Cape Town – SANDF chief Lieutenant General Solly Shoke must explain to Parliament whether soldiers are properly equipped to help with peacekeeping efforts in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), the DA said on Monday.

DA MP David Maynier said he would write to the defence standing committee chairperson asking for Shoke to brief Parliament on the deployment of SA National Defence Force (SANDF) troops in the eastern DRC.

“The SANDF’s mission is peace enforcement, rather than peacekeeping, and there is not only a high risk of casualties, but also of being drawn into a regional war with countries, such as Rwanda, who are allegedly supporting rebel groups, such as the M23, in the eastern DRC,” Maynier said.

The mission was high-risk and South Africa could not afford a “repeat performance of the military disaster in the Central African Republic” on 23 March when 13 SANDF soldiers were killed.

“We must be sure that the SANDF [troops] are properly equipped to execute the task assigned to them by the United Nations,” Maynier said.

Last week, President Jacob Zuma informed Parliament that 1 345 soldiers had been deployed to the DRC.

The deployment was from 13 June 2013 to 31 March 2014.

The expected cost of the deployment was R402 800 000.

The soldiers would be part of a “force intervention brigade”, under the UN Monusco peacekeeping force.

On Friday, SANDF spokesperson Siphiwe Dlamini said the intervention brigade comprised soldiers from South Africa, Tanzania, and Malawi, and was mandated to engage “armed groups”.

“They will not wait and watch while civilians are being attacked by armed groups,” Dlamini said at the time.

“They will intervene to engage, neutralise, and disarm.”

– SAPA

By Obakeng Maje

Kimberley-The Kimberley Cluster Detectives, Kimberley SAPS Detectives and Northern Cape Firearms, Liquor and Second Hand Goods(FLASH) unit arrested two men for possession of suspected stolen copper on Monday. 

“Information about a silver Opel Corsa from the North West Province travelling with the stolen copper was received and immediately responded to by the mentioned units” lieutenant Andrea Cloete said.  

The police visited a scrap metal dealer, to whom the copper was sold to at approximately 11:00am. 

The men were arrested at the Shell Ultra Petrol Station on the N12 north minutes later and were linked positively with the ID copies and particulars they left at the scrap metal dealer, as required by the Second Hand Goods Act 6 of 2000. 

“The copper weighs approximately 100kg and has a street value of almost R75 000,00” Cloete said. 

The copper was confiscated by the police from the scrap metal dealer who allegedly paid the suspects R6 900,00 for the suspected stolen goods. 

“The commander of the sting operation, Col Avril Wentzel(Head of Kimberley Cluster Detectives) mentioned that the police will continue with operations linking to copper theft. Daily routine visits to scrap metal dealers are conducted together with inspections to confirm compliance with regard to their licence conditions.” Police said.

The suspects aged 34 and 29 year old are from Taung and will be appearing before the Kimberley Magistrates’ Court soon. 

The investigation continues.-TDN

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Johannesburg – The ANC is confident it will increase its majority at next year’s elections, ANC deputy secretary general Jessie Duarte said on Monday.

“We are not in a position to tell you that we are going to have a decreased majority – I think that’s the wish of the opposition and they are welcome to wish,” she told reporters in Johannesburg.

“We are going to work for an increase in majority. We are very confident that we will win this election decisively.”

She said this was not based on polls but rather on the “ground work” the African National Congress was doing.

Duarte said the ANC was working hard to win back the Cape Town metro from the Democratic Alliance.

‘We should have worked harder’

She said the party was working primarily with black communities in the Western Cape.

“There is suspicion of the DA but there is also unhappiness with the ANC,” Duarte said.

“People say we shouldn’t have given over the Western Cape. We should have worked harder to retain it and as a result they are suffering.”

She said the ANC would conduct door-to-door campaigns aimed at nine million people who were not registered as voters.

She said a significant amount of people said they were satisfied with basic service delivery. However, the middle class wanted to know about the “next step”.

“The priority for the ANC right now is rural infrastructure. For many middle class people that means that there will not be that much infrastructure development in and around cities,” Duarte said.

“I don’t want to blame apartheid for anything but there is a massive backlog of service delivery, especially in rural areas.”

‘Parties steal ideas’

She said the ANC was not concerned that the last election, where its majority seemed to decrease, was a “trendsetting” election.

