Safety initiative aims to get dangerous vehicles off the road before it’s too late.

From trucks with no brakes or steering wheel to one with grass growing in its undercarriage, the team behind the Brake and Tyre Watch initiative has seen it all.

When an ancient, rusted Mack truck with a leaking fuel tank and missing brakes was flagged down during a quarterly inspection at the Breede Valley traffic department in Worcester on Thursday, nobody was surprised.

Team menber Kathy Bell, Standard Bank’s transport specialist, said: “This is a perfect example of what we see all the time.

“We have to discontinue about 70 percent of the trucks we pull over because they aren’t roadworthy.”

Thursday’s inspection was the latest in a series of spot checks held across the country.

Together with local traffic officials, the Brake and Tyre Watch team has been conducting stringent safety checks on the buses and trucks travelling on South Africa’s roads.

Bell said the inspections were designed to raise transport operators’ awareness of the subject of efficient braking and tyre checking.

It also served to teach traffic officials how to spot severe faults in heavy vehicles.

Bell said the plan was to get problem trucks off the road because they posed a huge risk to other motorists.

FREQUENT TRUCK CRASHES

In the past two weeks there have been frequent reports of truck crashes in the Western Cape, including one incident in which two people died after a truck shot off the Katbakkies Pass between Ceres and the Koue Bokkeveld on Tuesday.

During Thursday’s inspection in Worcester, 23 trucks were pulled over by traffic officials, 17 of which were discontinued and impounded after inspectors determined they were not roadworthy.

While a truck with grass growing in its undercarriage was the standout case of the day, Bell said the team had run into some unique situations during the initiative’s seven-year history.

“Once we pulled over a truck driver who was cooking on a paraffin stove on the seat next to him. Another truck was being driven without a steering wheel.”

Since February 2006, the team has “discontinued” 310 heavy vehicles.

Bell said that while most transport operators stuck to the rules, it was the minority who were ruining the industry’s reputation.

“It’s also unfair to blame the drivers because it should fall on the operators to make sure the drivers are taking the proper precautions and driving roadworthy vehicles.”

Western Cape traffic head Kenny Africa said he supported the initiative because it was training officials who would able to remove problem vehicles from the road before they ended up in a serious crash.

“I want to look at the days after Thursday’s inspection and see how many trucks our newly-trained officials find,” he said.

He added he would continue including the Western Cape’s traffic officials in future inspections. - Cape Argus

Zakariyah Albertyn claims an intelligence operative offered him money for incriminating evidence on Abdus Salaam Ebrahim.

Cape Town - Pagad member Zakariyah Albertyn has claimed he was approached by an intelligence operative while in custody and offered money in exchange for incriminating evidence about Pagad leader Abdus Salaam Ebrahim.

“The national intelligence came to me and said they are not after me, they are after Abdus Salaam.

“They said to me I can put any amount, figure, money on the table,” Albertyn said.

Hawks spokesman Paul Ramaloko rejected Albertyn’s assertion: “That is not how we do our business.”

Albertyn was speaking outside the Athlone Magistrate’s Court on Thursday shortly after Ebrahim’s release from custody.

Ebrahim had been arrested just over a week ago in connection with the murder of three Tanzanians, and the attempted murder of a South African woman, at a shop in Veld Road, Athlone.

Earlier this week Albertyn was taken in for questioning in connection with the same case, but released without being charged.

After his release on Thursday a defiant Ebrahim said Pagad members would not back down in their fight against gangsterism and drugs, and were prepared to be jailed and even die for their cause.

In an emotionally charged address Ebrahim said: “We are not going to stop fighting. We can tell everybody, the gangsters, the drug dealers and those people, especially the Muslim businessmen who launder money for drugs dealers, you can all go to hell. We are not stopping.”

In court earlier Piet Steyn of the office of the Director of Public Prosecutions said the State was withdrawing the charges against Ebrahim for further investigation.

Pagad members packed the public gallery, and chanted softly as Ebrahim entered the dock. After magistrate Keith le Keur provisionally withdrew the case, relatives and supporters hugged and greeted Ebrahim as he was ushered to the holding cells before his release.

Outside court Tashriq Ahmed, for Ebrahim, said the State’s evidence against his client was “contaminated”. He added that he would consider taking action against the prosecution if the matter was finally withdrawn.

Ebrahim, flanked by a group of Pagad members who chanted Allahu Akbar (God is great) outside court, thanked God that he was freed.

To cheers from his supporters, he said: “We thank our family and friends who stood with us. The reminder for this country is that this is a long struggle. They (the police) will most probably pick us up again and again.

“For our people are dying in this country, our children are being raped and robbed and sodomised and we say ‘no surrender, no retreat’ of the fight against gangsterism and drugs and crime and all evil in this country.”

Ebrahim said police had arrested him in connection with the triple murder last week without asking him whether he had an alibi.

“There is a big conspiracy in this country. It’s clear in the system, somewhere, a lot of people are involved in gangs and drugs and because of this people like ourselves will always be targeted. It’s going to be a long and a hard struggle. We will most probably stand here next week, or next month or next year.

“But one thing we need to tell the people is we cannot be subjugated by this, drugs dens, drug dealers, crime, rape and killing of our people. We say no to it.

“And even if we die in this country or go to prison for life we are not going to accept it. By no means are we going to accept it,” Ebrahim said.

Pagad spokesman Cassiem Parker said the organisation was grateful that Ebrahim had been freed.

“We are relieved that his is back with his family. Pagad feels that a co-operative effort from all parties who are opposed to drugs and gangsterism can further the cause of your children to save them.”

jade.otto@inl.co.za

Cape Argus

The mayor believes the reintroduction of specialised drug and gang units is needed in the Cape, but the police minister disagrees.

