Orlando Pirates caretaker coach Eric Tinkler’s explanation for dropping Fatau Dauda to the bench against Ajax Cape Town is simple: Senzo Meyiwa is the number one.
It had long been wondered when the Ghana international would play for Pirates after sitting most of the season on the bench, but he finally made his debut 10 days ago against Mamelodi Sundowns when Meyiwa went off injured.
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Johannesburg – Three people were wounded in a shooting incident at an intersection in Westdene, Johannesburg on Tuesday, paramedics said.
Paramedics found two men had sustained critical injuries and one was seriously injured at the intersection of Main Road and Tobie Street on Tuesday evening, Netcare 911 Santi Steinmann said.
The men were transported to a nearby hospital.
Details of the shooting were still unclear.
SAPA
Johannesburg – A protest in the Zandspruit informal settlement near Honeydew continued on Wednesday, Johannesburg metro police said.
“Protest action continued the entire night,” said Senior Superintendent Wayne Minnaar.
He said that Beyers Naude Drive, between Johan and Peter roads, was still blocked off due to the protest, and advised motorists to use alternative routes.
On Tuesday, residents barricaded roads with burning tyres and stones in a protest against the removal of their shacks.
Captain Doniah Mothutsane said residents had illegally erected shacks along Beyers Naude Drive, making it difficult for vehicles to pass.
She said metro police had removed their structures earlier in the day, which caused the residents to protest. Police had met residents about the matter last week.
A bakkie and an old vehicle which was parked at a petrol station in the area had been torched.
No arrests had been made yet and no injuries were reported.
Police were monitoring the area, said Mothutsane.
SAPA
Johannesburg – The National Prosecuting Authority had a number of conditions should media houses broadcast Oscar Pistorius’s murder trial.
However, the NPA would not say what these conditions were.
The North Gauteng High Court will on Wednesday hear an application by media houses to broadcast the trial.
The application is being brought by news channel eNCA who is being joined in its bid by MultiChoice and Eyewitness News.
A 24-hour TV channel dedicated to the upcoming trial will reportedly be launched on DStv a day before the star athlete goes on trial.
MultiChoice and EWN said it was proposing permission to use unmanned, remote controlled high definition cameras which would feed to all broadcasters, if the application was successful.
The NPA said it would not oppose the application.
Pistorius is accused of killing his model girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp in February last year. His trial is expected to be heard in the North Gauteng High Court from 3 to 20 March.
It was not immediately clear if Pistorius’s legal team would oppose the application.
SAPA
Cape Town – Opposition MPs on Tuesday told President Jacob Zuma he had failed to match up to his predecessors, Thabo Mbeki and Nelson Mandela.
Democratic Alliance leader Lindiwe Mazibuko was the first opposition party leader to tell the National Assembly that Zuma’s “poor leadership” had reversed much of the progress South Africa had made up to 2009.
Mazibuko vowed to table a motion to impeach Zuma if the public protector’s report on Nkandla found him guilty of wrongdoing.
Speaking during the debate on Zuma’s State of the Nation address, Mazibuko told MPs she wanted to deliver a strong message on the Nkandla “scandal”, which involved spending over R206m of public money on Zuma’s private homestead in KwaZulu-Natal.
“I want to use this opportunity to send a very clear message to our honourable members, that should the honourable President be involved in any wrongdoing in the Public Protector’s report on the Nkandla scandal, I will not hesitate to table a motion to impeach him in this House.”
Mazibuko said she could not guarantee opposition parties would win such an impeachment vote, but said millions of South Africans would be calling on MPs to do the right thing.
“They know the real story – that our country cannot afford another five years of President Zuma’s administration.”
Public Protector Thuli Madonsela’s report on Nkandla is set to be released on 1 March.
Minutes later, Congress of the People leader Mosiuoa Lekota said the country was ruing the day former president Thabo Mbeki was forced out of office.
“South Africa today is less happy than when President Mbeki was driven out of office,” he said.
Lekota served as a minister under Mbeki and broke away from the ANC in 2008 after Mbeki was forced to step down as president. He said under Zuma the country had racked up trillions of rands in debt and wasted billions more every year.
“Is it any wonder that township after township in the province you govern are going up in flames?”
Govt failed SA
IFP leader Mangosuthu Buthelezi said Zuma and his government made promises but delivered very little.
“Considering this last quarter of our democratic era, one blatant truth demands to be spoken: Mr President, under your watch, this government has failed South Africa,” Buthelezi said.
