The Democratic Alliance (DA) in the Eastern Cape says it is alarmed by the number of serious crimes committed by police officers. This after it has been revealed in parliament that the province has the highest number of multiple offending cops in the country. Close to 1,500 cops country wide have criminal records. A total of 264 police officers in the Eastern Cape have criminal records and another 474 have pending cases against them. The DA’s Bobby Stevenson says the situation is unacceptable. – ewn.co.za

The North West ANC’s provincial executive committee (PEC) is discussing its position on 14 formerly expelled Tlokwe councillors ahead of by-elections next month, ANC deputy secretary general Jessie Duarte said on Monday.

“There is a by-election on the 18th September. Today (Monday) the PEC… is discussing how to treat the councillors who were expelled and those who have been identified by the community,” she told reporters in Johannesburg.

“(This is) … because we still go back to the community and say ‘who is going to be your councillor?’.”

Duarte said the by-elections were being discussed by the appropriate structures of the African National Congress.”

She said the party was confident it would be able to “bring back” the North West to a “solid ANC”.

“Clearly there are issues around the mayor of Tlokwe and the ANC’s processes will be in place to deal with those issues,” she said.

“There have been mistakes made on all sides… and what we are trying to do is to find a way forward that will not only appease people but is the right thing to do.”

The ANC’s national disciplinary committee (NDC) said on Saturday it had overturned the expulsion of the 14 councillors.

The PEC had only charged the councillors who voted in a motion of no confidence against Tlokwe mayor Maphetle Maphetle seven months after the date of the alleged misconduct, committee chairman Derek Hanekom said in a statement.

It should have been done within three months.

In July, the 14 councillors were found guilty on four counts of misconduct by the provincial disciplinary committee (PDC) and expelled from the party.

The councillors were charged for participating in a motion of no confidence against Maphetle in November last year which resulted in the mayor being replaced by Democratic Alliance councillor Annette Combrink.

Maphetle was returned as mayor in February, when he won by 31 votes to Combrink’s 21.

In July, ANC factions in the municipality passed a second motion of no confidence in Maphetle.

He was again replaced by Combrink – the first DA mayor in the province.

Maphetle lodged an application in the High Court in Pretoria to nullify the council meeting at which he was unseated. The application was dismissed by the court.

Sapa

Nelspruit – The fraud trial of Mpumalanga community safety department head Thulani Sibuyi and a co-accused was postponed on Monday in the Nelspruit Regional Court.

According to a Sapa correspondent, the court heard that Sibuyi’s lawyer was out of the country.

The matter was postponed to November 13 to allow Sibuyi’s lawyer to be part of the proceedings and for the prosecution team to disclose the docket to the defence.

Sibuyi, 37, faces fraud charges amounting to more than R140 million and his co-accused Vusi Mashaba, 41, faces fraud, forgery, and uttering charges.

The two men were not asked to plead during their appearance.

Earlier in August, Sibuyi and Mashaba handed themselves over to the Nelspruit police after a warrant of arrest was issued against them.

According to the State, Mashaba submitted a fraudulent tax clearance on his own behalf and on behalf of his company, GNT security, which is alleged to have illegally benefited from payments of R4 million a month for three years.

Prosecutor Patrick Nkuna previously told the court that the fraudulent document helped Mashaba’s company win a bid on a tender meant to provide security in the Msukaligwa local municipality area.

He said Sibuyi, as an accounting officer, had failed to stop the appointment, and verify the tax clearance, which led to the department entering a three-year contract with GNT security.

The two accused are both out on R50 000 bail.

Sibuyi remains at work while his case is in court.

Provincial director general Nonhlanhla Mkhize said she would not suspend Sibuyi from work as he had been told not to interfere with witnesses while he was out on bail.

Sapa

Cape Town – Children as young as 14, 15 and 16 were being arrested on charges of murder, attempted murder and the unlawful possession of firearms in the city’s gang hot spots.

Police have expressed concern at the growing number of children becoming involved in gang violence.

Since the beginning of the year, police have arrested three 16-year-olds on charges of murder.

Three 17-year-olds and one 15-year-old have been arrested for attempted murder
For more http://www.iol.co.za

Durban – The government is failing to meet its own employment equity targets and implement its own legislation, says the Commission for Gender Equity.

In KwaZulu-Natal, three private sector and five public sector entities have been called to account for the slow pace of gender transformation and the inadequate promotion of women with disabilities, according to its findings.
For more http://www.iol.co.za

Pietermaritzburg – Environmental factors did not cause the deaths of people in a KwaZulu-Natal Road Traffic Inspectorate (RTI) fitness test, an inquiry heard on Monday.

Cape Town University expert Timothy Noakes said if environmental factors were lethal, thousands of people would have died.

“The rule is that humans can exercise under hot conditions. Here we are dealing with the exception and not the rule,” he said.

He was testifying in Pietermaritzburg before a commission of inquiry into the deaths of eight job applications who took part in a four kilometre run, which was part of an RTI fitness test, at the Harry Gwala Stadium last December.

More than 35 000 people had qualified to apply for 90 advertised RTI trainee posts. Of these, 15 600 attended a fitness test on December 27, and a similar number on December 28.

Weather conditions on the first day were about 30 degrees Celsius with 60 percent humidity, and on the second day about 27.2 degrees Celsius with a humidity of about 50 percent.

Noakes said humans had a massive capacity to exercise in heat.

A healthy person should not develop heat stroke when exercising in heat unless there were other factors, such as drugs, chronic illness, genetic predispositions, and food eaten before the run.

“When something goes wrong there is a catastrophe in the system,” he said.

Noakes said the brain warned the body to slow down when exercising in excessive heat.

