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New facility for body storage

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Construction of the new Forensic Pathology Institute, which will replace Salt River Mortuary, is expected to start early next year.

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Cape Town - Construction of the new Forensic Pathology Institute, which will replace the overburdened Salt River Mortuary, is expected to start early next year with the provincial department of health having secured the majority of the funding.

Vonita Thompson, director of forensic pathology services in the province, confirmed that the project was being prioritised with the department having secured R140 million of the R200 million needed.

Speaking at a roundtable discussion related to forensic pathology, held at UCT, Thompson said the project was expected to go out to tender before the end of this year.

To be built on Groote Schuur Hospital grounds at the corner of Main and Groote Schuur roads in Observatory, the institute is poised to be more than just a mortuary. It would consolidate pathology services offered at Salt River mortuary, mainly autopsies and other laboratory services such as entomology, odontology, histopathology and molecular forensics among other things. These ancillary services are currently scattered in different universities in the province.

Thompson said the bringing together of these services “under one roof” would not only provide a “pleasant and safe environment for staff” but would also allow a proper flow of cases that needed investigation.

While the mortuary, one of the busiest in the world, was considered as better than others in the country, it had its shortcomings.

“Salt River Mortuary was built in the 1950s during apartheid when everything was done in complete separation.

“The mortuary design doesn’t provide the fit-for-purpose physical space that allows this proper flow of cases. It doesn’t really have capacity to deal with its workload and it doesn’t meet the necessary occupation health standards,” Thompson said.

Currently performing about 3 500 autopsies a year, the mortuary’s workload was expected to increase by additional 1 500 cases by 2020.

Professor Lorna Martin, the head of forensic pathology at UCT, said the new facility allowed for a “professional caring experience by visiting families and a safe ergonometric space for staff”.

“It will allow for improved collaboration, acquisition of the latest technologies into the improved physical space, increasing our training platform and providing the country with much needed specialist forensic pathologists and forensic scientists,” she said.

She said in the city alone, over 6 000 cases were presented to the only two forensic pathology laboratories - the Tygerberg and Salt River labs - every year.

The new institute would set right the injustice to the dignity of crime victims, through provision of comprehensive services. These would include improved quality of the treatment of the deceaseds’ loved ones.

“More importantly, this centre will enable many unsolved or cold cases to be reopened and investigated with the latest technology and expertise,” she said.

Cape Argus

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A place where death is just business

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When Randall Phillips started working at the mortuary, he was shocked at the amount of killings happening in the Cape.

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Cape Town - When Randall Phillips first arrived at the Salt River Mortuary in 2008, he was shocked by the large number of murder victims they were called out to collect.

And while five years later, most of his duties as a forensic pathology officer have become familiar, he is still shaken by the brutality of some of Cape Town’s killings.

“Especially when it’s a baby, then it becomes very difficult,” he says.

At the end of last month, the Mother City cemented its reputation as a murder capital when 44 people were killed in a single weekend.

Of these deaths, 29 people were stabbed to death, 12 were shot and three were beaten.

Four of the 12 shootings are believed to have been gang-related. The victims died in Mitchells Plain, Lavender Hill and Valhalla Park, and the 44 bodies were taken to the Salt River and Tygerberg mortuaries.

But it was revealed that while the number was high, it was not far from what the mortuaries saw regularly.

Over the past three weekends, the bodies of 79 alleged murder victims have ended up at the facilities.

On Saturday night, the Cape Argus joined the Salt River Mortuary night staff to witness an average shift of a forensic pathology officer.

Forensic pathology officers investigate the scenes of deaths from car crashes, murders and suicides.

And where the cause of death still has to be determined, the bodies need to be stripped, catalogued and prepared for identification and further investigation.

Phillips said it was often a waiting game. “We have to wait for the call from the police to let us know they are done, which means the body has often been lying there for five hours or more since it was discovered. We could sit here for hours and then suddenly get 10 calls at once.”

But by midnight, only one body had been a collected - an elderly man from Gugulethu who had died in bed.

“It looks like it’s going to be a quiet night,” he said.

Phillips was not complaining. Over the past few weeks he had worked shifts during which he was called out to collect almost 15 bodies in one night. Many were murder victims in “problem” areas such as Manenberg, Nyanga and Khayelitsha.

He saw far more murders at the end of the month when people received salaries, pensions and social grants.

On Saturday, the mortuary’s fridge was still full of corpses - men, women and children on metal shelves and stretchers. Staff said that on busy weekends it became almost impossible to move around the storage room.

“All this death gets to some people; they can’t handle it. In the beginning I couldn’t believe how many people were being killed,” said Phillips.

“Some people drink and smoke to cope with it, others just don’t come back. I go to the gym.”

Salt River facility manager Wayne Mitten said that over the years they had become used to so many cases over the weekend. Last month’s bloody weekend was not uncommon.

In 2007, over the weekend of June 29 to July 2, 35 murder victims arrived at Salt River and Tygerberg.

In 2010, over the weekend of July 30 to August 2, they took in 28 victims.

This month, over the weekend of July 12 to July 15, 31 murder victims were collected.

Mitten said pathologists, who were generally limited to three cases a day, had to take on an extra case to work through the backlog of murder victims that built up over the weekend.

But the facility was “completely adequate” to deal with the influx.

The only problem was storage, which often resulted in bodies being shifted from one side to the other.

“We need to be extra-careful to preserve evidence and make sure that we work correctly and don’t contaminate anything.”

Professor Lorna Martin, head of forensic pathology at the University of Cape Town, said a backlog of a day or two was to be expected with the big load of murder cases over the past few weekends.

But 90 percent of the time pathologists would conduct an autopsy within three-and-a-half days, and complete a report within two weeks.

“The backlogs that are often referred to are those that pertain to the finalisation of the case, or the ability of the case to be presented in court. This requires a fully investigated docket before the prosecutor. There is often a delay in the special investigations that we request, such as toxicology, alcohol or DNA analysis.”

The investigations are outsourced to forensic chemistry laboratories of the national Department of Health.