Cape Town - Police Minister Nathi Mthethwa and Premier Helen Zille may have agreed “broadly that a holistic approach is important” in tackling gang violence in the Western Cape, but they differed on the role the police should play in tackling the problem.

Zille, Community Safety MEC Dan Plato, mayor Patricia de Lille, and mayoral committee member for safety and security JP Smith met Mthethwa “to discuss needed interventions to address drugs and gang violence” in hot spots.

“The Western Cape government maintains that gang violence spikes are a policing and security issue. Only the SAPS has the power to undertake collecting evidence, affecting arrests and ensuring convictions in court,” said Zille.

“We believe two critical interventions needed are re-establishing the specialised gang and drug police units, and the temporary deployment of the SANDF as a peacekeeping force so the police are freed up to investigate crimes and bring gang members to justice. This is what we raised with Minister Mthethwa.

“He refused and said that the police are already doing what is necessary to tackle gang violence in the province. However, he could not provide any solutions to address the current spike in gang violence or details of their gang strategy. Instead he argued that the main solution is to address ‘socio-economic conditions’.”

At Parliament, Mthethwa told reporters there was no need for the army to be brought in, that the reintroduction of specialised drug and gang units was not being considered and that gangsterism and drug abuse were rooted in “socio-economic” ills and needed a “multipronged approach”.

He said the national government, the Western Cape, and the City of Cape Town would join forces to curb gang violence in the province.

He told reporters agreement had been reached on a multidisciplinary approach” to deal with gang violence in Manenberg and murder and crime spikes in Nyanga and Worcester.

Several Western Cape schools had to shut last week because of fears that more children would be caught in crossfire between warring drug dealers and gangsters.

Zille has criticised the government before for refusing to deploy the army to Manenberg, which has been the scene of bloody gang battles.

Mthethwa said: “There is a meeting of minds, particularly at the leadership level, that what we are dealing with is something that is deep-seated… socio-economic problems which are affecting all of us.”

Mthethwa said police officers were out and about in Manenberg and had stabilised the situation. “There were misgivings from the provincial government… about the soldiers not being around. We said no.” Soldiers could not have as “their main issue” dealing with crime.

De Lille said: “There’s certainly a meeting of minds at national, provincial, and local government that something drastic has to be done to deal with the scourge of drugs and gangsterism in the City of Cape Town.

“We agree that the approach to deal with gangs and drugs is not just a response of safety and security, but it must be a multidisciplinary approach, including social development, health and other departments within government.”

The City of Cape Town and the Police Ministry would jointly meet those affected by the violence.

“I’m hopeful we’ll see us going out together to give that hope to the community,” said De Lille.

“Soon, in consultation with the minister’s office, we will be moving into those key hot spots in the Western Cape, especially Cape Town.”

Cape Argus

Police fired stun grenades and rubber bullets to disperse crowds that hurled rocks, glass bottles and rubbish onto the N2.

Cape Town - Police fired stun grenades and rubber bullets to disperse crowds that hurled rocks, glass bottles and rubbish onto the N2 in a protest that began shortly before 5pm, closing the road for more than three hours.

The inbound lanes between Spine Road and Mew Way reopened at about 8pm.

With the normal rush hour traffic clogging up the outbound lanes and the inbound lanes being closed, traffic on the highway was more difficult than usual.

But provincial traffic chief Kenny Africa said it would have been worse had the protests been on the other side of the road.

“It wasn’t a major problem but we still had some backlog. We managed it.”

Motorists were diverted to the N1.

Residents of the Khayelitsha BM Section tipped four portable toilets over the concrete fence and were dragging them on to the highway’s inbound lane before police stopped them.

Two police Nyalas, along with other police vehicles, as well as traffic and law enforcement were deployed to the stretch of freeway to maintain order.

Police spokesman Colonel Thembinkosi Kinana confirmed that police had fired stun grenades into the crowd to disperse them, and said officers would remain into the area to maintain peace.

“I think the protest is service delivery related, but there seems to be some resistance from the people and we have sent more police to the area.”

Kinana said it was a difficult situation to police as people ran onto the road to throw rubbish and then ran back into the informal settlements.

“We have not arrested anyone as they go attack and then run back into the shacks. One car was damaged and the person is going to lay a charge.”

The residents stood on top of concrete toilets and threw stones at passing cars, media and police. They said they were fed up with their toilet situation and would not stop protesting until they saw results.

Nangamso Ntshutsha, in his mid-30s, said he had lived in the BM Section for most of his life and had seen little change: “If we had proper sanitation it would be so much better, but we don’t want proper sanitation here, we want it in proper houses like other people that have normal houses.”

Ntshutsha said they would meet again on Friday for another protest.

The N2, one of the two major arteries in an out of Cape Town, has been closed at least four times in the past two months, because of protests.

yolisa.tswanya@inl.co.za

Cape Argus

Work is due to start on the City of Cape Town’s huge R5.6bn project to replace apartheid-era hostels with 15 000 rental flats.

Cape Town - Work is due to start on the City of Cape Town’s huge R5.6 billion project to replace apartheid-era hostels with 15 000 rental flats for thousands of families in Langa, Gugulethu and Nyanga.

The first phase, for which R170 million has already been allocated, starts in October with the construction of more than 400 rental flats in Langa.

At least 1 000 families, many of whom are living in cramped hostel rooms meant for just one occupant, will move into these flats over the next two years. A further 837 units will be built by 2018.

Mayoral committee member for housing Tandeka Gqada said the completion of the project depends on whether the city can acquire enough land for the new units, and a constant stream of funding.

The National Treasury allocates funds to the city each year for housing, and this will be used for housing programmes, including the hostel development in Langa.

Gqada said the existing tenants of the New Flats and Special Quarters hostels would be top of the list of beneficiaries. This stage of the development will go up on a vacant site in Langa. Once the tenants from the New Flats and Special Quarters hostels are accommodated, these buildings will be demolished to make way for further development, said Gqada.

