Johannesburg – Lawyer Dali Mpofu has launched an urgent application in the North Gauteng High Court in Pretoria, to secure state funding for the legal representation of victims of last year’s Marikana shooting, the SABC reported on Friday.

Mpofu told the Farlam Commission of Inquiry that due to financial constraints, Friday could be his last day representing the miners injured in the incident.

The application seeks to compel President Jacob Zuma and Justice Minister Jeff Radebe to approve funding for continued representation of the wounded miners.

According to the report, Mpofu said he hoped the matter would be resolved by the time the commission resumed on 15 July after a three-week recess.

Police shot dead 34 striking miners in Marikana, North West, on 16 August last year while trying to disperse them.

The commission is investigating the events that led to the shooting, and the deaths of 10 more people in strike-related violence the previous week.

– SAPA

FIFA says it is not considering canceling the Confederations Cup in Brazil as violent protests spread across the country.

An estimated 1 million protesters took to the streets in more than 80 cities on Thursday night as the country’s biggest protests in two decades intensified despite government concessions meant to quell them.

Police fired tear gas and rubber bullets in Rio de Janeiro, where more than 300 000 people protested in the city hosting key Confederations Cup games.

But world football’s governing body says in statement to The Associated Press that neither “FIFA nor the LOC (local organizing committee) have ever discussed any such possibility” of canceling the eight-tournament.

CBN radio and the website of the Estado de Sao Paulo newspaper, both respected, mainstream media, carried reports speculating that the eight-team tournament, considered a dry run for next year’s World Cup, was in danger.

“FIFA will claim compensation from Brazil if the Confederations Cup has to be suspended,” said a headline on CBN’s website.

The protests, now in their second week, have been about high taxes, inflation, corruption and poor public services and have also targeted the $26 billion of public money being spent on the World Cup and the 2016 Olympics.

An estimated 1 million protesters took to the streets in more than 80 cities on Thursday night as the country’s biggest protests in two decades intensified despite government concessions meant to quell them.

A CBN report said one of the eight teams were pressuring their leaders to leave the Confederations Cup because they were worried about relatives who were in Brazil to watch the matches.

“On the legal side, there’s a certain degree of confidence on FIFA’s part that if the tournament is canceled, it can launch a claim from the Brazilian government, if there are no safety guarantees for the competition or the World Cup,” said the report by Juck Kfouri, a veteran Brazilian sports journalist.

“There is strong speculation, which won’t go away,” he added, referring to rumors that the competition was in danger.

The Estado said that FIFA was negotiating with the teams to try to persuade them to stay.

“The protests in the streets of Brazilian cities have forced FIFA to negotiate with the teams to keep them in the Confederations Cup,” it said.

“By law, if there is no guarantee of safety, it could force the tournament to be canceled.”

The Estado said that two FIFA vehicles were attacked in Salvador, where Uruguay played Nigeria on Wednesday, and its employees had been instructed not to wear uniforms outside their hotel.

The Folha de Sao Paulo said that FIFA and the participating teams were “terrified” by the situation.

“The competition has become a nightmare for the organization,” it said. “FIFA didn’t imagine that the event would be perfect but the size of the problems is worse than the worst-case scenario.”

No matches for scheduled for Friday. Play is due to resume on Saturday with Italy facing Brazil in Salvador and Japan playing Mexico in Belo Horizonte.
For more http://www.sabc.co.za

Benjani Mwaruwari will complete his move to Bidvest Wits on a renewable one-year-deal next week after cutting ties with Chippa United.

According to Ralph Nkomo, who manages Mwaruwari, the contract that will take the veteran striker to Wits is now being finalized.

“We are just ironing out a few things now with regards to the contract but it should be done as it is a matter of merely finalizing things. At his age it is more interesting to go on a renewable one year deal so that he remains motivated.

“Everything should be done by next Wednesday and the good thing is that Gavin Hunt (new Wits coach) knows him well since Benji trained with SuperSport for some time while Gavin was still the coach there.

“So it should be a smooth completion of the deal especially when considering that Benji plays as a non-foreigner in South Africa,” says Nkomo.

