An alleged syndicate member, from Lansdowne in the Western Cape, apparently tried to buy groceries with a fake bank card.

Cape Town - An alleged syndicate member apparently tried to buy groceries with a fake bank card, the Bellville Specialised Commercial Crime Court heard on Wednesday.

Moegamat Farouk Martin, 42, of Lansdowne, Cape Town, was not asked to plead to charges of fraud and conspiracy to commit fraud, when he appeared before magistrate Sabrina Sonnenberg.

Martin was arrested in August when he tried to purchase groceries worth R13,811 with a cloned bank card.

According to the charge sheet, Pick n Pay branches were warned in August about cloned bank cards in circulation. On August 12, the retailer's Kenilworth branch manager John Lendoor was notified that a credit card payment for a purchase Martin was trying to make had been declined.

Prosecutor Denver Combrink alleges Martin was found with a grey Master Card, supposedly issued by the Bank of America. Lendoor recognised the card as counterfeit and called the police.

An investigation revealed that the card had in fact been issued by Europay Belgium SCRL.

Martin is also charged with violating the Electronic Communications and Transactions Act.

Combrink told the court there was a possibility the case would be finalised in the form of a plea bargain. He said he had already informed defence counsel N Jaftha of the sentence that would be acceptable to the State, and it was now for the defence to discuss this with Martin.

If Martin disagreed with the proposed sentence, the plea negotiations would collapse, and the State would proceed to trial, he said.

Martin remained in custody and would be back in court on December 4.

Sapa

A friend of slain prostitute Hiltina Alexander stuck by his testimony of when he last saw her, when questioned in the Western Cape High Court.

Cape Town - A friend of slain prostitute Hiltina Alexander stuck by his testimony of when he last saw her, when questioned in the Western Cape High Court on Wednesday.

McNiel Jacobs said he and his brother Colin last saw her in Parow, Cape Town, in the early hours of a Sunday morning May 18, 2008.

“The reason why it happened on Sunday morning, why I can remember well 1/8is that 3/8 I was on my way to my mother's house. When I arrived at the house... my mother was already preparing her church clothing and ironing.”

He was testifying in the trial of 48-year-old Johannes Christiaan de Jager, who has pleaded not guilty to the rape and murder of prostitute Hiltina Alexander in May 2008, and the murder of 18-year-old Mpumalanga resident Charmaine Mare in January this year.

Jacobs concluded his testimony last week, but was recalled by the defence on Wednesday.

Sakkie Maartens, for De Jager, was granted the recall to ask the witness about the contradiction in dates between his testimony and two statements he made to police.

In his evidence-in-chief last week, McNiel Jacobs said he saw Alexander get into a white bakkie with a “tall white man” on May 18. He said he and his brother Colin waited for her to return, but they eventually walked home because she never returned.

Colin Jacobs conceded during cross-examination last week that he was not sure whether he last saw her in the early hours of that Sunday or Monday.

On Wednesday, Maartens asked McNiel Jacobs why he was confident enough to testify that it happened on a Sunday morning.

“I know for a fact the date was on a Sunday and I saw that on my mother's calendar. She has that calendar each and every year,” he replied.

McNiel Jacobs made a statement on June 18, 2008 that it happened on a Sunday morning.

Maartens asked why he made another statement on February 25, 2009, saying that he had got the dates wrong and that he actually saw Alexander get into the bakkie early on Monday morning.

Jacobs replied that the police officer who took the statement must have made a mistake.

Maartens asked if he read the statement and was able to read, to which Jacobs replied that his reading skills were poor.

“So the policeman wrote it wrongly? (sic)” the lawyer asked.

Jacobs replied: “It must have been so.”

At one stage, Jacobs revealed he was a tik (methamphetamine) addict at the time Alexander disappeared but was now clean, and a practising Rastafarian.

Maartens attempted to continue that line of questioning, but was shut down by Acting Judge Chuma Cossie, who reminded him that the recall was on a very limited basis.

Jacobs was excused from the stand.

A pathologist who performed Alexander's post mortem was expected to testify on Thursday.

Sapa

A former branch manager at a firm specialising in kitchens made his fifth court appearance on fraud and money laundering charges.

Cape Town - A former branch manager at a firm specialising in kitchens made his fifth appearance in the Bellville Specialised Commercial Crime Court on Wednesday.

Michael Jason du Plessis, 35, of Kommetjie in Cape Town's southern suburbs, faces multiple charges of fraud and one of money laundering.

Prosecutor Jacques Smith alleges he duped Conti Kitchens' customers into paying deposits into his own bank account for work to be done by the firm.

Du Plessis was the Cape Town branch manager from February 2001, and allegedly defrauded his employer of R1.3 million between March 2011 and November 2012. According to the charge sheet, Conti Kitchens is owned by the couple Steven and Julia Pollard.

One of Du Plessis's duties as branch manager was to provide customers with written quotations for work to be done at their homes. He allegedly duped customers into paying the required deposits into his own account at Capitec, instead of into the firm's account at FNB.

Smith told magistrate Sabrina Sonnenberg that defence attorney Chris Nel had made representations to Malini Govender, head of the Specialised Commercial Crime Unit, for the withdrawal the charges.

Smith said Du Plessis initially faced 107 counts of fraud, but that it had been decided to drop two.

Nel said he needed time to study the details furnished by the State. He needed to decide whether to go to trial on the remaining charges, or to make further representations, this time to higher authority.

Du Plessis, who is out on R1000 bail, was warned to appear again on January 23 next year.

Sapa

One moment she was crossing a busy Cape Town road, and the next she woke up in hospital with no memory.

Cape Town - One moment she was crossing Koeberg Road in Maitland and the next she woke up in Groote Schuur Hospital with multiple injuries and little recollection of who she was or where she came from.

Brenda Grootboom (as she sometimes calls herself) was knocked over by a bus in July and social workers and staff at Nazareth House are trying to find out more about her and reunite her with her family.

Grootboom claims she is 24, but the social worker on her case, Jackie Hope, said the age and information she gives differs almost every hour. An age estimation said Grootboom was between the ages of 22 and 27.

“If I ask her about you after you leave here she probably won’t remember. The other day she went to Home Affairs to try and sort out her ID and when she came back and was asked what she had done that day she said ‘nothing’. She doesn’t remember.”

Grootboom was discharged from hospital in September and taken to Nazareth House, a place of safety for children and elderly people.