Residents of the Siyahlahla informal settlement will also be considered for flats, which will be three-and four-storeys, in keeping with the city’s densification policy. Each unit will have two bedrooms, a kitchenette, a toilet and shower, solar-heated water systems, wash-lines and a play area.

Gqada said city-owned hostels had provided single-sex dormitories for migrant labourers who had “bed cards” during apartheid.

Since this legislation had been repealed many of these “bed-card holders” were joined by their families, leading to severe overcrowding and the deterioration of conditions at these dwellings.

The project is being overseen by a steering committee with representatives of the affected communities to ensure the “success of this major development”.

This committee - which includes representatives from the hostels and informal settlements, the ward committees and council officials - would also help with the identification and verification of the beneficiaries.

Gqada said there had been years of public participation and that a project management team was set up in 2009 to gather information about the city’s hostels and to source suitable land for the new developments.

According to the heritage impact assessment for the project, the historical significance of the hostel sites should be preserved and recorded once the buildings are demolished for the flats to be built.

There should also be an interpretive plaque explaining the history of the site and the significance of past residents such as Chris Hani and Hamilton Naki, the self-taught surgeon who assisted Chris Barnard with the first heart transplant in 1967.

anel.lewis@inl.co.za

Cape Argus

Ashim Nassoro and his son will board a bus in Cape Town and will not stop travelling until they reach his home town in Tanzania.

Cape Town - On Friday, Ashim Nassoro will board a bus to Joburg with his three-year-old son and will not stop travelling by road until they reach Nassoro’s home town of Dar es Salaam in Tanzania.

“In Tanzania we were friends, but in Cape Town we were brothers. Their families are now my family, and I have to go to their mothers back home to explain to them why their sons died,” he said, referring to the three men who were murdered by a balaclava-clad gang carrying AK47s in Athlone last week.

“It is not going to be easy. I too am in mourning.”

The Tanzanian community have raised the money for the three dead bodies to be repatriated to Dar es Salaam - the bodies left Cape Town earlier this week.

On Thursday, Pagad leader Abdus Salaam Ebrahim was released from custody. The State withdrew the charges of triple murder against him and the Hawks have gone back to the drawing board in their investigation.

Nassoro owned the shop in Veld Road where Nassibu Saidi Istambul, 37, Ramadhan Mussa Bakari, 45, and Abdallah Ally, 37, were shot and killed last week. He and his wife agreed to meet the Cape Argus in Salt River, explaining later that they had not been able to return to their home in Athlone for safety reasons since the attack.

His wife asked not to be named, but Nassoro spoke freely.

“Like my brothers who died, I have done nothing wrong. Why should I hide my name?” Nassoro asked, acknowledging rumours that his countrymen were killed because of alleged links to drug dealing. Nassoro’s wife will remain in Cape Town and is in hiding at a family member’s home.

“ We drove past (our house), and our child said ‘no, we must not go there the police will shoot again’,” she said. “He does not understand that it was not the police who were shooting, but he does understand that something terrible happened.”

She added that she was desperate for counselling for her son because he could not sleep at night due to the trauma of hearing gunshots and seeing his “uncles” lying dead.

Nassoro expects to be back in Cape Town within two months. He wants to start over with a new shop in another area, but says he has no capital because of looters having cleaned him out shortly after the shooting.

“We need assistance, but I have a more important message to send out,” he said. “I want to say that if you decide to kill, make sure you know who you are killing. My brothers were accused of something they did not do. They died because the killers did not bother with the facts… ”

daneel.knoetze@inl.co.za

Cape Argus

Cape Town police are investigating the alleged sexual assault of a pupil who was found bound and gagged in a bathroom.

Cape Town - A Grade 11 pupil at a Maitland school was found by fellow pupils in the toilets, her hands tied and mouth gagged.

She had apparently been sexually assaulted.

Bronagh Casey, spokeswoman for Education MEC Donald Grant, said it was unclear if the perpetrator came from within the school or from outside the premises.

Police spokesman Frederick van Wyk said

: “The girl is still traumatised and shocked and cannot speak to the investigating officer.”

Meanwhile, school officials were investigating the alleged rapes of two boys in the hostel of a school near Ceres.

Paddy Attwell, Western Cape education spokesman, said it was alleged two Grade 7 boys raped the Grade 1 boys.

“The school heard the allegations while investigating the alleged abuse of dagga on August 16. The school informed the parents, who will lay charges.”

Police spokesman Tembinkosi Kinana said

: “…The boys were examined by a doctor who could not find anything relating to allegations.”

* A 25-year-old man, accused of raping a four-month-old girl and a seven-year-old boy on a Ceres farm, was expected to apply for bail on Friday.

After a search, police found the suspect in a hospital in Worcester and arrested him.

Cape Times

The tension between De Doorns ANC ward councillor Pat Marran and farmers in the Breede Valley appears to be stirring once again.

Cape Town - A De Doorns ANC ward councillor says he is sorry he did not “moer” (beat up) a farmer during an altercation in the midst of the farmworkers’ strike last year.

A statement issued earlier this week by the ANC’s Western Cape office indicates that tension between Pat Marran, councillor in the Breede Valley, and some farmers persists.

Marran is quoted in the statement saying that the feud had reached his children’s classrooms, with rumours allegedly circulating that the farmers would eventually “sort him out”.

Now a farmer has accused Marran of trying to foment trouble in the presently peaceful valley.

The fallout harks back to November last year, when Marran established himself as a vocal proponent of a higher minimum wage for farmworkers, while simultaneously slamming farmers for alleged abuses they meted out to workers.

Marran was one of the first people to be quoted on behalf of farmworkers when the strike began, with thousands of protesters blocking the N1, burning vineyards and looting shops.

Three weeks later Marran was in an altercation with three of the valley’s farmers including Jacques Beukes of Modderdrift.