Mwaruwari was supposed to have stayed on with Chippa until the end of the month but misunderstandings over the Promotional Play-offs led to him to not returning.

“The Original contract was supposed to go up to the end of the League season but with Chippa getting into the Play-Offs there was an agreement to extend it up to the end of June.

“However, once there was a long break between the Play-offs games there was a misunderstanding about when Benji should go back after he went away to spend time with his family,” explains Nkomo.

Mwaruwari –who turns 35 this year – has shown glimpses of his aggressive style in the games that he has played for Chippa and still carries the kind of qualities of a striker that Hunt always believes in.
For more http://www.kickoff.com

Kermit Erasmus’ agent says there has been no contact from Orlando Pirates, but admits that both Kaizer Chiefs and Mamelodi Sundowns have made their interest known.

KickOff.com reported yesterday that the SuperSport United striker had expressed a desire to join Amakhosi, though media reports today suggest the Buccaneers were now favourites to sign him.

However, Rob Moore insists there has been no contact at all with Pirates.

“We haven’t had any discussions with anyone at Orlando Pirates,” he tells KickOff.com from Barcelona. “As for Kaizer Chiefs, there has been some contact from the coach [Stuart Baxter].”

Moore adds: “There were also some meetings between Sundowns and SuperSport United a few weeks ago, but we have heard nothing more from that.”

Moore says he is unsure whether the player will actually get his move during the transfer window, but suggests that it would be in the best interests of both parties if it does happen.

“Look, if the SuperSport United accept an offer than we will sit down and discuss terms and so on, but there has been nothing of the sort,” he says.

“But his contract ends in 12 months and they know that if they don’t sell him now he can leave for free at the end of next season. Also, I feel the time has come for him to move on.”
For more http://www.kickoff.com

North West – One of the men who alerted ANC president Jacob Zuma to rampant corruption and fraud in the ANC-controlled municipalities in North West feels let down by his own party.

Not only is Alfred Motsi feeling aggrieved about the ANC’s lack of action – his best friend and fellow ANC councillor Moss Phakoe was shot and killed in his driveway for handing over the dossier to Zuma and ANC secretary-general Gwede Mantashe.
For more http://www.iol.co.za

Johannesburg – If existing problems of wealth distribution and poverty are not urgently addressed, South Africa will face serious problems in future, former president Thabo Mbeki has warned.

Speaking to new Gauteng talk radio station Power FM, Mbeki said South Africa remained a two-nation, The Star reported.

Mbeki was speaking to presenter Tim Modise.

The former president urged the public to hold elected representatives accountable.

“South Africa remains divided in terms of race and colour, in terms of wealth. If we don’t address it properly, tomorrow, we are going to have very serious problems,” Mbeki said.

Noting SA Airways’s plan to train more black pilots as an example, Mbeki said the aim was “not to discriminate against white people, but to achieve the objectives of our Constitution”.

These objectives included non-racialism, non-sexism and building a prosperous country.

He also said he knew for sure that his condition was improving because he was in contact with the Mandela family and his doctors.

“Nelson Mandela is indeed improving in terms of his health. I don’t think anybody should entertain wrong notions that Nelson Mandela is going to die tomorrow. It’s not going to happen,” he insisted.

– News24

Pretoria – South African troops have begun deploying to the Democratic Republic of Congo’s volatile east as part of a special UN brigade to battle armed rebels, the deputy foreign minister said on Friday.

“South African troops are on their way to the DRC now,” deputy international relations minister Ebrahim Ebrahim told reporters.

South Africa has pledged 1 345 soldiers to the first-ever offensive United Nations brigade.

Tanzania and Malawi are also part of the 3 000-strong force, which began deploying to Goma on 13 May.

“The Tanzanians are already on the ground,” said Ebrahim.

The eastern Congo has been the scene of intense fighting between the Congolese army and the M23 rebels, an armed group launched by Tutsi former soldiers who mutinied in April 2012.

– AFP

Johannesburg – South Africa has not fully reversed the damage done by the Natives Land Act, President Jacob Zuma said on Thursday.