Hope said Grootboom mentioned names like Elsie Tala, Susan, Phephile and Nobomvu, but the roles they play in her life differ each time she is asked about them. “She said she went to school in Joubertina, but she also mentions living in Tsitsikamma. The people at Missing Children SA called schools in Joubertina, but no one recalls or recognises her. Other areas she mentioned were Milnerton, Delft and Plettenberg Bay.”

Hope said the problem they were facing now was that the legal system did not allow her to stay at Nazareth House as she was an adult and she could not get into an adult place of safety because she had no identity document.

“She is very helpful around here and likes to clean. She was happy when she first got here but she is getting sad now, almost depressed because she desperately wants to go home.”

Hope said her short-term memory also seemed to be affected.

Grootboom said she could not remember anything before the accident, but remembered living in an orange house with her grandmother, a woman she called Elsie Tala.

“The shops were far from where I stayed. I stayed with Elsie, her husband and four children; it was nearby a church. I went to Plett, I cleaned houses there and I did people’s hair.”

Anyone with information on Grootboom or her family can contact Nazareth House on 021 461 1635

yolisa.tswanya@inl.co.za

Cape Argus

Sex worker Hiltina Alexander’s earring, found in the bakkie of Johannes de Jager, has been lost by police.

Cape Town - Sex worker Hiltina Alexander’s earring, found in the bakkie of her alleged killer, has been lost.

Philadelphia police station clerk Ashraf Muller told the Western Cape High Court on Wednesday that he was responsible for all evidence material that was booked in at the station before it was taken to the forensic laboratory.

Sakkie Maartens, for murder accused Johannes de Jager, asked Muller whether he knew what had happened to the earring that was found in the back of De Jager’s bakkie when he was arrested on June 3, 2008. “...The earring is no longer at the station,” Muller said. “When it was booked out to the lab it had stickers on it, but it never came back.”

Muller said investigating officer Captain Michael Volkwyn brought in several exhibits - Alexander’s camouflage pants, samples of De Jager’s hair and blood, his revolver, a holster, a Pick n Pay receipt and the pink, oval-shaped earring - to the station after the arrest.

De Jager has pleaded not guilty to murdering both Alexander, 18, in May 2008, and Charmaine Maré, 16, on January 11 this year, before dismembering her corpse.

On Wednesday, Muller told the court Volkwyn signed out the exhibits on June 5, 2008. They were supposed to have been taken to the forensic laboratory in Delft, but Volkwyn never took them there. Muller said Volkwyn brought the exhibits back to the storeroom and took them to the laboratory only on June 13. But there was no record of this in the exhibit register. Maartens asked Muller whether there was any record to show that the exhibits were booked out on June 13. “In my statement,” Muller responded.

Maartens asked him if he was referring to a statement that he made two years later - in January 2011. Muller agreed, saying the information was obtained from the exhibit register.

On Tuesday, when Volkwyn was asked whether he knew what happened to the earring, he said: “The register shows I handed it in at Philadelphia police station.”

“And you cannot help us as to where this earring is or what happened to it?” Maartens asked. “No,” said Volkwyn.

The prosecution has not yet led evidence in connection with Charmaine’s murder. De Jager took police to the places where he dumped her limbs.

The trial continues.

jade.otto@inl.co.za

Cape Argus

Selina Salie sang church hymns after appearing in court on charges of racketeering and money-laundering.

Cape Town - An alleged brothel owner, facing charges of racketeering and money-laundering along with her daughter, portrayed herself as a devout Christian in court.

Selina Salie, 42, could be heard singing church hymns as she left Khayelitsha Regional Court on Thursday.

She even prayed from the steps of the courtroom moments after attacking a journalist.

Meanwhile, her daughter Nicole Fernandez, 24, also attacked and hurled threats at the media outside the court, beating one photographer with her handbag.

While relatives tried to calm her out-of-control daughter, Salie could be heard shouting: “Vir julle los ek in die Here se hande (God will deal with you). I pray for calm in the name of Jesus.”

Even inside court, Salie’s former employee painted her as a devout Christian.

Sex worker Mauricia Oliver testified that Salie gave her a promotion in the brothel before heading off to church.

The young woman says she was promoted to manager at one of Salie’s brothels a day after her birthday.

“Miss Selina gave me a present and told me, ‘You are manageress now’. She was probably on her way to church.”

Mauricia said the girls were always encouraged by a message of the day.

The messages were written inside a diary where the girls would record clients’ visits.

One of the messages read in court said: “Good luck girls. Don’t fake it, make it.”

Mauricia said she did not know the business was not allowed to operate.

She also gave the court steamy details about one of her four-hour sessions with a client.

“I would first give the client a full body massage to relax him,” she adds.

“Then I would give him the full house, that would be extras like a blowjob, boob job...”

“Sex wouldn’t usually happen but it happened on that day.”

She added: “When I started in Broad Road, Wynberg, the lady at [Nicky’s Angels] brothel didn’t say it was strictly massages but didn’t use the word sex either,” she said.

Mauricia, whose working name was Kelly, says she had been involved in the sex trade before.

“So she didn’t have to explain to me that it was not strictly massages,” she told the court.

Daily Voice

Cape Town mayor Patricia de Lille gave her administration a glowing report during her mid-term review.

Cape Town -

Halfway through her term as mayor, Patricia de Lille has given her administration a pass with flying colours, saying the results of the city’s spending and projects prove that it delivers to all.

On Wednesday De Lille presented her mid-term review to the media, saying the city had lived up to its end of the bargain so far.

Her biggest success, she said, was creating 37 000 Expanded Public Works Programme (EPWP) jobs for people who were employed temporarily on various city projects. The city’s EPWP programme had been recognised as the best-run in the country, winning two awards. More than R60 million in fortnightly wages had been paid to employees in the EPWP programmes in this financial year.

De Lille also highlighted the city’s recently approved investment incentives scheme for business, where the city will incentivise businesses which expand or set up in certain areas in order to stimulate job creation. A pilot project is under way in Atlantis and the city plans to roll out the incentives scheme to about 70 business nodes across the city.

The city had also provided infrastructure to support economic growth in the private sector by spending R10.8 billion on the capital budget over the past two-and-a-half years.

In transport, the city was establishing itself as the transport authority which would see the city control all modes of public transport. This vision would see public transport being managed with one plan, one network, one ticketing and fare system and one brand.

She also highlighted the city’s urban regeneration programme which focused on areas that were declining by improving social and economic conditions. “The areas selected for inclusion in this project were informed by the city’s commitment to redress and to overcome many generations of spatial and economic exclusion.”