Beukes alleges that Marran pushed him, aggravating a neck injury which Beukes had sustained in a car crash a few months earlier.

When the Cape Argus spoke to Beukes after the alleged assault, he was wearing a neckbrace. Marran has denied that he committed any harm, claiming: “Because of (these) false allegations I became a target for farmers, right-wing groups and security companies appointed by them during the farmworker strikes.”

Marran was speaking after being informed by his lawyer that a civil claim for medical expenses, lodged against him by Beukes, had been withdrawn.

Beukes did not comment on the civil claim, but acknowledged the existence of rift between him and Marran.

He added, however, that the farmers in the valley were peaceful and did not want any trouble.

He accused Marran of fostering antagonism unnecessarily, by making inflammatory public statements.

Cape Argus

Leaders of Manenberg’s main gangs, the Hard Livings and the Americans, have apologised for the trauma they have caused residents.

Cape Town - Leaders of Manenberg’s main gangs, the Hard Livings and the Americans, have apologised for the trauma their battles have caused residents and have vowed to stop settling their differences through the barrel of a gun.

Manenberg has been in the grip of gang violence for some months, with the loss of several lives and the Western Cape Department of Education closing schools for two days after teachers demanded that it take action. Schools reopened on August 19 after the City of Cape Town deployed 71 metro police officers to patrol the schools.

On Thursday night, the rival gangs attended a peace meeting arranged by the Anglican Church and community group Proudly Manenberg.

“On behalf of the Americans and the HLs (Hard Livings) we as gangsters apologise to the community for the murders that have taken place,” said an Americans member known only as Chicken.

He told 100 people at a meeting at the Anglican Church that the rival gangs had discussed the violence.

“I told my brothers there are laaities (children) affected and this thing (gang violence) cannot continue. We all need peace. I grew up in Manenberg and people know me. This is not about me, the Americans or the Hard Livings. It is about the people of Manenberg,” said the Americans member.

His apology came after resident Melanie Manuel told the gangsters that promising to stop shooting was not enough.

“We will not let you get off so easily. Children have suffered and are suffering. People have been injured and children have seen these things happen,” she said.

“This community is traumatised. We feel you must hear the heartache of residents. You must remember this is a memory that will not go away. You must know how you hurt us.”

Another resident, Rosaline Boltman, was in tears as she spoke of a 13-year-old boy who was in hospital in a critical condition after being wounded in gang crossfire.

“His parents have lost hope. I’m pleading with you to stop. My desire is for the young men - I’m not going to call them gangsters - to go to hospital and see him,” Boltman said.

“His parents are crying. Please stop the violence.”

Chicken said his Americans gang and the Hard Livings agreed to communicate when there were differences.

“In gangs we have our own rules. You may not be pleased with it, but what we did the other day and yesterday (when they dealt peacefully with a minor dispute) is for the people of Manenberg.

“We are here now, not to please the HLs or the Americans, we are here to help the people of Manenberg.”

Proudly Manenberg leader Mario Wanza said gang leaders had been asked two weeks ago to bury the hatchet.

“On Sunday, the HLs said they were willing to talk and on Monday the Americans said they too were prepared.

“There were still sporadic incidents while the leaders were consulting their members. By Wednesday we as facilitators from the community met seven representatives each from the gangs.”

Wanza said Wednesday’s discussion was about how a fight over the theft of a cellphone could evolve into a bigger conflict.

Last night’s meeting ended in prayer, with members of both gangs holding hands and with their heads bowed.

Wanza said the peace undertaking would be followed by a request to the government to help address problems such as poverty and unemployment that fuelled gangsterism.

aziz.hartley@inl.co.za

Cape Times

The City of Cape Town is exploring radical new strategies for dealing with violent protesters.

Cape Town - As violent protests flared up again on Friday in Khayelitsha and Milnerton, the city announced it is exploring radical new strategies for quelling the wave of discontent.

Police arrested 30 protesters in Joe Slovo informal settlement on Thursday night and Friday morning. They will appear in the Cape Town Magistrate’s Court on Monday.

On Thursday night the N2 was closed for three hours at Mew Way due to stone throwing from protesters.

Police fired stun grenades and rubber bullets to disperse crowds hurling rocks, glass bottles and rubbish at police and onto the road.

Govan Mbeki Drive in Khayelitsha was also closed. Police have not said how many people were arrested in Khayelitsha. Residents of the Khayelitsha BM Section tipped four portable toilets over the concrete fence and had been dragging them on to the highway’s inbound lane before police stopped them.

On Friday morning sections of Omuramba Road, Racecourse Road and Koeberg Road in Milnerton was closed as about 150 protesters burned tyres in the roads and threw rocks.

“The clashes between police and protesters are becoming more violent,” said JP Smith, Mayoral Committee member for Safety and Security.

“Protesters are not merely throwing faeces anymore, a lot of stones are being thrown. It is only a matter of time before someone gets killed. We cannot carry on like this - responding to protests as they flare up and driving protesters away with force. A radically new approach is needed.”

At a portfolio meeting on Friday, Smith was to propose a new strategy which would see photographers accompanying police responding to protests. They would photograph the ringleaders and Smith hopes to put up posters in informal settlements - identifying the main suspects and offering rewards for information leading to arrests. This new strategy will be “intelligence driven” and could make use of informants and spies in the ranks of protesting residents.

“We have reports indicating that these protests are being politically motivated. We do not want people referring to them as ‘service delivery’ protests anymore - they are not. Increasingly we find that the ‘poor service delivery’ justification for these protests is paper thin,” Smith said, directing the Cape Argus to Premier Helen Zille’s office when asked for access to the reports.

But Smith has been slammed by the Social Justice Coalition (SJC) for down-playing the lack of houses, sanitation and services in informal settlements as driving factors in many of these protests.

