Cape Town – First he said he knew student leader Mcebo Dlamini very well, then a few days later the state security minister backtracked on the extent of their relationship.

Now, minister David Mahlobo will have to face the powers and privileges committee to explain if he lied to Parliament in November.

The Speaker’s office announced in Parliament’s announcements, tablings and committee report papers on Wednesday that the matter had officially been referred to the committee.

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Pretoria – Health MEC Qedani Mahlangu has resigned in the wake of a report into the deaths of mentally ill patients, Gauteng Premier David Makhura said on Wednesday.

He received her resignation letter on Tuesday night and accepted it, Makhura told reporters in Pretoria.

He was speaking at a briefing on the outcome of an investigation into the deaths of mentally ill patients transferred from the Life Esidimeni facility to several NGOs in 2016, as part of the provincial health department’s cost-cutting measures.

At least 94 of the patients died between March 23 and December 19 last year, Health Ombudsman Malegapuru Makgoba said at the briefing.

Mahlangu had lost credibility and her actions and those of two senior officials were “chaotic, hurried, in a rush, and a total shambles”, he said.

Makhura said Mahlangu understood that if something went “profoundly wrong, you take direct accountability”.

Mahlangu initially claimed that 36 patients had died. Makgoba suspected that the number of deaths could be higher than 94. He said many families were not informed about the deaths of their relatives.

Makgoba said 18 out of 47 transferred patients died at Precious Angels NGO shortly after Health Minister Aaron Motsoaledi instructed him to investigate.

None of the 27 NGOs had valid licences. This was unlawful, as the victims were vulnerable, and all the NGOs had to face the law, he said.

One of the family members broke down during the briefing as Motsoaledi spoke about the reasons for the investigation.

“I’m not embarrassed,” Motsoaledi said.

“I’m distressed and very angry. Something like this should have been avoided.”

Life Esidimeni cared for about 2 000 patients and received its funding from the department.

Makgoba said he interviewed more than 70 witnesses and worked with eight psychiatric experts.

Makhura said he would appoint Deputy Health Minister Gwen Ramokgopa as health MEC. She was formerly Gauteng health MEC.

In the meantime, Gauteng social development MEC Nandi Mayathula-Khoza would act as health MEC. Makhura said Mahlangu would release a public statement soon.

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Johannesburg – National Prosecuting Authority head Shaun Abrahams ordered an investigation into advocate Gerrie Nel and other senior prosecutors just three days before Nel resigned.

Abrahams asked a senior prosecutor in KwaZulu-Natal to provide him with a progress report relating to a complaint lodged against Nel and three senior advocates, for bringing the administration of justice into disrepute.

News24 has learnt that Nel was part of a complaint a Laudium businessman laid against him and the prosecutors in Pretoria.

Nel resigned on Monday to join lobby group AfriForum as head of its private prosecutions unit.

The complaint, which was registered on December 20 last year, relates to an allegation of tampering with evidence.

Pressure

Speculation is rife among the legal fraternity that Nel was under some sort of pressure in the National Prosecuting Authority before he left, just five years before retirement, after a 36-year career. Insiders believe this complaint may have been the straw that broke the camel’s back.

Days before Nel’s resignation, Abrahams responded to the complainant in a letter News24 has seen, indicating he was taking the allegations seriously.

The letter titled “Bringing the administration of justice into disrepute by virtue of the conduct of senior members of the National Prosecuting Service” was signed on January 27.

Abrahams allocated the complaint to the director of public prosecutions in KwaZulu-Natal, advocate Moipone Noko and asked for a progress report by February 24.

“I reiterate the seriousness of the allegations and remain committed to resolve this matter soonest,” Abrahams wrote.

While the letter by Abrahams does not mention who in the NPA is being looked into, the original complaint specifically names Nel and three senior NPA members in the Pretoria area.

NPA spokesperson Luvuyo Mfaku said they would be guided by Noko once her investigation had been completed.

Hawks involved

News24 learnt that the complainant in the matter had approached the Hawks with the case.

Gauteng Hawks head General Prince Mokotedi confirmed this, but said a case against Nel had not been registered yet because they were waiting for the complainants to depose statements.

