Mbombela – 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 13 November to allow Sibuyi’s lawyer to be part of the proceedings and for the prosecution team to disclose the docket to the defence.

Charges

Sibuyi, 37, faces fraud charges amounting to more than R140m 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 Mbombela 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 R4m 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

Pretoria – Public Protector Thuli Madonsela has recommended that Parliament consider taking action against Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) chairperson Pansy Tlakula.

Tlakula had a “grossly irregular” role in the procurement of the Riverside Office Park building in Centurion for the IEC’s head office, the protector said in Pretoria on Monday.

In a probe into the matter, Madonsela found improper conduct and maladministration on Tlakula’s part, and a conflict of interest involving a co-director, with whom she was accused of being romantically involved.

“The Speaker of Parliament… [should] consider whether action should be taken against advocate Tlakula for her role in the procurement… in light of the undisclosed and unmanaged conflict of interest and her contravention of the procurement laws and prescripts…,” Madonsela’s report stated.

She recommended that the IEC review its agreement with Abland, which was awarded the contract to lease the Riverside Office Park building.

Tlakula is accused of having a romantic relationship with Parliament’s finance portfolio committee chairperson Thaba Mufamadi, who owns a 20% stake in Abland by virtue of their co-directorship in Lehotsa Investments.

Allegations about their romantic involvement were not investigated as there was no “tangible” evidence.

The whistle-blower employee denied the allegation when interviewed by the protector’s office.

But, Madonsela found that Tlakula had failed to disclose her business relationship with Mufamadi to the bidding team, which compromised her independence and objectivity.

“Tlakula was highly involved in initiation, evaluation and adjudication of the bids for the procurement of the building,” said Madonsela.

“The ideal way that Advocate Tlakula could have mitigated and managed this conflict was through declaration of the relationship and recusal from the procurement process.”

Tlakula was investigated after United Democratic Movement (UDM) leader Bantu Holomisa alleged irregularities in the procurement of the new building, the validity of lease agreements, and various payments to Abland.

Findings

Madonsela found that advance payments amounting to R1 653 215.46 were made by the IEC to Abland for the office premises, in contravention of the contract between Abland and the IEC, which required the procurement be subjected to an open market.

The protector also found that over R6m was paid for the IEC’s old offices that stood empty between October 2010 and July 2011.

But the amount was refunded to the IEC, without interest.

The financial loss to the commission in terms of interest was because there was no termination clause in the lease agreement.

Madonsela described this as a “haphazard handling” and “possibly reckless use of public funds”.

She found no evidence of an “irregular” payment of R22m paid by the commission in March 2010.

“An amount of R22 603 374.00 was approved as an amount for the fitting out budget in respect of the second addendum between the Riverside Office Park Trust and the commission… This amount was to be rentalised over the period of the lease.”

– SAPA

Pietermaritzburg – Environmental factors did not cause the deaths of people who took part 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 people after an RTI fitness test in the city in December last year.

The victims took part in a 4km run at Harry Gwala Stadium. The event formed part of a fitness test for RTI job applicants.

More than 35 000 people qualified to apply for 90 advertised RTI trainee posts.

Of these, 15 600 attended a fitness test on 27 December, and a similar number on 28 December.

Weather conditions on the first day were about 30°C with 60% humidity, and 27.2°C with a humidity of about 50% on the second day.

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.

– SAPA

JOHANNESBURG – Controversial businessman and self-confessed womaniser Kenny Kunene has officially resigned from Julius Malema’s Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF).

The party on Monday declined to divulge the reasons for Kunene’s resignation but confirmed that he has moved on.

Last week, the party laughed off reports that Kunene had resigned as its head of campaigns, mobilisation and special projects, only saying he had asked to be relieved of his leadership responsibilities, but remained a member of the party.
For more http://www.ewn.co.za

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