

“We hope the same will happen here,” he said.

Residents supporting Mahlabe walked around in red T-shirts with his photo printed on them.

Resident Philemon Alwin said the community had decided to group itself and elect Mahlabe as its leader to take its grievances to the Tlokwe council.

“We are taking him back because when he was councillor he would give us feedback and we were happy with the work he was doing,” Alwin said, speaking in Setswana.

“We were not happy when he was kicked out [of the ANC] because it was not what we wanted.”

‘ANC only does things when it is elections’

He said he would go back to the ANC only once it had sorted out issues affecting the party.

“The ANC only does things for people when it is elections,” said Alwin.

Ward 26 is the biggest area being contested, with 5 677 registered voters.

By-elections were meant to be held in nine Tlokwe wards, but the Electoral Court in Bloemfontein ordered on Tuesday night that five of the by-elections be postponed.

This was after the court heard an application by five independent candidates who were disqualified from taking part in the by-elections by the Independent Electoral Commission.

A sixth by-election, in ward 13, was earlier postponed after an out-of-court settlement.

– SAPA

Cape Town – A Namibian man, who killed two police constables in Cape Town, has shown no remorse and must be sentenced to life in prison, the Western Cape High Court heard on Wednesday.

Samantha Raphaels, for the State, said Fabianus Fillipus had not shown the court any reason to deviate from the minimum sentence of life prescribed for killing a police officer on or off duty.

“What makes this case unusual is that nothing was taken from the officers, no firearms or nothing,” she told the court in argument in aggravation of sentence.

“It is clear that the accused was purely there to shoot and kill. There was a direct intention to kill those officers.”

She asked the court to impose two life sentences for the murders, and five-year sentences for illegal possession of a firearm and ammunition.

Fillipus, 29, was convicted last week of murdering constables Pindiwe Nikani, 26, and Mandisi Nduku, 27.

The constables were shot dead while on duty at Imizamo Yethu, in Hout Bay, last October.

Nikani died on the scene and Nduku, who was seriously wounded, died later in hospital.

Raphaels said both officers were killed “execution style”, and submitted that this was an aggravating factor.

“From July [2013] ’til today, seven police officers have been killed in the Western Cape alone… it has become almost an epidemic where criminals seek to take out those who are meant to protect the community,” she said.

Accused was ‘emotionless’

Relatives of the policemen and off-duty police officers packed the courtroom.

Fillipus, sporting an ivory cross with a striped jersey and jeans, was emotionless and stared straight ahead of him.

Nikani’s husband Simon Mkwani testified in aggravation of sentence.

He told the court his mother was looking after their 2-year-old daughter, even though she was in poor health.

He thanked the police for securing a conviction, but said this would not bring back his old life.

“I’m left alone with no woman because of one man who took her life and her colleague’s life as well,” he said.

Fillipus’s lawyer Rael Kassel said the killings were not premeditated.

– SAPA

Johannesburg – Residents of Bekkersdal, in the Westonaria municipality, have taken to the streets in demand of better service delivery, police said on Wednesday.

Eighteen people were arrested on Tuesday when some residents forced others to join in the protest, police spokesperson Evelyn Matabane said.

Eleven were arrested for public violence and seven for looting shops belonging to foreigners.

Protesters blockaded major roads within the township with rocks and burning tyres.

They called for the resignation of some councillors and employees of the municipality.

“People are still protesting today [Wednesday]; they want officials from the municipality to come address them and hand over their memorandum of grievances,” said Matabane.

Police would remain on high alert until the situation calmed down.

Those arrested were expected to appear in court soon.

– SAPA

Potchefstroom – The DA is confident it will win the Ward Six by-election in Tlokwe on Wednesday.

“Under the previous councillor, which was an ANC member, very little was done, little public meetings and public participation,” Democratic Alliance candidate for the ward Johann Coetzee said outside a voting station at the North West health department.

“We believe the people of this ward deserve better and we can give them that.”

Coetzee said the previous councillor, Lorraine Phakedi, had failed the community when it came to basic services such as road markings and addressing the people’s needs.

14 councillors expelled

The only time she had stood up and done something, by trying to fight corruption, she was fired, he said.

Phakedi was one of 14 councillors expelled by the ANC in July after its provincial disciplinary committee found them guilty on four counts of misconduct for participating in a motion of no confidence against the then Tlokwe mayor Maphetle Maphetle.

Maphetle was replaced by DA councillor Annette Combrink.

The ANC’s national disciplinary committee later overturned the expulsions.

Despite this, eight of the councillors have registered as independent candidates for the by-elections.

No independent candidate is contesting Ward Six.

The ward is being contested by Coetzee for the DA, Japhta Monaisa for the ANC and Lesego Malepe for the Azanian People’s Organisation.

Some by-elections postponed

Coetzee said the DA had worked hard campaigning and doing door-to-door visits in the area ahead of the elections.

“People on the ground want a government that can speak to them and we believe we are in the best position to do that.”

By-elections were to have been held in nine Tlokwe wards on Wednesday, however the Electoral Court in Bloemfontein ordered on Tuesday evening that five of them be postponed.

This followed an application by five independent candidates who were disqualified from taking part in the by-elections by the Independent Electoral Commission.

A sixth by-election, in Ward 13, was earlier postponed after an out-of-court settlement.

SAPA