“We were approached this past weekend and we were arranging to meet the complainants with their lawyers this coming Friday. I have directed a senior investigator to look into that matter should the complainants and their lawyers revert to us,” Mokotedi said.

When Nel was asked if he was aware of the complaint against him and if this had anything to do with his resignation, he replied “not at all”. He did not comment further.

Dispute with prominent family

The complainant is a businessman who has had four cases opened against him. All of them stem from a dispute he has had with a prominent family. The family, also from Laudium, he alleges, have had numerous criminal cases against them dropped and have “untoward personal relationships” with members of the police and NPA.

The dispute led to a shooting at a supermarket in Laudium in 2015. According to the businessman, five men vandalised his car. He heard what was happening and ran out the shop. When the men surrounded him he pulled out a firearm and shot two of the men, injuring them. His version is that the men were armed and he fired shots to defend himself. Criminal cases were opened on both sides after the incident.

He said that from the start, the normal course of justice appeared to have been interfered with. The senior prosecutor in the case allegedly admitted to having a romantic relationship with a relative of one of the men involved in the supermarket shooting.

He complained and the prosecutor withdrew from the cases. Nel and a colleague then took over. The businessman asked that the NPA look into how the cases were reassigned as he believed the two prosecutors took over as a favour to their colleague.

He said the prosecutors appeared to have a familiar attitude with the Laudium family and he alleges that Nel was seen taking selfies with them in court.

CCTV footage

At the heart of the complaint is CCTV footage of the shooting. The complainant said a shorter, edited version of the footage was submitted to the court which supported the five men’s version of events.

The defence told the prosecutors they had longer footage, which showed that the video submitted to court had been edited.

The prosecutors did not bring this to the magistrate’s attention, said the businessman. The footage was allegedly given to a private company and not the state forensic laboratory to analyse, which is not normal procedure.

The businessman said this was tantamount to tampering with evidence and hence his complaint of defeating the ends of justice.

For more http://www.news24.com

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JOHANNESBURG – As the African National Congress (ANC) prepares for its elective conference later this year, the party has introduced a new way of nominating leaders for positions, with the hope that it will stop slate politics.

The party’s secretary-general, Gwede Mantashe,announced the national executive committee (NEC) resolved to do away with the practice of consolidating nominations for leadership at a regional and provincial level.

Mantashe briefed the media earlier on Monday, following the NEC lekgotla.

Previously ANC branches would nominate its candidates for leadership, send the list to the party’s regional structure and then to the provincial structure for consolidation.

The secretary-general says that process tampers with the authority of branches to nominate as the basic unit of the party.

“We need to do something that will ensure that branches are given the right to nominate. In other words, when we nominate in the branches we seal those envelopes and take them to a central point, nationally.”

Now all nominations for leadership from branches will be consolidated nationally by the electoral commission.

The ANC’s leadership has been struggling to contain discussions around who will succeed President Jacob Zuma as head of the party.

ANC Deputy President Cyril Ramaphosa, outgoing African Union Commission chairperson Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma, long-serving cabinet minister Jeff Radebe and National Assembly Speaker Baleka Mbete have been named as possible candidates to stand for the party’s presidential position.

For more http://www.ewn.co.za

Johannesburg – Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan has accused the Gupta family and its associates of launching an organised campaign against National Treasury and himself, according to court papers filed on Monday.

FULL AFFIDAVIT: Gordhan responds to Oakbay

Gordhan filed his counter affidavit in the North Gauteng High Court in Tshwane on Monday morning, after Oakbay Investments filed court papers on January 20.

The papers revolve around a bid by Gordhan in October last year, in which he sought court protection against being forced by the Guptas to intervene in the matter of the bank account closures of Oakbay Investments.

READ: Gupta response to Gordhan under the microscope

South Africa’s big four banks closed Oakbay’s accounts last year.

As part of the court application, Gordhan listed a Financial Intelligence Centre (FIC) report detailing how the Guptas’ businesses made R6.8bn in “suspicious and unusual transactions”.

In court papers, the banks listed concerns about the Guptas, ranging from risks of money-laundering and suspicious transactions to the family being politically exposed persons.

