Eshowe, KwaZulu-Natal – Six people appeared in the Inkanyezi District Court in Eshowe on Monday following a fire that left five people dead, the National Prosecuting Authority in KwaZulu-Natal said.

The matter was postponed to August 21, when they were expected to apply for bail, spokeswoman Natasha Ramkisson said.

During their last court appearance in July, Lucky Nzuza, 30, Khiswa Nzuza, 33, Samkelo Mhlongo, 25, Nkanyiso Magwaza, 28, Tholithemba Shandu, 25, and Sibusiso Mkwanyana, 36, told the court they needed legal aid.

A seventh person, a minor, had also been arrested and would appear in court separately.

The six men and the child face five murder charges, three of attempted murder, one of arson, and one of malicious damage to property. They allegedly set fire to four houses in a homestead in the Mbongolwane area in July.

Thulisile Mnyango, 50, Cebile Mnyango, 21, Lungelo Mnyango, 17, Mlamuli Mnyango, 10, and two-year-old Qiniso Mnyango, died in one of the houses.

Three people escaped the blaze. Two cows were also found stabbed to death.

Sapa

Cape Town – A man accused of killing and dismembering a teenage girl appeared in the Blue Downs District Court on Monday afternoon.

Johannes Christiaan de Jager, 48, wearing a blue fleece top and jeans, was told his case was being transferred to the Western Cape High Court.

He applied for legal aid because he could no longer pay his lawyer.

His case was postponed until September 13, for a pre-trial conference in the high court. His trial was set down for October 7 to 31.
For more http://www.iol.co.za

Mahwelereng, Limpopo – An alleged serial rapist appeared in the Mahwelereng Magistrate’s Court on Monday, said Limpopo police.

Brigadier Hangwani Mulaudzi said the matter was postponed to August 20.

“He is remanded in custody and will be applying for bail at his next appearance,” he said.

The 42-year-old man was arrested on Wednesday, after being linked to 12 cases of rape through DNA tests.

He allegedly killed three of his rape victims.

“We had particular suspects that we targeted and we got the DNA from them. The DNA pointed to this particular man,” said Mulaudzi.

The alleged serial rapist operated around the Mahwelereng villages between 2002 and 2012.

He reportedly dragged his victims to nearby bushes where he raped them.

“In other cases he would allegedly break into the houses of the victims and rape them before bolting away,” said Mulaudzi.

The man faces charges of rape and murder.

Sapa

Durban – Five men have been arrested for allegedly killing an elderly man in Bulwer in KwaZulu-Natal and stuffing his body in the boot of his car, police said on Monday.

Michael John Poval, 81, was found on Sunday at 11.30pm by his relatives. He had an open wound in his back.

“It is believed that on Saturday, the victim, who lives alone, was confronted by a group of suspects at his home where he was stabbed before his body was stuffed into the boot of his car,” spokesman Thulani Zwane said in a statement.

The wound was believed to have been inflicted by a sharp instrument.

The attackers took the victim’s money box containing cash and fled in his other car.

The body was found on Sunday, after a friend – who delivered food for him on Saturday – found the house door open, but left the food without seeing Poval.

“On returning to the house on Sunday, she found the door still open and the food where she had left it. She contacted Poval’s relatives, who discovered his body in a (boot) of his car,” Zwane said.

“They also noticed that his white Volkswagen Jetta and money box containing a large amount of cash had been stolen. They called the police.”

While investigating the crime, police spotted the missing car, with five occupants, travelling along the Edendale main road towards Pietermaritzburg and gave chase, he said.

The vehicle was cornered and all the occupants were arrested and the cash recovered.

The suspects, aged between 17 and 35, would appear in the Hlanganani Magistrate’s Court soon on charges of murder and robbery.

Sapa

Rustenburg – The National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) expressed outrage at the murder of one of its shop stewards at Lonmin’s Rowland shaft, near Rustenburg, on Monday.

“(We are) disappointed that amid the increasing assassinations in Marikana and the broader Rustenburg area, there has not been any progress with regard to the arrest and prosecutions of the suspects,” spokesman Lesiba Seshoka said in a statement.

“While many of the suspects are known to the police, none has been arrested or prosecuted.”

The union said a woman shop steward was shot and killed while walking to the NUM office. North West police confirmed that a woman was shot and killed at the shaft.

