Cape Town – The largest source of sand for the building industry in the Western Cape was attacked by arsonists shortly after 11pm last night.

Two diggers and one excavator sustained serious fire damage at the SSB sand mine in Macassar, off Baden Powell Drive. Metro fire fighters brought the blaze under control.
For more http://www.iol.co.za

WEARING a white rosary around his neck, a 19-year-old Woodlands man has told a judge he had no idea why he has been implicated in the rape and murder of a 14-year-old schoolgirl.

The teenager has been charged along with his 16-year-old brother and 22-year-old Kyrone Spalding.

They are being tried in the Pietermaritzburg High Court in connection with the July 2011 rape and murder of Nomathemba Xaba in the Mountain Rise Cemetery.
For more http://www.iokl.co.za

Criminals operating in Chatsworth’s Silverglen Nature Reserve have shot and wounded a police officer.

Warrant Officer Marlin Christopher Pillay, 39, was found wounded by his colleagues who were patrolling the area on Tuesday.

The police officer was believed to have stopped to search a man when he was attacked by three armed men, who fled, said a source close to the investigation.
For more http://www.iol.co.za

THE Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) in KwaZulu-Natal is again preparing to remove hundreds of people from the voters roll for two by-elections, in what is another major discovery of incidents of electoral fraud in the province.

An estimated 800 people are expected to be removed from the voters roll of by-elections scheduled for KwaMashu and Jozini respectively.
For more http://www.iol.co.za

A DURBAN faith healer, chided by a court for his “despicable” conduct in having sex with a woman who came to him for help, has been acquitted of rape.

Ahmed Rajab Mohomed walked out of the Durban Magistrate’s Court yesterday a free man after being found not guilty of raping a Phoenix mother who wanted him to rid her house of evil spirits
For more http://www.iol.co.za

Pretoria – There was enough evidence that former Nigerian Olympic athlete Ambrose Monye and his friend Andre Gouws had conspired to murder Chanelle Henning, the High Court in Pretoria heard on Wednesday.

Prosecutor Gerrie Nel asked the court to convict Monye and Gouws of conspiring to murder Henning.

Henning was gunned down in a drive-by shooting outside a Faerie Glen crèche in Pretoria on November 8, 2011.

The State submitted that the two had conspired with former policeman Gerhardus (Dup) du Plessis and Willem (Pike) Pieterse to murder Henning.

Du Plessis and Pieterse, who are self-confessed drug addicts, are serving 18-year prison sentences after confessing to killing Henning.

They implicated Monye and Gouws, who was friends with Henning’s husband Nico Henning, as the men behind the murder.

Monye was acquitted on another murder charge in the Pretoria Magistrate’s Court when Henning was shot.

He admitted introducing the two killers to Gouws, but said he knew nothing about the murder.

Gouws admitted watching Henning’s movements at her husband’s request, but said he wanted to see if he could catch her with drugs.

He denied arranging her murder.

Nel handed a detailed time line of events and comprehensive heads of argument to the court.

He argued that the court should accept the evidence of Du Plessis and Pieterse as their versions had been consistent and was corroborated by cellphone detail billing and video footage.

Their versions that there were meetings on particular days and at specific places were later confirmed by the accused themselves.

Nel described Monye and Gouws as two of the worst witnesses he had ever met.

“They were deceitful, had tailored their versions and their versions were in addition not only improbable but also factually impossible,” said Nel.

“This is… one of the rare cases where the State could argue that a conviction should follow on the strength of the State case even if the accused’s version, evaluated in isolation could be argued to be reasonable possible.”

Nel said Du Plessis and Pieterse accepted that they had committed an atrocious crime and that murdering a woman they had never met was senseless.

The two were willing to face the accused and never contradicted themselves, Nel said.

In contrast, Gouws sat back in the witness box with stretched arms.

He answered questions confidently at first but slowly regressed as he tried to hide behind a childhood injury that purportedly affected his memory.

Nel said Gouws had even relied on the Bible to convince the court that he was telling the truth, but was nevertheless a dismal witness.

He argued that only Nico Henning could have disclosed the home, work and crèche addresses and only his friend Gouws could have provided detail about the deceased to Monye and the two killers.

The victim initiated custody proceedings shortly before she was killed and with her out of the way, there was at least one less role player in the custody battle, Nel argued.

He said Gouws had avoided contact with Nico on the day after the murder, but could however not resist to “congratulate” his friend and to tell him he was proud of him that evening – this after Nico thought he had done well in a lie detector test.