She said the mortuary could often not conclude the cause of death on their reports until the investigations were complete. The facilities were often erroneously blamed for the delay and/or backlogs in finalising a case.

kieran.legg@inl.co.za

Cape Argus

 

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Worker found with R150K of council goods

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Council property was confiscated by the truckload from a house in Parkwood, and a City of Cape Town employee was arrested.

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Cape Town - Council property was confiscated by the truckload from a house in Parkwood near Grassy Park, and a City of Cape Town employee was arrested.

Police, accompanied by city investigating unit members, went to the house in Acacia Street on Tuesday after police received a tip that council property was allegedly being stored there.

A three-ton truck was parked in the driveway loading what were believed to be council goods.

Among the items seized were computers and printers, fax machines, large gas cylinders, tools, brand new generators, a compressor, air-conditioning systems, geysers, fans, bags of cement, toilet rolls, reflector vests and council clothing, torches, several 20-litre paint tins, electrical wires, detergents, hand towels and refuse bags.

Late on Tuesday afternoon, while police were still loading items into trucks, the estimated value of items confiscated was reported to be at least R150 000.

The house, which is also a children’s daycare and after-care centre, was cordoned off with police tape.

A city worker at the scene said they were waiting for another two trucks and a bakkie to arrive to collect more items. Inside a room in the house, a large pile of stacked items filled about half the room.

A 48-year-old man, who according to police was employed as a handyman at a city maintenance unit, was arrested for possession of stolen property.

Mayoral committee member for corporate services Demetri Qually said they were investigating how the employee had allegedly come to be in possession of the items and what he had planned to do with them.

Provincial police spokesman Captain FC van Wyk confirmed the confiscation of the goods followed a tip-off to police made around 10.45am on Tuesday. Officers contacted the city, which sent two members of their investigating unit to accompany police to identify the items.

The Grassy Park police and officers from the city’s investigations unit are investigating the matter.

Van Wyk said all the property was “seized” and handed over to city authorities.

natasha.prince@inl.co.za

Cape Argus

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Man sought after nightclub attack

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Manangement at Cape Town’s Mercury Lounge are looking for a young man who attacked another patron, fracturing his cheekbone.

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Cape Town - Management at popular nightclub Mercury Lounge in Cape Town are looking for a young man who attacked another patron, fracturing his cheekbone.

An evening of partying on Monday in the CBD ended with a 24-year-old Parow man in the trauma unit, his cheekbone broken in three places.

He asked not to be named for fear of further problems from his attacker.

He said he had been dancing with friends when a girl accused him of harassing her and called her brother.

“About two minutes later her brother came up to me, shouting and threatening me, but after about five minutes I managed to convince him that it was a misunderstanding, and he seemed to calm down.”

He said he went over to the girl’s group to try to apologise again, and was hit by one of the men in the group.

“While I was speaking to her a male, who I believe to be friends with the two siblings, approached me, shouting, and before I could respond he hit me in the right side of my face with his forearm.”

“My head felt it was about to explode and I had blood pouring down my face. I received nine stitches around my right eye. I had a CT scan.”

He would require surgery, and his doctor suspected his eyesight might be damaged, but could not tell until the swelling had gone down.

Mercury Live owner Kevin Winder said the attacker and some of his friends had been banned from the club before for causing trouble. When he returned to the club they would lay a charge with the police.

yolisa.tswanya@inl.co.za

Cape Argus

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Bakery murder accused denies life of crime

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A man accused of murdering four Pakistanis living in Mitchells Plain has a “propensity to commit crime”, the court heard.

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Cape Town - A self-confessed member of the 26s prison gang, accused of murdering four Pakistani men living in Mitchells Plain, has a “propensity to commit crime”, an advocate for the Director of Public Prosecutions has submitted in court.

Prosecutor Cannon Gusha revealed in the Mitchells Plain Magistrate’s Court on Tuesday that Mogamat Nasief de Villiers, 43, of Wynberg had been arrested for multiple cases over the past five years.

Each year since 2008, De Villiers had been arrested for aggravated robbery, pointing of a firearm, hijacking, robbery or housebreaking. While he confirmed that he had been arrested, he pointed out that he had not been convicted of the crimes.

“It’s never me. If it was me, I should’ve been in C-Max Prison already,” De Villiers said.

He confirmed, however, that he had one previous conviction for the illegal possession of drugs in 2008.

De Villiers and two co-accused, Yazeed Hendricks, 41, and Lehano Jansen, 28, both of Lentegeur, are accused of storming into a bakery distribution point in Rocklands on March 19 and killing four men.

Shahzad Ahmad, 39, Ghulam Baqar, 23, Adnan Haider, 23, and Shafique Muhammad, 42, were gunned down after a dispute over a lucrative bread deal.

The trio have been charged with murder, attempted murder, and illegal possession of a firearm and ammunition, among other charges.

Only De Villiers and Hendricks appeared in the dock yesterday. Jansen, who abandoned his bail bid earlier, appeared via video link from Pollsmoor Prison.

Gusha told the court that the State was opposing bail because the two were a danger to society, would evade their trial, intimidate witnesses and destroy evidence if freed.

But De Villiers said he wanted to be released on bail so that he could look after his children aged 16 and three, and receive better treatment for asthma and for suspected colon cancer.

When his advocate, Omar Arend, asked where De Villiers lived he refused to state his address, rather writing it down for court officials.

Gusha asked De Villiers why he did not want to reveal his address. He responded: “Because sometimes in South Africa you get ignorant people when they can’t get hold of me they threaten my family.”

He claimed he was once hijacked by the “Japanese Mafia” who demanded a $1 million (R10m) ransom from his family. “My family are people with money. The Dirk family, Najwa Petersen, that’s my family,” he said.

Petersen was sentenced in 2009 to 28 years in jail for the contract killing of her husband, musician Taliep Petersen, three years earlier.

De Villiers said he was a member of the Junky Funky Kids when he was a teenager and had to be part of the 26s for his safety, to ensure he could get a warm shower and eat food that his family brought him in prison.

