Johannesburg – Three men were arrested on Friday after an armed robbery in Durban, KwaZulu-Natal police said.

A 10-man gang attacked security guards dispensing cash at a pension payout point at 09:15, said police spokesperson Jay Naicker.

“One security guard was shot and injured, and the suspects took an undisclosed amount of cash and fled on foot to a… bakkie, which is presumed to be their getaway vehicle,” he said.

Police, responding to the robbery, saw the bakkie and gave chase, returning fire when the robbers shot at them.

The robbers then abandoned the car and got into a minibus taxi.

“The police continued pursuing the robbers [who were] in the… minibus taxi, and the gun battle between the police and robbers continued,” said Naicker.

The taxi stopped and two men got out and opened fire on the police with automatic weapons.

Police returned fire and arrested both men.

One of them was wounded. The other was unharmed.

The police seized two rifles, an Uzi submachine gun and a money box.

They also confiscated the bakkie and another car believed to have been used in the robbery.

They continued pursuing the minibus taxi, which was stopped in Shongweni.

“The driver was arrested in Shongweni and was found in possession of a shotgun,” Naicker said.

“The police recovered some of the money boxes inside the [minibus taxi]. The security guard shot by the robbers was airlifted to hospital in a critical condition.”

Bakkie reported stolen

Naicker said it was later established that the bakkie used by the robbers was reported stolen in Phoenix earlier in the week.

He said the firearms seized would be sent for ballistics testing to determine whether they had been used to commit any other crimes.

The wounded robber was under police guard in hospital.

He and the other two men arrested would be charged with robbery with aggravating circumstances, attempted murder, possession of unlicensed firearms and ammunition, and theft of a motor vehicle.

They were expected to appear soon in the Mpumalanga Magistrate’s Court.

– SAPA

Soweto – President Jacob Zuma hit out at critics of his ANC government as he went on the campaign trail on Friday in Soweto ahead of 2014 elections.

Zuma went door-to-door in Orlando, a day after he visited Nelson Mandela in hospital.

Zuma used the occasion to slam critics who allege he has mismanaged the economy and allowed labour unrest to fester.

He launched a robust defence of his administration, accusing people of forgetting the scale of the problems he faces.

“They’ve forgotten that this government is trying to fix problems that have been there for centuries,” Zuma told students at the University of Johannesburg’s Soweto campus.

Schoolchildren and university students sang songs wherever he went, waving ANC flags.

“Get well, Mandela, get well!” was a popular chant as the country’s Madiba marked a week in hospital for a recurrent lung disease.

The DA, meanwhile, prepared for a big rally in Johannesburg on Saturday.

The ANC won 65.9% of votes in 2009 polls.

The DA took 16.7% in the previous national elections, but their representation in Gauteng province shot to over 33% in municipal vote in 2011.

The state looks set to be a battle ground at the next election.

AFP

Johannesburg – The Farlam Commission of Inquiry probing the deaths of 44 people at Lonmin Platinum’s mine at Marikana in August last year was adjourned on Friday, SABC radio reported.

The commission, sitting in Centurion, would resume on Tuesday.

On Friday, North West deputy police chief William Mpembe told the commission arrested miners were taken to premises offered by Lonmin for processing because the Marikana police station was undergoing renovations.

Mpembe said there was no electricity at the police station, and the police decided to use the facility offered by Lonmin.

The inquiry heard on Thursday that the police were told about the danger they would face at a hill in Marikana during the mining unrest.

Vuyani Ngalwana, for the police, read a statement by Warrant Officer Rapheso Masenya to North West deputy police commissioner General William Mpembe.

Masenya was part of the operations on 16 August and recorded events with a video camera.

In his statement, Masenya said he and his team were told by Association of Mineworkers and Construction Union (Amcu) president Joseph Mathunjwa not to get close to the protesters because they would get hurt.

Captain Dennis Adriao had told Masenya and his team: “You are being identified as police spies and you should withdraw from this place as miners said they would kill you.”

Masenya said he and his team, who were filming the scene, went back to the operations centre.

SAPA

JOHANNESBURG – The Springboks have paid tribute to former president Nelson Mandela, saying they’ll keep him in their thoughts when they take to the field on Saturday.

The Boks take on Scotland in the second match of their incoming tour.

