An off-duty policeman was shot dead in his home, Western Cape police said.

Cape Town - An off-duty policeman was shot dead in Mitchells Plain in Cape Town, Western Cape police said on Tuesday.

This is the third police killing in the city since Sunday.

Lieutenant-Colonel Tembinkosi Kinana said two unidentified men knocked on the sergeant's door at his Montclaire home around 9pm on Monday.

They fired several shots at him as he approached the door and then entered the house, demanding his firearm in a safe.

They ran away and the officer died at the scene.

The 34-year-old officer had been stationed at Philippi East.

A case of armed robbery and murder was being investigated and no arrests had been made.

“The SA Police Service Management would like to convey heartfelt condolences to the bereaved family of the deceased police officer and to his colleagues at work,” Kinana said.

“An attack (on) the police, is an attack to the society. Our efforts to serve and protect our communities will not be deterred by the cold blooded and heartless criminals. We will not be side-tracked by the criminal elements operating within our communities, and the police will not sleep until culprits are brought to book.”

Two policemen were shot dead in separate incidents in Cape Town on Sunday.

A 36-year-old constable was killed while on duty in Spine Road, Mitchells Plain, around 8pm on Sunday.

An hour later, a 40-year-old sergeant was shot in his Khayelitsha home while getting ready to go to work.

He died on his way to hospital.

No arrests had been made for either attack.

Police Minister Nathi Mthethwa visited Mitchells Plain on Monday following the attacks.

In a phone interview, he said the province had the highest number of attacks on police.

He said the Western Cape community safety department's criticism of the police service reinforced the idea that officers did not deserve respect.

“What we are saying is that criticising the police is not a problem if they think there are weaknesses. But if they say nothing positive, they open them (the police) up to criminal attack,” he said.

“The major point we're making here is the issues of safety and security, like in any other province, is about working together and partnerships through a multi-disciplinary approach,” he said.

Community safety MEC Dan Plato condemned the police minister's comments, accusing him of “playing politics” while people were being killed.

“It is utterly disgusting and totally inappropriate that the national minister would use the death of police officers for electioneering purposes,” Plato said.

The Democratic Alliance (DA) accused Mthethwa on Monday of trying to score political points, calling his comments distasteful, insensitive and an insult to the grieving families.

“The only people to blame for the deaths of our police officers are criminals who have no respect for the police,” DA MP Dianne Kohler Barnard said.

She called on Mthethwa to retract his comments.

“(He must) stop abusing his position to make irresponsible statements. Instead, he should be proactive and launch an investigation into the causes and extent of police killings,” Kohler Barnard said.

The DA intended asking Parliament to summon Mthethwa to explain what he would do to better protect police officers in the Western Cape and the rest of the country. - Sapa

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The protection of the N2 highway is under careful scrutiny by the Western Cape government and the Cape Town municipality.

Cape Town - The protection of the N2 highway, as a key economic lifeline, is under careful scrutiny by the provincial government and the Cape Town municipality.

In the light of the recent protests, some of which have spilled on to the N2, Transport MEC Robin Carlisle said the transport and law enforcement departments of the provincial government and the City of Cape Town had met the SA National Roads Agency to thrash out new ideas to keep the highway safe.

On Sunday, parts of the N2 had to be closed when “poo protesters” ran amok, hurling human waste at passing cars and endangering lives as motorists were forced to take evasive action.

“It’s a very deeply concerning issue,” Carlisle said. “There’s the safety of drivers and our economy is dependent on our transport corridors - without them we’re in trouble.

“They are essential to our economy, particularly given the decline of rail freight. They are thus a perfect target for demonstrators/protesters/political opportunists.”

The repeated closure of key transport corridors constituted an own goal for an already ailing economy.

“If our freeways are going to become a battle scene, then this very painful breakdown of law and order could have frightening consequences.”

Carlisle agreed that laws were already in place banning pedestrians from national roads, and authorities were doing their utmost.

“The city and province have done as much as they can. Hot spots are under 24-hour surveillance and are patrolled by metro police and provincial traffic.

“Cleaning service providers are on 24/7 standby.

“However, we don’t have heavily armed personnel to deal with certain situations. If there is a reasonably sized crowd there’s a limit to what we can do - it becomes the police’s job. Only the police have the legal authority, the strength and the resources to deal with the problem.”

New measures were the testing of an “indestructible” new fence, which could line the freeway in future, as well as recently installed cameras with night-vision to monitor the freeway.

And a strong presence of metro police allowed a speedy reaction to protests - although with limited resources which only the police had.

Cape Argus

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A UCT student fell to her death while celebrating her 21st birthday at a hotel in the Cape Town CBD.

Cape Town - A UCT student fell to her death while celebrating her 21st birthday at a hotel on the corner of Roeland and Buitenkant street in the city centre.