Hendricks’s bail application starts today.

jade.otto@inl.co.za

Cape Argus

 

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WCape ANC mum on premier candidate

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The ANC in the Western Cape won’t announce its premier candidate to oppose Helen Zille for the 2014 election any time soon.

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Cape Town - The ANC in the Western Cape will not announce its premier candidate to oppose the DA’s Helen Zille for next year’s election any time soon.

Instead, the party will be focusing on “unity” and “connecting with communities”.

This was the word yesterday from provincial ANC leader Marius Fransman, who is also Deputy Minister of International Relations and Co-operation - a day after Zille confirmed she was “available” to serve a second five-year term as premier.

Contacted on Tuesday, Fransman said: “Our focus will not be, and must not be, on a premier candidate. You will recall that during the period when we as a party were most divided over leadership, that was when the DA became far stronger.”

That was between 2007-2009, when former premier Ebrahim Rasool was sacked, Lynne Brown took over, and the war between two factions loosely affiliated to Rasool and Mcebisi Skwatsha still raged.

“The more divided we are, the stronger the DA will get. We cannot allow that to happen again,” Fransman told the Cape Argus.

Instead, the ANC’s focus would be on retaining its new-found unity and its strategic plan titled “The People’s Path to Power”, and based on five priorities: organisational renewal, re-connecting with communities and civil society, offering alternative governance, ensuring economic transformation and strengthening local governance.

Earlier this year Fransman said his leadership team was “working as a united front to win back this province in 2014”.

Asked on Tuesday whether there was a deliberate strategy for senior national ANC leaders to campaign in the Western Cape - such as Deputy President Cyril Ramaphosa and Police Minister Nathi Mthethwa recently - Fransman said it was simply part of “reconnecting with communities”, as the ANC plan dictated.

He denied outright any link with the “poo wars”, saying that the party had rejected the faeces-flinging “with contempt”, and that the campaign had “no dignity”.

But despite Fransman’s firm dismissal of any debate around a premier candidate, other ANC sources agreed that there was already keen speculation “at different levels, and in different structures” as to who the preferred candidates would be.

Cape Argus

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Video: Cape fan attacks WWE star

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A WWE fan has reportedly been arrested after he attacked wrestling star Randy Orton during an event in Cape Town.

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Cape Town - A Cape Town WWE fan has reportedly been arrested after he attacked wrestling star Randy Orton during an event at Grand West Arena on Tuesday night.

An audience member took a video of the incident and uploaded it on YouTube. It shows a man sneaking into the ring during a SmackDown World Tour Live Event and swinging his arm up between Orton’s legs.

Security immediately jumps in and drags the fan away, but not before Orton attempts to kick the man.

A representative for the WWE reportedly told celebrity gossip site TMZ that “Randy was violently attacked from behind” by the fan - who was not part of the show - and is now in police custody.

A statement issued by the WWE on its website reads: “WWE.com has learned that Randy Orton was violently attacked by an audience member during a SmackDown World Tour Live Event in Cape Town, South Africa, this evening (Tuesday). Footage of the attack was captured by a WWE fan and posted to YouTube, and shows the perpetrator striking Orton from behind. The matter is currently under investigation by the local authorities, and the South African fan is being held in jail pending criminal charges. The extent of Orton's injuries are unknown at this time.” - IOL

 

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Alleged drug den petrol-bombed

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A gang of balaclava-wearing men petrol-bombed an alleged drug house in Cape Town, and shot dead a man who lived there.

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Cape Town - A gang of men on Tuesday night petrol-bombed an alleged drug house in Grassy Park, and shot dead a man who lived in the house.

The occupant, 57-year-old Thomas Lewis, was shot by the balaclava-wearing men, and died in the street outside the burning house, on the corner of Torbay Road and 6th Avenue.

“The victim died on the scene. Police are investigating a case of murder and arson. No arrests have been made,” said a police spokesman.

Philip Bam, chairman of Grassy Park’s Community Police Forum, said the community had for years complained about drug dealing at the house.

A neighbour said drug dealing had been taking place at the house for years, and recently it had been regularly raided by police.

“For years cars have been stopping here,” he said. “A boy runs out with a little package, the occupants of a car hand over money in exchange and then drive off. I’m talking about hundreds and hundreds of cars in a week.”

A woman who saw Tuesday night’s attack said police had been raiding the property regularly in recent months, and that last month shots were fired into an unoccupied vehicle (allegedly owned by one of the merchants) outside the property.

After the raids and this attack, there were fewer cars at the property. Bam said the raids had resulted in some arrests, but money and drugs had not been recovered.

This had frustrated the community, who saw the police as being ineffectual in apprehending those behind the operation, he said.

“I’m not saying it was vigilante attack, no one knows the motive and we have to wait for the police to investigate. Nonetheless, vigilantism does need to be condemned in general - even in scenarios where communities feel that the police have let them down.”

Bam said the danger of injuring or killing an innocent person made vigilante attacks a serious concern.

Neighbours who spoke to the Cape Argus said it was unlikely that Lewis, the man shot and killed on Tuesday night, was behind the alleged drug-dealing operation.

“He was a handyman… If he had links to the drug dealing, I would be quite surprised,” said one.

Lewis’s son, Basil Lewis, 37, was present during the attack.

He denied that his father had anything to do with drug dealing. He said there were between 15 and 20 attackers.

“It was dark. There was chaos and confusion. They just started shouting and throwing petrol. Someone just shot and my dad was killed. It’s impossible that he could have been targeted,” Basil said.

daneel.knoetze@inl.co.za

Cape Argus

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Sad day for education, says MEC

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A court ruling to set aside a decision to close 17 schools marked "a sad day for education", MEC Donald Grant said.

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Cape Town - A court ruling to set aside a decision to close 17 schools marked “a sad day for education”, Western Cape Education MEC Donald Grant has said.

On Wednesday Western Cape High Court Judges Andre le Grange and Nape Dolamo set aside Grant's decision, made in October to go into effect from December 31. He and his department were ordered to pay the legal costs of the schools and their governing bodies.

