Members of the Women’s League of the ruling African National Congress on Thursday accused authorities of giving “special treatment” to Olympic sprinter Oscar Pistorius who stands charged of murdering his girlfriend.

Pistorius is accused of shooting dead his model girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp at his Pretoria home a week ago, in a case that has hogged local and international headlines.

Members of the ANC Women’s League (ANCWL) are unhappy about him being kept in police holding cells rather than a prison during bail proceedings.

“The ANCWL would like to register our dissatisfaction at this special treatment that Pistorius is getting and would like prosecutors to take this issue up,” said a statement.

“Unlike other alleged offenders who are in prison Pistorius’s family are permitted to visit him at all hours not just prescribed visiting hours as would be the case in prison.”

South Africa’s prison are notorious for overcrowding and violence and suspects awaiting trial often spend months and even years in custody.

But authorities have rejected claims of special treatment, saying the double amputee athlete was being kept in police holding cells to allow him access to his legal team.

“There is no celebrity status (at play) here. It’s not a common practice, but it is a decision of the court,” spokesman for the prosecutions authority Medupi Simaku told SAPA news agency

Pistorius has told the Pretoria Magistrates Court that he shot Steenkamp, 29, in a horrible accident after he mistook her for an intruder.

The state is arguing that the killing was premeditated.- AFP

South Africa still has some way to go to achieve the society it desires, President Jacob Zuma said on Thursday.

Replying in the National Assembly to points raised during the debate on his state-of-the-nation speech, Zuma said next year would mark the first 20 years of freedom and democracy.

In celebrating this milestone, the government would recommit to achieving a non-racial, non-sexist, peaceful, and democratic society.

South Africa today was considerably better than the South Africa of 20 years ago.

“It’s not been any easy road.” It was still a long road to go to achieve the “type of society that we want to achieve, but we are getting there steadily”, Zuma said. – Sapa

Cape Town – Police officers and social workers should treat abuse and rape cases with more seriousness, a ministerial committee said on Wednesday.

“We cannot continue having social workers, police officers and health workers who treat issues of domestic violence as a private matter,” the Inter-Ministerial Committee (IMC) on Violence against Women and Children said in a statement.

“There is evidence that victims reported cases of domestic violence to police or social workers, but their pleas for help fell  on deaf ears or they were told to resolve the matter with their partners.”

The IMC is led by Social Development Minister Bathabile Dlamini and comprises the ministers of women, justice, health, home affairs, police, and basic education.

At a meeting in Cape Town on Wednesday, the committee noted. there were tougher laws to protect women and children, but police and social workers did not treat cases of rape and abuse seriously.

This also resulted in secondary victimisation of those who reported such crimes.

The committee said it would push for prevention and early intervention to protect women and children against the scourge.

“It (IMC) noted that while government has enacted various pieces  of legislation to provide better protection for women and children,  there was a need to move from policy to action…”

Several reserach reports, including a study done by the Medical Research Council (MRC), on gaps in government response to the problem came under discussion.

“It (MRC report) noted that there was a myriad of research around men and what causes them to behave violently but strong focus was required to educate the girl child of her responsibilities to protect herself,” the statement said.

Several cases of the rape and murder of young women dominated newspaper headlines earlier this month.

On February 1, 17-year old Anene Booysen was gang raped and disembowelled.

She died in hospital shortly afterwards.

The case has sparked a wave of public protest. – Sapa

Pretoria – Prosecutor Gerrie Nel was caught unawares when reports surfaced that the investigator in the Oscar Pistorius case was himself charged with attempted murder, the Pretoria Magistrate’s Court heard on Thursday.

“We didn’t know,” said Nel.

He continued: “We have heard that he will appear in May.”

Magistrate Desmond Nair then asked that Hilton Botha be fetched, and he called for an adjournment for this purpose.

This followed reports that Botha faces attempted murder charges for allegedly shooting at a taxi.

Nair asked about the incident.

Nel said it happened in December 2011 and that the matter was on the court roll until March 2012. It was then withdrawn, but was later reinstated.

Nel said Botha was in the building and would be fetched.

Pistorius is charged with murdering his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp, which he has denied in an affidavit. – Sapa

A woman’s surprise request to address the Pretoria Magistrate’s Court on athlete Oscar Pistorius’ “mental state” was quickly turned down on Thursday.

The woman, who said she was an attorney, described herself in her application as: “Annamarie, last name uncertain, previously Riethmiller… ex-wife of Oscar Pistorius’ orthopaedic surgeon Dr Gerald Versfeld.”

She said it was a Constitutional matter, but Magistrate Desmond Nair quickly dismissed the application.

She said she would appeal, which Nair said she could do if she wanted to.

Pistorius is charged with murdering his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp, which he has denied in an affidavit.

