The DA’s attempts to regain control of Oudtshoorn’s town council from the ANC have failed again.

Cape Town - In a day of high drama, the DA’s attempts to regain control of Oudtshoorn’s town council from the ANC have failed again.

By an interim order of the Western Cape High Court, the municipality was forced to hold a council meeting on Wednesday during which the DA coalition of councillors was set to table three motions of no confidence in the Speaker, the mayor and the deputy mayor.

But Speaker John Stoffels ruled that the motions of no confidence would not be discussed before the return court date of September 10.

While Stoffels pointed out he was complying with the August 28 order by Judge Owen Rogers to convene a special council meeting, he ruled that consideration of motions of no confidence would be in conflict with the municipality’s rules of order.

Thus, despite the DA winning Ward 13 in last month’s crucial by-elections, it was unable to take control of the council.

In a statement issued after the meeting, Stoffels said the court had ordered that he convene the meeting on Wednesday to consider the motions.

“As Speaker, I am under a duty and obligation to perform my duties impartially, diligently, consistently and in such a way that the integrity and credibility of the council is not compromised.”

Stoffels added that he “considered the motion and hereby rule that it conflicts with Rule 30(2) of council’s Rules of Order, in that no matter shall be permitted to be discussed on any matter pending before, amongst other, a judicial body, hence this matter cannot be discussed in council until the outcome of the high court hearing on September 10”.

DA spokesman Chris McPherson said the council meeting had been a slap in the face of democracy.

People were angry about the ANC-led council’s latest delaying tactics. “It’s been a month now that the DA coalition has had a majority and the ANC coalition refuses (to allow) the majority to govern,” McPherson said.

“The worst is that there’s no service delivery whatsoever.”

Local Government MEC Anton Bredell said he would return to the court for clarification of his department’s interpretation of the court’s earlier ruling last week, and that should the municipality fail to hold a council meeting, he could call one himself.

Bredell said he also wanted clarity on the speaker’s ruling on the no-confidence motions on Wednesday.

warda.meyer@inl.co.za

Cape Argus

Cape Town Mayor Patricia de Lille has rubbished claims that the city council responded poorly to flooding in Philippi.

Cape Town - Cape Town Mayor Patricia de Lille has rubbished claims by the Schaapkraal Civic and Environmental Association that the City of Cape Town is guilty of “gross neglect” in its poor response to flooding in the Philippi area.

She said the association’s secretary, Nazeer Sonday, was “clearly speaking for the ANC” on the issue of the Philippi Horticultural Area’s production value.

The city controversially approved an application to move the urban edge to allow for a private housing development on the land.

“The whole of the city, not just the horticultural area, experienced the worst floods in many years,” said De Lille. “The City of Cape Town always pro-actively prepares for the winter rains through our comprehensive winter readiness programme.”

But Sonday said: “Our farmlands are under water. Our homes are under water. The lack of proper infrastructure is causing flooding. Our roads look like rivers. Our businesses are suffering.”

The roads in the Schaapkraal Smallholding area, Highlands Estate and Knole Park Estate became rivers in winter, he said.

A 2009 report detailing the area’s flooding problems was submitted to the council.

“We called for the city to put down rural open concrete channels in our roads and improve drainage by improving our rural open sloot system,” it read.

Despite numerous meetings, there had been no investment in managing the problem.

A second study in 2012 contained recommendations that would have improved service delivery and helped address crime and illegal dumping in the area. But Sonday said this study was also shelved.

“Does the mayor deliberately want to destroy the breadbasket of Cape Town?” he asked.

Sonday and the civic association had challenged the city’s approval of the proposal to develop a portion of the horticultural area, saying it produces 50 percent of the vegetables consumed in the city.

But De Lille said this was a misrepresentation, since the area produced only 80 000 tons of the 333 000 tons of leafy vegetables the city needed.

“Sonday fails to mention that this produce is mostly sold to high-end retailers and is exported. The area is not, therefore, as he claims, the breadbasket of the poor,” she said.

De Lille said Sonday could not speak for the whole horticultural area, as there were farmers and land-owners who had indicated they wanted to sell their land. She said he should rather direct his concerns to the ANC ward councillor “who had dismally failed the community” if he had any service delivery queries.

Cape Argus

Metrorail staff were “deeply traumatised” after a train struck two men lying on the tracks near Philippi station in Cape Town.

Cape Town - A man died and a Cape Town high school pupil was lucky to escape with his life in separate incidents on the city’s rail network on Wednesday.

The first incident occurred at 2.52pm between the Salt River and Koeberg stations when a Thandokhulu High School pupil, 20, lost his footing moving between two carriages.

He was taken to Somerset Hospital with cuts and bruises, said Metrorail.

At 4.15pm, two men were seen lying across the tracks at the Philippi station as the train from Kapteinsklip to Cape Town was approaching. Metrorail said the train struck the pair. One of the men died.