The SA Democratic Teachers' Union (Sadtu), which was listed as an applicant, was ordered to pay its own costs.

The judges ruled that the reasons given for the closures were brief and that the public consultation process that followed was inadequate.

Le Grange found that the reasons Grant presented for possible closures were largely inadequate and irrational.

“The applicants have demonstrated in the papers filed that the schools the MEC decided to close have remarkable similarities to those he decided to keep open,” he said in the judgment.

“The difference between the MEC's initial and final reasons for closure at certain schools... in my view gives further credence to the applicants' complaint of irrationality.”

The court found the public consultation process an “artificial formality” that fell short of what was reasonably expected.

“The manner in which these proceedings were conducted further strengthened the applicants' case. The officials simply allowed the affected parties to say what they wished to say rather than engage, raise, and discuss the reasons.”

In a minority judgment, Judge Lee Bozalek said he would have set aside Grant's decision only for Beauvallon Senior Secondary School, and that the other schools had failed to make a case.

All three judges dismissed the applicants' argument that the section of the SA Schools Act dealing with school closures was unconstitutional.

Section 33 of the act empowers an MEC to close a public school by notice in the provincial gazette.

Grant announced last year that 27 schools faced possible closure for various reasons. After representations were made at public hearings, he decided to close 18 schools and transfer pupils to “receiving schools”.

One of the schools, Tonko Bosman Primary in Somerset West, agreed to the closure. The schools' governing bodies and Sadtu approached the court for a review of Grant's decision on the closures.

The review application was heard last month and judgment was reserved.

“The judgment has compromised the education opportunities for the learners at the 17 schools. The department will, however, continue to support these schools, Grant said on Wednesday.

He said pupils at Tonko Bosman Primary, the school which agreed to the closure, had received better opportunities.

“The learners now attend Raithby Primary School, where they receive single-grade tuition and improved education facilities, such as a computer lab and sports and extra-curricular playing fields.”

Grant believed the closure decisions were made in the children's best interests.

“We will study the judgment carefully and will take into consideration the recommendations made by the court in terms of procedures followed with respect to school closures.”

Grant did not reveal whether he would appeal the court's ruling. - Sapa

Dagga Party faces chop from official list

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The future of the Dagga Party may go up in smoke as it faces being the cut from the official list of registered parties.

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Cape Town - The future of the Dagga Party might go up in a puff of smoke along with 57 other parties that face the cut from the official list of registered political parties next month.

The Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) told these political parties, including 19 from the Western Cape, they had until mid-August to prove they were still active and avoid deregistration.

In the Western Cape the number of parties may halve from 36 parties registered provincially to 17.

IEC spokeswoman Kate Bapela said they had sent notices in November to political parties not represented in municipalities, provincial legislatures or in Parliament, to renew their registration.

She said parties not represented were required by law to notify the IEC of their continued existence.

Currently 224 parties are registered with the IEC, of which 139 parties are registered nationally.

Six of the Western Cape parties facing the chop had contested provincial and national elections, while 13 had participated only in the local government elections.

Bapela said that the list of parties was not static and new parties continued to register.

She said parties that wanted to contest the 2014 elections had to be on the registered party list, submit candidates’ lists and pay a deposit.

Dagga Party leader Jeremy Acton said his party was hoping to contest the national elections next year.

Its main objective is to legalise the use of dagga.

The party contested the 2011 local government elections but only in the Langeberg Municipality, where it failed to secure a seat.

Acton said he wanted to register his party on the national list now but added he was struggling to collect the 500 required signatures from registered voters.

He moved from Montagu to Cape Town in December but said he still faced a police investigation for possession of drugs.

Four charges of possessing drugs were withdrawn against him in Robertson Magistrate’s Court in November.

Acton said that he had smoked dagga for the past 23 years.

“I use to smoke eight joints a day, but I am too busy now and only smoke three, maybe four, a day,” he said.

He said he would have enough signatures in time for next year’s elections.

cobus.coetzee@inl.co.za

Cape Tmes

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Paramedic attacks on the increase

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The Western Cape Health Department has told staff to leave "high risk areas" if they fear for their safety.

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Cape Town - Health officials are concerned about the recent attacks on emergency services staff, and say they will not allow ambulance personnel to be at risk while they are trying to save the lives of others.

The Western Cape Health Department has told staff to leave “high risk areas” - where there has been gang activity - if they fear for their safety.

It has identified Delft, Elsies River, Manenberg, Mitchells Plain, Khayelitsha and Lavender Hill as high risk-areas.

In the most recent incident, on Sunday morning, emergency services staff were attending to a call in Rocklands when shots were fired and a bullet was lodged in the ambulance. No injuries were reported.

This was just one of several attacks on staff since June. Staff members were attacked in three separate incidents in Mitchells Plain last month, including an incident in which a team was robbed of personal belongings at gunpoint.

The Department of Health’s Angelique Jordaan said staff had been escorted by police during gang violence, but the police were often committed elsewhere and were not always on call to help paramedics.

There have been 10 reported incidents this year.

“Hot spots have been identified and include Khayelitsha Site B and areas in both the southern and northern suburbs where gang activity is rife. Unfortunately certain incidents occur randomly and it is a case of the ambulance crew being in the wrong place at the wrong time with no forewarning,” Jordaan said.

“Responses to calls in gang affected areas could be delayed as police escorts are not readily available. The gang violence has impacted on staff psychologically and emotionally, as they are also caught up in the crossfire at times.”

Jordaan said that if violence against medical personnel continued, the department would consider declaring the region a “no-go area” for their staff after consultation with the SAPS.

Health MEC Theuns Botha said on Tuesday that the department had entered into discussions with its emergency services staff about the possible options to reduce their risk.

