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Take parties to task, urges judge


Durban – South Africans needed to take the campaign against corruption to the political parties they support, retired Constitutional Court judge Zakeria Yacoob said on Tuesday.

Yacoob, speaking at the University of KwaZulu-Natal, said the struggle against corruption should not only be waged against the government, but within political parties.

He said the problem with the current system was that voters could not vote for candidates, but only for parties.

“People seriously suspected of corruption should be removed [from their parties],” said Yacoob.

He said apart from voters holding their political parties accountable, government needed to make serious efforts to reduce corruption.

“It is the worst form of treason,” he said.

He said political parties should not wait for a politician to be convicted, but should do their own enquiries when it came to corruption.

He said a reduction in corruption would make a massive difference in government’s ability to meet its socio-economic responsibilities such as housing and health.

Yacoob accused the government of lacking any sympathy when it came to socio-economic rights, which he described as including the provision of housing and proper health services.

Policies should mean something

“I would plead with government to start embracing social and economic rights.”

When taken to task over its failure to meet these rights, the government became very defensive.

“There isn’t enough sensitivity and caring. It is the level of sympathy which is absent,” Yacoob said.

The government had to have programmes that addressed the plight of the vulnerable.

“Our government always had wonderful-sounding policies.”

These policies though would only mean something if they were acted on in a programme that could be implemented, he said.

– SAPA

Oscar: Tough time


Pretoria – Oscar Pistorius, who is expected to testify in his murder trial at the end of the week, said on Tuesday he’s going through “a tough time” in a rare comment after the prosecution closed its case against the double-amputee runner.

It is “likely” Pistorius will take the stand to open the defence’s case, said defence lawyer Brian Webber, adding there’s no specific requirement for him to testify first but it is normal practice.

“I don’t think we have a choice, it’s a question of when,” Webber said of Pistorius’s testimony, which legal experts describe as critical because the judge will have a chance to assess first-hand whether he is a credible witness.

Judge Thokozile Masipa will deliver a ruling in the case, with the help of two assessors.

After the prosecution closed its case, defence lawyer Barry Roux asked for time to consult some of the 107 state witnesses who had not testified in the case against Pistorius, who is accused of premeditated murder for the death of Reeva Steenkamp, the girlfriend he shot through the closed door of a toilet cubicle last year.

Masipa adjourned the trial until Friday so that Roux could prepare his arguments that Pistorius, 27, killed the 29-year-old model by accident, thinking she was an intruder in his home.

Pistorius has sometimes reacted emotionally during the prosecution’s case, shedding tears this week during testimony of text messages that he and Steenkamp exchanged in the weeks before he killed her in the early hours of 14 February 2013.

Vomiting in court

In earlier testimony, he retched and vomited at a pathologist’s descriptions of Steenkamp’s gunshot wounds. At other times, he has appeared calm, taking notes during testimony and conferring with his lawyers during breaks.

The Olympian once basked in global publicity stemming from his achievements on the track and but became an almost silent, somewhat cryptic figure after he killed Steenkamp, his account only outlined in legal statements that were carefully tailored by his high-powered legal team. On Tuesday, he made rare, brief comments to reporters after the court adjourned.

“It’s a tough time,” Pistorius said. “We’ve got a lot ahead of us.”

Earlier on Tuesday, Roux sought to show that Pistorius had a loving relationship with the girlfriend he killed, referring to telephone messages in which they exchanged warm compliments and said they missed each other.

The testimony contrasted with several messages read in court a day earlier in which Pistorius and Steenkamp argued in the weeks before he shot her, part of the prosecution’s effort to bolster its case that the athlete killed his girlfriend after an argument. In those messages, Steenkamp told the runner that she was sometimes scared by his behaviour, which included jealous outbursts in front of other people.

Roux noted that the tense messages amounted to a tiny fraction of the roughly 1 700 messages that police Captain Francois Moller, a cellular telephone expert, extracted from the mobile devices of the couple.

Roux noted a 19 January exchange in which Reeva sent Pistorius a photo of herself in a hoodie and making a kissing face, followed by the message: “You like it?”

“I love it,” Pistorius said, according to the message.

“So warm,” Steenkamp responded.

CCTV footage

Roux was also granted permission to show CCTV video, earlier broadcast by Sky News, which showed Pistorius and Steenkamp kissing in a convenience store.

Chief prosecutor Gerrie Nel questioned the relevance of showing the convenience store video, saying he could ask for a courtroom viewing of another video, also broadcast by Sky News, that shows Pistorius at a gun range, firing a shotgun and using a pistol to shoot a watermelon, which bursts on impact.

Nel also said that many messages of affection between the couple were brief, in contrast to the texted arguments, which were far longer and dwelled on their relationship in greater depth.