Police and emergency services were soon at the scene.

“It is unclear why the two men were on the tracks. The circumstances are yet to be confirmed,” said Metrorail’s Riana Scott.

Her regional manager, Mthuthuzeli Swartz, offered his condolences to the family of the dead man and wished the survivor a speedy recovery.

He urged witnesses to help the police in their investigation.

Metrorail employees on the train had been deeply traumatised.

Scott said the trains on the lines involved changed platforms and lines, alternating on a “stop-go” basis, but there had been delays while police combed the scene for clues.

The second man’s condition could not be established at the time of publication.

Cape Argus

Organised agriculture has slated a government proposal for farmers to give workers parts of their land.

Cape Town - Organised agriculture has slated a government proposal for farmers to give workers parts of their land.

Annelize Crosby, legal and policy adviser for Agri SA, explained on Thursday that the proposals came in a draft policy under discussion in the green paper on land reform.

The proposal is for farmworkers with 10, 25 and 50 years’ service to be given equal percentages of the farms they work on. However, it does not say what would happen if a number of workers claimed these shares.

Crosby said: “This simply hasn’t been thought through. We can’t see that it will bring any benefit to farmworkers because it may mean that farmworkers would suddenly owe a share of debt.

“The only way in which farmworkers could realise any value is by selling the share. That would immediately devalue the remaining share of the farm. And where would the money come from to pay out these shares?”

Crosby said the proposal contained the assurance that the scheme would be voluntary and compensation would be paid. “But we are still a little bit worried, because the whole slant in the rest of the policy seems to suggest it may not be voluntary. If it’s going to be forced, it’s going to cause a lot of trouble.”

Agri SA had been sent the proposal for comment on August 2.

“We have been given, as organised agriculture, an opportunity to come up with alternative proposals.”

Western Cape Agriculture MEC Gerrit Van Rensburg said: “Land reform and agricultural empowerment has been a dismal failure for the past 20 years.

“The responsible department, Rural Development and Land Reform, has only plans to show but nothing else. This latest plan is another such plan.”

Van Rensburg said commercial farmers wanted successful empowerment in their sector. “The Western Cape has more than 80 ‘equity share schemes’, where workers bought shares, with the assistance of government, in the farms where they work.

“These schemes have a success rate higher than 90 percent

… equity schemes work because only a profitable enterprises can put a monetary value on shares to begin with. It also served as a guarantee that government paid realistic money for the workers’ shares.”

And, crucially: “These schemes are successful because they are voluntary. Only people with a passion for farming ventured into them, as there are real risks involved.”

This successful government funding had stopped in 2009, however.

“Using a one-size-fits-all approach such as years in service, without taking (account of) the vast differences existing on each farm… is doomed for failure.”

Cape Argus

Rashied Staggie’s lawyer believes drugs found in the former gang boss’s cell are part of a sinister plot to keep him in jail.

Cape Town - Rashied Staggie’s lawyer believes drugs found in his jail cell are part of a sinister plot to keep the former gang boss behind bars.

With just over three weeks before Staggie is set to be released on day parole on September 29, advocate Janos Mihalik says the shock drug find does not put his parole in jeopardy.

Mihalik on Wednesday told the Daily Voice that the State must have evidence to link the drugs to his client.

“There were 30 people in the same cell and only one of them is being reported on,” Mihalik says. “They must have evidence that it belongs to him.”

Tik and cellphones were found in the cell at the Breede River Prison in Worcester, which Staggie shares with 29 other prisoners, two weeks ago.

If the drugs are linked to the former Hard Livings boss, it may jeopardise his parole.

Mihalik says it is likely the drugs were planted as a set-up. “Yes, it is very likely that this was a set-up,” he says.

“There were three generals in this corrupt government that opposed his parole.”

Mihalik did not mince his words when he blamed authorities for putting Staggie’s life at risk when he is released.

“They deliberately granted him day parole and ordered him to report to Pollsmoor (prison) and not Goodwood, which is closer to his home,” he adds.

“They did this so he can be followed and killed.

“The gangsters, government, or whoever, want him assassinated like his brother.”

Mihalik also rubbished claims that Staggie ordered an attack on his rape victim.

The 30-year-old Manenberg woman was shot in July, allegedly by Hard Livings gangsters. It was her testimony that saw Staggie jailed.

Staggie is serving a 15-year prison sentence for kidnapping and raping the woman.

“It’s madness!” said Mihalik.

“Why would Staggie want to shoot her now? He said he’d forgiven her completely and that was a long time ago.

“He heard she was shot, but there were many people after her.”

Daily Voice

The lack of perimeter fencing at Wynberg Military Base in Cape Town has led to a surge in crime since 2009.

Cape Town - There have been 264 crimes at Wynberg Military Base since 2009 - an average of five a month.

The Department of Defence admits that this largely is because of a lack of perimeter fencing and access control guards at the base.