“A great wrong was done, and now it is up to us to follow-up by doing a great right,” he said in a speech at a commemoration of the centenary of the 1913 Land Act.

“We are now in charge of our own destiny. We have achieved a successful transition to democracy, but we have not yet fully reversed the dreadful pattern of poverty and landlessness – the havoc created by the Natives Land Act,” said Zuma.

“Correcting the consequences of this act is a critical cog in the wheel of state. It is a crucial component in the National Development Plan.”

The act dispossessed land from black and “native” South Africans.

Zuma said it marked the beginning of the socio-economic challenges the country now faced.

“The act was enforced for 78 years until it was repealed in 1991, and during these many years it did enormous damage, so much so that despite 22 intervening years, the legacy of the act stubbornly persists,” he said.

“We take our hats off to the black people of this country and to the Khoi and the San people, for not allowing the pain of the past to stand in the way of building the present and the future.

“The pain of being driven off one’s land is worse than anything one can imagine.”

Land redistribution

Zuma said the government admitted that the land redistribution progress had been slow, and that the 2014 redistribution target would not be met.

Until now, only 6.7 million hectares of land had been transferred through redistribution and restitution.

“We call on all South Africans to commemorate this landmark, with a view to correcting the wrongs of the past and to reinforce reconciliation,” Zuma said.

“We urge the public to participate in the process of improving land redistribution and reform to reverse the impact of the 1913 act.”

– SAPA

Cape Town – President Jacob Zuma on Friday told shack dwellers near Cape Town he was shocked to see the conditions in which DA rule had left them.

“When the DA speaks in Parliament they say things have improved,” Zuma told a crowd of a few hundred people in Imizamo Yethu in Hout Bay.

“I came to see for myself, and I have been shocked to see my people live in these conditions.”

The president went from door to door, talking to residents at length, and repeated the exercise in the nearby fishing community of Hangklip.

Media were crowded out of homes he visited by a massive security contingent.

But staff reported that Zuma commiserated with neighbours of a woman who died days ago when her dwelling caught fire.

He asked another why the DA was in power there.

She retorted that she had voted for the ANC, and invited him to check on that.

An unemployed, but qualified nanny, Pumla, said she planned to vote for the ANC next year, and had come to see Zuma because his visit had brought some hope.

“It’s just promises probably, but even if the promise is empty you still want that hope,” she said.

ANC spokesperson Keith Khoza said the visit was part of the president’s grassroots campaign for the 2014 elections, now 10 months away.

– SAPA

Polokwane – Ten days will not be enough for the trial of fraud-accused Julius Malema and four others, the Polokwane Magistrate’s Court heard on Friday.

Defence lawyer Michele Gioia said the November dates proposed by the State would be opposed.

There would not be sufficient time to deal with the 60 witnesses and over 11 000 pages of evidence that could be necessary at the trial, he told the court.

Gioia also claimed that the trial date was illegally communicated and that the defence was not consulted.

Malema is out on bail of R10 000 and faces charges of fraud, corruption, money-laundering, and racketeering.

His co-accused are his business associates Lesiba Gwangwa, Kagisho Dichabe, Helen Moreroa, and Makgetsi Manthata, who are out on bail of R40 000 each.

‘State wasting our time’

Prosecutor Billy Moalusi said it was the State’s duty to determine the trial period, rather than the defence’s.

Magistrate Mohamed Shaik gave the accused formal notice of the trial date, before the matter was adjourned to 14:00.

Earlier, Malema’s counsel accused the State of employing delaying tactics.

“The State is playing with time, they are wasting our time,” Tumi Mokoena told the court.

The State alleges Malema and the others misrepresented themselves to the Limpopo roads and transport department, leading to a R52m contract being awarded to On-Point Engineering.

According to court papers, Malema had business ties with Gwangwa, a director of On-Point Engineering. Malema’s Ratanang Family Trust was an indirect shareholder in On-Point.

The department paid the company R43m. According to the charge sheet, Malema substantially benefited from this payment, knowing the money formed part of the proceeds of crime.

All five have proclaimed their innocence.

SAPA