According to the document “Annamarie” handed to lawyers for the State and defence, the “urgent” motion: “is to have accused, Oscar Pistorius, examined for 60 days under observation by a panel of independent psychiatrist, for such psychiatrist to determine Pistorius’ sanity at the time of (by own admission) causing the death of Reeva Steenkamp, and for such panel of independent psychiatrists to provide this court with their reports and opinions as to whether or not Oscar Pistorius [has] the mental capacity to understand his conduct in respect to the victim herein, Reeva Steenkamp, instruct attorneys and advocates, and to be a reliable witness.”

She also wanted Nair removed.

She was of the opinion Pistorius was “acting outside his natural character” and was “mentally insane” when Steenkamp entered his home on February 13, the night before the shooting.

The court had to consider a motion for the case to be heard in camera, and for the media to stop making “a circus” of the judicial system, she said in the document. – Sapa

Rustenburg – A two-year-old boy died in hospital in Rustenburg after his father allegedly gave him poison, North West police said on Thursday.

Colonel Emelda Setlhako said the father allegedly locked himself and the boy in a toilet at their home in Sunrise near Rustenburg and drank the poison on Tuesday.

“The mother found them vomiting and rushed them to the hospital. The boy died on arrival,” she said.

She said the man was under police guard in hospital and would be charged with murder once he was discharged. – Sapa

Johannesburg – They were just a few kilometres from their school when they were killed.

Hours later, a sponsor would pledge to fund their school fees so they could continue to receive an education that their family could not afford, unaware that the two girls had been killed in a horrific crash.

Cousins Celiwe and Lerato Msimango died in a pile-up in the south of Joburg on Tuesday afternoon when a truck ploughed into the car they were in, as well as three other vehicles, about 3.5km from their school.

They were being driven home by their grandmother, who also died in the crash.

Meanwhile, the driver of the truck has been arrested and charged with five counts of culpable homicide and reckless driving, according to Joburg metro police department (JMPD) spokesman Wayne Minnaar.

The cousins, as well as a third girl, had been in Grade 8 at Covenant College since the beginning of the year with the help of a sponsor. The sponsorship was organised by their former teacher as their families could not afford the school fees. But their place there had been cast in doubt after the funding was recently withdrawn.

A teacher from the girls’ school had managed to find another sponsor to keep the girls at their current school by appealing to listeners of a Talk Radio 702 show on Tuesday night.

She was unaware that the girls had been killed at that point and was informed of the crash only at 1am on Wednesday.

“At last, when we think there is light at the end of the tunnel (for them), and now this happens,” said their former headmaster at Spectrum Primary School, Sam Nenngwekhulu.

He said the girls were from a “really remote area that is poverty stricken”, near Ennerdale. 

The crash happened in Kibler Park, at the corner of Main and Peggy Vera roads, when an 18-wheeler truck ploughed into four cars.

For molre details go to www.iol.co.za

Johannesburg – The lead detective investigating murder charges against Oscar Pistorius has been dropped from the case after it emerged he himself faces seven attempted murder charges, local media reported.

Hilton Botha “cannot continue with this case,” a spokesman for the National Prosecuting Authority told Eyewitness News.

On Thursday morning police confirmed Botha has seven charges of attempted murder against him.

“Yes. It is one case with seven charges of attempted murder,” said Gauteng police spokesman Brigadier Neville Malila.

He said Botha was first charged back in 2009 but the charges were then provisionally withdrawn. The matter was then referred to the director of public prosecutions (DPP).

“It was only yesterday [Wednesday] that we were informed by the DPP that he is being charged,” he said.

“If we have an (investigating officer) that’s facing such serious charges it cannot happen that he continues with this case, the NPA was quoted as saying.

Police have yet to confirm whether or not Botha has been dropped from the case.

According to Eyewitness News, the charges are related to a shooting incident which occurred while Botha was allegedly drunk.

It is alleged that three policemen, including Botha, were drunk while driving a state vehicle when they opened fire on a minibus taxi loaded with passengers.

The EWN report quoted Malila as saying: “There was a decision taken by the DPP’s office to charge the members, each one of them with seven counts of attempted murder. That was the number of people that were in the taxi.”

The detective and two other officers are due to appear in court in May, EWN said. – Sapa, IOL, AFP

Potchefstroom – Two women distracted a Potchefstroom supermarket guard with conversation and possibly a drugged soft drink, before they robbed the shop with the help of two men, Beeld reported on Thursday.

North West police spokeswoman Captain Adele Myburgh said the robbery, at the Spar in Baillie Park, happened on Tuesday night after closing time.

“The two women initially asked the guard if they could use the toilet. They then chatted him up, and offered him a soft drink.”

The guard reportedly started feeling drowsy a short while later, and told police that two men had joined the women.

They tied up the guard and knocked him over the head, after which he lost consciousness.

“The robbers gained access to the shop through the ceiling and took an undisclosed amount of money from the safe. The owners still have to assess their stock to see if anything else was stolen,” Myburgh said.

The incapacitated guard was discovered by a colleague who arrived to relieve him the next morning.

No arrests have been made.

Sapa