The figures were revealed in a response to a parliamentary question by DA defence spokesman David Maynier.

“It’s even more mind-boggling that part of the reason for the high incidence of crime at the base is the non-availability of guards. I would have thought that soldiers who serve there would stand guard duty at Wynberg Military Base,” Maynier said.

The parliamentary response has seen the department acknowledge:

* There is no access control because of the non-availability of guards. There are 52 guard posts available, but they are not funded.

* The old perimeter fence is “unsafe” because of its age. It is rusted and broken in parts and has been illegally breached on numerous occasions. The department said, however, that funds had been secured for a large part of the fence to be mended by January. The department also aimed to have a boom gate with cameras and guards operational by this date - access control would be done by fingerprint authentication.

The costs for these improvements would amount to about R3-million during the current financial year.

Maynier, however, slammed this proposal, saying the installation of an expensive fingerprint access system made little sense until the fencing shortcomings were rectified.

Included in Maynier’s original query, but missing from the department’s response, was the question of the nature of the crimes that were reported. Maynier said a follow-up question would aim at determining “what kinds of crimes are being committed and what is being done to convict the criminals”.

The response to Parliament comes after a number of queries from the Cape Argus to the department went unanswered in recent weeks.

In July, the Cape Argus reported on the lack of access control and a ruined perimeter fence at the base after residents complained about rampant crime at the base’s residential complex.

Subsequent visits to the base - which houses 2 Military Hospital - and conversations with employees revealed that there had been numerous thefts and housebreakings this year. There were no guards at either of two checkpoints on the approach to the hospital and the Cape Argus had unchecked access to hospital wards.

daneel.knoetze@inl.co.za

Cape Argus

The Constitutional Court dismissed an application over the calculation of land development tariffs in Saldanha Bay.

Johannesburg - The Constitutional Court on Thursday dismissed an application relating to the calculation of land development tariffs in the Saldanha Bay municipality.

“One of the requirements for leave to appeal to this court is the reasonable prospect of success on a cognisable constitutional issue. That requirement has not been met,” Judge Johan Froneman said in the ruling.

“The scope for an independent constitutional right to require a 'duty to account' from the municipality does not exist here.”

Froneman said it would not have been in the interests of justice to grant leave to appeal because there was nothing preventing the applicants from claiming the alleged overpayments from the municipality.

“All the information they need is already available to them or can be obtained in normal civil proceedings.”

Property developers Britannia Beach Estate, Britannia Bay Developers, Sandy Point Beach Properties, and West Coast Miracles applied for leave to appeal a Supreme Court of Appeal decision on the tariffs used to determine their capital contributions to six developments, which included the rezoning and subdivision of land.

The municipality approved the developments subject to the payment of capital contributions under the Land Use Planning Ordinance (Lupo) legislation of 1985.

This applies to the Western Cape and includes sections on structure plans, zoning schemes, and the way in which applications may be made for new development rights.

The developers claimed the municipality should have determined the contributions using a tariff approved by the municipality in 1997.

In the Western Cape High Court, they contended the municipality's decision to levy capital contributions in terms of later changes was invalid and legally defective.

They sought to establish a duty on the municipality to furnish an account to them.

The high court found in their favour, holding that a later tariff had been rescinded and that, as a result, it was not in “force”. The court also held that there was a duty on the municipality to account to the applicants.

The SCA set aside the decision, and found the developers had not submitted that the conditions imposed in terms of the Lupo were unlawful.

It held that conditions agreed to could not be unilaterally amended by any of the parties, and that they remained binding until set aside in review proceedings.

The SCA found that the procedure described in the Lupo was not followed by the applicants. As a result, the court held it was unnecessary to deal with the duty of the municipality to account to the developers.

In the Constitutional Court, the applicants accepted the SCA's approach to the unlawfulness of the conditions, but they contended the municipality owed them a constitutional duty to account.

Sapa

More than 4 000 Western Cape Education Department staff and former employees owe it R66.5 million.

Cape Town - More than 4 000 Western Cape Education Department staff and former employees owe it R66.5 million. In most cases the money was advanced to employees who applied for incapacity leave or ill-health retirement but whose applications were later rejected.

The department has handed over documents to the standing committee on public accounts detailing the debt it was owed. The documents show 2 891 former employees owe the department R40.6m while the arrears of 1 433 staff members total R25.7m.

Department spokesman Paddy Attwell said most of the debt was the result of payments made to employees who applied for incapacity leave and ill-health retirement. The department paid staff while they waited for the outcome of health risk assessments.

Attwell said it always tried to recover the money if external health risk managers found the employees or former employees were not entitled to it because their applications for incapacity leave and ill-health retirement were declined.

Attwell said the department planned to write off old debt.

The department scrapped R16m in debt last year. Three-quarters of the written-off debt had prescribed, while R2m had been scrapped because the debtors had died.