“We will not allow a situation that will continue to put our staff at risk. There have been discussions with SAPS as well. As a government, we need to work closely with Community Safety and community structures to ensure the safety of EMS (emergency management services) staff. This close working relationship is always relevant in a volatile situation where people’s lives are at stake,” he said

Police spokesman Andrè Traut said the police had not noticed a trend in attacks on EMS staff but they were available to help. “SAPS render a policing service to all members of the public, including members of emergency services, and we will assist with protection in areas of concern, or if an immediate threat exists.”

matthew.hirsch@inl.co.za

Cadet News Agency

Cape Times

 

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Fransman wants Plato axed

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"It's clear to the ANC that Dan Plato conspired and helped in ... manufacturing the affidavit and that is illegal."

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Cape Town - Provincial ANC chairman Marius Fransman has called for Community Safety MEC Dan Plato to be axed after the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) dismissed allegations forwarded by Plato that implicate a senior politician in crime.

“The source of the allegations is a witness who lacks credibility and whose version is unable to be corroborated in any respect,” DPP Rodney de Kock said on Tuesday.

Fransman, named in some of the allegations which Plato forwarded to be probed, said it had always been clear Plato had conspired in helping to manufacture the documents.

“We call on (Premier) Helen Zille to immediately fire Plato,” he said.

But Plato, who heard of the DPP’s findings via the media, defended himself, saying he had not made the allegations and that when members of the public came forward with complaints and allegations, he had a duty to report the matters to the relevant authorities.

While Plato had referred the allegations naming Fransman and others to the public protector, the ANC lodged a complaint with the police accusing Plato of abusing his power, perjury and conspiracy to commit perjury.

And last week the DA and ANC publicly accused each other in the Western Cape Legislature of being involved in gangs.

DA MPL Mark Wiley had told the legislature the DA had affidavits that linked among others, Fransman, top policeman

Jeremy Vearey and ANC MPL Max Ozinsky to gun running, drug smuggling and murder.

Plato told the Cape Times he handed the affidavits to the public protector. Yesterday De Kock’s statement said the public protector had referred “certain allegations”, received from Plato, to the Hawks.

“The allegations are that a senior politician and an SAPS officer have involved themselves in various alleged criminal activities,” De Kock said.

The Hawks conducted an inquiry and the statement said on July 13 the commander of the Hawks detective service referred an inquiry file to the DPP’s office. “The DPP considers that the inquiry contains insufficient evidence to suggest he should take any further steps and he has declined to do so,” De Kock’s statement said.

On Tuesday Fransman said he knew of an affidavit that Plato had got hold of that named Fransman, Vearey and Ozinsky. “Plato will have to answer to the authorities on his involvements in trying to… conspire against SAPS and politicians,” he said.

Fransman said he and his colleagues “always knew” the affidavit Plato had was manufactured. “We don’t believe he received information. It’s clear to the ANC that Dan Plato conspired and helped in the process of manufacturing the affidavit and… that is illegal,” he said.

Plato said on Tuesday when receiving complaints or allegations, he had no way of determining whether or not allegations were true and he therefore referred the matters to authorities to probe. “This particular information was given to the public protector to ensure that it was investigated in an impartial and independent manner,” he said.

Plato noted De Kock’s statement, but pointed out that he himself had not made the allegations - a member of the public had. “I simply referred a document given to me by this individual to the public protector. I was simply doing my duty… I await a report from the public protector to whom the matter was originally referred,” Plato said.

On Tuesday Zille said Plato had a duty to report “complaints or serious allegations” that the public took to him.

“This is what he did in this case. Why would I fire minister Plato for simply performing the duties required of him?” she asked.

caryn.dolley@inl.co.za

Cape Times

 

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Cape school closures set aside

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A decision to close 17 Western Cape schools at the end of last year has been set aside by the Western Cape High Court.

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Cape Town -

A decision to close 17 Western Cape schools at the end of last year was set aside on Wednesday.

Western Cape High Court Judges Andre le Grange and Nape Dolamo ruled that the reasons given for the closures were brief and that the public consultation process that followed was inadequate.

They set aside Western Cape education MEC Donald Grant's decision, made in October to go into effect from December 31. He and his department were ordered to pay the legal costs of the schools and their governing bodies.

The SA Democratic Teachers' Union (Sadtu), which was listed as an applicant, was ordered to pay its own costs.

Le Grange found that the reasons Grant presented for possible closures were largely inadequate and irrational.

"The applicants have demonstrated in the papers filed that the schools the MEC decided to close have remarkable similarities to those he decided to keep open," he said in the judgment.

"The difference between the MEC's initial and final reasons for closure at certain schools... in my view gives further credence to the applicants' complaint of irrationality."

The court found the public consultation process an "artificial formality" that fell short of what was reasonably expected.

"The manner in which these proceedings were conducted further strengthened the applicants' case. The officials simply allowed the affected parties to say what they wished to say rather than engage, raise, and discuss the reasons."

In a minority judgment, Judge Lee Bozalek said he would have set aside Grant's decision only for Beauvallon Senior Secondary School, and that the other schools had failed to make a case.

All three judges dismissed the applicants' argument that the section of the SA Schools Act dealing with school closures was unconstitutional.

Section 33 of the act empowers an MEC to close a public school by notice in the provincial gazette.

Grant announced last year that 27 schools faced possible closure for various reasons. After representations were made at public hearings, he decided to close 18 schools and transfer pupils to "receiving schools".

One of the schools, Tonko Bosman Primary in Somerset West, agreed to the closure. The schools' governing bodies and Sadtu approached the court for a review of Grant's decision on the closures.

The review application was heard last month and judgment was reserved.

Grant said on Tuesday that the ruling marked "a sad day for education".

"The judgment has compromised the education opportunities for the learners at the 17 schools. The department will, however, continue to support these schools."

He said pupils at Tonko Bosman Primary, the school which agreed to the closure, had received better opportunities.

"The learners now attend Raithby Primary School, where they receive single-grade tuition and improved education facilities, such as a computer lab and sports and extra-curricular playing fields."

Grant believed the closure decisions were made in the children's best interests.

"We will study the judgment carefully and will take into consideration the recommendations made by the court in terms of procedures followed with respect to school closures."