The inquiry heard that 46 people were hospitalised and about 300 people were treated at the stadium during the fitness test.

Noakes said people with suspected heat stroke should be cooled in ice cold water to decrease their body temperature.

Bongiwe Mbatha, who was a participant, was diagnosed with heat stroke and was cooled with a cold, wet sheet.

Noakes said the cooling of heat stroke patients was not widely practised by medical practitioners in South Africa.

Ntuthuko Sibisi was also diagnosed with heat stroke and renal failure. He was treated with seven litres of fluid.

Noakes said renal dialysis was needed for treatment and his body should have been cooled.

He attributed Sibisi’s death to a respiratory cardiac arrest secondary to fluid overload.

Noakes’ evidence continues on Tuesday.

Sapa

Johannesburg – Four suspected rhino poachers were shot dead in the Kruger National Park at the weekend.

Rangers in the park made contact with a group of six suspected rhino horn poachers on Saturday, SanParks spokesman Ike Phaahla said on Monday.

“A shoot-out ensued between the suspected poachers and the rangers; three of the alleged poachers were killed and the other three were arrested,” said Phaahla.

Phaahla said two rifles, ammunition and rhino poaching equipment were recovered.

Another suspected rhino horn poacher was shot and killed by rangers in Crocodile Bridge in Mpumalanga on Saturday.

Limpopo police spokesman Brigadier Hangwani Mulaudzi said police also arrested four suspected rhino poachers on Sunday at Hoedspruit.

“Police found the alleged poachers in possession of a hunting rifle, firearm silencer and ammunition,” said Hangwani.

The four men aged between 33 and 46 will appear in the Phalaborwa Magistrate’s Court on Tuesday on charges of illegal possession of a firearm and ammunition and charges under the National Environmental Biodiversity Act which includes conspiracy to poach rhino.

The court date for the first three arrested was not available.

Sapa

Johannesburg – Steps are being taken to reduce the number of medical negligence cases involving pregnant women and newborn babies, the Gauteng health department said on Monday.

“Negligence cases are taken seriously and disciplinary processes are followed where necessary,” said spokesman Simon Zwane in a statement.

“Last year, 34 staff members in the province were disciplined in relation to medical negligence.”

In the 2012/2013 financial year, 188 doctors and 203 nurses were trained to manage obstetric emergencies and nurses were trained to use early warning charts.

Zwane said the department had also prioritised purchasing equipment for all hospitals.

“Last year, cardiotocography and foetal monitors were purchased.”

Zwane said 120 nurses were trained in midwifery and 79 were trained in advanced midwifery and neonatology last year.

“The training of nurses on neonatal resuscitation was also carried out to improve the survival of babies and prevent injuries,” he said.

“There is ongoing training in all facilities to improve attitudes and communication between staff and patients,” Zwane said.

Sapa

Pretoria – A bid to challenge Minister Lulu Xingwana’s nod for Nelspruit to be renamed Mbombela was delayed on Monday.

The matter was not heard in the High Court in Pretoria because of a scheduling error.

“It was a scheduling issue that was totally out of our control, none of the parties (in the case) were involved,” said Lowveld Chamber of Business and Tourism (LCBT) financial manager Linda Grimbeek.

“It’s so frustrating and disappointing. The case took two years to get to the high court. We were hoping to have this whole thing done. Our advocate has applied for a new date.”

The decision to take the matter to court was made in June.

The court has the power to change Xingwana’s decision was made while she was the Minister of Arts and Culture.

Her decision was taken in 2009 and was published in a government gazette that year.

“Only a high court can change something that was gazetted,” Grimbeek said.

A Sapa correspondent reported that the LCBT, which was opposed to the name change, had managed to raise R450,000 to take the matter to court.

They needed R50 000 more.

“We are awaiting pledges…, which should be sufficient to cover the full amount. Raising the extra money is not an issue,” she said.

Nelspruit’s name was officially changed to Mbombela on October 16, 2009.

“Even though the name change was approved, the implementation process has not yet been started because of the confusing proclamation of whether the city must be called Mbombela City or Mbombela,” Grimbeek said.

“Then there are the legal proceedings that we have undertaken. All of these have blocked the process of implementing the name change.”

Grimbeek said the Mbombela local municipality was already too indebted and probably could not raise the R450 million needed to change street names, and websites, among other features.

National department of arts and culture spokesman Mack Lewele said the matter would be dealt with in court.

The provincial culture, sport and recreation department, the umbrella body for the Provincial Geographical Names Committee, said it would await the court’s judgment.

“We will await the outcome of the court case and will thereafter act in accordance with the judgment,” said department spokeswoman Sibongile Nkosi.

According to the SA Geographical Names Council and the department of arts and culture, more than 849 place names were changed in South Africa between 1996 and 2010.

Sapa

Polokwane – Roads Agency Limpopo (RAL) has appointed a private firm to help speed up payment of R70 million it owes to service providers, the province said on Monday.

“The (RAL) board assured that the appointed firm will take at most three weeks to verify invoices,” provincial transport spokesman Joshua Kwapa said.

The department declined to mention the name of the company.

The firm was appointed after contractors complained to transport MEC Lehlohonolo Masoga about RAL’s slow pace of processing payments.

Kwapa said all “legitimate invoices” would be paid within a month.

“This challenge has resulted in contractors, the majority of which are SMMEs (small, medium, and micro-enterprises), struggling to survive because of non-payment,” he said.

“The MEC also instructed the (RAL) board that where approval is needed it should be obtained without delay, even if it means the board meets every weekend.”

RAL falls under the transport department and is tasked with implementing road maintenance and upgrades in Limpopo’s five districts.

Sapa