Earlier, Moller said Steenkamp connected to the internet on her cellular telephone hours before Pistorius killed her.

She made the connection just before 21:00 on 13 February 2013, and the connection lasted for more than 11 hours, possibly because social media programs were still open.

Pistorius shot her shortly after 03:00 in the early hours of Valentine’s Day, and Moller’s extraction of data also shed light on what appeared to be a frantic series of phone calls made from one of Pistorius’s cellphones after the killing.

They include a call to the administrator of the housing estate where Pistorius lived at 03:19 on 14 February, a call a minute later to an ambulance service and a call a minute after that to the housing estate security.

AP

North West man sanctioned to 20 years imprisonment after rape


By Obakeng Maje
Mmabatho High Court has sentenced Thabiso Mogale,22 from Blydeville in Lichtenburg to twenty years imprisonment on Tuesday for rape, attempted rape and assault GBH. 

The accused was sentenced after admitting and pleading guilty to the charges.

“Crimes were committed at Blydeville in 2010 and 2011 respectively and they are 6 counts of rape, 1 attempted murder and 1assault GBH” captain Pelonomi Makau said.-TDN
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Five nabbed for public violence in Majakaneng


By Obakeng Maje
Majakaneng-Brits police arrested 5 suspects on Tuesday at around 12:00 at Majakaneng village near Mooinooi for Arson, Malicious damage to property, Intimidation, Assault Common and Public Violence, colonel Sabata Mokgwabone said.

The arrest follows intensive investigation on cases that were registered during Majakaneng community protests on 27 and 28 February 2014.

“Out of five suspects, 1 is facing a charge of Public Violence, another one is charged with Arson while the other 3 is facing charges of Arson, Malicious damage to property, Intimidation, Assault Common” colonel Sabata Mokwabone said.    

The arrested suspects ages range between 23 and 28.

“They will all appear in Brits Magistrates’ Court on Wednesday.

Investigations regarding the matter continue.-TDN
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Mining, poverty, unemployment to be focus point of NWest round-table discussion


Rustenburg-The North West Provincial Planning Commission in the Office of the Premier will be hosting a one-day Research and Policy Round Table with stakeholders on key priority areas impacting on implementation of the National Development Plan (NDP) in the Province.

The aim of the round table, which is to be held in Rustenburg on Monday next week, is to gather inputs to inform strategies for the implementation of the NDP priority areas in the North West.

Premier Thandi Modise, who is scheduled to deliver a keynote address at the event, said she is confident that the range of high profile speakers invited will be able to offer perceptive insights that will help the province to address the triple challenges of poverty, unemployment and inequality.

“We are a province that is supposed to have low levels of unemployment given the mineral resources we are endowed with. Beneficiation, sustainable community development, enterprise and skills development, local procurement, social investment initiatives and greater involvement of communities in the determination of Social Labour Plans are but some of the opportunities that we need to exploit fully because though there are currently challenges in the mining sector, we need to reposition ourselves for an upswing that will put us on a higher development trajectory,” Modise said ahead of the round table discussion.  

Speakers on the programme will among others include Joel Netshitenzhe from the Mapungubwe Institute for Strategic Reflection (MISTRA), who will discuss the future of the platinum industry and the challenges of growth and development, Prof Ojakoruti of the North West University who will make a presentation on the impact of mining on host communities, Prof Julian May from the University of the Western Cape who will preset the statistical overview of poverty, among others. 

The event is scheduled to be held as follows:
Venue : Kedar Country Lodge, Rustenburg
Date : Monday 31 March 2014
Time : 8H00
-TDN
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Goats stolen, killed and put in a hearse near Taung


By Obakeng Maje
Vryburg-The fight against stock theft gained success when 3 male suspects aged 41, 31 and 30 were arrested at approximately 01:00 on Tuesday in Vryburg, says colonel Sabata Mokgwabone.  

The members were on routine crime prevention patrol when they noticed a suspicious vehicle in Vryburg.  

“The police allegedly followed it, but the driver ultimately increased the speed when he realised that police were following them” Mokgwabone said.

The police eventually stopped the vehicle, which was a hearse from a funeral parlour in Huhudi near Vryburg.

“Upon searching the hearse, the police found four slaughtered goat carcasses. The suspects were interviewed and that led police to Taung-Vryburg National road where the suspects dumped the skins and heads of one sheep and four goats on the grass along the road” he said. 

It was then established that the goats and a sheep were stolen and slaughtered in Tshoseng village near Pudimoe.

The meat and skins were confiscated by the police.