The department also decided to scrap R46 612 owed by former employees because of they were experiencing “undue hardship”.

Last year the department collected R18.4m, while R24.4m in new debt was raised. Between May and July R2.3m in debt was raised and R3.4m collected.

Attwell said debt levels would continue to fluctuate as the department paid staff who were awaiting the outcome of their health risk assessments.

cobus.coetzee@inl.co.za

Cape Times

They complained of poor workmanship, refused to pay and were then hauled to court for eviction - but the homeowners have emerged the victors.

Cape Town - They complained of poor workmanship, refused to pay instalments and were then hauled to court for eviction - but a group of Cape Flats homeowners have emerged the victors in the legal struggle.

In a Western Cape High Court judgment handed down this week, applications to have five households evicted were effectively dismissed.

This comes after the Cape Town Community Housing Company secured a Wynberg Magistrate’s Court order in September 2011, ordering the residents to vacate the properties.

They appealed and the matter came before judges Daniel Dlodlo and Elize Steyn in May.

The housing company, launched in 1999 as a joint venture between the city council and the National Housing Finance Corporation, built about 2 400 houses in several areas, including Mitchells Plain, Philippi, Newfields and Hanover Park.

People bought the homes, paying in monthly instalments; however, they have in the past complained that the houses were poorly built.

According to Judge Steyn’s written judgment, the legal team for the households - attorney Lloyd Padayachi, and two advocates, Gavin Woodland SC, and Andre Smalberger, all of whom acted pro bono - argued “convincingly” that the housing company had no right to the receipt of any payments because it had failed to comply with a provision in the Alienation of Land Act that involves the recording of the instalment purchase agreements by a registrar.

Their clients, therefore, could not be in arrears as there was no obligation in law for them to pay their instalments.

The housing company, however, believed that these specific instalment purchase agreements were exempt from the provision because it was a functionary of the state at the time they were concluded.

Advocate Con Joubert, acting for the company, argued that the latter was not a private company that made a profit and declared dividends, but rather an entity that acted as a functionary to provide public housing.

According to Judge Steyn, the primary aspect for the court’s determination was the ambit and meaning of the word “state” in the context of the Alienation of Land Act.

She found that it referred to closed categories of entities and that the word couldn’t be widened to include organs of state, and “definitely not private companies such as the respondent (the housing company) in this matter”.

This was regardless of whether its purpose was to generate profit, as well as the interest certain organs of state had in it.

“The respondent was an independent contractor performing certain governmental obligations, including the provision of housing,” the judgment read.

“There is no evidence before the court that the respondent forms part of government at any level or is controlled by government or that it should be regarded as an organ of state.”

She found that on its own factual averments, the entity was in fact a private company.

leila.samodien@inl.co.za

Cape Times

A police constable accused of statutory rape appeared in the Mitchells Plain Magistrate's Court, the National Prosecuting Authority said.

Cape Town - A police constable accused of statutory rape appeared in the Mitchells Plain Magistrate's Court in Cape Town on Thursday, the National Prosecuting Authority said.

NPA Western Cape spokesman Eric Ntabazalila said the constable was released on a warning, on condition he stay out of the Tafelsig area and not contact the complainant.

The case was postponed until November 7 for further investigation.

The Independent Police Investigative Directorate (Ipid) said the constable, from the Grassy Park police station in Cape Town, was arrested on Tuesday.

“It is alleged that the police official and the victim (14-years-old) have been having sexual intercourse between July and August 2013 at the policeman's house, which is in the same street as the victim's home,” Ipid spokesman Moses Dlamini said in a statement.

The girl's friend told her mother.

Dlamini said each of the incidents had happened when he was off duty.

Ipid is an oversight body which investigates allegations of crime against police officers. - Sapa

Former WC Community Police Forum chairman Hanif Loonat has charged that senior cops conspired to oust him.

Cape Town - Western Cape Community Police Forum ex-chairman Hanif Loonat has charged that senior police officers conspired to engineer his ousting after he was told his suspension was lifted on Wednesday - but discovered he had already been voted off the board in absentia.

His lawyer Michael Bagraim said on Thursday he would be approaching the public protector to request an investigation into a process he believes was unconstitutionally manipulated.

It will be argued that enemies of Loonat in the provincial police illegally influenced proceedings in a number of CPF board meetings.

He said this “interference” included variously a “vote-of-no-confidence” brought by board members against the executive, the resignation of four executive members, a decision to elect a new executive and an election on Saturday, two weeks ago.

The positions of Loonat and two other executive members who had not resigned were treated as vacant at the election. Loonat was replaced as chairman and currently does not hold a position in the CPF.

“At various turns provisions in the CPF’s constitution were ignored in constituting this new board - a process which would ordinarily be lengthy and convoluted. We will prove this,”

Bagraim said, adding that these amounted to underhand tactics by Loonat’s enemies in the police to oust him.