Rosa Carlyle-Mitchell, a theatre and performance arts student, was celebrating at the Kimberley Hotel on Sunday when she fell from the first-floor balcony at about 9pm and died.

The hotel is a popular hangout for Capetonians, with a jukebox and bar downstairs.

Roeland Street resident Angel Campey said she got home shortly after the incident and saw police cars outside the hotel and a body covered by a sheet.

People in the reception area of her building had said they had walked up Roeland Street and seen a girl sitting on the balcony wall having a drink. On their way back there had been police vans outside the hotel.

It is not clear whether the girl on the wall was Carlyle-Mitchell.

Another Roeland Street resident, @Ronellsharee, tweeted shortly after the incident that screams of shock from Carlyle-Mitchell’s friends had given her goosebumps.

Another person, @LemorW tweeted: “Body covered with blanket, girls screeching and lots of crying and shouting outside Kimberley Hotel. Not sure what happened #roeland #accident.”

Eric Hodson, manager at the hotel, said he could not comment about the incident before getting the go-ahead from the victim’s parents.

Carlyle-Mitchell is from Durban where a relative, who did not want to be named, said on Monday Carlyle-Mitchell had been celebrating her birthday with her brother Luke, younger sister Cristina and a cousin.

The relative said Carlyle-Mitchell’s parents, Dominic and Rene, were stranded in Italy because Dominic had been instructed by doctors not to travel after breaking seven ribs in a road crash last week.

Dominic was to visit his doctors again on Monday to ascertain how he could best travel back to South Africa.

Tyna Charter, principal of St Mary’s DSG Kloof, where Carlyle-Mitchell had been a pupil, said: “The staff of St Mary’s are deeply saddened to hear the news and our heartfelt condolences go to the family. We remember Rosa as a creative and talented student with a real joie de vivre.”

Police spokesman Colonel Andrè Traut said an inquest docket had been opened.

UCT spokeswoman Patricia Lucas said UCT was deeply saddened by Carlyle-Mitchell’s death, and had been in touch with the family to offer support. “Counselling services are also available to students and staff who are affected by this death.”

Cape Argus

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The memorial service for slain Constable Dumile Thethani became the latest battleground between the ANC, the DA and police.

Cape Town - The memorial service for slain Constable Dumile Thethani on Monday became the latest battleground between the ANC, the police and the DA provincial government over crime on the Cape Flats.

Thethani, 38, was shot and killed during a routine crime prevention patrol in Nyanga last Monday.

Two other police officers were killed in separate incidents in Khayelitsha on the same night. Constable Lungisa Depha, 34, was shot and killed in Spine Road at around 8pm; while an hour later, Sergeant Landile Yengo, 43, was killed at his home in Khayelitsha while getting ready to go to work. Police spokesman Captain FC van Wyk said no arrests had been made.

Speaking at Thethani’s memorial service in Parow, Police Minister Nathi Mthethwa said the DA provincial government’s criticism of the police made them vulnerable to attack by criminals.

“When the police are portrayed as being useless, are bad-mouthed and shown disrespect by the provincial leadership, criminals think that it is justified to attack them,” he said.

There were more attacks on the police in the Western Cape than in any other province - six police officers had been murdered in the province since the beginning of the month, Mthethwa said.

Instead of criticising the police, Community Safety MEC Dan Plato should clear himself of allegations that he was secretly in cahoots with gang bosses on the Cape Flats, said Mathethwa. These allegations are contained in a dossier recently handed to the police by the provincial ANC.

Also speaking at the service, the ANC’s provincial chairman, Marius Fransman, accused Plato of having “criminal” links with gangs. These allegations have been denied by Plato at every turn since surfacing in the media more than a week ago. On Monday, Plato hit back at Mthethwa and Fransman - accusing them of “playing politics while people are being killed”.

Plato has maintained that the attacks on his character, and the attempts by Mthethwa to undermine his department’s role as an “oversight body” to the police, feed into the ANC’s campaign to win back the province in general elections in 2014.

“Every attempt being made by the Western Cape government to improve policing through (constitutionally enshrined) oversight has been blocked, undermined, and prevented by the ANC national government,” he said.

As examples, Plato cited Mthethwa’s opposition to:

* A commission of inquiry into policing in Khayelitsha.

* The Community Safety Act, which would improve policing oversight in the province.

* The reinstatement of a specialised gang and drug police units.

* The call for the army to be deployed to gang-ridden areas.

“Police management needs to urgently fix identified problems in policing in this province so that trust can be built up… in the police service,” he said.

In spite of the politically charged atmosphere at Thethani’s service, an emotional eulogy by younger brother Thembelani Thethani reminded officers that they had lost a dedicated and admired colleague.

“He was like a father to me and the backbone of our entire family.

“My brother was a very thoughtful person, he threw himself completely into his work… He died protecting the people of this country,” said Thethani.