READ: SA banks becoming battleground in Zuma war – analysts

In Gordhan’s latest affidavit he also accused Oakbay Investments of shifting its position over the matter of its closed bank accounts.

READ: Gupta lawyer lambasts ‘mischievous’ Gordhan over FIC document

“Oakbay’s answering affidavit capitulates on the essential issue before [the] Court. Now Oakbay unequivocally adopts the formal stance that I, as Minister of Finance, indeed have no legal authority or duty to interfere in its banker-client relationships,” said Gordhan.

“Strikingly this belated concession is now embraced by Oakbay as its first and main ground of opposition.

“Thus, after having persistently sought to implore my intervention, Oakbay shifts position to ask this Court to refuse my application on the very basis that Oakbay now accepts that there was indeed no legal basis on which it could seek to impose pressure on me to prevail on the banks to reverse their application of anti-money laundering and related laws and standards,” Gordhan said.

‘Simply scurrilous’

“Oakbay asserts that my application is an abuse because it is politically motivated and retaliatory. There is no merit in this allegation; it is simply scurrilous.

“Oakbay itself concedes its companies’ connection with politically-exposed persons,” added Gordhan.

READ: Gordhan responds: Guptas’ claims are politically-driven and sensational

On January 20, Gupta-linked Oakbay Investments slammed Gordhan’s court application regarding the company as “superfluous” and “riddled with factual and legal errors”.

Oakbay asked the court to “decline to grant the relief” sought by Gordhan and to dismiss the minister’s application with costs.

Oakbay in its affidavit also accused Gordhan of launching the court bid for political gain.

READ: FULL STATEMENT – Oakbay’s full statement on Gordhan’s application

Oakbay Investments slammed Gordhan’s court bid, saying the minister’s reliance on the list of 72 “suspicious transaction reports” is “misplaced and the minister’s application is supported by a flawed analysis and a faulty factual record”.

The company further said that it “never suggested that the minister is required to intervene in the bank-customer relationship” and that Gordhan could “simply have declined to do anything in the exercise of his legal discretion”.

Oakbay Investments said it had made “every attempt” to gain information from the FIC regarding the transactions Gordhan referred to, and that international investigative firm Nardello & Co reviewed the 72 transactions and didn’t find any damning evidence.

The company also alleged that in January 2016 Gordhan met with 60 “captains of industry” where the minister, according to its “sources”, said that “steps must be taken to ‘clip the wings of this family [the Guptas]’.”

For more http://www.news24.com

*This is a developing story.

BY REGINALD KANYANE

A 18 year-old man was arrested in Ganyesa in connection for murder at Tlakgameng village, near Ganyesa on Saturday.  He allegedly stabbed a 24 year-old man to death.

“The police were summoned to a scene of murder where they found the victim’s body lying on the ground with a stab wound in the chest. The motive of the incident is unknown at this stage and the suspect is expected to appear in Ganyesa Magistrate’s Court on Monday.

taungdailynews@gmail.com

BY REGINALD KANYANE

A 28 year-old man was sentenced to life imprisonment for rape and robbery North West police spokesperson, Sgt Kelebogile Moleko said the accused raped and robbed a 52 year-old woman off her cellphone in December back in 2014.

“The incident took place at Letlhabile location near Brits. The victim was on her way to workplace when the accused dragged her to the bushes. He threatened her with a knife and raped her.

“The accused was arrested in January 2015 after a thorough investigation by the Brits Cluster Family Violence, Child Protection and Sexual Offences Unit (FCS). Upon sentencing the accused, the court declared him unfit to possess a firearm in terms of Section 103 (g) of the Firearms Control Act, 2000 (Act No. 60 of 2000),” she said.

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Rustenburg – Marikana in North West near Rustenburg is one of the areas where police found it difficult to police, acting national police commissioner Lieutenant-General Khomotso Phahlane said on Friday.

“There are areas such as Marikana where police find it difficult to work. officers are attacked when responding to complaints,” he said at the national police day at Ikageng in Mosenthal near Rustenburg. He said events such as the national police day were intended to bring the police and the community together in order to fight crime. “We must find peace, we must bridge the gap. We are not enemies of the community.”