This morning Loonat said: “A CPF chair can only lose his position at the end of his term, if he is criminally charged, if he brings the CPF into disrepute or if he is expelled due to misconduct.

“We argue that there is not even space for a vote-of-no-confidence from the board. My suspension was used as a stalling tactic while the police orchestrated a way to oust me in an unconstitutional way.”

Loonat was suspended by provincial police commissioner Lieutenant General Arno Lamoer in July for “alleged misconduct” pertaining to statements made to the media earlier this year.

In one instance, Loonat reportedly said there was wide-scale bribery of police by gangsters in Cape Town; in the other he slammed the Athlone police for “poor service delivery”.

Bagraim said the matter of Loonat’s ousting would be referred to the public protector because this “assault on the CPF’s autonomy” was a matter of public importance.

“This issue is essentially about the police wanting to silence Loonat and the CPF from speaking to the press and from performing its role as a intermediary between the police and community,” said Bagraim, adding that the CPF was “autonomous, not an extension of the police”.

Police spokesman Lieutenant Colonel Andrè Traut confirmed that the investigation against Loonat had been withdrawn.

“It is also confirmed that a new executive committee was elected on on August 24 in line with the constitution of the Provincial Board,” he said.

The Cape Argus asked Lamoer’s office to respond to allegations that the police had unduly influenced the processes in the CPF’s election of a new board, with the aim of ousting Loonat.

At the time of going to print, a response had not been received.

daneel.knoetze@inl.co.za

Cape Argus

A 37-year-old man received a five-year suspended sentence for fraud in the Bellville Specialised Commercial Crime Court.

Cape Town - A 37-year-old man received a five-year suspended sentence for fraud in the Bellville Specialised Commercial Crime Court on Thursday.

Dean Langeveld had pleaded guilty to 84 counts of fraud and one contravention of the Identification Act.

Prosecutor Ezmarelda Johnson told the court Langeveld opened an FNB savings account with a false identity document, and falsely stated that he was a floor manager with a packaging company, earning a net salary of R14 535.

According to the charge sheet, he used the bank cards supplied with his savings account for purchases totalling R21 166 at supermarkets, petrol stations, cellphone companies and Spur restaurants in 2006.

He told magistrate Sabrina Sonnenberg that he had turned over a new leaf, and had not been involved in another crime.

He said he and a partner were now running a business supplying casual labour to the farming industry.

He said serious financial problems he experienced while unemployed had forced him into crime.

“I am truly sorry for what I did. When I think back, I cannot believe that I did this,” he told the court.

He said he was now earning enough to repay the bank in monthly instalments of R2 000.

Sonnenberg said she hoped he would run his business in an honest manner, and that the community expected him to behave and think in a responsible manner.

She warned him that he now had a criminal record, and that if he was convicted of theft or fraud again during the period of suspension, the suspended sentence would be put into operation. - Sapa

Barbara Aletta Kuhn was jailed for eight years by the Specialised Commercial Crime Court in Bellville.

Cape Town - A bookkeeper was jailed for eight years by the Specialised Commercial Crime Court in Bellville on Thursday.

Barbara Aletta Kuhn, 47, was sentenced on 91 counts of theft involving R1.4 million.

According to the charge sheet, she was engaged as bookkeeper by two companies owned by Ivar Kvale.

Magistrate Sabrina Sonnenberg agreed with prosecutor Jannie Knipe that Kuhn had abused a position of trust, which called for a prison sentence.

She also agreed with Knipe that white collar crime was difficult to expose, as it was perpetrated by intelligent people who devised schemes to cover their tracks.

The magistrate said prison sentences were not reserved for the punishment of violent crime, and that the message to the community had to be that offenders involved in white collar crime also went to jail.

Kuhn manipulated the electronic accounting system connecting both businesses between December 2006 and February 2007, and was arrested in Gauteng in November 2007.

Her attorney Hailey Lawrence told the court Kuhn was a gambling addict, and had resorted to theft because her salary could not support her gambling habits.

Kuhn qualified for the minimum sentence of 15 years, as a first-time offender found guilty of fraud involving more than R500,000.

The magistrate rejected her gambling addiction as a reason to deviate from the prescribed sentence, but said Kuhn had shown remorse by admitting to the 91 counts.

The fact that she was a first-time offender, and had been honest with the court, were accepted as substantial and compelling factors to deviate from the prescribed sentence, she said.

The magistrate said a suspended prison sentence was too lenient, as was a sentence involving an early release and house arrest. - Sapa

Four on-duty cops reportedly assaulted two people, took their money, and then used it to buy meat for a beach braai.

Cape Town - Four on-duty metro cops, including a sergeant, reportedly searched and assaulted two people, took money from them, and used the cash to buy meat for a braai on the beach.

They were charged with theft, assault, discharge of a firearm, and consumption of alcohol while on duty - but the most serious punishment was a suspension of five days without pay.