The city boasted the best record of any metro in the country for providing basic services, she said. The rates rebate offered to vulnerable citizens such as the poor, elderly and disabled, had been increased. “We spend 64 percent of our service delivery budget on the provision of services to the poor – the most extensive cross-subsidisation of the poor in the country.”

All the city’s initiatives had been undertaken with the “highest standard of governance and financial management” and the Moody’s International latest credit rating report, released in April, had reaffirmed the city’s strong credit rating of Aa3.

Cosatu general secretary Tony Ehrenreich, who is ANC leader in the council, pre-empted the mayor’s mid-term presentation, saying many areas were still lacking and that the DA administration had failed the people.

Responding, De Lille said: “I’ve seen his statement and I did not see any figures on anything. He is an absolute disgrace for the ANC… he is wearing two caps and not one of them fit him. I hope… the ANC will find a new leader to lead them in council, they are rudderless at the moment.”

Mayor’s highlights over the past two-and-a-half years:

* R3.6 billion spent on roads and utilities infrastructure.

* 37 000 jobs created through the Expanded Public Works Programme.

* Revising over 100 policies to reduce red tape that hampers investment.

Plus:

* Toilets in informal settlements increased from 14 591 to 40 700 since 2006, an increase of 278 percent.

* Since 2006 the city supplied over 21 000 electricity connections to informal settlements.

THE MAYOR’S REPORT CARD

* Cosatu Western Cape’s Tony Ehrenreich: Rating 10/10 for white areas, 3/10 for black and coloured areas and 2/10 for backyarders

“The reality of the City of Cape Town is very different. The following bear reference in relation to the city delivery record: Transport - the IRT busses were rolled out to the historically white areas first, then some service to Woodstock. In spite of promises to the Cape Flats, this is now delayed . The service now goes to the areas where people have private transport and the Cape Flats areas - who most desperately need the public transport - is neglected. The roll out of houses is inadequate and the housing waiting list is still not being objectively and fairly applied. The roll out of services to backyarders has been neglected. The provision of basic services to informal areas remain an area of neglect, with lack of sanitation being the biggest problem.”

* Greater Cape Town Civic Alliance’s Len Swimmer: Rating 2/10

“The Cape Town Spatial Development Framework is ruining the uniqueness of areas in Cape Town. The one-size-fits-all will focus on high densification which is the death knell to the rural feel in some areas, especially the Peninsula. In terms of informal settlements, there is a need for them to be developed fast. Informal settlements are meant to be temporary and the city is moving too slow. There also needs to be more investment into infrastructure, you can’t have development without it, especially with the influx of people. The city is not moving with the times. The city needs to focus on listening to people. Their public participation is not working at all, selective listening is taking place.”

* Social Justice Coalition’s Dustin Kramer: Rating 5/10

“The mayor speaks a lot about the percentage of expenditure to the poor but they have never publicly released data to show how those percentages are produced. Expenditure isn’t everything and in terms of sanitation and refuse collection, large amounts of money are spent on paying contractors to clean and maintain toilets, for example, yet the actual service that residents are getting is inadequate and it comes down to implementing and monitoring services properly. We are seeing large amounts of wasteful expenditure. The mayor certainly faces a complex challenge with informal settlements but there are effective ways (through) resource allocation and better monitoring of services and better engagement with communities.”

* Cape Chamber of Commerce’s Janine Myburgh: Rating 5/10

“The R10.8 billion expenditure to support economic growth was necessary but much more is needed. The EPWP job creation is all good and well but we need more permanent jobs to be created. I do think the mayor promotes an entrepreneurial spirit and focuses on investment such as the incentives policy recently adopted for businesses and Atlantis. I would encourage more engagement with business. There is a challenge that we don’t have a cohesive business brand to market Cape Town as the place to do business. In terms of informal settlements, it is still very clear that many people are still marginalised. Our Moody’s International credit rating is encouraging as governance is of high importance for any business.”

* ANC chief whip Xolani Sotashe: Rating 5/10

“Whatever the city is trying to claim is absolute nonsense. The truth is out that the city has been under spending on its capital budget. Over R2.5 billion has not been spent by the city in the past financial year. There is a lack of prompt response from the administration to deal with issues that are affecting our people. As the ANC we have made the point that we are running a tale of two cities, a city for the rich and poor. In fact we have moved from bad to worse. In reports of human settlements, the city has set low targets but they can’t reach them. De Lille is sympathetic to the needs of the disadvantaged but she is in an unconducive environment with liberals who are very resistant to our communities’ needs. She can’t walk the talk because she does not control the finances of the city. Helen Zille is giving instructions and running the administration.”

zara.nicholson@inl.co.za

Cape Times

The "1m passing law" to create a safer cycling environment across the Western Cape.

Cape Town - After a year in the making, the controversial “1m passing law” has been written into the statute books – in the hope of safer cycling across the Western Cape.

Provincial authorities stressed there could be serious legal consequences for motorists who fail to maintain this distance, if they kill or injure cyclists.

SINGLE FILE

But provincial laws have now also caught up with national cycling laws which demand cyclists ride in single file at all times, unless overtaking or during official races.

The Western Cape Provincial Road Traffic Act was passed by the provincial legislature a year ago, empowering provincial Transport MEC Robin Carlisle to issue regulations to increase road safety. Powerful impetus was added to the proposals with the death of one of South Africa’s most-loved cyclists, Burrie Stander, who was killed on his bicycle in KwaZulu-Natal on January 3.

At this year’s Cape Argus Pick ‘n Pay Cycle Tour, the Pedal Power Association put together a peloton of 80 cyclists, who pedalled in support of the association’s “Cyclists stay alive at 1.5m” safety campaign.

GAP REDUCED

In August this desired 1.5m gap was reduced to a metre, following the example of several states in the US, and confirmed by experienced traffic law officials and some comments received during the public comment period.

An extensive public comment period followed and yesterday the “Safety of Cyclists and Blue Lights Regulations” were published in the Provincial Gazette Extraordinary 7194.

Carlisle described the regulations as “a critical weapon in the ongoing battle against the carnage on the roads”.

“The regulations focus on a reciprocal duty and relationship that must exist between cyclists (who are most vulnerable on our roads when overtaken by faster moving cars, trucks and buses) and motorists alike,” the ministry said.

MIXED REACTIONS

The introduction of the “1m-passing” law was widely welcomed within the cycling community yesterday.