“It should be expected this time of year. We often see these flare-ups after periods of heavy rain and flooding in informal settlements. There is a well documented lack of housing in Cape Town and the city often fails in its aid and support for communities that are flooded,” said the SJC’s Axolile Notywala.

However, he acknowledged that there may be a subversive political element involved in some protests ahead of general elections next year.

Notywala said that Smith’s suggestion of putting up posters and asking residents to rat on trouble makers would only foster further antagonism between residents and authorities.

Instead, he said, city officials needed to link with ward councillors - many of whom are ANC members, and “constructively” engage about grievances as they arise.

Cape Argus

The Hawks investigative unit has to abide by police objectives under the SA Police Service Amendment Act, the Western Cape High Court heard.

Cape Town - The Hawks investigative unit has to abide by police objectives under the SA Police Service Amendment Act, the Western Cape High Court heard on Friday.

David Unterhalter, for the Helen Suzman Foundation, argued that the act's guidelines aligned the unit's crime-fighting strategy with that of the police.

“It is trying to diminish the independence of the directorate by trying to force it into the strategic operational priorities of the police,” he said.

“If you crowd the slate of the institution and insist it must do certain things, then its ability to focus on corruption is devalued.”

The foundation is seeking an order declaring sections of the amended act inconsistent with the Constitution to the extent that they fail to secure adequate independence for the Hawks.

It wants the court to suspend the declaration of constitutional invalidity for 12 months in order for Parliament to remedy the defect in accordance with the court's judgment in the matter.

The amendments were drafted in reaction to a previous Constitutional Court victory by businessman Hugh Glenister, in which the executive was ordered to change the legislation to provide the Hawks with independence from political interference, among other things.

Glenister brought his suit following the dissolution of the Scorpions, an investigative unit under the National Prosecuting Authority, in 2008. The Scorpions were replaced by the Hawks, which fell under the SAPS.

Glenister and the Helen Suzman Foundation (HSF) approached the Constitutional Court separately in November last year to oppose the amendments, arguing they were still insufficient.

Direct access to the Constitutional Court was denied and the two parties agreed to appear before a full Bench of high court judges at the same time and present their arguments.

Unterhalter told the court one of the problematic sections related to the financing of the Hawks.

The Hawks head had to prepare and provide an estimated budget and present it to the police commissioner. In cases where there was disagreement over the amount, the police minister had the power to mediate.

He argued that the unit should be able to request a budget directly from Parliament, rather than from an accounting officer.

“There can't be a situation where the head must look to the commissioner as the accounting officer to procure. You don't want an independent body dependent on the commissioner for procurement.”

Judge Siraj Desai said it was standard procedure for all commissioners in government departments to be accounting officers.

“The actual distribution of funds is by the national head (of the Hawks),” he said.

Sapa

More police stations are needed in the Western Cape because of gang violence and drug abuse, Police Minister Nathi Mthethwa said.

Cape Town - There is a need to continue building police stations in the Western Cape because of gang violence and drug abuse, Police Minister Nathi Mthethwa said on Friday.

“We have pointed out that what we are confronted with in this province is a 200-year-old deep-seated legacy that cannot be eradicated by police alone,” he said in a speech prepared for delivery at the opening of the Lentegeur police station.

“To this end, we are currently implementing a gang combating strategy that is designed to both combat gang violence as well as eliminate the criminal economy of these gangs.”

Police community relations needed to be strengthened.

The start of “operation combat” in July last year had already helped stabilise some Western Cape communities, including Lavender Hill, Grassy Park, Hanover Park, and Manenberg.

Mthethwa said police would ensure that Lentegeur would also benefit.

“This is an integrated strategy and what this means is that it incorporates various pillars, such as visible policing, investigations, crime information management, and importantly, the support and involvement of communities.

“The opening of this police station will definitely help our crusade in this regard,” he said.

A multifaceted approach was needed.

Parents, NGOs, and faith-based organisations needed to help with social factors, such as substance abuse. Everybody needed to be involved, not just police.

“While the SAPS (SA Police Service) will continue to arrest those who commit crime, a greater and growing awareness among parents/guardians to look after and protect children must be intensified within society,” said Mthethwa.

“Any commission of crime by children is a societal challenge that requires a societal response, not just by police but all of us as a collective.”

He said police were improving their investigative capacity to ensure criminals were arrested and punished.

Sapa

Allegations that President Jacob Zuma is corrupt are untrue and uncalled for, his lawyer told the Cape High Court.

Cape Town - Allegations that President Jacob Zuma is corrupt are untrue and uncalled for, his lawyer told the Western Cape High Court on Friday.

Kemp J Kemp said it was completely irrelevant that businessman Hugh Glenister had chosen to base his case, regarding the Hawks' independence, on so-called “facts” relating to corruption in the country.

He wanted these “facts” by expert witnesses in affidavits to be struck down.

The court was hearing applications by Glenister and the Helen Suzman Foundation (HSF) to declare parts of the SA Police Service Amendment Act inconsistent with the Constitution, to the extent that they failed to secure adequate independence for the Hawks investigative unit.

Kemp cited one allegation about the “corrupt relationship” between Zuma and his former financial adviser Schabir Shaik.

“What must we do about that? It's not even true,” Kemp asked.

Judge Siraj Desai replied: “It's quite clearly a scurrilous allegation.”

The lawyer read out a portion of the document which alleged that if one looked at Zuma's “lifestyle”, it could be assumed that he was guilty of corruption in at least two instances.

Kemp said he refused to deal with the documents.

“The fact that Shaik was guilty does not mean Zuma was guilty. It really goes too far.”

Zuma was charged with corruption after Shaik was found to have facilitated a bribe for him from a French arms company, as part of the multi-billion rand arms deal.

The charges against Zuma were later dropped.