Matthew Klein, for Monye, and Daan Mostert, for Gouws, both argued that the court should be careful of relying on the evidence of self-confessed drug addicts, murders, thieves and co-perpetrators.

Klein said the State’s case was based on circumstantial evidence and one could not merely infer that the State had proved its case against his client beyond reasonable doubt.

Mostert argued that the killers had been in possession of the murder weapon long before they met Gouws and that Gouws’ version that he had never discussed anything with the two was reasonably possibly true.

Judgment would be delivered on November 25. – Sapa

The ANC in the Frances Baard region in Kimberley takes seriously allegations of bribes being paid in exchange for houses, the party said on Wednesday.

“We hold a strong view that the provision of housing, water, electricity and other basic amenities to our communities is our revolutionary duty,” African National Congress spokesman Ali Diteme said in a statement.

“We also hold a strong view that the elected public representatives and government officials have got a responsibility to ensure that the deserving beneficiaries are prioritised when houses get allocated to the communities.”

Diteme said the allegations that people were paying bribes for houses in Leratong Park were reported in the Diamond Fields Advertiser.

He said the ANC was commissioning its own investigation into the allegations.

The ANC in the region believed that the “first come, first served” principle had to apply, and that people could not by-pass the beneficiaries list.

Diteme called on community leaders to exercise restraint and caution.

“(They must) provide leadership and rise above petty squabbles, when dealing with sensitive and emotional matters such as housing.

“… We will deploy our team to work hand-in-hand with all the stakeholders, including the team from the municipality and the provincial government to quell the situation and address the problems of Leratong Park once and for all,” he said. – Sapa

Durban – The uncle of a man accused of trafficking girls knew that his nephew kept them at a Durban hotel, the Durban Regional Court was told on Wednesday.

“I knew that Sandile had young girls kept at 20 Fisher Street,” Bhekuyise Petros Mbhele told the court.

He was testifying in the trial of his nephew Sandile Patrick Zweni and four others on an assortment of charges including human trafficking, racketeering and keeping a brothel.

He and his co-accused Dr Genchen Rugnath, his wife Ravina, Nonduzo Dlamini, 24, and Bhabha Dubazini have pleaded not guilty to the 156 charges.

Rugnath owns the Inn Town Lodge, where some of the alleged offences took place.

The testimony of Mbhele, who operated a taxi for Zweni, follows that of a young 18-year-old girl.

She testified on Tuesday that she was held against her will by Zweni until she was addicted to crack cocaine, and then prostituted herself to buy drugs from him.

Mbhele made his admission under cross-examination, after Rugnath’s lawyer questioned him about his statement to the police.

Mbhele said he knew about the girls at Fisher Street because that was where he would collect his taxi from Zweni.

He also collected the taxi and petrol money from Zweni at a number of other locations.

From 2007, the location was the Inn Town Lodge, owned by Rugnath.

He said did not see Rugnath at the lodge, but recalled seeing his wife arrive there with plumbers on an occasion in 2011.

During the Rugnaths’ bail application, Ravina Rugnath said in a statement that she was a housewife and had nothing to do with the hotel.

– SAPA

Pretoria – It will be legally appropriate for the national director of public prosecutions (NDPP) to handle a review of the Richard Mdluli case, the North Gauteng High Court in Pretoria heard on Wednesday.

Advocate Laurance Hodes, representing the NDPP, argued that reviewing the Mdluli saga should not be up to the court.

“There can be no doubt that a decision to provisionally withdraw, or to finally withdraw a decision [to prosecute] falls within the powers that are ascribed to the NDPP,” he said.

“In the absence of an approach through the NDPP for a review… there cannot be an approach to a court to intervene,” said Hodes.

Citing several legal experts’ commentaries on the Criminal Procedure Act, Hodes said organisations did not have the right to compel the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) to prosecute.

“Who has the right to compel the NPA to act? It is a fair question, because the act answers that. It says an interested party has to be an individual, so it does not have to be an organisation?

“Who has the power to withdraw a charge? The answer is anybody in the NPA, and it is not circumscribed,” said Hodes.

Judge John Murphy adjourned the matter to Thursday, when Hodes will resume his submissions.

The lobby group, Freedom Under Law (FUL), brought an application for a review and setting aside of the decision to withdraw criminal and disciplinary charges against the controversial former police crime intelligence head.