The case is one of several involving metro police from December last year to July, with offences ranging from corruption, intimidation and assault, to insubordination and negligence.

Members of the city’s safety and security portfolio committee were concerned that the penalties in most cases were “totally unacceptable”.

“... The penalties don’t add up. There has been a serious violation of the public’s trust, and yet (they) only have a few days’ suspension,” councillor Ferlon Christians said.

In March, a metro cop allegedly parked his official car on a red line at a fleamarket and went to buy food. He was found guilty of misconduct, and is receiving counselling, according to the report submitted to the committee.

Another constable was accused of unprofessional behaviour after he allegedly assaulted a city improvement district officer this year.

In January, a sergeant was accused of negligence when she could not find her hand radio. A criminal case of theft was opened, but she then told her superior she had broken her ankle and realised after time in hospital that the radio, clipped to her belt at the time of the fall, was missing.

Another officer was disciplined for leaving her radio in her handbag which was reportedly stolen from her bedroom, while a sergeant in Mfuleni said she lost her radio after people were at her house doing renovations and her bag went missing.

One wayward constable was given a warning, valid for six months, for “making a nuisance of himself by repeatedly approaching a parking attendant” despite her pleas to stop.

There are also cases of unauthorised leave, failing to obey instructions, and non-compliance with operating procedures. In most cases, the penalty is two to five days’ suspension, or a warning valid for six months.

Metro police chief Wayne le Roux said each case was unique and was investigated and considered by the tribunal chairperson.

Richard Bosman, executive director of safety and security, said: “We need to give close attention to the chair we appoint. The staff know each other and have a long history. We need people from outside of the directorate for these serious offences.”

He admitted the city’s labour relations practitioners did not always attend tribunal hearings. They needed to be involved in cases dealing with fraud, corruption or theft, he added.

JP Smith, mayoral committee member for safety and security, said the civilian oversight committee reviewed all disciplinary cases and would call for a matter to be reopened if there were concerns.

Portfolio committee chair Michael Pietersen said: “These sentences are laughable, like a slap on the wrist. This is a disgrace...”

The committee was told the civilian oversight committee was reviewing at least one of the cases.

Bosman said some metro cops had been absolved of allegations. Two convicted in court two years ago of assault had recently had their convictions overturned and their records expunged.

anel.lewis@inl.co.za

Cape Argus

A Facebook war has erupted among ANC supporters over a decision to temporarily suspend the Cape poo war ringleaders.

Cape Town - A Facebook war has erupted among ANC supporters over the Western Cape ANC’s decision to temporarily suspend the ringleaders behind the Cape’s poo wars, sparking fears of renewed factionalism within the party’s ranks.

Some critics claim the suspensions may not have been procedural because the party’s provincial working committee did not have the power to suspend members, and could merely make recommendations.

The ANC announced this week that it had temporarily suspended seven members believed to be at the forefront of the faeces protests targeting Western Cape Premier Helen Zille and several provincial government buildings.

The announcement by ANC provincial secretary Songezo Mjongile sparked a vicious Facebook battle between those aligned to the protesters and those in support of the suspension. The exchanges have degenerated into expletive-filled fights on social media that have senior provincial party members worried.

A post by Chris Majola read: “Dit lyk of Songezo doen wat POPPY (Zille) gevra het. (It looks like Songezo is doing what poppy Zille is asking). It feels like the ANC is selling us out. Can’t you see the DA laugh at the ANC in Western Cape.”

Braam Hanekom questioned whether the suspensions were done correctly: “I wonder if the suspensions of ANC members allegedly involved in the sanitation protests were procedural, either way it’s a complicated situation and I am not sure this was a good move.”

Another Facebook user, Vanessa le Roux, posted: “Shame on us, shame on the ANC, we are letting our Cdres down, we are letting the poor masses down to keep Helen happy!! Sies, why don’t they just join the DA seeing that they see eye to eye with them on this serious matter?”

Niyaaz Hakim, Congress of South African Students national executive committee member, wrote: “I call for the committee to reverse its decision with immediate effect.”

He accused Mjongile of having a “factional tendency”.

Those in favour of the suspension posted: “I commend the decision to suspend these anarchists who are persistent at putting the good name of the movement into disrepute. Obviously due process, fair hearing must take place…” wrote Anele Mgubasi.

“While what they did is honourable, no honourable organisation would let such conduct go unpunished, all we can do is wish and lobby that they get the most minimum punishment that can be meted out,” Mswazi Makhubele posted.

Mjongile himself posted: “I was reflecting on political discipline and came across a French philosopher Foucault who says ‘discipline is a political anatomy of detail… in its function the power to punish is not essentially different from that of curing or educating’. To sustain our effort of dislodging the DA by exposing its political bankruptcy, we must maintain high levels of political consciousness and discipline. Unity in Action.”

warda.meyer@inl.co.za

Cape Argus

Police detectives have arrested another suspect linked to one of a series of murders of gay men in Joburg and Cape Town.