Grant did not reveal whether he would appeal the court's ruling. - Sapa

 

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ANCYL calls for Zille to quit

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Western Cape premier Helen Zille should quit after a court decision to set aside a decision to close 17 schools, the ANC Youth League said.

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Johannesburg - Western Cape premier Helen Zille should quit after a court decision on Wednesday to set aside a decision to close 17 schools, the ANC Youth League said on Wednesday.

“It is disgusting that... Zille fully backed MEC for education Donald Grant’s stubborn and heartless action to close these schools without due consultation and proper plans put in place,” ANCYL provincial task team convenor Muhammad Khalid Sayed said.

“The African National Congress Youth League welcomes the Western Cape High Court's decision.”

Judges Andre le Grange and Nape Dolamo ruled that the reasons given for the closures were brief and that the public consultation process followed was inadequate.

They set aside Grant's decision, made in October to go into effect from December 31. He and his department were ordered to pay the legal costs of the schools and their governing bodies.

The SA Democratic Teachers' Union (Sadtu) said the court's decision was a victory for education in the country.

“The court ruling... has vindicated Sadtu,” the union in the province said in a statement.

“Our democratic courts have once again come to the favour of the poor, working class learners and parents in the Western Cape.”

Sadtu said it would not allow bullies in the provincial education department to jeopardise the future of poor children.

“We urge Grant and Zille to respect the courts and not to waste money with an appeal.”

Sapa

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R3m Lamborghini up in flames

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Footage of a Murcielago bursting into flames gives new meaning to the term hot rod.

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Supercars are known for blazing around race tracks, but footage of a Lamborghini Murcielago roadster bursting into flames has given new meaning to the word hot rod.

In the video, which was captured on Monday night on Kloof Road just above Camps Bay in Cape Town, smoke billows from the Italian sports car as flames shoot up, igniting tree branches above.

Fire and rescue services spokesman Theo Layne said firefighters rushed to the scene.

“It took about 15 minutes to extinguish the flames.”

The driver was unhurt, but the damage was done.

The supercar, which had an estimated value of R3 million, was torched.

Lamborghini’s Johannesburg brand manager, David Smith, said this was only the second recorded incident of a Lamborghini bursting into flames in South Africa.

He said it was not clear what caused the car to catch fire.

“The owner and the insurance company will do an investigation into what brought it on.”

“We will do whatever we can to assist, it’s important that the cause is found.”

Forensic expert David Klatzow confirmed that he would be investigating the cause of the fire.

Klatzow was part of the investigation into a Honda Jazz that burned out in 2009, claiming the life of satirist Justin Nurse’s two-year-old daughter.

Production of the Murcielago Roadster, a two-door, two-seater sports car, ended in 2010 and it has since been replaced by the Aventador. According to the company’s production figures more than 4000 of the luxury cars were built during its production cycle.

Smith said: “It’s definitely a rare car, but I don’t think people in South Africa understand how many Lamborghinis we have in this country.” - Cape Argus

 

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I don’t like Randy, says WWE star’s attacker

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The man who gave wrestling superstar Randy Orton a low blow that ultimately stole the show has been identified.

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Cape Town - When wrestling superstar Randy Orton came to Cape Town he was probably expecting chants, cheers and a couple of boos.

What he got instead was a low blow that ultimately stole the show.

It started as a relatively normal night for the ripped cast of the WWE (World Wrestling Entertainment) as they staged the first half of their Live World Tour at the GrandWest Arena on Tuesday.

That was until South African favourite Orton won his match against Big E Langston. Standing on the turnbuckle and soaking up the applause after his win, the wrestler did not notice a fan slide into the ring.

Never mind half-nelson, this fan went full ball-breaker, planting a heavy punch in Orton’s groin that sent the wrestler tumbling onto the mat.

Video footage from a spectator shows security officials pouncing on the fan and pulling him out the ring as an angry Orton started to give chase.

The video is no longer available on YouTube due to a copyright claim by WWE.

Most pundits presumed the low blow was part of the script.

But on Wednesday, police spokesman Captain FC van Wyk confirmed that the fan had been identified and would be arrested and charged.

According to Van Wyk, the attacker had scaled the stage barrier and managed to slip past security before delivering the punch.

ENCA’s website identified the fan as Tsepho Sekhabi, a 20-year-old Joburg man who told the website he had quit his job as an administrative clerk to catch the wrestling federation’s two nights in Cape Town.

The self-proclaimed “wrestling machine” admitted that he had been planning the big hit for a while.

“I just don’t like Randy Orton. This was an opportunity for me so I got up there and made a name for myself,” he told eNCA.

While the wrestling federation’s website reported that the extent of Orton’s injuries was unknown, Sekhabi did not escape unscathed.

The spectator reportedly was bruised on his left cheek after he was caught by one of Orton’s kicks.

GrandWest’s general manager, Mervyn Naidoo, told the Cape Argus that Sekhabi had been banned from the entertainment facility.

“We do not tolerate misbehaviour in any form, and have immediately banned him from entering the property for five years.”

Naidoo said the WWE had indicated it was speaking to police to lay charges against the man.

“Orton will be prepared to return to South Africa to attend the court case.”

GrandWest will work with the police by making surveillance footage of the incident available to them.

Meanwhile, users on Twitter commented on the low blow, many calling Sekhabi an “idiot”.

“Only in SA, got to love our country,” tweeted @codex_ink.

“Won’t blame Orton if he never wants to come back to Cape Town again,” said @madkiddsmith.

kieran.legg@inl.co.za

Cape Argus

 

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Flippie has fit after accused appears

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Shortly after the court appearance of the men accused of assaulting him, Flippie Engelbrecht suffered a seizure.

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Cape Town - Shortly after the court appearance of the men accused of beating him so badly that he became an epileptic, Flippie Engelbrecht had a seizure outside the Ashton Magistrate’s Court on Wednesday, surrounded by police officers, protesters and journalists.

Johnny Burger, the owner of Rietvallei Wine Estate, and farm manager Wilhelm (Dozi) Treurnicht, appeared briefly on two charges of assault with intent to do grievous bodily harm. A third man has turned State witness and may receive indemnity from prosecution.