On Thursday, Glenister's lawyer Paul Hoffman asked whether it was responsible to keep the Hawks within the control of police “under the circumstances”.

Judge Judith Cloete asked what circumstances he was referring to.

Hoffman replied it was the extent of corruption in government and state security bodies, as supported by his expert witnesses in affidavits.

“It's the factual circumstances of the executive, the SAPS, and the pre-2012 Hawks, the un-turbo-charged Hawks,” he said.

Desai said at the time that it could not be expected for these opinions to be taken as facts.

The amendments were drafted in reaction to a previous Constitutional Court victory by Glenister, in which the executive was ordered to change the legislation to provide the Hawks with independence from political interference, among other things.

Glenister brought his suit following the dissolution of the Scorpions, an investigative unit under the National Prosecuting Authority, in 2008. The Scorpions were replaced by the Hawks, which fell under the SAPS.

Glenister and the HSF approached the Constitutional Court separately in November last year to oppose the amendments, arguing they were still insufficient.

Direct access to the Constitutional Court was denied and the two parties agreed to appear before a full Bench of high court judges at the same time and present their arguments.

Sapa

A primary school vice-principal accused of sexually assaulting a 12-year-old pupil appeared in the Knysna Magistrate's Court.

Knysna - A primary school vice-principal accused of sexual assault appeared in the Knysna Magistrate's Court on Friday, Western Cape police said.

Captain Malcolm Pojie said the man appeared for the first time in court and the matter was postponed to August 29 for further investigation. He was expected to apply for bail on that date.

The man was arrested on Wednesday night after a 12-year-old girl was sexually assaulted.

Sapa

Taliep Petersen's brother says the musician's jailed wife murdered him to get her hands on his multimillion rand life policy.

Cape Town - The brother of slain musician Taliep Petersen has labelled the icon’s jailed widow Najwa a liar and a hypocrite, charging that she orchestrated the murder of her husband so she could access the proceeds of his multimillion rand life policy, meant for their only daughter.

Igsaan Petersen made the comments in an affidavit filed at the Western Cape High Court this week, in response to an application by Najwa Petersen’s son, Sulaiman Effendi, lodged at the same court last year.

In that application, which was not opposed and later granted, Effendi wanted the court to appoint a curator to investigate the circumstances of the payment of the proceeds of the Liberty Life policy to the Blue Bird Trust, founded by Igsaan, who is also a trustee.

The other trus-tees are accountant Suleiman September and a company called Iprotect Trustees.

Effendi said in the application he was concerned about certain clauses in the deed of trust.

The curator, advocate Fred Sievers, filed a report this year in which he stated that it was clear the situation could not continue because the two families would “never be able to work together in administering a trust”.

He recommended that the proceeds be paid into the Guardian’s Fund. Sievers said in his report that Najwa advised him that, while she wasn’t opposed to the concept of a trust, she was concerned about the secrecy around its establishment, the lack of transparency in its dealings and her lack of input into the selection of the trustees.

Najwa is serving a 28-year jail term at a facility in Worcester.

This week Igsaan hit back, saying that he filed the affidavit to clarify “inaccuracies” Najwa made in the initial application, and in her consultation with Sievers. In addition, it was intended to “assert the strongest disagreement with the proposal by the curator ad litem that the safest means for the preservation of the trust proceeds is for their payment into the Guardian’s Fund”, and to provide practical alternatives.

Igsaan said he couldn’t overlook the “lies and hypocrisy” underpinning the comments Najwa made to Sievers.

About nine months after his brother was killed, he said, Liberty Life received a claim signed by Najwa requesting that the proceeds of her husband’s policy be paid into a bank account, in her name, in Oshakati, Namibia.

“Najwa’s actions are clear demonstrations to me that Taliep’s murder was orchestrated by her with a view to ultimately obtain payment of the Liberty Life proceed, and to utilise the proceeds thereof for her own benefit in Namibia.”

He also suggested it smacked of “hypocrisy” that Effendi - or in reality, Najwa - took issue with her exclusion from the trust to administer the Liberty Life proceeds, considering she herself formed the Zaynab Petersen Trust, named for her daughter, without the knowledge of any of Taliep’s immediate family.

The trust was formed with the sole aim of preserving and increasing its capital investment of the policy in Zaynab’s interests. Zaynab was not consulted because she is too young.

Effendi said no one ever questioned the good intentions of the trust. He and his family were, rather, concerned that neither Zaynab nor Najwa’s side of the family were informed.

In his affidavit, Igsaan said the trustees had always exercised “the utmost good faith”, “proper care and diligence” in making investments on behalf of the trust.

He disagreed that the two families would never be in a position to administer a trust on Zaynab’s behalf.

Igsaan was also concerned that, should the funds be paid into the Guardian’s Fund, Zaynab would have access to it when she turned 18. He doubted that she would have the emotional and financial intelligence at that age to manage such a large sum of money.

Weekend Argus

President Jacob Zuma’s lawyer has argued that claims of corruption are not relevant to the validity of the SAPS Amendment Act.

Cape Town - There is no truth to claims that President Jacob Zuma is corrupt, and the allegations are in any event not relevant to this week’s proceedings before the Western Cape High Court, aimed at having the South African Police Services Amendment Act declared inconsistent with the constitution.

This was the submission of Zuma’s lawyer, Kemp J Kemp, to a full Bench of the High Court yesterday.

Kemp has asked the court to ignore the corruption allegations contained in papers filed by businessman Hugh Glenister, claiming they are not relevant to the proceedings.

“It’s not even true,” he said, asking the court to strike the allegations as “irrelevant and vexatious”.

Judge Siraj Desai responded: “That was clearly a scurrilous allegation.”

Glenister and the Helen Suzman Foundation have asked the full Bench, comprising Judges Desai, André le Grange and Judith Cloete, to declare parts of the SA Police Service Amendment Act inconsistent with the constitution.