Johannesburg - The police have apprehended another suspect linked to one of a series of murders of gay men in Johannesburg and Cape Town after several months without leads.

Investigators revealed in November they suspected a gang was moving between the two cities and killing gay men, after media reports of the deaths of eight Gauteng men emerged.

All eight cases, as well as some that took place in Cape Town, were handed over to a provincial police task team, and after 10 months without arrests, a breakthrough was made last month.

Siphiwe Selby Nhlapo was one of the Gauteng victims, found strangled in his Kliptown, Soweto, home in September 2011, with acid poured over his face.

The killing bore a striking resemblance to the other cases: all gay men found strangled or beaten to death after having invited their killers into their homes.

Last year, police identified a suspect who evaded capture for more than a year. On August 19, the man was arrested for another crime, a hijacking in Dobsonville, Soweto, but police realised only later he was the same man accused of Nhlapo’s murder.

The man, who cannot be named because he has not appeared in court on the murder charge, confessed to the hijacking and was sentenced to a nine-year term.

Then relatives of Nhlapo heard about the arrest and informed the police who he was.

According to provincial police spokesman Lieutenant-Colonel Lungelo Dlamini, the man will be charged with Nhlapo’s murder and will appear in the Protea Magistrate’s Court on Monday.

“The investigating officer will be profiling him to establish if he can be linked to other cases,” said Dlamini.

The other arrests linked to the serial murders came in the case of Norwood resident Barney van Heerden. Three men were arrested for the killing, and their trial is to begin next month, but they haven’t been linked to any of the other crimes.

shain.germaner@inl.co.za

The Star

The traffic cop accused of shooting dead former WP cricketer Luke Fairweather says he has no idea how the gun went off.

Cape Town - The safety catch on traffic officer Ian Sinclair’s 9mm calibre semi-automatic pistol was on, and he doesn’t know how the gun went off during a scuffle which caused the death of former Western Province cricketer Luke Fairweather.

There had been 15 rounds in the magazine and “one up” - one in the chamber.

Fairweather, 49, died after being shot in the stomach on Mariendahl Road, outside Newlands cricket stadium, in January 2011.

On Thursday, during an inquest hearing in the Wynberg Circuit Court, William Booth, for the Fairweather family, suggested that as the verbal confrontation heated up, Sinclair could have called for help from his colleagues or just left the situation.

On Wednesday, Sinclair, 62, testified that the incident was sparked by a traffic ticket he had written for Fairweather’s mother Margaret. Fairweather had asked Sinclair why he had given her “a f*** ticket”, and threw it on the ground.

Sinclair ordered Fairweather to pick it up, and the confrontation escalated. At one point Fairweather pushed Sinclair so hard against the rear of a car that the window broke. Sinclair then drew his firearm.

Booth suggested Sinclair had resented being sworn at and had lost his cool.

“There was ample time to walk away from this volatile situation. Fairweather’s intention was to get into the car and drive away.

“Why didn’t you call your colleagues before pulling the firearm? You needed to unclip it, take it out of the holster, and you were fully aware of what you were doing.”

Sinclair said he had felt it necessary to tell Fairweather he was littering.

“I did not lose my cool. It was violent and quick, I had no opportunity to call for assistance.”

Booth suggested Sinclair’s actions had been negligent. But Sinclair said he felt he had been in a life-and-death situation. “It was not my intention to shoot him. I did not point it against his stomach...”

The hearing resumes on October 7.

natasha.bezuidenhout@inl.co.za

Cape Argus

A man accused of raping and killing Bredasdorp teenager Anene Booysen is ready to go on trial next month, a judge ruled.

Cape Town - A man accused of raping and killing teenager Anene Booysen is ready to go on trial next month, Western Cape High Court Judge President John Hlophe said on Friday.

Johannes Kana, 21, appeared before Hlophe on Friday morning for his pre-trial conference, wearing a tracksuit and tucking his arms behind him in the crowded dock.

The State's Maria Marshall said she had provided Kana's lawyer Pieter du Toit with further particulars and would deliver the last statements to him by next Wednesday.

She had also drafted a set of admissions for the defence to consider.

Should the defence make certain admissions, the trial was likely to be shortened because fewer witnesses would have to be called.

The trial would start in the Swellendam Circuit Court on October 7. It was set down for four weeks and 52 witnesses were on the list.

Du Toit said there was a possibility of two trials-within-a-trial, related to a statement Kana made and a videotape of Kana pointing out scenes to police.

“I've not yet seen the video. Regarding the confession, there won't be a trial-within-a-trial. With the pointing out and further statement solicited from my client, there will be a trial-within-a-trial,” he said.

The State alleges Kana unlawfully and deliberately sexually penetrated Booysen with his penis or with another object not known to the State, between February 1 and 2 this year, near Kleinbegin, Bredasdorp.