He said he had no comment on the “politics” surrounding his brother’s murder.

“My concern is to be there for my brother’s young children and the rest of my family.”

Dumile Thethani, a former member of the police’s flying squad, will be buried in his home town of Mthatha on Sunday.

daneel.knoetze@inl.co.za

Cape Argus

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“Our government must take all legal steps to stop the attacks on our men in blue.”

Cape Town - The Cape Law Society has condemned the killing of police officers in the Western Cape.

“All must condemn the killing of (SA Police Service) members, our only bastion against anarchy, and our government must take all legal steps to stop the attacks on our men in blue,” The CLS said in a statement on Tuesday.

Earlier, Western Cape police said another policeman had been shot dead at his home in Cape Town, in the third police killing in the city since Sunday.

Colonel Tembinkosi Kinana said the 34-year-old sergeant was shot dead on Monday night at his home in Montclaire, Mitchells Plain.

He said two men knocked on the door, and when his wife opened the door, they asked for the policeman.

“The suspects fired several shots at him and he died at the scene. It is alleged that the suspects entered the house and demanded a safe in which there was a firearm. Thereafter, they fled the scene on foot.”

The policeman was stationed in Philippi East. He was married with a five-year-old daughter.

No arrests had been made. - Sapa

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A full album is on the horizon for blind busker Lunga Goodman Nono who was forcefully removed by law enforcement officers.

Cape Town -

A full album is on the horizon for blind busker Lunga Goodman Nono who was forcefully removed by city law enforcement officers earlier this month for allegedly contravening city by-laws by performing for longer than his permit allowed.

The offer is from composer, producer and 5fm DJ Jon Savage.

Savage, who is also a member of rock band Cassette, told the Cape Argus on Monday that he and Nono would start working on the album next week at Pocket Love Studios.

“Nono’s story touched a lot of people and we wanted to contribute towards his music career,” said Savage. He explained that they would help Nono record an album and give him about 100 CDs to sell.

The proposal follows The Rooftop Recording Studio’s Matthew Davison’s offer to record and mix a song for Nono, to post on online music video channels.

Davison said Nono’s song and video would be online next week.

Since Nono was manhandled, and had his guitar broken, on July 8, he has been flooded with invitations to perform at music gigs.

Three city law enforcement officers have been suspended following the incident.

Although his musical career is taking off, Nono says his health has deteriorated since the incident. However, he is still at his regular corner at St George’s Mall and Shortmarket Street, where he has performed since 2008.

“I wake up in a cold sweat in the middle of the night and my back still hurts. I now have to take sleeping pills regularly,” he said.

He also said some people had taken advantage of his vulnerable situation.

“Although things are going well, I’ve had people asking me to perform and promise to pay, then don’t afterwards. It’s not nice that some people are taking me for a fool and wasting my time. I have a family and a child to feed,” said Nono.

nontando.mposo@inl.co.za

Cape Argus

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Protesters gathered outside Cape Town’s Labour Court where Correctional Service employees are contesting employment equity laws.

Cape Town -

Not white enough before 1994 and not black enough after, was the message delivered by a group of angry coloured protesters in front of Cape Town’s Labour Court at lunch time on Monday.

Inside the building, Judge Hilary Rabkin-Naicker presided over the resumption of an affirmative action case, brought by trade union Solidarity against the Western Cape’s correctional services department.

Outside, in Loop Street, a group of about 30 protesters called loudly for people to be employed on the basis of merit, not colour.

They held up posters with the messages “Employment Equity is Racism”, “Staan Saam Bruin Mense” (Stand together, brown people), and “Job Reservation is Apartheid”.

Many of the protesters wore orange, sleeveless safety vests of the type worn by construction workers. Written on the front were the words “Post 94, Not Black Enough”, and on the back, “Pre 94, Not White Enough”.

Solidarity is representing Linda-Jean Fortuin, Christopher February, André Jonkers, Geo-nita Baartman, Pieter Davids, Derick Wehr, Jan Kotze, Desiree Merkeur, Deidre Jordaan and Teresa Abrahams – nine of the department’s employees and one job applicant. They say they have been unfairly discriminated against when applying for promotions because they are coloured.

The department has argued that it takes national and not provincial demographics into account regarding jobs and that they applied this in accordance with the law.

The matter resumed on Monday after a two-month postponement.

In the interim both parties were expected to reach an agreement on the matter.

Martin Brassey SC, for Solidarity, told the court that attempts to reach an agreement “proved unfruitful”.

The court heard that two posts advertised and applied for by two female employees had been scrapped.

In her testimony on Monday, Abrahams, said she was “strongly recommended” for a post in the department’s Breede River management area.

But after an interview for the job in 2011, she was convinced she was not selected “purely because of my colour”.

Marumo Moerane SC, for the department, told her that she was not appointed because the post had been abolished.