But many slammed the reiteration of the national law banning cyclists from riding abreast.

“I don’t think people are going to obey at all,” warned Annemie Kruger, a professional cyclist.

“I understand why they’ve passed the law, but people ride in groups for the social side of it, to chat, to train as a team. Riding around in single file will take half the enjoyment out of cycling for many.

“Riding in single file is like riding alone – you just sit by yourself in the slip and pedal, it’s no fun at all. I just can’t see it happening.”

AWARENESS NEEDED

Instead, they should focus on awareness, she said. “Most cyclists drive cars too, so understand their perspective, but too many motorists don’t understand the speed that we often ride at, that you can’t simply turn in front of cyclists.

“Motorists also don’t understand why cyclists often seem to be riding too far out into the road – that there’s often glass and debris in the gutter. A far better idea – than these laws – would be smarter education campaigns. And more cycle lanes.”

Of the 1m law Carlisle said that “the onus will be placed on any violator of this regulation, particularly when resulting in an injury or death, to show why they failed to adhere to the requirement”, but conceded that policing “moving violations” as vehicles past cyclists could be difficult.

Andrew Wheeldon, of the Bicycle Empowerment Network, said: “We’d have preferred 1.5 m, but we’ll take it. Now it needs to be backed up with a lot of enforcement and education. We can’t have motorists saying ‘we didn’t know’.” It needed to be included in the K53 drivers’ rulebook.

Wheeldon said he suspected the authorities would clamp down on riders riding abreast only if they were doing so dangerously. -Cape Argus

THE REGULATIONS

The new provincial regulations require the driver of a vehicle to:

- Exercise due care while passing

the cyclist.

- Leave a distance between the motor vehicle and the cyclist of at least 1m.

- Maintain that distance from the cyclist until safely clear of the cyclist.

- Motorists may cross a solid barrier line to pass a cyclist provided that it can be done without obstructing or endangering other people or vehicles; it is safe to do so; and is done for a period no longer than is necessary to pass the cyclist.

The regulations require a cyclist to:

- Make the appropriate use of cycle lanes where these are available.

- Give conspicuous driving signals as contemplated in national regulations.

- Keep as close as possible to the left edge of the roadway.

- Obey road traffic signs and rules.

- Fit and use effective front and rear lights when riding in the dark and when visibility is limited.

- Not ride on the right-hand side of a motor vehicle proceeding in the same direction, except when passing that vehicle or turning right at an intersection.

- Not ride abreast of another cyclist proceeding in the same direction (pictured above), except when

passing that cyclist.

- Not ride while wearing a headset, headphones or any listening device other than a hearing aid; or while carrying another person, unless the cycle is specifically equipped to carry more than one person.

A FEW CRASHES HAVEN’T DAUNTED THIS RIDER

Cycling to and from work for 20-odd years, Bertram Windvogel says he is not as scared of reckless drivers as he once was, but would be happier if there were more cycling lanes.

Windvogel, 47, who lives in Primrose Park, Athlone, cycles to work in Paarden Eiland daily.

He supports the 1m passing law imposed by the Western Cape government and said it was more practical than the earlier proposed 1.5m gap.

“I don’t know how they will enforce this rule but 1.5m was a bit big and I don’t think our roads have enough space for the 1.5m space between cyclists and the motorists. I just think as long as you are visible and the drivers can see you then it’s a bit better.”

Windvogel said cycling was one of his passions but the petrol price as well as avoiding traffic encouraged him to cycle instead of drive the almost 15km from home to work.

“I would be happy to see more cycle lanes, but like in my area, I don’t think there is enough space for that. Like the one between Milnerton and Table View, it is dedicated to buses and cyclists, I would like to see more of those.”

Windvogel said he had been in a couple of collisions but that had not deterred him from cycling on a daily basis.

“I was once hit by a bus about four years ago, it just nudged me. The bus and taxi drivers are the most reckless. Also one time I was hit by a car door when a person opened it and in a another incident I hit a woman, who was not looking.”

Besides saving on petrol and time, Windvogel said some of his co-workers admire him for cycling to work which also helps him to prepare for the Cape Argus Pick n Pay Cycle Tour.

“I have done the Argus since I was in matric. I think I have done something like 26 cycle tours and my cycle to and from work forms a part of my training.” -Yolisa Tswanya, Cape Argus

The Western Cape branch of the ANC had its dirty laundry aired in public after a group of cadres exposed a rift in the party.

Cape Town - The ANC in the Western Cape has had its dirty laundry aired in public after a small group of cadres exposed a rift among loyal members and the party’s provincial leadership.

The group called on Luthuli House to intervene and probe allegations of corruption, factionalism and cronyism in the party’s provincial leadership.

ANC loyalists Rashaad Carlsen and Hanif Loonat, the former provincial CPF chairman, said they were tired of continually having to defend an organisation that was “blatantly selling its own principles” and were fed-up with corruption within the party.

Taking a swipe at ANC chairman Marius Fransman and ANC provincial secretary Songezo Mjongile, the members said the current leaders were in no position to challenge the DA in next year’s general elections and had been misrepresenting the state of the province to the national leadership.

But the ANC’s provincial leadership rubbished the claim, saying it was made in bad faith by a small band of disgruntled people posing as concerned ANC cadres, but who behaved like “agents provocateurs”.

“Those making these libellous statements are all unsuccessful candidates that did not make it onto any nomination lists in the recent ANC internal processes as public representatives ahead of the upcoming 2014 elections,” the provincial leadership said in a joint statement.

But the disgruntled group stuck to their guns, saying there were many more who felt the same.

“We are not afraid of the ramifications. We’ve been fighting this internal battle for the past two years,” Carlsen said on Wednesday.

He said what infuriated ANC members was the so-called democratic list process for local, provincial and national elections being manipulated for personal interest and gain.

Highlighting the problems within party ranks, Loonat accused the provincial executive of:

* Promoting coloured nationalism by pitting coloureds and Africans against one another.

* Manipulating organisational processes to suit predetermined outcomes.

* Undermining branches.

* Trying to accommodate members who are criminally charged and considering reinstating them in ANC structures.

* Isolating concerned members and national executive committee (NEC) members not aligned to the current leadership.

* Undermining decisions taken by the ANC’s national leadership.

“My appeal goes out to Mantashe (Gwede) that he comes out here and implements an inquiry into the claims we are making,” Loonat said.