It alleges that Kana then used his hand or another object to disembowel her, which resulted in her death at Tygerberg Hospital on Saturday, February 2.

In May, the State dropped charges against Kana's co-accused, 22-year-old Jonathan Davids. At the time, Western Cape National Prosecuting Authority spokesman Eric Ntabazalila said an investigation had revealed there was insufficient evidence to secure a conviction.

Before she died, Booysen said from her hospital bed that five or six men were involved in the attack.

She named “Zwai”, which was both the nickname of Davids and another man said to live in Zwelitsha.

Davids and Kana confirmed they were at the same pub as Booysen that night. - Sapa

Helicopters were launched to help in the search for Shaskia Michaels, 4, who disappeared from her Mitchells Plain home.

Cape Town - Helicopters were launched on Friday to help in the frantic search for a little Mitchells Plain girl who disappeared from her home on Wednesday.

Shaskia Michaels, 4, is the next door neighbour of Kauthar Bobbs, 5, who disappeared last October.

Both children are from homes in Munich Street, Freedom Park. Kauthar is still missing.

On Friday morning, anxious family and friends who searched the area on Thursday night were joined again by police and residents.

Shaskia was last seen playing outside her house with friends from her street on Wednesday.

“Yes, now it is two children missing, not only from the same street, but from neighbouring homes,” said Community Policing Forum (CPF) volunteer Lynn Phillips.

Phillips, who works closely with CPF chairman Abie Isaacs, said a large scale search involving police and 50 members of the community started again at 8am today after breaking up for the night on Thursday.

“We start every day searching from the house and extending the search outwards in concentric circles.

“We started this morning with the 50 volunteers, but we expect more people to join us during the morning.”

Phillips, who had broken away from the search this morning to have pamphlets printed, said residents were willing to take part in the searches.

Phillips said Shaskia’s grandfather was at home when she disappeared.

The child was dressed in a pink polo neck jersey and black slippers.

Mitchells Plain station commander Major-General Jeremy Veary said: “The house is immediately next to where Kauthar went missing on October 11 last year. Right next door.

“The community mobilisation has been significant. We can mobilise a capacity of up to 200 people within an hour.”

Veary said Freedom Park also bordered the Wolfgat Nature Reserve, so helicopters had been dispatched to scour from the air.

Of concern was the delay between the child’s disappearance and when the police were notified.

“The child was in the grandfather’s care, and he said he saw the child at around 8.30am.

“But we were only notified much, much later in the afternoon, at around 4pm,” he explained.

“In every case in which we find kids fast, it’s because the parents choose not to search themselves and alert us immediately. Just call us to make sure,” Veary said.

Police asked that anyone with information about Shaskia’s whereabouts should contact the investigating officer Warrant Officer Julies on 079 894 1548 or Crime Stop on 08600 10111.

Cape Argus

Striking NUM members have forced several Cape construction sites to close - and pushed the workers inside to join their cause.

Cape Town - Strikers armed with whips and knobkieries had several construction sites closed in the Helderberg - including large residential and retail centre projects near Somerset Mall.

At one point police used stun grenades to disperse a group of protesters. About 200 strikers arrived at the De Beers Avenue area shortly before noon and demanded that construction halt at a residential apartment development.

The strikers, from the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM), demanded that the workers inside join them.

The managers agreed to halt construction, on condition that the workers who had chosen to work were not harmed.

After 30 minutes, workers on the site - many who appeared to be terrified - walked off the site and across the road to join the striking workers. Many of the workers first armed themselves with anything resembling a weapon to appear as if they had always been part of the strike.

Work also ceased on a new shopping development which is to house a mega Checkers store next to Somerset Mall.

Police spokesman Lieutenant-Colonel Andrè Traut confirmed that police dispersed a group of protesters in Somerset West yesterday.

“Three stun grenades were used to disperse striking construction workers in Somerset West. Strike action was monitored by the police in a number of areas and we will remain on high alert to maintain law and order.”

Traut added that areas affected by the striking workers were being patrolled by the police.

Strikes forced the closure of Hindle Road in Delft on Thursday, and police also responded to strike action in Old Faure Road, Lwandle, Borcherds Quarry and the Strand.

No arrests were reported.

Happiness Holiday, the Western Cape general secretary for the NUM, said negotiations between workers and employers were to go on until midnight. He said on Thursday night: “Hopefully I will be briefed before midnight on what happened and we will clearly know what happened by today.

“In the morning we will hold a meeting to discuss the outcome of last night’s meeting. The fact that they are taking long means there is a lot of revising going on.”

The NUM is demanding a 13-percent increase for this year and 14 percent for next year.

Employers are offering 10-percent increase for the lowest-paid workers and eight-percent increase for higher-earning workers, with inflation-linked increases next year.

yolisa.tswanya@inl.co.za

Cape Argus