She said the ANC was looking at the election as though it was the first one in 1994.

ANC election co-ordinator Amos Masondo said it was unlikely that political parties would speak about their election manifestos this year.

He said parties stole ideas and the ANC did not want its ideas known at the moment.

Masondo said the ANC was going into the elections as a powerful brand.

– SAPA

Johannesburg – Two people have been stabbed during a strike in Sandown, Johannesburg, police said on Monday.

“We have received reports that construction workers were involved in a strike action over wages, and that two people were stabbed and taken to hospital,” said police spokesperson Kym Cloete.

Cloete said the circumstances surrounding the stabbings were not immediately clear.

– SAPA

Ajax Cape Town PRO, Shooz Mekuto, lashed out at the Premier Soccer League for their protection of the Johannesburg teams, claiming the League has lost all its credibility.

The scathing attack comes after the Urban Warriors saw their League fixture against Orlando Pirates, originally scheduled for August 20, postponed due to Bucs’ MTN8 semi-final fixture against Kaizer Chiefs four days later. 

The revised date was then moved to August 27, but that was also postponed by the PSL as Pirates where told to travel earlier than expected to Egypt for their CAF Champions League fixture against Zamalek on Sunday. 

For more http://www.kickoff.com

The 61-year-old woman allegedly attacked her partner after learning of his affair, battering him repeatedly about the face and head with the mug at their home southwest of Tokyo on Sunday afternoon, the Asahi Shimbun and other media reported.

A Japanese housewife battered her septuagenarian husband to death with a coffee cup after discovering he was cheating on her, reports said Monday.

The 61-year-old woman allegedly attacked her partner after learning of his affair, battering him repeatedly about the face and head with the mug at their home southwest of Tokyo on Sunday afternoon, the Asahi Shimbun and other media reported.

Yasuo Hirose, a 70-year-old honorary professor with Yokohama National University, was taken to hospital but later confirmed dead.

“He had an affair with a woman I hate,” Emiko Hirose told police, according to the reports. “I went mad and hit him more than 10 times with a cup.”

The wife has been arrested on suspicion of attempted murder, reports said. Immediate confirmation was not available.-Sapa

JOHANNESBURG – As the country prepares for strike action in several key industries this week, the South African Transport and Allied Workers Union (Satawu)’s members on strike at the OR Tambo International Airport have just received a new offer from South African Airways (SAA). But striking workers have rejected the offer of 6.4 percent tabled by management, demanding 6.5 percent. Satawu’s 4000 members downed tools today for higher wages. The strike mostly involves SAA employees, but it’s understood other smaller airlines might also be affected. The Airports Company of South Africa Limited (ACSA) said there have been no flight delays at the airport, but shop stewards claim some flights have departed late. Satawu’s Matthew Ramosi says the impact is already being felt.  “We’ve been told a couple of flights are delayed and some of the flights have been cancelled because there are no technicians.”  Demonstrators are now protesting at the main gate of the airline’s technical park. The demonstration is gaining momentum as more people arrive. Ekurhuleni Metro Police are also on the scene to make sure passing cars or employees reporting for work are not intimidated. Meanwhile, ACSA says Cape Town International Airport has so far been spared the impact of the industrial action. ACSA’s Deborah Francis said, “Everybody has reported to work thus far. SAA technical and ACSA also have contingency plans in place to ensure everything runs normal.”  (Edited by Tamsin Wort)

Source: http://www.ewn.co.za

Pretoria – A 6-year-old girl has shot and killed her best friend in a freak accident while playing with her grandfather’s firearm.

Beeld reported on Monday that the children were at the Lejwe La Metsi private game reserve near Bela-Bela on Saturday when the tragedy occurred.

Sibongile Moima, also 6, was shot in the face and died at the scene. Her friend, who was not named because of her age, apparently found the .38 Special revolver in a wardrobe in her grandparents’ home.

Her grandfather had apparently taken the weapon out of his gun safe on Friday after an attempted robbery, and forgot to put it back in the safe.

He was apparently so traumatised after the incident that he tried to hang himself on Sunday. He is due to appear in the Bela Bela Magistrate’s Court on Monday on a charge of negligent handling of a firearm.

“We do not know how to handle this. We are dismayed,” the grandmother of the girl who fired the shot said.

“My granddaughter asked me if I would speak to her again after what happened,” she added.

For more http://www.news24.com