While making it clear they were not turning their backs on the party but instead fighting for its soul, the group denied it was a case of sour grapes. Loonat, who said he had written to Mantashe as far back as 2011 to no avail, was concerned the “NEC had been lied to over the years”.

Using Mjongile as an example, Loonat said: “The Western Cape leadership has within its ranks people who are blacklisted from doing business with government and the same people have to oversee the integrity of the organisation’s public representation.”

And the two members, who referred to Fransman’s election as chairman in 2011 as undemocratic, also questioned his current leadership style, adding that unless there was national intervention the ANC was doomed to failure in the province.

“There is this belief in the Western Cape that you must put a person of colour in charge and you will win the province and that’s a sad misrepresentation of the truth. The truth is to put a competent person in place,” Carlsen said.

Mjongile branded Loonat as a political migrant who thrives on rumour mongering and a careerist who fell out of favour with the Western Cape Community Policing Forum board and was subsequently trying very hard to get onto any kind of list.

“He even said on Facebook that he was addressing meetings of the new party Agang,” Mjongile said. “Organisational issues in the ANC are dealt with through appropriate structures and not slanderous encounters with reporters.”

warda.meyer@inl.co.za

Cape Argus

For many of the Western Cape’s disabled commuters, getting to work by train is a daily struggle.

Cape Town - Public transport lies at the heart of city life. But for the estimated 20 000 wheelchair users in Cape Town, transport options are limited.

When Darran Colquhoun, who has been paralysed since he was 18, was offered a learnership at a call centre in October last year, he was elated. He had been unemployed for six years. But he had to carefully consider his transport options to work.

Colquhoun, 33, decided to use the Business Express train, a Metrorail service, but when he enquired with the station manager at Brackenfell station, closest to his home in Bellville, he discovered the service was not wheelchair-friendly. However, the manager made a plan. “They put a ramp on one coach because I was catching the train to Cape Town station,” said Colquhoun. This train departs platform one at 7.15am. If he misses it, he can’t get to work.

The problem was getting back home in the afternoon. Although Colquhoun could board the train, it arrives at platform two. He needs to exit from platform one. Because of a few metres’ gap between the two platforms and only stairs to cross over, it is impossible for a wheelchair user.

He brought this to the attention of Metrorail staff, who, according to Colquhoun, assured him they were working on it. More than a year later, he still cannot travel home by train.

Instead, his fiancée, Lianda Blignaut, who works as a chef in Stellenbosch, drives from there to the city centre and takes Colquhoun home every day by car. “I use my entire salary to pay for petrol to get home,” said Colquhoun. It costs him R100 a day for petrol, and R200 on weekends when the Business Express doesn’t run.

He isn’t the only one struggling.

Donald Pitt, also a wheelchair user, had to quit his last job because of the difficulty of travelling to work.

In January, he was employed at a call centre in the city. Since then, 27-year-old Pitt used the Metrorail train from Bellville station to work in the city centre, and back in the afternoons.

“As far as money is concerned, the train is my only option. If I’m on the train I’m fine. It’s getting on and off that’s a problem,” he said.

Anthony Ghillino, project manager of the QuadPara Association of the Western Cape, echoed the frustrations of Colquhoun and Pitt. “It all starts and ends with transport – without it we are disabled.”

Mthuthuzeli Swartz, regional manager for Metrorail Western Cape, said a final draft policy was in place for approval by the Passenger Rail Association of SA before the end of this financial year.

“With the upcoming modernisation of our stations, we will be focusing on making the identified stations universally accessible.”

Jeremy Opperman, Independent Disability Analyst, said South Africa had a major transport crisis in terms of accessibility.

“The city and province is remiss in that it has failed to deal with the issue satisfactorily. It’s taken too long.”

Councillor Brett Herron, mayoral committee member for transport, said Dial-a-Ride was a service designed for people with special needs but it was not meeting demand as there were more than 6 000 people on the waiting lists.

* Metrorail says the following 15 out of 122 stations are accessible: Cape Town, Woodstock , Salt River, Ysterplaat, Mutual, Heideveld, Nyanga, Langa, Stock Road , Mandalay, Khayelitsha, Kuyasa, Chris Hani, Lentegeur and Century City.

Putting his life on the line

Every day for the past year Donald Pitt, 27, takes the risk of crossing the Bellville railway line in his wheelchair – it’s the only way he can reach the platform.

The Cape Argus joined Pitt on one of his journeys at 4pm on a Friday. Pitt has to be lifted off the train, usually with the help of a passenger or the train driver, but this time it is Wesley Farrow, an acquaintance.

Time is of the essence as they move down the platform towards the railway tracks.

Farrow pushes him quickly and they check to see whether there are any trains in sight.

Pitt turns his wheelchair around and he is pulled backwards over the railway line at Bellville station.

Soon they are on the other side of the tracks and back on to the platform, making their way to Pitt’s lift that will be taking him home.

Pitt says he has fallen out of his wheelchair twice while being assisted on to a train.

During his train journey from Cape Town to Bellville earlier, his wheelchair was stationed between the two doors at the end of a carriage.

The aisles are too narrow for him to move away from the doorway. As the train moved he steadied himself by having a firm grip on it.

shireen.mukadam@inl.co.za

Cadet News Agency

Cape Argus

Stellenbosch University has confirmed that a case of fraud has been opened against Saru chief executive Jurie Roux.

Cape Town - Stellenbosch University (SU) has confirmed that a case of fraud had been reported to the police after the university’s Audit and Risk Committee and auditors KPMG found there was “reasonable suspicion that an offence related to fraud had been committed” by former employees.

The report related to the irregular use of reserve funds.

South African Rugby Union (Saru) chief executive Jurie Roux has confirmed he was one of the employees named in the report.

On Wednesday, Saru said it had been advised that a SU administrative report handed to the SAPS referred to Roux.

“Some months ago I was interviewed on one occasion by auditors appointed by Stellenbosch University on a policy matter relating to the authority to transfer funds internally. There was no suggestion of personal gain. I am not aware of any charges against me,” Roux said in a statement issued by Saru on Wednesday.

He denied any wrongdoing and stressed that the discussions that took place related to events prior to his appointment as chief executive of Saru, and did not relate to Saru.

Saru chairman Oregan Hoskins said Roux

“continues to enjoy our full confidence and support”.

Cape Argus

Two ATMs were bombed at a shopping centre in Brackenfell, Cape Town on Thursday morning.

Cape Town - Two ATMs were bombed at the Glengarry shopping centre in Brackenfell early on Thursday morning.

