Pretoria – A lieutenant-colonel in the SAPS’ Crime Intelligence unit is claiming R420 000 in damages from the minister of police and from two senior officers after they allegedly leaked classified information pertaining to her and spread false rumours that she and her husband were HIV-positive.

The officer, who will not be named to protect her from further humiliation, stated in papers before the Pretoria High Court that these false rumours were spread during February 2010. Apart from it being hurtful, it was also defamatory, she said.
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Cape Town – School days are set to be lengthened, by up to an hour each day, to accommodate the teaching of a third – African – language to every pupil.

Each day will be between 24 minutes and an hour longer for pupils.

This emerged in the Incremental Introduction of African Languages in South African Schools draft policy, which provided details of how the policy would work.
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Pretoria – The African National Congress under President Jacob Zuma had moved away from the vision of its predecessors, the DA’s candidate for Gauteng premier, Mmusi Maimane, said on Tuesday.

“Instead of non-racialism, we are retreating back into the politics of division. Instead of reversing the legacy of apartheid, our people remain as impoverished as they ever were,” Maimane told a poorly attended student meeting at Tshwane University of Technology in Soshanguve, Pretoria.
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Cape Town – The driver of the bus which crashed on the Koue Bokkeveld Mountains told his employers the vehicle’s brakes had failed before the vehicle veered off the road.

The vehicle was transporting employees of Tractionel Enterprise, a Joburg electrical company, to Lambert’s Bay when it went off the road on the Katbakkies Pass near Ceres.
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Johannesburg – Six men allegedly linked to an international child-pornography ring have been arrested in parts of South Africa, The Times reported on Wednesday.

Police spokesperson Lieutenant General Solomon Makgale said they were arrested last Thursday. Two were teachers from Florida and Carletonville with the others being a school principal from Mbombela, a lawyer from Lichtenburg, a Pretoria dermatologist and a North West businessman.

Another 26 people were being investigated and more arrests were imminent, police told the publication.

Raids

Police also raided several homes at the weekend in KwaZulu-Natal, Eastern Cape, Western Cape and Free State.

“Police raided 15 properties and seized 672 DVDs, 22 memory sticks, eight laptops, two computer tablets, 39 external hard drives, 25 books,” said Makgale.

The case had links to Canada, the United Kingdom, the United States, western Europe and Australasia.

The newspaper reported that children as young as 5 were believed to have been groomed to have sex with each other and adults.

The images are believed to have been generated overseas, and police – with the help of their international counterparts – are investigating whether children from South Africa participated.

Police overseas were also investigating if any of the children were murdered.

The six accused face several charges including child-pornography manufacturing, possession and distribution.

– SAPA

Johannesburg – A man shot two relatives in Vanderbijlpark on Tuesday before killing himself, according to reports.

Stefanus Labuschagne, 50, was shot dead and his wife, Sonet, 45, was injured in the shooting at a soap business, Beeld reported.

The shooter, Gert Derks, 57, is then believed to have swallowed some tablets and fled from the scene. His body was later found in his bakkie.

“After the shooting it is suspected that [Derks] drank some tablets and fled from the scene in an Isuzu bakkie. Police chased him until R59 towards Meyerton where he stopped and died in his vehicle,” Sapa quoted police spokesperson Lieutenant Colonel Lungelo Dlamini as saying.

Beeld reported that bystanders speculated that a possible love triangle or family strife led to the shooting.

– SAPA

Johannesburg – A police captain from Mbombela was arrested and charged with illegal trafficking in firearms, Beeld reported on Wednesday.

Additional charges of corruption and theft were also laid against Captain Godfrey Lubisi, 57, who was arrested at work.

Police said the arrest followed a year-long investigation, after rumours that weapons were being sold from the Nelspruit police station for as little as R2 000.

Lubisi allegedly sold a .22 rifle, a collector’s item dating back to 1925, to a member of the public in January.

Lubisi reportedly took the man to the store where firearms submitted by members of the public for later destruction were kept.

He gave Lubisi over R2 000, as he had apparently agreed to also supply a firearm licence.

The investigation was delayed because no one wanted to make a statement, then two weeks ago, new information came to light.

It emerged that Lubisi had also illegally sold a Taurus .357 Magnum revolver for R2 000.

On Tuesday, police also found a large number of firearm licences that had to be collected from the police station, allegedly under the seat of Lubisi’s car.

Police spokesperson Brigadier Selvy Mohlala said police would oppose bail.

– SAPA

Johannesburg – Agang SA leader Mamphela Ramphele called on President Jacob Zuma on Wednesday to disclose his personal finances.

“I call upon President Zuma to publish his accounts immediately. What is there to hide?” she asked reporters in Johannesburg.

“South Africans deserve a president that sets a good example for the rest of the country to follow.”

She said Parliament required all members to disclose their private financial interests.

“President Zuma has used a convenient technicality to sidestep this requirement. From his inauguration… the president has dodged the issue for over 1 565 days to date. With each passing day suspicion about his integrity mounts,” Ramphele said.

Set an example

She said she was disclosing her own financial affairs for the country to scrutinise, in line with the need for accountability, and to set an example for Zuma.

Ramphele said her net worth as of 27 June this year was R55 436 063.

She had shares worth R1.38m with Anglo American, Gold Fields, Sibanye Gold, and the PTI Select Managers Fund.

Her primary residence in Camps Bay, Cape Town, was valued at R10m. A total of R1 146 139 was in retirement annuity and R1 574 064 in a provident fund.

Her family trust held R30m and her investment trust R10.9m.

“My income for the tax year ending 28 February 2013, was R346 000 – a sizeable drop from previous years due to my resignation from all board commitments… ahead of my entrance into politics.”

Ramphele said her wealth would not distance her from South Africa’s poor.

“I am one of many leaders of this country, as with [former] president [Nelson] Mandela, who was not poor,” she said.

“Being comfortable or having a measure of wealth is not a barrier to linking with poor people. What is a barrier is the abuse of power and stealing from poor people as this government has done consistently.”

– SAPA

Johannesburg – Residents of Orange Farm burnt tyres and placed rocks on main roads in the area on Wednesday, Johannesburg metro police said.

“It is not safe to venture into the area, especially for motorists, because rocks are all over the road,” Chief Superintendent Wayne Minnaar said.

“Motorists are advised to use the N1 instead of the Golden Highway,” he said.

The protesters had also placed rocks and burning tyres between Welgevonden Road and Palm Springs Mall.

Minnaar said it was not clear why residents were protesting.

– SAPA

Johannesburg – Controversial businessman Kenny Kunene has not resigned from the Economic Freedom Fighters, the party said on Wednesday.

“Kunene has not left the party… he has asked to be relieved of his leadership responsibilities,” said spokesperson Mbuyiseni Ndlozi.

According to reports on Wednesday, Kunene had quit as EFF head of campaigns, mobilisation, and special projects.

Ndlozi said Kunene remained a member of the party.

In July, Kunene said he was going into politics full-time as a member of the EFF, led by expelled African National Congress Youth League leader Julius Malema.

Kunene wrote a scathing open letter to President Jacob Zuma before joining the EFF, criticising his leadership and referred to Zuma as “a monster and a tyrant”.

SAPA