Captain Jean de Villiers said the team is joining the rest of the world in wishing Madiba a speedy recovery.

“Madiba has done so much for this country and he’s an incredible person. From a Springbok point of view, all we can do is honour him as much as we can on the rugby field.”

The ailing statesman is spending a seventh day at the Pretoria Heart Hospital where he is being treated for a recurring lung infection.

Madiba’s daughters and several grandchildren visited him in hospital on Friday.

His ex-wife Winnie Madikizela-Mandela is still by his side.

Madiba’s eldest grandson Mandla Mandela is visiting from the Eastern Cape, but it is unclear if he will visit his grandfather on Friday.

Earlier, religious leaders held a brief prayer service at one of the entrances of the facility.
They asked that the 94-year-old statesman be comforted during this difficult time.

Colourful posters with messages of support surrounded the entrance of the hospital.
For more ewn.co.za

Rustenburg – The families of mineworkers killed in a clash with police in Marikana will conduct a cleansing ceremony of the site, the Bojanala municipality said on Thursday.

The event was expected to be held on Monday afternoon at the hill where miners gathered before the shooting.

“Family members of the deceased and those who were injured, from as far as the Eastern Cape, Limpopo, and neighbouring countries, such as Lesotho, Malawi, and Swaziland, are expected to attend the ceremony,” the municipality said in a statement.

“Religious leaders from different denominations will later conduct a spiritual cleansing ceremony processes, after the ritual and cultural activities have been earlier performed by the respective affected family members.”

Police shot dead 34 striking Lonmin mineworkers in Marikana on August 16. Ten people, including two police officers, were killed in the preceding week.

Bojanala mayor Louis Diremelo said in the statement people needed to be calm and stable for the ceremony.

“Let’s peacefully allow space for families and relatives to perform what they believe will heal their scars and emotions created by this tragic incident.” – Sapa

Johannesburg – The National Prosecuting Authority’s (NPA) decision to move prosecutor Glynnis Breytenbach from its headquarters to the office of the director of public prosecutions “deserves an explanation”, the DA said on Friday.

“While we are not privy to the reasons for this move, it most certainly demands an explanation,” said spokesperson Debbie Schafer.

“If there was insufficient evidence to find her guilty of the charges she was facing, for what possible reason would she have been moved?”

According to SABC radio news, Breytenbach had been informed that she would be redeployed to the office of the director of public prosecutions in Pretoria and would no longer be working at the Specialised Crime Unit (SCU).

On Thursday, the NPA confirmed that it had filed an application for the Labour Court to review the outcome of a disciplinary hearing which cleared Breytenbach of all charges against her.

On 27 May, Breytenbach was found not guilty on 15 counts by a disciplinary hearing, which sat at the NPA’s head office in Pretoria.

One of the charges was that she failed to act impartially when investigating the Kumba Iron Ore/Sishen and Imperial Crown Trading mining rights dispute, because of “improper relations” with Sishen’s lawyer Mike Hellens.

Findings

After the findings at the disciplinary hearing were made known, the NPA said it found them “factually incorrect and legally unsustainable” and would approach the court for a review.

On Wednesday, NPA spokesperson Bulelwa Makeke, said in response to a question, that Breytenbach was at work but that the NPA would not discuss work matters in the media.

Schafer said she would ask Parliament’s justice portfolio committee chairperson Luwellyn Landers, to request the NPA to appear before the committee to explain the reasons for moving Breytenbach.

“The credibility of the NPA demands that answers be given in a public forum,” said Schafer.

– SAPA

Johannesburg – Five people were killed and 13 injured when a truck crashed through a wall in Constantiakloof, west of Johannesburg, city emergency services said on Friday.

The accident happened on William Nicol Drive around lunch time.

“An 18-wheeler truck collided with a delivery lorry along William Nicol Drive. The lorry then turned towards oncoming traffic, resulting in a multi-car pile-up,” said Johannesburg emergency services spokesperson Robert Mulaudzi.

Four people died on the scene, and a fifth in hospital.

After the initial collision, the 18-wheeler truck crashed through the wall of the Flora Clinic and into four vehicles in the hospital’s parking lot.

The delivery lorry crashed into 10 other vehicles moving along William Nicol Drive.