At around 2.30am, two armed men ambushed two security guards at one of the ATMs in the De Bron Road centre. Police said the men tied up the guards in the basement of the shopping centre. After hearing a blast, staff at a nearby shop alerted police.

Police said the would-be robbers did not get any cash. No arrests have been made.

Cape Argus

A state witness, testifying at the murder trial Johan de Jager, has said he was a tik addict at the time that his sex worker friend was murdered.

Cape Town - A state witness, testifying at the trial of double murder accused Johan de Jager, has said he was a tik addict at the time that his sex worker friend was murdered.

Mcniel Jacobs, the prosecution’s second witness, testified last week about having last seen Parow sex worker Hiltina Alexander, 18, drive away in De Jager’s bakkie.

De Jager is accused of raping and murdering Alexander in May 2008. Her body was discovered by a passer-by in bushes along the N7 at Frankdale.

Defence lawyer Sakkie Maartens recalled Jacobs to the stand on Wednesday in a bid to establish on which day he had seen De Jager picking up Alexander.

Maartens put it to Jacobs that in his first statement to police, he had said the pick-up took place early on Sunday, May 18, 2008. In a second statement he had said it had taken place on the following day.

Jacobs said he remembered “very well” that the pick-up had happened in the early hours of the Sunday because he had visited his mother at her home later that morning and she had been preparing her church clothes.

Asked whether the officer who had taken down his statement had got the date wrong, Jacobs answered that this must be so.

Cross-examined about the date on which his first statement was taken, June 18, 2008, he said he could not remember having made a statement to police on his birthday – which was that day.

Maartens told Jacobs he would not blame him for not remembering when he gave the statement because the incident had taken place five years ago.

Jacobs then said that five years ago he wasn’t involved in the same “business” as he was now. He was now a rasta.

Asked what he meant by “business”, Jacobs said that five years ago he had been a “tik kop”.

The State objected to Maartens’s probing this point further, saying it was not relevant to what Jacobs had seen.

Maartens countered that Jacobs had volunteered this information rather than having been pressed for it.

Acting Judge Chuma Cossie, however, warned Maartens not to pursue the matter.

De Jager is on trial in the Western Cape High Court on seven charges for crimes relating to Charmaine Maré, 18, who was murdered in January, and Alexander.

Maré had been visiting Cape Town from Mpumalanga and was staying at the Kraaifontein home of Carol White. De Jager was White’s partner and shared her home, while Maré was friends with White’s daughter.

De Jager has pleaded not guilty to most of the charges, including raping Alexander and murder. He has admitted in a plea explanation to stealing Maré cellphone, and dismembering and burning her body.

The trial continues on Thursday.

leila.samodien@inl.co.za

Cape Times

Grandmother Bronwen Lowe lost everything after a nervous breakdown, but she never let homelessness get the better of her.

Cape Town - You never know where you’re going to end up, says Cape Town grandmother Bronwen Lowe, 58.

She is a part-time office assistant at a public swimming pool in Woodstock. Before that, she rode on dump trucks and swept streets and lived in a shelter. Before that, she was homeless.

But just three years ago, she lived in Table View and had a job in marketing and communications in the property industry.

Extreme stress and trauma led to a nervous breakdown. Lowe lost the ability to speak, and could no longer do her job.

“I lost absolutely everything. On the night I was made homeless, I remember seeing my cats running after me, and thinking that I’d never see them again.”

Lowe spent her first homeless night on Table View beach. She remembered looking at all the lit-up homes and just wanting to be in a place that was light and warm. While searching for a place to sleep, she fell into a ditch dug for a MyCiTi bus route. Her leg was put in a cast, and still hurts today.

Lowe spent two months on the streets and in psychiatric hospitals. “It was an absolute nightmare. It traumatises you so badly.”

Exhausted, she was desperate for a roof over her head, and a shower. Somebody directed her to the Haven Night Shelter in the city. “I rocked up there with one suitcase and was shown to a dorm with 26 ladies in bunk beds. Knowing I could have a shower and a bed, and dinner… I have never been so grateful.”

She quickly adapted to an environment she never thought she’d find herself in. “Survivor has nothing on a shelter. Yes, there are fights, but in a shelter the women have got your back. It’s funny, and sad, and it teaches you so much about your character.”

She taught the women marketing and communications skills, and gave “from ballet to Beyonce” dance classes. Lowe also developed a strong faith in God, and used to pray for donations of deodorant or toothpaste.

The only job available to shelter residents at the time was working on the dump trucks cleaning city streets, and Lowe snapped it up.

Despite being a grandmother with a gammy leg, she put on a bib and a hat and scaled the truck to sweep the streets between Sea Point and Bantry Bay. “I was determined. It was the hardest job I’ve ever had to do.”

Sweeping past people eating in expensive restaurants offered her a stark perspective on her new life. “I was looking at what used to be my lifestyle.”

Being a white street cleaner drew vastly different reactions from passers-by. Whites ignored her, blacks stared at her, and coloureds made remarks such as “are you on parole?”

After three months cleaning the streets, Lowe was offered a job in administration at the City of Cape Town, and has since been offered a succession of part-time contracts.

At the end of her year at the Haven, Lowe was given an award for being a woman of courage and strength. “It was better than winning an Oscar.”

Lowe then moved to a second-phase shelter in Simon’s Town where she did the men’s laundry to earn some money. Now she has a permanent home at St Monica’s Home for the elderly in the Bo-Kaap, and is on her fourth renewed contract doing office administration at the Trafalgar Park public pool in Woodstock.

Everything she wears was a donation, from sandals to sunglasses and make-up. “Even when I was sweeping the streets I wore my red lipstick. Just because you’re homeless doesn’t mean you lose your dignity.

“I’m so grateful I’ve come on this journey. My children are so proud of what I’ve accomplished, and my grandchildren think I’m the coolest gran because I rode in dump trucks.”

Gratitude prompted Lowe to write to the Cape Argus, about the care she had had from the outpatient clinics at Somerset and False Bay hospitals, the finance provided for organisations such as the Haven shelters, and the mayor’s Extended Public Works Programme which gave her a job.

“I have never had cause to complain about being homeless in the city of Cape Town, which has served me so well, and I want to say a huge thank you to Premier Helen Zille and all who implement these initiatives to uplift people such as myself.”

Lowe is now writing a book about her experiences on the street.

chelsea.geach@inl.co.za

Cadet News Agency

Cape Argus

A woman has been arrested for allegedly damaging a police vehicle during a stone-throwing incident in Mitchells Plain.