It is their case that parts of the act do not secure adequate independence for the Directorate of Priority Crimes (more commonly known as The Hawks).

Glenister and the foundation approached the Constitutional Court separately in November last year to oppose the amendments, arguing that they were insufficient.

Direct access to the Constitutional Court was, however, denied and they agreed to appear before a full Bench of the High Court simultaneously. The case started on Thursday

Paul Hoffman, for Glenister, argued that the act should allow independence for the Hawks outside of executive influence, similar to the independence afforded to the judiciary and prosecuting authorities.

Arguing on behalf of the foundation, David Unterhalter also raised concerns about political influences over appointments within The Hawks, and criticised the so-called discretion of the police minister.

Kemp said the act set out specific criteria for governing appointments, and ensured that fit and proper people with integrity were appointed.

He submitted that the public could rely on a body such as the Hawks to seriously investigate complaints.

Advocates representing the police minister and the head of the Hawks have not yet presented their arguments.

The case continues on September 16.

Weekend Argus

A Cape spearfisherman narrowly escaped serious injury when he accidentally shot himself in the leg.

Cape Town - A Cape spearfisherman narrowly escaped serious injury when he accidentally shot himself in the right leg after a wave knocked him over as he was wading through the surf near Buffels Bay on Sunday.

Willie van Wyk, 38, from Hout Bay, was in the water with an unnamed friend at Bordjies Drift when a wave knocked them over, causing them to be dragged over the rocks, said Darren Zimmerman, commander of the National Sea Rescue Institute (NSRI) Simon’s Town base .

“In the process, it appears the spear from his spear gun went through his leg. There was a fear the spear might have penetrated or severed the femoral artery.” A medical rescue team were sent urgently to help.

Zimmerman said when the team reached Van Wyk, they found the spear protruding on either side of his right leg.

“Indications showed the spear had missed his femoral artery. Paramedics stabilised the man before bolt cutters were used to shorten the spear.”

Van Wyk was tended to by NSRI volunteers, Cape Medical Response, Red Cross and provincial EMS ambulance personnel before being airlifted to the Constantia Mediclinic.

“It is not clear if the speargun was loaded and fired through his leg,” Zimmerman said.

“Based on the injury and the force that would have been required to go through the upper leg it is most likely that the spear gun as loaded and then fired while the two men were being rolled about over the rocks after being hit by the wave.”

Zimmerman said Van Wyk was in a stable condition when he was sent to hospital, where doctors were to surgically remove the spear. Van Wyk is expected to make a full recovery.

Van Wyk declined to speak to the Cape Argus on Sunday.

A similar incident in Buffels Bay in December 2006 nearly claimed the life of Judian Bruk.

Bruk accidentally fired his speargun into his chest while diving.

Doctors who removed the spear from Bruk’s chest said he was lucky to be alive as it had missed his heart by a mere 2cm.

The spear, almost 30cm in length, entered his chest just under his nipple, splitting his pectoral muscle and shattering a rib before hitting his lung, diaphragm and the left lobe of his liver.

yolisa.tswanya@inl.co.za

Cape Argus

Kenny Kunene has jetted into Cape Town on a new mission: to help bring peace to the gang-infested Cape Flats.

Cape Town - Controversial businessman Kenny Kunene jetted into Cape Town last week to meet notorious former Hard Livings gang boss Rashied Staggie at Brandvlei Prison in Worcester.

And it seems Kunene is taking up a brand new challenge after his brief stint in politics, teaming up with his business partner, Gayton McKenzie and former gang pastor, Ivan Waldeck, to help reform youths in the gang-infested Cape Flats.

Staggie, who has been serving a 15-year sentence since 2003, was expected to begin day parole from September 29.

The head of the Hard Livings gang was found guilty of giving orders to have a teenage girl from Manenberg kidnapped and gang-raped.

In 2004, while in custody, he was also convicted of stealing weapons from the Faure police armoury, and sentenced to 13 years to run concurrently with the rape sentence.

Kunene said: “We have been trying to see how we can work together on programmes for the rehabilitation of ex-gang members and also drug dealers. And we started getting involved with pastor Ivan Waldeck who has been working on similar programmes…”

The so-called “sushi king”, an ex-convict himself, along with McKenzie, has been working on a rehabilitation programme behind the scenes in the Western Cape.

And the trio did not just see Staggie, but have also held talks with other leaders in the gang world.

“We are talking to other people as well, although I am not at liberty to name them now. But we are working out ways to address this issue in Cape Town.”

Kunene said they would not be benefiting personally from the discussions.

Asked if brokering peace was his true calling, – following his brief stint with Julius Malema’s Economic Freedom Fighters party, Kunene said: “There’s a time where one makes a conscious decision and says this is the route I’d like to follow, let me forget about the past and look at the future. If it’s my destiny then it’s fine.”

Kunene told said he had been very selfish in his life, focusing on himself and his own happiness.

“I focused on what the world had to offer and I had it all. I’ve had all that I believed I could have in this life and I’ve enjoyed it. I’ve had women, I had cars, I’ve drunk the most expensive alcohol money can buy, I’ve been to the most expensive places. And there comes a time when one asks what have I done for others,” he said.

“This is the time when we start to contribute to the upliftment of others. It’s about these intentions we are raising with Rashied Staggie. It’s not even about money – it’s about the youth and their future, that’s the discussions we’ve been having.”

Kunene said they were happy with the progress they had made. They believed Staggie was ready for change and deserved a chance to get out of prison.

He said they asked Staggie: “Are you still going to be the old Rashied, or are you ready for change? We want him to assist us in this programme to change the lives of young people and to make sure that these gang-ridden communities are better off, that kids are able to go to school, that parents are able to go to work without fear of gun battles, dodging bullets or being shot.”

Staggie had welcomed them.