Cape Argus

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Teaching in gang-riddled Manenberg means being prepared for gunshots at any time of the day.

Cape Town - Teaching in gang-riddled Manenberg means being prepared for gunshots at any time of the day.

A teacher who has worked at a primary school in Manenberg for six years said there were many times when she wanted to pack her bags and leave. The woman, who asked not to be named, said teachers were expected to continue as normal in abnormal circumstances.

“I have to protect the kids that are left in my care from 8am to 1.30pm and then I have to endanger my life even further until 3.30pm.”

The teacher says everyone at the school is tense.

“I don’t know if it is just at our school that teachers feel this way, but I have had enough.

“At any time you are alarmed by raining gunshots and having children shielded under tables that are no good because the walls are chipboard… a bullet can hit you right through the classroom wall.”

At another school, Leon Beukes, principal of Sonderend Primary said teaching was back to normal on Monday after only 10 percent of pupils attended school last Thursday.

Last week, three classes of Grade 1 pupils had to duck for cover when smashed through their classroom windows.

Beukes said it was extremely difficult to be a principal in Manenberg.

“You must have guts to be a principal in this area. I admire my teachers and staff. All we need now is peace. They (gangsters) need to stop this senseless shooting.”

Beukes added that the school caretaker, Graham Jaftha, had surgery to his leg after he was wounded last Wednesday. “The blood circulation is not good in his leg.”

Beukes added that parents often sought answers from teachers when gang violence broke out.

“Parents must understand that it’s safer for children to be in the school building than at home.”

Meanwhile, the City of Cape Town’s mayoral committee member for safety and security, JP Smith, said the city intended deploying school resource officers to schools in the Manenberg area “this forthcoming week” to ensure the safety of pupils.

natasha.bezuidenhout@inl.co.za

Cape Argus

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“The killing of one police officer is a general attack on law and order in our society and needs to be condemned by all residents of the city.”

Cape Town - Killing police officers amounts to an attack on law and order and should be condemned by everyone, Cape Town mayor Patricia de Lille said on Tuesday.

“I am deeply saddened by the spate of police killings in the City (of Cape Town) in recent weeks,” De Lille said in a statement.

“The killing of one police officer is a general attack on law and order in our society and needs to be condemned by all residents of the city.”

De Lille said she had instructed the city's safety and security director, Richard Bosman, to liaise with police about the possibility of a reward for anyone providing information that could lead to the arrest of the perpetrators.

Earlier, Western Cape police said another policeman had been shot dead at his home in Cape Town, in the third police killing in the city since Sunday.

Colonel Tembinkosi Kinana said the 34-year-old sergeant was shot dead on Monday night at his home in Montclair drive, Mitchells Plain.

Kinana said two men knocked on the door, and when his wife opened the door, they asked for the policeman.

“The suspects fired several shots at him and he died at the scene. It is alleged that the suspects entered the house and demanded a safe in which there was a firearm. Thereafter, they fled the scene on foot.”

The policeman was stationed in Philippi East. He was married with a five-year-old daughter.

No arrests had been made. - Sapa

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Two unidentified men fired several shots at Sergeant Mdlalo when he came to the front door of his Mitchells Plain home.

Cape Town - Police Sergeant Bafundi Mdlalo, 34, was gunned down in his Mitchells Plain home on Monday night and died in front of his wife - making him the seventh police officer murdered in the province this month.

Four of those murders have occurred around Cape Town since last week.

Two men arrived at Mdlalo’s house in Viola Close, in Montclair in Mitchells Plain, on Monday night and told his wife that they wanted to see him, said police spokesman Colonel Tembinkosi Kinana.

The unidentified men fired several shots at Mdlalo when he came to the front door. He died in his house, in front of his wife, a neighbour said.

Kinana said the men entered the house and demanded access to the safe which contained a firearm. They stole the weapon and cellphones.

It is unclear if the firearm was Mdlalo’s service pistol or his own personal weapon.

The attackers fled the house on foot, said Kinana. “No arrests have been made at this stage,” Kinana said.

Mdlalo was the father of an 11-year-old son and three-year-old daughter.

Mdlalo had been stationed at the Phillipi East police station.

On Tuesday morning a neighbour and friend of the Mdlalo family took in his grieving wife and children.

Mdlalo’s wife entered the neighbour’s house in tears at mid-morning, after seeing a doctor.

She was unable to speak to the Cape Argus, but the neighbour described Mdlalo as a loving husband, a jovial friend and a police officer who was committed to his role as a “servant and protector of the public”.

The woman, who asked not to be named, fearful that the attackers could return, said Mdlalo had been shot at the front door and stumbled to his bedroom where he died in front of her.

Forensic pathologists removed Mdlalo’s body this morning. At 10am there were still several police officers on the scene.