“Twenty years ago, words like ‘rainbow nation’, ‘miracle transition’, ‘freedom’, and ‘reconciliation’ filled the public discourse. Under your leadership, Mr President, those words have become ‘Marikana’, ‘scandal’, ‘protest’, and ‘corruption’.”
Some MPs in ANC benches heckled Buthelezi, while Zuma and some of his Cabinet ministers sat chuckling in their seats.
Buthelezi quoted both Nelson Mandela and Archbishop Emeritus Desmond Tutu on their warnings that people should criticise the “oppressed” if they became the “oppressors”.
“It is painful, but I cannot stand in this House in good conscience and say that today’s ANC is the ANC in which I cut my political teeth. It is not the same creature. It is hideously transformed,” Buthelezi said.
Acid test
Election day, he said, would be an acid test for the country.
“On the 7th of May, South Africa will visit the trauma unit. Whether we emerge healed, or dying, is up to the electorate.”
Cabinet ministers jumped to Zuma’s defence.
Home Affairs Minister Naledi Pandor said Zuma was correct to say the country had a good story to tell.
“In fact, it is an extraordinary story of a remarkable political and socio-economic transformation, one that is probably unparallelled in recent history both for the speed of its achievement and the wide-ranging diversity of areas that have seen fundamental change,” she said.
“The only cloud hanging over this good story, Mr Speaker, is the uninspiring negativity and poor grace of the opposition parties that have spoken here today.”
SAPA
Johannesburg – The acquittal of basic education director general Bobby Soobrayan was met with anger by the SA Democratic Teachers Union (Sadtu) on Tuesday.
“The return of Bobby to the helm of the department is nothing short of a declaration of war and we will not lie down and play dead under these circumstances,” Sadtu’s national working committee said in a statement.
Earlier, education spokesperson Panyaza Lesufi said Soobrayan had been found not guilty of misusing funds and signing an agreement on the department’s behalf without the authority to do so.
The Sadtu national working committee said Soobrayan’s disciplinary process was “clearly a sham… tailor-made to exonerate him”.
“The director general contravened basic principles of the Public Finance Management Act by signing, without any mandate, a major collective agreement and as far as we are concerned he has lost credibility and cannot be taken seriously.”
In April, Sadtu marched in Cape Town and Pretoria to demand the resignations of Soobrayan and Basic Education Minister Angie Motshekga. The following month Sadtu met Motshekga, who agreed to the union’s demand for an investigation into Soobrayan’s conduct.
In return, the union dropped its call for her resignation and suspended its threat to embark on a 21-day work-to-rule protest.
On Tuesday, Sadtu said it was regretful that some of its members, who were senior officials at the department, had defended Soobrayan.
“As a matter of principle, we refuse to keep people in our fold who go as low as protecting their masters at the expense of collective bargaining and quality public education. We have thus resolved to summarily terminate their memberships.”
The union’s national working committee would hold a meeting to decide its response to Soobrayan’s acquittal.
Lesufi said Soobrayan was on special leave during the disciplinary hearing, held in December.
“The allegations against the director general emanated from Sadtu and they were properly consulted by the prosecutor and their attorneys [were] allowed to attend the disciplinary hearing.”
Lesufi said no complaint was received after the disciplinary hearing was finalised.
SAPA
By Obakeng Maje
Kuruman-Two suspects appeared briefly before Mothibistad Magistrate Court in connection of armed robbery.
“It is alleged that on Saturday,Thuso Leboko,29, and Rebaone Leboko,23, attacked an on-duty police officer, stationed at Batlharos police station and robbed him of his service pistol” lieutenant Olebogeng Tawana said.
The police said the incident allegedly happened at a local supermarket not far from Batlharos police station, where the victim is stationed.
“Apparently the suspects opened the door of the police vehicle in which the victim was driving in and grabbed him and forcefully removed his service pistol from the holster” Tawana said.
After removing the firearm from the holster, one of the suspects attempted to shoot him, but the firearm could not discharge a bullet.
“They fled the crime scene on foot into the village, and shortly robbed a local tuck shop off undisclosed amount of cash, cigarettes and airtime at gun point” he said.
Batlharos police with the help of the neighbouring police stations like Tsineng and Kuruman K9 unit immediately launched a man hunt. They were arrested after the members of the community tipped off the police about the suspects’ whereabouts.