On Wednesday the court warned Burger and Treurnicht not to approach the 10 witnesses on the State’s list.

The case was postponed until August 28 for a regional court date.

It is the State’s case that in 2008 Burger and Treurnicht beat Flip Engelbrecht, a farm labourer on Rietvallei, and his son, Flippie, then 15. Flippie was so badly injured that he was left both blind and epileptic.

Later, during a seizure, Flippie fell into a fire and lost both of his hands.

On Wednesday, outside court, Flippie said, referring to Burger and Treurnicht: “How does he feel now, is he happy with the way I look? If it was his child he would be heartbroken.”

As he spoke he began to shake and his family laid him down on the tarmac, where he had a seizure. Flippie’s mother, Katrina Engelbrecht, said: “We want justice out of this court and we don’t want any other child to be hurt.”

Flip Engelbrecht, 53, said it had taken five years for the case to reach court. “It took so long. I’m glad this is finally happening.”

Merencia Gillian, chairperson of the non-profit organisation Freedom Trust, said they were supporting this case and “thousands” of similar cases.

“We will fight until the bitter end.”

natasha.bezuidenhout@inl.co.za

Cape Argus

 

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Plan for 60m Mandela face on Table Mountain

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A proposal for a 60m-high monument to Madiba plastered on to the sheer cliffs of Table Mountain has been punted.

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Cape Town - If today were April 1 instead of August 1, a proposal for a 60m-high monument to Nelson Mandela plastered on to the sheer cliffs of Table Mountain like a giant green carbuncle might be explicable and good for a laugh.

But that idea is being punted, apparently seriously, by a Dutch design firm on behalf of an obscure Rotterdam-based organisation, “Mandela on the bike foundation”.

Concept designs for the 12-storey sculpture that includes a restaurant, conference centre and exhibition area – all in the shape of Mandela’s face a-la-Mount Rushmore and the Crazy Horse memorial in the US – were posted on a dedicated website last month, timed to coincide with Madiba’s birthday.

The proposed monument honouring Madiba “will teach next generations about the man who gave his life for justice and show his heritage”, according to the design firm, WHIM Architecture.

 

The project team says the size of the building “suits the visibility and accessibility on the mountain overlooking Cape Town and its coastline”, although the sheer cliffs shown in most of their drawings do not appear to belong to Table Mountain.

The designs were also posted on a Facebook site, and on Monday the project team reported that they’d received “a few comments/questions about our proposal” that they wanted to respond to.

“We are thinking of a monument, that is highly visible within the city and shows the beauty of the existing city and its landscape… Of course we see the beauty of Table Mountain, and we respect this. Table Mountain should maintain its natural beauty. The sketch design is a first visualisation on how we think we can create something monumental for Nelson Mandela but also for Cape Town.

“The further development of the project should be done in close collaboration with the (local) government, the Nelson Mandela Foundation and the inhabitants of Cape Town.”

 

Asked to comment, Table Mountain National Park manager Paddy Gordon said “I nearly fell off my chair” when seeing the images.

“As custodians of this international iconic site, we could not even begin to consider this proposal. In terms of the mountain’s legal status as a national park and World Natural Heritage Site, let alone its Natural Wonder of the World award, a development of such huge proportions would never be allowed.

“Though we agree that the nation owes a huge debt to Madiba and that we need to honour his contribution for generations to come, we hope to support a very different approach to achieve this. Besides, I’m convinced that Madiba himself would not wish for his beloved Table Mountain to be maimed in this way.”

Cape Town mayor Patricia de Lille replied diplomatically via her spokesman Solly Malatsi: “The city will weigh the merits of the proposal once we’ve seen it.”

There were mixed reactions on Facebook, with

Judith Egberink commenting “nice!!” while Amanda van Zyl McCarthy wrote: “Table Mountain is NOT Mt Rushmore!....do not even think of messing up our mountain!” and Philip Zietsman said: “What a k*k idea! Shudder.”

Architect and design consultant Pierre Jordaan was short and sweet with his ironic response: “Nice ... go f&*%k up your own mountain.”

 

* On the web: http://mandelaonthemountain.com/

john.yeld@inl.co.za

Cape Argus

 

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Why bid to close schools failed

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The Western Cape High Court’s ruling against a decision to close 17 schools has been hailed as a victory for communities.

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Cape Town - The Western Cape High Court’s full bench ruling against Education MEC Donald Grant’s decision to close 17 schools has been hailed by Equal Education as a victory for communities.

Yoliswa Dwane, Equal Education chairwoman, said on Wednesday: “This was a very powerful decision, especially in empowering communities to demand meaningful engagement when it comes to issues like school closures, especially in other provinces such as the Eastern Cape.”

She said the decision would also force the government in all provinces not to merely pay “lip service” on issues relating to education, especially during the public participation process.

Two of three judges, Andre le Grange and Nape Dolamo, agreed on Wednesday to set aside Grant’s decision on all 17 schools.

However, Judge Lee Bozalek issued a minority judgment, saying he agreed that 16 schools should close but that Grant had failed to make a case as to why Beauvallon Senior Secondary School should close.

The court also ordered Grant and the provincial Education Department to pay the costs of all the applicants except those belonging to the SA Democratic Teachers’ Union (Sadtu).

All the judges dismissed an argument by the applicants that Section 33 of the SA Schools Act (which empowers an MEC to close public schools) was unconstitutional.

Judge Le Grange said on Wednesday that the reasons given by Grant for the closures were brief and that the public consultation process was inadequate.

Grant and the Education Department maintained that the decision to close the schools was motivated by the desire to improve educational opportunities of all children in the province, further enhance the quality of education at some schools and to have pupils attend schools equipped with better facilities to provide quality education.

But Judge Le Grange said that neither Grant nor the provincial Education Department had predetermined standards against which they measured the performance the schools and that the ultimate decision as to which school should be closed, involved a “balancing of many factors”.