Meanwhile provincial police commissioner Lieutenant General Arno Lamoer has, for the fourth time within the space of a week, sent “heartfelt condolences to the bereaved family and colleagues” of another deceased police officer.

Lamoer said this was the largest number of police officers killed in a single month in his tenure as commissioner.

“An attack on the police is an attack on society. Our efforts to serve and protect our communities will not be deterred by cold-blooded and heartless criminals.

“We will not be side-tracked by the criminal elements operating within our communities, and the police will not sleep until the culprits are brought to book.”

Asked whether the murders could be linked in any way, Lamoer said: “No murder was coincidental,” but added that the motives for the killings were not yet known, and investigations were ongoing.

“All of these murders have been targeted, direct, attacks against our officers. It is incredibly concerning,” Lamoer said.

Anyone with information about the incident or the suspects is asked to call 086 00 10 111 or to go to their nearest police station, police asked.

daneel.knoetze@inl.co.za

Cape Argus

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Helen Zille has hit back at Equal Education's criticism of her, saying the organisation was "riddled with errors".

Cape Town - Premier Helen Zille has hit back at Equal Education’s criticism of her, saying it was the organisation which was “misleading and riddled with errors”.

Those were the exact words used by Equal Education last week to describe Zille’s support of Basic Education Minister Angie Motshekga.

Zille had come to Motshekga’s defence and said she had fulfilled her constitutional responsibilities, more so than her predecessors. Equal Education had then pointed out a number of “factual errors” in Zille’s argument. Zille released a statement on Monday afternoon detailing her response.

“Equal Education’s allegations are ironic, because it is their own statement… that is misleading and riddled with errors. In this statement, I address each of Equal Education’s claims. These minutiae are boring to the average reader but it is important to set the record straight, especially given Equal Education’s tone of outraged self-righteousness.

“While we all agree that South Africa’s education system is in crisis, and we all believe schools should have infrastructure conducive to teaching and learning, Equal Education is often wrong in its approach to these issues, in substance, style and strategy.”

Zille went into technical detail about why Equal Education’s campaign for minimum norms and standards was misguided and “indeed unaffordable to the fiscus”.

“Rather than spending money on a misdirected campaign for infrastructural ‘norms and standards’, it would be far better to run a project to install solar panels at schools that still do not have electricity.

“It would also be good to hear Equal Education saying a lot more about the constant and repeated vandalism of school infrastructure, particularly fences and electrical installations.”

Zille said Equal Education must accept they were not the only people who cared about education in South Africa.

“They do not have a monopoly on morality or judgement or insight. I will always defend their right to organise and to protest, but it would help if they got their facts right…”

Zille’s newsletter, SA Today, would be devoted this week to the debate around norms and standards for South African schools and the major policy issues involved.

michelle.jones@inl.co.za

Cape Times

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Two men accused of killing Cape Town schoolboy Glenrico Martin appeared in the Wynberg Magistrate's Court.

Cape Town - Two men accused of killing Cape Town schoolboy Glenrico Martin appeared in the Wynberg Magistrate's Court on Tuesday.

Wilston Stoffels, 18, and Jevon Snyman, 19, will remain in custody until their next appearance on September 2.

The two previously abandoned their bail applications.

Martin, 18, was shot in May while entering the Spes Bona High School premises in Athlone.

Captain Frederick van Wyk said at the time that three men - two of them armed - wearing school tracksuit tops approached Martin. One of them shot him in the head.

Paramedics revived him and took him to the Groote Schuur Hospital. He died soon after arrival.

Snyman was arrested in Athlone a day after the shooting. Stoffels was arrested in Bonteheuwel the following day.

Sapa

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The murder trial of the wife of acting judge Patrick Maqubela has been delayed again after the judge indicated that he wanted to ammend the charges against her.

Cape Town - The murder trial of the wife of acting judge Patrick Maqubela was delayed again in the Western Cape High Court on Tuesday.

Widow Thandi Maqubela and her co-accused Vela Mabena's defence said a possible amendment to the charges could prejudice their clients.

The two have pleaded not guilty to killing the acting judge. Maqubela has also pleaded not guilty to forging her husband's signature on his will.

Judge John Murphy had indicated that he intended amending the charges on the indictment, in terms of the discretion given to him in the Criminal Procedures Act.

On the murder charge, he wanted to extend the cause of death by adding “or means unknown” to “suffocation with plastic”.

Regarding Thandi Maqubela's alleged forgery of her husband's will, he wanted to amend the charge from “making of the signature” to “making of the will”.

Marius Broeksma, for the defence, said it would probably oppose the amendments because they would prejudice the defence's case, as extra witnesses would have to be called and other evidence would have to be placed before the court.

It would also probably incur a cost and time prejudice because the trial would take longer to conclude.

He said he still had to closely study the amendments and the Criminal Procedures Act, but he believed the move could be against the “current constitutional order”.