Cape Town - A woman has been arrested for allegedly damaging a police vehicle in Mitchells Plain, Cape Town, police said on Thursday.

The patrol vehicle was damaged by stone-throwing residents on Wednesday, said Captain Frederick van Wyk.

This happened without provocation, he said. None of the officers in the vehicle was hurt.

“This act in itself leaves police extremely disappointed in the behaviour of some of our community members,” Van Wyk said.

“We wish to call on the community to assist and allow the police to execute their duties.”

A 20-year-old woman had been arrested for public violence, assault and malicious damage to property and would appear in the Mitchells Plain Magistrate's Court.

Sapa

The personal assistant of prominent auctioneer Julius Buchinsky, 86, will be sentenced on 631 counts of fraud involving almost R1 million.

Cape Town - A Cape Town woman who took advantage of her elderly employer will be sentenced on Friday on 631 counts of fraud involving almost R1 million.

Najwa Taliep, 41, who had been out on warning, as opposed to bail, appeared in the Bellville Specialised Commercial Crime Court on Thursday.

Magistrate Sabrina Sonnenberg declared her warning revoked and said Taliep would remain in custody.

Prosecutor Zama Mntayi said she had abused her position of trust, and called for a prison sentence.

Taliep was the personal assistant of prominent auctioneer Julius Buchinsky, 86, with access to his business and personal bank accounts.

Her duties included processing all electronic transactions, administrative functions, and paying clients who had put their homes up for auction.

According to the charge sheet, Taliep fraudulently transferred R961,081 from accounts in the names of Julius Buchinsky Organisation, SA Sale Promotions and Julius Buchinsky into her two personal bank accounts with FNB between January 2008 and December 2010.

To cover her tracks, she reflected these fraudulent electronic transfers as payments to the Buchinsky clients or as day-to-day expenses.

Legal Aid defence lawyer Hailey Lawrence said Taliep was now in the employ of Leno de Villiers, who had taken over the ailing Buchinsky business, and was willing to pay a fine on her behalf of up to R10 000.

She said Taliep had repaid in excess of R200 000, and was willing to repay the balance in monthly instalments.

Mntayi countered that the repayments were offered only after Taliep was caught out and confronted about the embezzlement.

Sapa

A Brown University exhibition focusing on slave ship revolts is now on display in South Africa.

Providence, Rhode Island - A Brown University exhibition focusing on slave ship revolts is now on display in South Africa.

The university announced Thursday that the exhibit opens December 3 at the Slave Lodge museum in Cape Town. The exhibit runs through February.

Called “Ships of Bondage and the Fight for Freedom,” the exhibition details the stories of slaves who rose up against their captors on three slave ships. One of the ships, the Sally, sailed from Providence to West Africa to buy slaves in 1764. During the return voyage, more than half of the 200 slaves on board died from starvation, disease and a failed revolt.

Rhode Island merchants played a key role in the trans-Atlantic slave trade, launching more than 1 000 voyages to buy and transport slaves from Africa to the Americas.

Sapa-AP

Cape Town investing in campaign as city finds that only a quarter of motorists buckle up.

Only a quarter of Cape Town drivers buckle up, and only 8.3 percent of back seat passengers use seat belts.

Yet wearing a seat belt reduces the risk of fatal injury by up to 50 percent for drivers and front-seat passengers, and by up to 75 percent for rear-seat passengers.

Children, in particular, are vulnerable when they are not strapped in, said Transport MEC Robin Carlisle at the launch of a R5 million campaign in Bellville on Thursday. “Buckle up, it only takes a second to save a life,” the campaign states.

“Research has shown that increased seat belt compliance would save thousands of lives. Failure to use a seat belt is a route to death or serious injury during collisions,” said Carlisle.

A study by Stellenbosch University’s Emergency Medicine Unit had shown that only 25 percent of city motorists wore seat belts.

“Most severe injuries were sustained by those who were not wearing seatbelts at the time of the collision,” said Carlisle.

“It comes as no surprise that Cape Town residents have such a poor record in terms of seat belt compliance, as the fatality rate in the city accounts for nearly half the road deaths in the province.

“Road fatalities are the greatest single cause of death in children under the age of 12 and most of them were not buckled up.

Buckling up is known to reduce the risk of death in passenger cars by up to 80 percent.”

Professor Sebastian van As, head of the trauma unit at the Red Cross War Memorial Children’s Hospital, said 250 children died each year because they were not strapped in.

“Yesterday we surgeons, nurses and theatre staff were busy for hours as we worked on a child who was not strapped in.” -Cape Argus

"I have had a bad experience with black tenants, they didn't pay and they trashed the place. So, yes, I am sceptical."

Cape Town - For two months, writer Lwandile Ncokazi responded to advertisements on Gumtree, requesting information about rentals in the Cape Town City Bowl. He did not get a single response.

However, when “Andy” sent e-mails to the same advertisements asking to view flats to rent, he got four replies the next day, including three invitations to come and view the flats.

Lwandile Ncokazi and Andy are the same person.

Ncokazi has a theory about why Andy got preferential treatment - because he’s perceived to be white.

Ncokazi is one of three people who told the Cape Argus that the colour of their skin is a barrier to finding accommodation in the city.

He said that when his two-month search on Gumtree did not get him anywhere, he feared having to find a place “at a lousy backpackers”.

Then one of his friends jokingly suggested he change his name to Andy and see what happened.

“It felt ridiculous, but I thought it was worth a try. In 2013 there is still a place in South Africa where you have to change your name to that of a white guy in order to view a place. This is Cape Town, not Orania.”

Cape Town magazine editor Janine Jellars agrees with Ncokazi. She and her Tswana boyfriend have a similar story.

Jellars’s boyfriend, who lives in Joburg, began looking for a holiday apartment along the Atlantic seaboard where they could stay in December.

“We were looking for a nice place with nice views, close to the beach.”

Her boyfriend e-mailed seven places and was told they were unavailable, but when Jellars e-mailed the same places, they were all available.

Jellars said she felt this should not go unchallenged: “We are so used to having people minimise how we feel about this kind of thing that we let it fly. It is sad that we have come to accept this kind of behaviour. When it happens you just brush it off and think ‘What can we do?’”

Carl Hlungwani also had to resort to a “white front” to help her secure a place. When her three-year lease in Blouberg came to an end, she decided to move to the southern suburbs to be close to work.