Mdluli was suspended amid charges of fraud and corruption, and charges relating to the murder of his ex-lover’s husband.

An inquest cleared him of any involvement in the murder. The charges of fraud and corruption were also later withdrawn.

He was reinstated, but was again suspended in 2012 pending the court application to review the withdrawal of the criminal and disciplinary charges against him.

18 charges

The court heard on Wednesday that, with regard to the case involving his ex-lover’s husband, Mdluli had faced 18 charges including assault, kidnapping and intimidation.

Advocate Vincent Maleka, representing FUL, told the court NPA specialised commercial crimes unit head Lawrence Mrwebi did not have the power to drop the charges against Mdluli.

He said only the NDPP could legitimately review the prosecution.

Maleka quoted from transcripts of the disciplinary hearing of NPA prosecutor Glynnis Breytenbach, suggesting that Mrwebi had also not properly consulted his colleagues about the charges against her.

“When Mrwebi consulted [advocate Sibongile] Mzinyathi, he had already made up his mind [about dropping the charges against Mdluli],” said Maleka.

Mzinyathi is the director of public prosecutions in Pretoria.

The withdrawal of charges against Mdluli was done without the “meaningful consultation as prescribed in law”, said Maleka.

On Wednesday morning, Murphy allowed news crews to film the court proceedings.

“We all agree this is a matter of great public concern. There will be no objection from us [to the filming of the proceedings],” said Maleka.

Representatives of the police and the NPA also did not object.

– SAPA

Mbombela – Three men accused of shooting dead an Mpumalanga mineworker three years ago were tortured into confessing to the crime, the Nelspruit Circuit of the North Gauteng High Court in Pretoria heard on Wednesday.

Isaac Sebokuboku Phala, 29, Calvin Tjatji, 24, and Tshepo Seloane, 24, pleaded not guilty to charges of murder, armed robbery with aggravating circumstances and possession of an unlicensed firearm and ammunition when they appeared in court, a Sapa correspondent reported.

They are accused of murdering Madingwana Max Matlou, 43, and robbing him of his Samsung cellphone in Mashishing on 22 August 2010. The cellphone was later sold to Cash Crusaders in Emalahleni.

During a trial-within-a-trial on Wednesday, Justice Mogotsi, for Phala, told the court his client would testify that Constable Ernest Vuma Mgwambi, Warrant Officer Johannes Thomas Motau and two captains forced him to make a confession.

“My client will testify that his head was covered with a plastic tube and pepper spray was used to make him suffocate. He said they forced him to produce the murder weapon,” Mogotsi said.

He said Phala was charged only once his wounds had healed.

King William Manzini, for Tjatji, told the court his client would also testify he was assaulted and forced to do a pointing out at the crime scene.

“My client said his constitutional rights were not read to him. On 4 June 2011, he was assaulted and was only taken to a doctor for a check up three weeks after the beating.”

Madala Simpson Mulaudzi, for Seloane, said his client was fetched from Tubatse police station and was taken to the Leboeng police station on 6 June 2011.

“My client said he was taken to a bridge at the exit of Tubatse. He was then taken to a veld, where he was handcuffed with his hands in the back and on his legs.”

“After a plastic tube was put over his head, they used pepper spray to make him suffocate. He will testify that he was sjambokked severely on his back and sustained serious injuries.”

Seloane was taken to Leboeng police station where he was introduced to Tjatji, said Mulaudzi.

“He will testify he was told to go to a magistrate and make a confession… He will also testify that he was told the injuries were inflicted by his parents when they beat him up.”

“He said he was told by Mgwambi that if he reported the assault, he would shoot him dead.

“He said when he went to the magistrate he reported he had been assaulted. That was when the magistrate cancelled the interview. He claimed he was only taken to a doctor on 9 June.”

Crime scene

The defence lawyers said their clients would testify that Mgwambi drove them to the crime scene and asked them to return with other police officers to do the pointing out.

When Mgwambi took the stand, he testified that he was the investigating officer in the case and that no assault had taken place.

“No assault took place against the three suspects. The reason why we drove to the crime scene is that it is the only road from point A to point B. There is no alternative road.”

Motau, who also took the stand, denied that the three men were assaulted or forced to make confession.

“I was with the investigation officer, Constable Mgwambi, during the entire investigation. All the suspects co-operated with police and they voluntarily chose to make the statements.”

Judge Mmonoa Teffo postponed the trial to Thursday.

– SAPA