Murphy said he would first have to consider what prejudice would be suffered before the amendments could be made.

The State and the defence both believed the onus rested on the opposite party to prove or disprove such prejudice.

Murphy postponed the trial until Thursday, at which time both sides would argue where the onus lay.

When that had been decided, the court would hear submissions in terms of prejudice and make a ruling.

The defence would then decide whether witnesses should be called. The State also had the option of re-opening its case.

Sapa

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A Ukrainian mother who duped an elderly SA man into investing R4 million has seven months to repay the money, or face prison.

Cape Town - A Ukrainian mother who duped an elderly man into investing R4 million with a Ukrainian bank, but kept the money for herself, was on Tuesday given seven months to repay the money, or face prison.

Kateryna Karpovska appeared in the Bellville Specialised Commercial Crime Court, before magistrate Amrith Chabilall.

Chabilall said she had been in a romantic relationship with the man and the method she had used to cheat him was a disgrace. He sentenced her to eight years' jail, suspended for five years, on condition that the money was repaid by February 28.

He said she had the means to repay it, according to defence attorney Pieter du Toit.

In addition, she was sentenced to three years' house arrest, and ordered to do community service as a cleaner at the Table View police station.

Chabilall said Karpovska had qualified for the minimum sentence of 15 years for a first-time offender, for fraud involving R500,000 or more. All that had saved her was that her children were with her in South Africa, and to jail her would leave them in a foreign country without support.

“This is the one single factor that saved you from going to prison for 15 years,” he told her.

Karpovska was appointed by the Ukrainian Joint-Stock Commercial Bank, better known as the Imexbank, as the chief representative officer (CRO) with the SA Reserve Bank.

In all, she was sentenced on four counts of fraud, one contravention of the Prevention of Organised Crime Act and one violation of the Financial Advisory and Intermediary Services Act.

According to the charge sheet, the bank eventually closed its South African representative office in March 2008. Karpovska failed to inform the SARB of this, and fraudulently continued as the Imexbank's CRO with the SARB.

In the R4m fraud, she falsely informed the man not only that she was Imexbank's CRO, but also its chief wealth manager.

“It is disgraceful that a woman can do such a thing to a trusting man.” Chabilall said.

Sapa

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A man died in a shack fire in Khayelitsha caused by a faulty heater.

Cape Town - A man died in a shack fire in Khayelitsha, the City of Cape Town's disaster risk management centre said on Tuesday.

He was apparently overcome by smoke and sustained severe burn wounds, spokesman Wilfred Solomons-Johannes said.

The fire, which broke out on Monday, was caused by a faulty heater. Six shacks were destroyed, leaving six people homeless.

Sapa

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Prasa and the City of Cape Town are in talks to open a rail link between the airport and the city.

Parliament - The country's commuter railway operator and the City of Cape Town are in talks to open a rail link between the airport and the city, the Passenger Rail Agency of SA (Prasa) told MPs on Tuesday.

Creating links to cities from both the Cape Town International Airport and the King Shaka International Airport in Durban would be priorities for the next few years, Prasa CEO Lucky Montana told Parliament's public services select committee.

The process for the Cape Town link was at a more advanced stage than the newer King Shaka Airport.

“We are not building a (new) line from the airport to Cape Town. We are connecting the city to an existing line,” Montana said.

A feasibility study had showed the project would “pay for itself”. A private sector operator would be brought in to run the line.

“We want a private operator who will bring their own rolling stock. We'll give them the infrastructure and they'll run the service,” he said.

“Even though it will be a Prasa initiative, and the station at the airport will be owned by Prasa, we want it to be privately operated and that's how it will pay for itself.”

Prasa would have to lay an additional 3.2km of railway tracks to connect it to the existing line.

“It would bring convenience, and we think Cape Town needs that, so we are working with the city as part of an overall plan,” he said.

“It's the way to go if you look at all the major cities in the world. Cape Town is one of the cities that attracts lots of people from outside.”

About nine million people pass through the city's airport per year. This number was expected to increase to around 13 million over the next few years.

“I think the MyCiti bus solution the city has put in place is very important as an intermediary solution, but in the long run we need to ensure that the numbers are on rail, that every 15 minutes you can connect to the city,” Montana said.

It was hoped the proposed railway link would help those employed at the airport and surrounds to travel to and from work from anywhere in the metropole.

Montana could not commit to when the new railway link would be up and running.

“We were ready two years ago... we've completed a feasibility study, and now it's between us and the City of Cape Town to negotiate and reach agreement and once we've concluded that agreement we'll be able to move.”

Sapa

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A police constable from Paarl in the Western Cape has been arrested for allegedly raping his ex-wife.

Cape Town - A police constable from Paarl in the Western Cape has been arrested for allegedly raping his ex-wife, the Independent Police Investigative Directorate said on Tuesday.