She tried to rent a place in Rondebosch, but was told it was not available. Hlungwani, a 46-year-old university manager, suspected racism might be involved. She handed the phone to her white colleague and asked her to call the same estate agent. Minutes later, Hlungwani’s colleague was told the flat was available.

Eventually the colleague looked up places on her behalf and made appointments. Hlungwani then applied for a flat in Pinelands, but it went to a white student, who had applied on the same day.

After a month of rejections, Hlungwani settled for six-month lease in a bachelor’s flat in a building she did not like.

She decided it would be better to buy property because that would mean she wouldn’t have to face racial discrimination from landlords.

But that was not easy, either.

Hlungwani viewed a home in Newlands and told the estate agent she wanted to buy it.

However, before she could put in an offer, the agent called and told her the owners did not want to sell to her because of the “history that they have had with black people”.

The owners told the estate agent the house had sentimental value for them and they did not want to sell it to someone who was not going to look after it.

“I was so miserable. It has been very stressful,” Hlungwani said.

“It is difficult to explain to someone who is not in your position. I love Cape Town, and it is not yet time for me to leave. But at the same time, I am fed up. I want to go home to Joburg and be happy.”

In the end, Ncokazi found a flat using the name Andy, but Hlungwani is still looking for a house to buy, and Jellars is looking for a holiday let.

Offended parties urged to report racist behaviour

Donna Stevens, an estate agent at Harcourts Prestige, said it was unethical and against the code of conduct for estate agents to prejudice clients because of their race.

She said sellers were normally interested in whether someone could afford their asking price and agents concentrated on the client’s credit worthiness.

People who experience the treatment described by Lwandile Ncokazi, Janine Jellars and Carl Hlungwani can report the estate agents to the Estate Agency Affairs Board.

Jimmy Baloyi, executive manager for enforcement at the board, said racist behaviour from estate agents deserved to be penalised, and he urged people to report these offences to him.

“People who are aggrieved by this kind of behaviour should contact us and lodge their complaints. The board cannot tolerate this kind of discrimination by members of the industry and we will do everything within our powers to ensure that this does not happen.”

Georgina Alexandra, a researcher on politics, government, assets and incomes at the South African Institute of Race Relations, said race was still a big issue in the country.

“Competition over scarce resources, such as jobs, can perpetuate feelings of hostility and resentment. On top of which, we as South Africans think of ourselves in terms of race first.” She added that South Africans tended to focus on differences rather than what they had in common.

However, she added that while there were still discrepancies between the races, the country had made progress.

Alexandra urged people to report racist incidents to the Human Rights Commission. She said that despite these incidents most South Africans were living peacefully alongside one another.

It’s up to the owner, say estate agents

Agents canvassed by the Cape Argus spoke on condition of anonymity.

One agent said: “When a person walks into my office looking to rent, I don’t see colour, I see respectability - or lack thereof.

“I have had a bad experience with black tenants - they didn’t pay and they trashed the place. So, yes, I am sceptical when some black people walk into my office.

“But there are plenty of white people who walk in who I definitely wouldn’t rent to either.

“It’s not about colour, it’s about class.

“All prospective tenants give us permission to run credit checks and if they pass scrutiny, I’m happy.”

Another agent said: “If their references check out, if their credit checks and proof of income are fine… then it’s not a problem. If they qualify they qualify.

“But I must add that the final decision is with the property owner. We typically take the owners a shortlist of those who qualify. Everybody looks good on paper, but it’s then up to the owners to decide themselves.

“And when they do decide, they don’t have to give us agents, or the applicants, any reasons. It’s their prerogative to choose.

“So it is possible that an owner may decide not to give a lease to a black applicant, but we, as agents, normally wouldn’t know what the owners’ reasons are. In fact, we don’t even want to know - we can hardly be asked to tell applicants they failed because of any reason, if they’ve passed our checks.

“Normally, applicants who aren’t chosen are just told ‘no’ - without any reasons - and we then try to find them something else.”

neo.maditla@inl.co.za

Cape Argus

Ministers and other VIPs can now get locked up for travelling in blue-light convoys.

National cabinet ministers and other VIPs now face jail time if they travel in blue-light brigades on the province’s roads – but the president, deputy president and visiting heads of state are exempt.

A groundbreaking regulation, which became law in the Western Cape this week, forbids VIPs from using blue lights or sirens when travelling, unless there is “an imminent threat to safety or life”.

Also exempt are police, firefighting and ambulance vehicles when performing official duties – including police vehicles which transport prisoners to and from court.

Penalties for not complying with the new law can include a fine or a jail sentence of no more than one year upon conviction.

PUBLIC MUST SPEAK UP

Transport MEC Robin Carlisle, who is behind the regulations, says road-users should report the misuse of blue lights, and has vowed that his office would investigate each reported case. To make the investigation easier, Carlisle has asked that reports include time and place, the number of vehicles in the convoy and at least one number plate.

Traffic officers and other law enforcement officials have also been instructed to report blue-light convoys, rather than pulling them over. Ordinary traffic officers may not be privy to the movements of the president’s convoy, as the information is classified.

Carlisle said the measure would promote road safety, adding that “being late for a meeting”, for instance, was not a justification for speeding, dangerous overtaking and skipping red robots.

“Such behaviour is an affront to law-abiding citizens and a risk to the public at large.”

HURDLES

The regulation was met with some opposition during the public participation process before it became law.

In July, national police commissioner Riah Phiyega asked for the draft regulation to be withdrawn. A letter from her office noted that police officers using any vehicle were legally allowed to use flashing blue lights while performing official duties.

“The use of a blue flashing light by police officials escorting relevant dignitaries or officials is recognised as a method used by the police service to make road-users aware that they must give way to an oncoming convoy escorted by members of the service,” the letter read.

Existing “provisions” prevented police vehicles from breaking traffic laws “unless their duties require this”.

Carlisle said the law affected only police officers escorting VIPs and did not contradict the section of the Road Traffic Act which allowed police, firefighting and ambulance vehicles to exceed the speed limit when performing official duties.

The Western Cape is the first province to have adopted the regulation.

Earlier this year, Western Cape Premier and DA national leader Helen Zille said the DA would table a similar private member’s bill in the National Assembly because it was expected to enjoy support nationally. Zille could not be reached yesterday to provide an update on this proposal.

A petition, which started on turnitaround.co.za in 2011, calls on the national minister of transport to ban blue-light brigades. It has nearly 46 649 signatures. -Cape Argus