Brigadier Thulani Ngubane said police could not immediately confirm that the victim was a NUM shop steward. Police were still attending to the crime scene, he said.

Seshoka said the union was disappointed in Lonmin. The company had instructed shop stewards to return to work even though the NUM cautioned that it was not safe.

“The union is concerned that the company’s pre-occupation with profits and the police incompetence may lead to a serious bloodbath in Rustenburg,” he said.

Comment from Lonmin was not immediately available.

The Congress of SA Trade Unions said it was tragic that the murder happened days before the August 16 Marikana shooting anniversary.

“We see yet more evidence that violence remains endemic in the Rustenburg area,” spokesman Patrick Craven said in a statement.

“This latest atrocity demonstrates that the framework agreement for a sustainable mining industry, signed by organised labour… organised business, and government on 3 July 2013 is simply not being effectively implemented.”

On August 16 last year, 34 miners were shot dead and 78 were wounded when police fired on them while trying to disperse a group gathered on a hill near Lonmin’s platinum mine in Marikana.

In the preceding week, 10 people, including two police officers and two security guards, were killed in strike-related violence.

The framework agreement was aimed at resolving issues like strikes and violence bedevilling the mining industry, especially in the Rustenburg platinum belt.

Sapa

Durban – The ANC branch chairman in Ulundi, Makhosonke Msibi, was shot dead in front of his family on Sunday night when a gunman entered his home and fired shots.

Police spokesman Colonel Vincent Mdunge said the motive was not known at this stage and that no arrests had been made.

He said a man knocked at the door soon after the councillor returned home from a meeting in Nongoma. His son opened the door and a man asked to see the councillor.

“The man fired shots at him when he emerged.

“He tried to run into his bedroom but it was too late… he suffered multiple gunshot wounds and was declared dead at the scene.”
For more http://www.iol.co.za

Durban – Cosatu general secretary Zwelinzima Vavi says he has accepted the censure of Corruption Watch over a well-publicised sexual relationship he had with a married, 26-year-old subordinate.

“I have accepted that censure, humiliating as that may be. I am not above the discipline of our organisations,” Vavi said at a Cosatu meeting in East London.
For more http://www.iol.co.za

Cape Town – A security camera set up on a popular mountain biking and running route on Table Mountain to watch for muggers has disappeared.

The camera, a wireless unit operating by cellphone signal, disappeared in the past two weeks after it ran out of airtime and had no signal, said Robert Vogel of cycling club Table Mountain Bikers, which put it up.
For more http://www.iol.co.za

Johannesburg – Police should be retrained to prevent a recurrence of events such as the one at Marikana last year, trade union federation Nactu said on Monday.

“Police need to be retrained on how to handle situations such as the one in Marikana. If they (police) had been properly trained these killings would not have taken place,” National Council of Trade Unions spokesman Mangaliso Mdhlela said.

“The police at Marikana behaved exactly the same way the apartheid government behaved when its police (mowed) down 60

protesters in Sharpeville. The Marikana incident was a wanton disregard of our Constitution’s provision to respect life,” he said.

Mdhlela said police could be trained “differently” to stop them being “trigger happy”.

The federation would call on mine bosses to substantially increase workers’ wages and improve their living conditions.

“The low wages of mineworkers and their living conditions are an indictment on the mine bosses. Mineworkers literally live in shacks,” he said.

The federation also wanted government to provide a budget for lawyers who represented the interests of miners at the Farlam Commission of Inquiry.

The commission is probing the deaths of 44 people during strike-related unrest at Lonmin’s Marikana operations in North West last year.

Friday (August 16) marks a year since 34 people were shot dead in a clash with police. Ten people died in the preceding week.

“In the interest of justice the government has a responsibility to provide funds for the miners’ lawyers,” Mdhlela said.

Sapa

Mankweng – Two men have been caught selling crocodiles in Limpopo, police said on Monday.

Col Ronel Otto said police received a tip-off on Sunday that the two were selling crocodiles from a house in Ga-Mothapo.

Police, posing as buyers, arrested the men, who led detectives to where the crocodiles were being kept.

“A full investigation into where the animals came from will be conducted,” said Otto.

The crocodiles were removed by animal inspectors and taken to a sanctuary.

The two were scheduled to appear in the Mankweng Magistrate’s Court later on Monday.

Sapa