The officer was arrested on Monday, spokesman Moses Dlamini said.

The couple had separated and were living in different houses. The 29-year-old woman was walking home on Monday night when the 33-year-old constable stopped and offered her a lift. He drove to a quiet place next to a river and wanted to have sex with her. She refused, Dlamini said.

He allegedly forced himself on her and raped her in the car. She opened a case against him. The officer is expected to appear in the Paarl Magistrate's Court on Wednesday.

Earlier this month two policemen, a captain and a constable, appeared in the Worcester Magistrate's Court on charges of raping women in marked police vehicles.

In Johannesburg, a Randburg police constable is currently facing 14 counts of rape, 14 of kidnapping, and nine of robbery. The crimes were allegedly committed between 2011 and 2012. - Sapa

The deaths of seven policemen in Cape Town in the past month have caused grief among their colleagues - as well as anger.

Cape Town -

The deaths of seven policemen in Cape Town in the past month have caused grief among their colleagues – as well as anger and a determination to hunt the killers down.

A high-ranking officer told the Cape Argus that absenteeism was at an all-time low as members wanted “to be there for one another”.

While Police Minister Nathi Mthethwa and Community Safety MEC Dan Plato trade political accusations over policing in the province, the men and women patrolling the streets are anxious and determined.

The shooting of Sergeant Bafundi Mdlalo at his Mitchells Plain home on Monday night brought to four the number of police officers killed in Cape Town in one week.

A firearm was stolen from Mdlalo’s home after he was shot.

Earlier that day, Mthethwa had spoken at a press briefing at the Mitchells Plain police station about attacks on police officers.

* Last Monday, Constable Dumile Thethani, 38, was shot in the head and died when he and his partner were ambushed by two gunmen during a routine crime prevention patrol in Nyanga. The partner was shot in the leg and is recovering in hospital.

* On Sunday evening, Constable Lungiswa Depha, 34, was shot dead by a motorist who had slammed into his police vehicle on Spine Road in Khayelitsha. Depha was on duty.

* About an hour later, Sergeant Landile Yengo was shot dead.

Three other officers have been killed in the Western Cape since July 25. Provincial police commissioner Lieutenant-General Arno Lamoer has acknowledged that it has been the bloodiest month yet for the police during his tenure, which began in September 2010.

Police have not made any arrests.

The Cape Argus spoke to three police officers who work on the ground or in managerial positions in crime-ridden areas. The interviews were conducted on the condition of complete anonymity – officers may be impeached for commenting to the media without permission.

“There is a definite fear, a questioning feeling of ‘Who will be next?’,” said a high-ranking officer.

“Members are reaching for bulletproof vests en masse. In the past no one bothered – they just lay in storage. Some members are patrolling in larger groups, they no longer feel safe doing so in pairs. It all shows that there is a new awareness and tension in the air. Today I will be driving in a marked police vehicle, but I am not armed. I must admit the context of the recent murders makes me slightly nervous.”

An officer working in the Nyanga cluster told the Cape Argus that he was constantly aware of his vulnerability – whether commuting to work or on the job and even at home. Merely being in possession of a service pistol made officers targets for criminal gangs who wanted to increase their arsenals, he said.

The high ranking officer said yet the “anger, determination and camaraderie” felt among the ranks of police in Cape Town arguably overshadowed fears for personal safety.

“It’s incredible. There has been a dramatic decrease in the number of officers calling in sick, for instance. I hear that this is especially true at Harare police station in Khayelitsha (where Depha and Yengo were stationed) since the murders on Sunday.

“Many officers are angered by the audacity of a criminal who will attack a sergeant at his home. They want to be there for one another, they want to bring the murderers to book and they want to continue serving and protecting the public – in spite of the tough circumstances at the moment. This is about more than just a job.”

He had seen fellow officers weeping at their desks on Tuesday. “Others go quietly to the bathroom and cry because they have lost friends. Everyone’s trying to keep strong, but at times the loss is too overwhelming. They do not understand or really care about all the cheap politicking around this issue.”

Cape Town mayor Patricia de Lille has said she will work to ensure that money becomes available to reward informants in cases of murders of police officers.

De Lille said that the killing of Sergeant Bafundi Mdlalo in Mitchells Plain on Monday night clearly indicated criminals were targeting police officers throughout the city.

“We must all do everything we can to ensure that we can build safer communities. I appeal to anyone with information that could assist the police in arresting the individuals behind these attacks (to come forward),” she said.

The murder has drawn widespread condemnation, with the council of the Cape Law Society saying its councillors “support the hardworking members” of the police and “encourage them to continue to serve the people of South Africa”.

All condemnations were accompanied by condolences to the families and colleagues of the fallen police officers.

daneel.knoetze@inl.co.za

Cape Argus

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The woman who was allegedly kidnapped and raped by Rashied Staggie is fighting for her life after she was shot.