“He has given us hope that he will be a very useful member of society once he gets out. This is not the last visit, we will keep on visiting him until he gets out of prison. We’ve made proposals to him and he’s already started talking with youngsters at the prison facility.”

Staggie wanted to change and leave a legacy for his children.

Waldeck said he was glad that “people from Joburg” were joining them in the fight against drugs and gangs in the Cape.

But he added the problem was bigger than gangsterism and drugs.

“People from the coloured communities need to understand they need to fight for our communities. We have a strategic plan and we will come together with the communities.”

Cape Argus

Agang leader Mamphela Ramphele says voters shouldn't support politicians who hide their financial worth.

Cape Town - Agang party leader Dr Mamphela Ramphele has criticised those focusing on what she says she is worth instead of focusing on the fact that she revealed her net worth in the name of transparency.

On Sunday, at a meeting with Delft residents in The Hague area, Ramphele said people should not follow politicians who do not disclose their net worth to the public.

“Don’t vote for anyone who doesn’t say what they own.”

Last week when she disclosed details of her finances, Ramphele said she had shares worth R1.38-million in Anglo American, Gold Fields, Sibanye Gold and the PTI Select Managers Fund.

Her primary residence in Camps Bay was valued at R10m. A total of R1 146 139 was in her retirement annuity and R1 574 064 in a provident fund.

Her family trust held R30m and her investment trust R10.9m, she said at the time.

On Sunday, she reiterated that President Jacob Zuma should also disclose his net worth.

“The president is in Malaysia right now, but not to raise money for South Africa but for the ANC with taxpayers’ money.

“We have a president who doesn’t know how much he owns, maybe a palace?”

She added that as long as people are treated as less than human, society cannot succeed.

“We are digging our foundations here in Delft.

“I went through Blikkiesdorp and Delft and am ashamed to be South African because people are made to live in Blikkies.

“Why are people being treated like second-class citizens? We want to restore hope and dignity.

“Madiba has sacrificed the prime of his life and his freedom.”

Ramphele added that corruption needed to be rooted out.

“Government has lost its way. We are sick and tired of corrupt police. We must never think that everyone is corrupted, however, but our police service needs to be rebuilt.”

She added that Agang wanted a country where children could feel safe, loved and proud.

“How did it happen that we have a government that says children are too dumb for a 70 to 80 percent pass, that 30 percent pass is accepted? They need proper teachers.”

Ramphele said that everyone had the right and responsibility to rebuild the country.

“Rural areas are dying. Lots of people are coming to the Western Cape from the Eastern Cape.

“We cannot have people living in Blikkiesdorp; we have enough money to build houses for everyone.

“It is time that we say enough is enough.”

The Weekend Argus reported that Ramphele said her wealth was 10 times less than Forbes magazine’s estimate of R500-million.

Her net worth is a much lower R55m, she said last week in disclosing her assets.

However, several media reports over the past three years have painted a different picture of her wealth.

In 2011, Forbes listed Ramphele among Africa’s nine richest women.

Last week, AgangSA spokesman Thabo Leshilo could not explain why the discrepancy had not been challenged by Ramphele two years ago when it was first published.

He said he had tried without success to understand how Forbes reached its calculation of Ramphele’s wealth.

Forbes Africa editor Chris Bishop told Weekend Argus the magazine stood by its story, adding that the US team that had put together the 2011 list was about 100-strong and had included many highly trained economists.

Cape Argus

Andrew Merryweather - who was paralysed in an assault - has had a taste of how it would feel to be "normal again".

Cape Town - After seven years of not being able to walk independently, Andrew Merryweather – the man who was assaulted and left paralysed from the waist down – has had a taste of how it would feel to be “normal again”.

“My absolute goal and dream is to be able to walk again,” said Merryweather, 31.

The frontline manager at Theatre on the Bay in Camps Bay was attacked in 2006 by a group of eight high school boys in Claremont.

He was left with only one of his four limbs working.

After years of therapy, Merryweather was introduced to the Re-Walk suit, which could help him walk and stand freely.

“The suit was developed in Israel,” he said. “It is easy to operate and you can walk and stand, but what’s also great about it is that you can also climb stairs.”

Last Friday, Merryweather returned from a trip to Cyclone Mobility in the UK, where he spent a week learning to walk in and operate the robotic suit, which costs about R800 000.

After leaving Britain, he was invited to try another suit made by an American manufacturer that focuses on rehabilitation as well as on walking. The US suit costs about R1.7 million.

He spoke to the Cape Argus on Sunday about his experiences using the suit.

“It’s difficult to put the feeling into words. It’s not only getting up and standing. It’s the psychological impact. I realised I’m not that small anymore, I was tall. I had my first stand-up hug, which was amazing.

“My mom was really emotional,” he continued.

“Tears were streaming down her face when she saw me in it.

“I knew the attack had hit her far worse than it hit me.”

The two suits operate with different systems. The Israeli suit uses a push mechanism that does not tire the user’s muscles after hours of use.

The American suit has a small computer at the back that calculates how far the user has walked and whether he or she is tired.

“It’s more natural and after hours of using it I can feel my muscles waking and I got heat and sweat sensations which I hadn’t felt in a while.”

Merryweather has not yet decided which suit to buy.

His fiancée, Robyn Siebers, 23, said she could not wait for him to start walking again.

“It will be nice to have him at eye level and also to go on strolls around the area,” said the law student.

Merryweather added: “That’s the only time I get down, when I become aware of what I have lost. I can’t do normal couple things and we are restricted.” But he was optimistic about the future.

Last month, the Weekend Argus reported that one of the former Reddam House pupils at the centre of the violent scuffle that paralysed Merryweather, was ordered to pay him R10.29 million in damages.

The order was made by Western Cape High Court Acting Judge Boet Smit.

zodidi.dano@inl.co.za

Cadet News Agency

Cape Argus