Residents of Marikana West marched to the Marikana police station on December 8 last year, and declared their area as a no go area for the police. They allegedly told the station commander that police would enter Marikana West at their own risk, that afternoon a man was hacked to death by a mob of over 30 people.

Six people including activist Napoleon Webster have been arrested in connection with that murder, they were expected to appear in the Rustenburg Magistrate’s Court sitting in Tlhabane on Monday for bail.

Tension between Marikana residents and the police stems from the death of 34 mineworkers who were killed by the police at a koppie near Nkaneng informal settlement four years ago, following a violent wildcat strike at Lonmin platinum mine Marikana operations.

In total 44 people, including two policemen and two Lonmin security guards, where killed during the violent strike. Phahlane said in the previous financial year, 81 police officers were killed.

“In the 2015/2016, financial year 81 officers were killed, this figure include those who were killed in [road] accidents while on duty, 40 died in the line of duty. Since April, 45 officers were killed and those who died in the line of duty are 27.”

Earlier, the SA Policing Union (Sapu) said it was worried at the number of police officer who were killed. “Our members are mercifully killed,” said Sapu North West provincial chairperson Letebele Mothobi.

He said the union would continue to fight for better working conditions of the police officers and called on the community to work with the police to defeat crime.

African News Agency

Rustenburg – For 80-year-old Johannah Kolobe of Ikageng near Rustenburg, the police are not her protector but, helped to put a roof over her head.

The pensioner was close to shed tears on Friday, when the police handed over a newly built house to her. “I was not expecting this, I did not believe, this is a surprise. God is great,” she said clapping her hands together.

She said when she saw a truck delivery a load of bricks, she was convince she would have a house.

“I was left with nothing when the fire ate my house. I bought building material bit by bit to rebuild my shack but, when I saw load of bricks delivered to my yard I was realised it was going to get a house.”

The furnished house consists with two bedrooms, lounge, kitchen, a shower and a toilet.

Her shack burnt to ashes on December 16 last year, and she was left with only the night dress she was wearing.

She shared the house with eight people, including her son and his wife, together with four grandchildren.

Police Minister Nathi Nhleko flanked by acting national police commissioner Lieutenant-General Khomotso Phahlane and North West provincial police commissioner Lieutenant General Baile Motswenyane handed the house to her on national police day.

The police also bought grocery to the Kolobe family and other 100 families, they also bought full school uniform to five school children.

African News Agency

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Johannesburg – North West church leaders have come out in support of a bishop after he made headlines for making homophobic comments during a sermon.

Pastor Lesiba Kgwele from Mahikeng Ministers Fellowship on Sunday said the sermon of Bishop Dag Heward-Mills delivered at the Grace Christian Church was not targeted at gay communities, but was preached out of love.

“Dag Heward-Mills did not cross the line for his sermon to be considered hate speech. It is a pastor’s mandate to preach the word of God and that message was preached out of love. People prefer to hear a Gospel that tickles their ears.”

Kgwele said Grace Christian Church should have supported Heward-Mills and not distanced itself from him after the bishop reportedly said homosexuality was unnatural while discussing the soul and sins.

“Which animal has one partner? It’s just like homosexuality, you don’t have male and male. You don’t find two male dogs, two male lions, two male impalas, two male lizards. You don’t find that in nature. That is unnatural. There is nothing like that in nature,” Heward-Mills was reported as saying.

However, Kgewele said the message was aimed at making people repent.

“The Word of God is not preached to adorn, support or endorse our sinful nature, but is invariably at odds or at enmity with that which prevails as the conventional and accepted wisdom,” Kgwele said.

Local celebrity Somizi Mhlongo set Twitter abuzz after he posted on Instagram that he had stormed out of the church following Ghanaian-born Heward-Mills’s homophobic comments.

But Kgwele said: “Somizi must be reminded that Christians are called to be pilgrims, strangers and sojourners in the world and that the primary function of preaching is to jolt God’s people into an awareness of the degree to which they have unconsciously succumbed to the world and its values.”

He said everyone was created in the image of God and should be loved in that way.

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