Cape Town - The woman who was allegedly kidnapped and raped by former gang boss Rashied Staggie is fighting for her life in hospital after she was shot.

Gunmen pumped several bullets into the Manenberg woman’s body and killed a male friend who was with her in the early hours of on Tuesday morning.

The 30-year-old mom of six, who cannot be identified because she is the victim of a sex crime, is on life support at GF Jooste Hospital.

She was shot in her head, neck, face, back and hands by suspected gangsters.

Staggie is set to be released on day parole from September 24, after being convicted of the then woman’s kidnapping and rape.

Meanwhile, her friend Romano Oliver, 27, died at the bloody scene shortly after midnight.

The two were walking home when they were confronted by their attackers who first asked for a cigarette before opening fire on them.

Police spokesperson Captain FC van Wyk said Romano was shot in the head.

“Police were busy with crime prevention duties in Red River Road when they heard gunshots,” he told the Daily Voice.

“On investigation police discovered the body of a 27-year-old male.

“He was shot once through the head and a 30-year-old female was wounded and taken to hospital.”

Cops are still searching for the suspects who will face charges of murder and attempted murder.

In 2003, Staggie and co-accused Randall Bosch were found guilty of kidnapping and raping the victim who was then in her teens.

At the time, the young mom testified that Staggie took her to an isolated area and forced her at gunpoint to have sex with three men.

Staggie, who pleaded not guilty, was sentenced to 15 years in prison for the attack.

On Tuesday, the victim’s mother, 55, revealed she always feared for her daughter’s life – even 12 years after the attack.

The mom said: “It affected our family in a really bad way. I always worried about her and when we heard Staggie was coming out, we became even more fearful.”

The mom said that her daughter had identified her shooters.

“A neighbour came to call us at home to say they were both shot and lying on a field in Red River Road,” she added.

She said her daughter crawled from the field to a nearby house where she collapsed.

“When I arrived there, she could still talk and she could tell me who it was,” the mother said.

“I held her hand when she asked me to and I prayed with my child. She kept apologising to me.”

The concerned mother said her daughter insisted on going out to a friend earlier after they had an argument.

“I told her not to go because she was going into the Hard Livings territory,” she said.

“But when she insisted on going, I told her to be back in 30 minutes.

“As I watched her walk down the road, I could see the Hard Livings running across the road.”

About 40 minutes after the victim left her home, they were shot.

“I should have fetched her when I said I would,” the devastated mom said.

“If I knew this was going to happen, I wouldn’t have let her go because I had a feeling something would go wrong.”

There was a strong police presence in Renoster Road, a short distance from the home where the victim lives with her young children.

Cop sources said that Manenberg has exploded in violence in the last month as rival gangs wage war in the area.

Daily Voice

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Former gang boss Rashied Staggie always insisted that his alleged victim was forced to name him as an attacker so that cops could put him behind bars.

Cape Town - Rashied Staggie has always insisted the rape charge against him was “trumped up”.

And that his alleged victim was forced to name him as an attacker so that cops could finally put him behind bars.

When he was found guilty of rape in 2003, he refused to testify in mitigation of sentencing,saying: “I have no fear… I refuse to ask for mitigation. You do what you must do.”

Acting Judge Jeremy Sarkin convicted Staggie and Hard Livings gang member Randall Bosch of rape and kidnapping on January 28, while Staggie was also convicted on a further charge of contravening the Arms and Ammunition Act.

The court found that Staggie and Bosch – together with two other men – kidnapped a girl from Manenberg, aged 17 at the time, on August 22, 2001, and took her to Mitchells Plain where Staggie forced her at gunpoint to allow the men to rape her.

Staggie did not have intercourse with the victim and later told the court he was “embarrassed” to be seen as a rapist.

The woman did not know the identities of the other two men, but told the court they looked like (Indians) from Durban.

His victim told the court that she was targeted for snitching on a woman who had hidden a gun on behalf of the Hard Livings gang.

She said within hours of the woman being arrested, Manenberg gangsters had already learnt that there was an informer in their neighbourhood.

The teen said several known HL gangsters called her a traitor and she began to fear for her life and that of her young child.

She claimed Staggie forced her into a car with three other men, including Bosch, and drove past Nyanga Junction in the direction of Mitchells Plain.

They parked in a secluded spot and Staggie told her that he had lost trust in her and that she could make it up to him by sleeping with the other men who were outside the car smoking mandrax.

When she refused, he produced a gun.

Bosch then came to the open car door and told her to take her clothes off and grabbed her skirt.

She insisted she take her own clothes off and lay down in the backseat.

She claimed Staggie watched the three men violate her in the rearview mirror.

The complainant testified that none of the men had ejaculated in her and that after each man had raped her, he wiped his penis off on a rag with black oily marks on it.

Daily Voice

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