“The difference between Grant’s initial and final reasons for closure at certain schools, and in particular Beauvallon Secondary School, in my view gives further credence to the applicants’ complaint of irrationality.”

The judge added: “Of the 20 schools closed, four were urban Cape Town schools and the balance all rural or farm schools. Most of these rural schools have a long history. Some date back between 40 and 70 years and the majority of them, if not all, are located in economically deprived communities.

“At the public meetings, the record clearly speaks of widespread objections from affected parties and strong emotions and deep unhappiness underpinning said objections.”

He said the procedure followed by Grant fell short of what was reasonably expected in a public participation process. The decision to close the schools was mainly premised by budgetary constraints.

“Reasons given by Grant were too brief and inadequate… The MEC’s decision to close the schools was taken arbitrarily and capriciously.”

The applicants demonstrated in the papers filed that the schools Grant decided to close had remarkable similarities to those he decided to keep open. The judge said Grant and the department needed to ensure that they placed the needs of the pupils first, especially given the history of education in South Africa, which had led to tragic circumstances for millions of pupils.

Reacting to the court ruling, the Save our Schools campaign’s Magnus de Jongh said the judgment was “great news” for the schools concerned.

“Since the campaign started we said the closures were arbitrary and not in the best interest of learners. Now the judgment has made this clear.”

Sadtu in the Western Cape called on Grant not to waste any money by appealing against the court’s decision, and said he should reduce class sizes instead.

“Our democratic courts have once again come to the favour of the poor, working-class learners and parents in the Western Cape. When Sadtu came to the aid of the learners and parents who were victims of the closures, Zille and Grant thought they could walk over the poor by using cheap politics.”

Reacting to the ruling, Grant said his decision to close the schools was made in the best interests of the pupils and he believed the court’s decision would ultimately result in a loss of better education opportunities for the pupils.

“This is a sad day for education.”

He said the Western Cape Education Department would continue to support the schools.

Pupils from Tonko Bosman Primary, one of three schools closed last year, had been moved to Raithby Primary and “learners’ lives have ultimately improved based on the decisions this government has made”.

The main reasons for closing the school had been low pupil numbers, multigrade teaching and better education opportunities elsewhere.

Grant said these pupils were now receiving single-grade tuition and could make use of improved education facilities such as a computer lab and sports and playing fields.

“We will study the judgment carefully and will take into consideration the recommendations made by the court in terms of procedures followed with respect to school closures.”

School closures timeline:

May 2012 – Education MEC Donald Grant notifies 27 schools of his intention to close them in December 2012. School governing bodies are given an opportunity to make representations.

July 2012 – Grant announces that after considering the representations from the governing bodies he has decided to proceed with public hearings for all the schools.

August 2012 – The Western Cape Education Department announces that it is preparing placement plans for pupils affected by the proposed closures.

September 2012 – Grant says the public participation process has closed and that he is considering all representations made to him.

October 16 2012 – Grant announces that 20 of the 27 schools will closed.

December 2012 – Seventeen schools are granted a temporary reprieve when the Western Cape High Court grants an interim order prohibiting the closure of the schools.

May 2013 – The parties return to court for a hearing to review Grant’s decision to close the schools.

On Wednesday – Grant’s decision is set aside and the court orders that the 17 schools remain open.

The schools:

Beauvallon Secondary; Bergrivier NGK Primary; Bracken Hill EK Primary; Denneprag Primary; Klipheuwel Primary; Krombeksrivier NGK Primary; LK Zeeman Primary; Lavisrylaan Primary; Protea Primary; Redlands Primary; Rietfontein Primary; Rondevlei EK Primary; Urionskraal NGK Primary; Valpark Primary; Wansbek VGK Primary School; Warmbad-Spa Primary; Welbedacht UCC Primary

ilse.fredericks@inl.co.za

neo.maditla@inl.co.za

Cape Argus

 

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Correctional services numbers ‘doesn’t add up’

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Solidarity researcher Paul Joubert has testified that the Department of Correctional Services’ figures are “unsuitable” for use as EE targets

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Cape Town - In defending its employment policies, the Department of Correctional Services has told the Labour Court that “coloured labour has always been preferred and protected in the Western Cape”.

Trade union Solidarity, nine Correctional Services employees and a job applicant have taken the department to court over alleged racial discrimination, saying they have been denied posts for which they applied.

The group argue that the department’s equity targets should be in line with provincial rather than national demographics. They are challenging the validity of the department’s employment equity plan.

Solidarity researcher Paul Joubert testified this week that he believed the department’s figures were “unsuitable” for use as employment equity targets. The department used total population figures, including children and the elderly, rather than the number of people in the workforce. The use of “economically active” population figures was more appropriate.

According to data compiled by Census 2011, at least 48.8 percent of the Western Cape’s population is coloured.

Joubert said based on national demographics, the provincial department had an over-representation of 2 410 coloured employees. It employed 3 094 coloured people when its target was 684. However, if provincial demographics were used, there would be an under-representation of 899 coloured people.

Marumo Moerane, SC, for the department, questioned Joubert’s knowledge of apartheid and the historical events that affected the country’s demographics.

He put it to Joubert: “One of the sad issues which we have to confront in this particular case… is that coloured labour has always been preferred and protected in the Western Cape.”

Was Joubert familiar with the restriction on the freedom of movement for certain groups during apartheid, Moerane asked.

Was Joubert aware that Indians had not been allowed to live in the Orange Free State, something that would have had a “skewed” effect on the demographics of that region?

“If you were to adopt an affirmative action policy based on the current distribution of Indian people in the Free State – you’d never employ Indian people in the Free State… if you used provincial and not national stats, you would not employ Indians there.”

 

Joubert disagreed, saying if demographics were applied flexibly there would be a case for employing Indians.

Moerane said the constitution did not envisage a strategy where the government “deliberately perpetuates the demographic distribution” created by apartheid. “In fact, the constitution obliges the state to advance and protect the people discriminated against.”

The hearing continues on Thursday.

natasha.prince@inl.co.za

Cape Argus

 

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