Afterwards a high speed chase ensued and the suspects were arrested in nearby bushes in the area of Batlharos. The service firearm and magazine with full ammunition was also retrieved in a yard.
“It seems as if the suspects threw the pistol and magazine while they were running away from the police” he outlines.
Batlharos station Commander Captain Modise extends his gratitude to the community of Batlharos after sharing the information which led to the arrest of the suspects with the police with the police.-TDN
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By Obakeng Maje
In another unrelated incident, 3 males aged 12, 19 and 20 drowned while swimming in a quarry at Pella village, in Madikwe on Monday at about 17:00.
Police said their bodies were retrieved this morning.
“Police in Potchefstroom also opened a case of Inquest after a body of a 7-year- old boy was found floating in the swimming pool at his parents’ house in Potchefstroom in December 2013” Makau said.
It is alleged that the boy was last seen sleeping in one of the bedrooms, but was not found there when the grandmother looked for him.
The most important rule of water is that everyone should respect water, the water environment and the dangers involved. Always be on the lookout for advisory signs in both natural and public environments.
“Alcohol and water safety do not go together. Alcohol abuse blunts your sense of judgement, strengths and stamina. The most dangerous time at a picnic, is on arrival, when parents are unpacking and children venture to discover their surroundings” she said.
Residents are requested to take care of themselves and apply the following precautionary measures.
Safety Tips
∙Do not get into water alone, unless you are a strong swimmer.
∙Children should never swim alone.
∙Ensure that the water depths are appropriate for swimming and diving.
∙Children should be constantly supervised when they are near water, even during bath time.
∙Install a safety barrier around home swimming pools.
∙Empty baths, basins, sinks immediately after use.
∙Do not duck or push others into rivers.
∙Never cross overflowing rivers.
∙Be careful not to stand on an overhanging bank.
∙Before entering the water, check for the presence and strength of a current.
•If caught in a fast river current, float feet first in order to absorb any impact with the feet and legs, thus protecting the head and body from serious injury.
∙Extreme care should always be taken when entering rivers because of their changeable nature.-TDN
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By Obakeng Maje
Taung-The police in the North West are concerned about the escalating number of reported cases of drowning in rivers, dams, streams and swimming pools in various parts of the Province.
The recent reported cases of drowning include that of a man in Taung who allegedly crossed a flooding river with his donkey cart.
“Police divers managed to get his cart and two donkeys and his body was only recovered after five days” captain Pelonomi Makau.
Another inquest case was registered in Vryburg at Rosendaal farm on Saturday when two boys,aged 10 and 15 years old drowned in a quarry after they went out for swimming.-TDN
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Johannesburg-Bafana Bafana defender Thabo Nthete says he can’t wait for the much-anticipated clash against five-time world champions Brazil next month.
South Africa will tackle the 2014 FIFA World Cup hosts on Wednesday, 5 March at the FNB Stadium in Nasrec near Soweto in a match whose theme is “Celebrating 20 Years of Freedom.”
Nthete missed the reciprocal clash in Sao Paolo in 2012 where a gallant Bafana Bafana narrowly lost 1-0.
“Ït is every player’s dream to play against the best, and I guess I am no different. I have not played against Brazil and given a chance on the day I will certainly do my best. I watched them against Bafana Bafana in the 2009 FIFA Confederations Cup and in Sao Paolo two years ago and it has been my wish to play against them. If I am selected, it will be like a dream come true, more so coming at the back of having faced World and European champions Spain.
“I am really looking forward to this match,” said the former Bloemfontein Celtic captain who recently made a move to Mamelodi Sundowns.
Nthete, who has been capped 19 times for Bafana Bafana, is expecting a blockbuster of a match; similar to the one against Spain.
“It is going to be a tough day but that is what every player savours; playing against the best in the business. They are an all-round team, very strong in defence and a sleek strike-force; so it calls for us to work as a team and be at our best,” said Nthete.
The hard tackling defender said the match would be the sternest test for most of the players especially after the shock win against La Roja (Spain).
“I don’t think we will disappoint our legion of fans on the night as I believe coach Igesund has selected a very competitive squad that can hold it’s own against many teams. I have confidence that we will do well. We just hope our fans will come in full force to support us in this match,” added the Sundowns defender.
Tickets for this match are going for R50 for the top tier; R200 for the middle tier and R100 for the bottom tier.
They can be purchased at Computicket, Shoprite, Checkers and Shoprite/Checkers stores countrywide.-TDN
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