“Personnel from the fire department had to use heavy equipment to remove those trapped inside vehicles,” said Mulaudzi.

The injured were transferred to various hospitals.

Johannesburg metro police department spokesperson, Wayne Minnaar, said William Nicol Drive was closed up to 14th Avenue for the accident scene to be cleared.

– SAPA

Senior South African ministers, mining bosses and union leaders met on Friday in the most concerted effort yet to end 18 months of labour strife and violence that has hit growth in Africa’s biggest economy.

Critically, leaders of both the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM), an ally of the ruling African National Congress, and rival Association of Mineworkers and Construction Union (AMCU) were both present for the talks.

The meeting, which was also attended by mines minister Susan Shabangu and finance minister Pravin Gordhan, is one of the rare occasions that the rival unions have sat around the same negotiating table.

AMCU, which has emerged as the dominant union in the platinum shafts after a bloody turf war with the once unrivalled NUM, has led two brief wildcat strikes at Lonmin this year, most recently last month.

Deputy President Kgalema Motlanthe, who is leading the negotiations, said he would leave “no stone unturned” to try and ease tensions.

President Jacob Zuma vowed on Wednesday to take a hard line against labour unrest in the sector as management and unions prepare to embark on industry-wide wage negotiations.
For more http://www.sabc.za

President Jacob Zuma warned ANC supporters against what he calls parties formed out of anger. Zuma was leading a high-level ANC group on a Youth Month campaign visit to historic Orlando West in Soweto ahead of next year’s elections.

Zuma’s warning comes days after expelled ANC Youth League President Julius Malema said he hoped to form a new party, in a move reminiscent of the COPE breakaway a few years ago. Zuma told the ANC faithfuls that the ANC is the only organisation formed by the people for the people.

“It was not formed by people who believed in something else, or who were angry about something else, but people who were coming together to meet challenges that faced the nation. This is your organisation. This is the organisation you must keep, strengthen. You must vote for.”

On Wednesday, ACDP Leader Kenneth Meshoe said opposition parties stood a good chance to form a coalition government after the 2014 elections, should expelled ANC Youth League President Julius Malema form a new political party.

“Because he is going to take some membership from the ruling party. Particularly his language of economic empowerment, economic freedom, he is appealing to many young people who are jobless.”

The ANC in parliament refused to comment on Meshoe’s assertions that a coalition government would be possible, should Malema form this new political party.
For more http://www.sabc.co.za

Johannesburg – Everyone should take education seriously, President Jacob Zuma said on Friday.

“If it was up to me, education would not just be free but compulsory,” Zuma told students at the University of Johannesburg’s Soweto campus.

“Every child would be at school… We need to empower South Africans, all of them.”

It should be a crime not to send a child to school, he said.

In what seemed to be a reference to former ANC Youth League leader Julius Malema’s statements that he was a dictator, Zuma said: “If I was a dictator I would have many of these prisons turned into colleges. All these young guys who commit crime, take them there.

“[But] I’m not a dictator,” he said, laughing.

Youth

Zuma told the students he was interested in what they had to say and what suggestions they had.

He asked what needed to be done to shape the country’s future.

Looking at the problems the country faced, people also needed to look at its background.

“Today you can hear people criticising government… They have forgotten that government is trying to face problems that have been there for centuries… they act like only in 1994 we started messing up education,” the president said.

“Education has played a very critical role in this country.”

Zuma said people could be critical but he knew government was “doing well”. Education, finally, had the foundation it did not have in the past.

“Results are beginning to rise, they will never drop again, this is because we now have a foundation.”

Students were given the opportunity to interact with Zuma and ask questions after he addressed them.

Hector Pieterson Memorial

Earlier in the day, Zuma attended a wreath-laying ceremony at Hector Pieterson Memorial Square in Orlando West, Soweto.

He was joined by African National Congress leaders in Gauteng. These included premier Nomvula Mokonyane, ANCYL Gauteng leader Lebogang Maile, and Johannesburg mayor Parks Tau.

Pieterson was one of the first children shot by apartheid security forces during a protest in the area on 16 June 1976.

The day is now marked as “Youth Day”.

Afterwards, Zuma went on door-to-door visits in the area.

– Were you there? Send us your photos.

– SAPA