All three suspects will appear in Vryburg Magistrates’ Court on Thursday.-TDN
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Two nabbed for suspected stolen laptops, video camera and cellphones


By Obakeng Maje
Kathu-The Northern Cape police have made a breakthrough in the housebreaking cases when two suspects were arrested over the weekend.

“It is alleged that during the early hours of Friday morning at about 03:00, a resident of Bestwood was asleep when intruders entered his house” colonel Priscilla Naidu said.

A TV set, a laptop, personal documents and a cellphone was taken. Entry was gained through an unlocked door.

Police followed up on information received and their investigation led them to a house in Maputeng. Four TV’s, 3 laptops, 2 video cameras, an ipod, 73 mandrax tablets, 2 cameras, 16 sealed bags of tik crystals, 7 cellphones and a packet containing an unknown powder(suspected cocaine) was confiscated from this house.

“A 35 year-old man was arrested in Kathu on Saturday while the second suspect, aged 23 years old was arrested on Sunday, also in Kathu” Naidu said.

Both suspects were charged with housebreaking and theft and appeared in the Kathu magistrates’ Court on Monday.

Lloyd,35 and Johan Holthauze,23 were denied bail and will appear in court again on the 14 April 2014.

Police are appealing to the public to contact them to identify the recovered items. D/Sgt Karlin Grobler of SAPS Kathu may be contacted on 0836028607.

“Police are also warning the public not to buy stolen items from suspected criminals. If found in possession of stolen property, they will be charged and their property confiscated by the police. Instead police is appealing to the public to report criminal behaviour to them” she said.-TDN
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The final arguments in Griekwastad case


Kimberley – Final arguments in the triple murder Griekwastad farm murder case started in the Northern Cape High Court on Tuesday.

A 17-year-old youth is accused of shooting dead farmer Deon Steenkamp, 44, his wife Christel, 43, and their daughter Marthella, 14, on 6 April 2012.

He faces an additional charge of raping Marthella and of lying to the police.

Riaan Bode, for the youth, started proceedings with his final arguments in the defence’s case.

He told Northern Cape Judge President Frans Kgomo that in relation to the rape charge, witnesses were not fully convinced that a rape took place.

Quoting from the court record, Bode submitted there was an indication that the red mark on the girl’s genitals could also be self-inflicted or due to other reasons.

The boy has denied the charges, and has told the court someone else must have been in the Steenkamp house on the day of the murders.

However, the State has claimed his evidence was in the realm of the impossible.

The boy has pleaded not guilty to all charges.

The case continues.
SAPA

Only 4 messages show argument- Roux


Pretoria – A police data analyst found four messages out of 1 709 between murder-accused Oscar Pistorius and Reeva Steenkamp which could show an argument, the North Gauteng High Court heard on Tuesday.

“Out of that more than 1 700 you found four [relevant to an argument]?” asked Roux of data analyst Captain Francois Moller.

“That’s correct,” said Moller.

The State alleges Pistorius shot dead his girlfriend Steenkamp during a row in the early hours of 14 February last year. It disputes his version that he thought he was shooting an intruder in the bathroom of his Pretoria house.

Roux asked whether, during analysis of a WhatsApp message relating to the discharge of a firearm at Tasha’s in Melrose Arch, Pistorius had said he had asked his friend Darren Fresco to take the blame.

“No,” said Moller.

Message a ‘reflection of the deceased’

A message from Pistorius to Steenkamp read: “Angel, please don’t say anything to anyone. Darren told everyone it was his fault. I can’t afford for that to come out. The guys promised not to say a thing.”

Roux said it showed his concern over the media but did not say he asked Fresco to take the blame.

“That’s correct,” said Moller.

Roux skipped one message, saying it was a “reflection on the deceased” which would be dealt with later.

Pistorius has been charged with the premeditated murder of Steenkamp and of contravening the Firearms Control Act.

He allegedly fired a shot from a Glock pistol under a table at a Johannesburg restaurant in January 2013.

On 30 September 2012 he allegedly shot through the open sunroof of a car with his 9mm pistol while driving with friends in Modderfontein.

He pleaded not guilty to all the charges.
SAPA

UCDP members realign to the DA


By Obakeng Maje
Mahikeng-The realignment of the South African political parties has sped-up this weekend with 100 UCDP members from Ward 11 in Mahikeng Local Municipality signing-up DA membership and putting on DA t-shirts on Human Rights Day, Friday the 21st of March.

The event included discussing the DA’s 2014 Election Manifesto for jobs and listening to the residents’ concerns regarding service delivery around Mahikeng.

“The Democratic Alliance welcomes all South Africans who subscribe to the Constitution of South-Africa & the Federal Constitution of the Democratic Alliance to join us in building a New working Government” DA spokesperson Tiaan Kotze said.-TDN
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