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Cop tells of stench at crime scene

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Dismembered, decomposing and naked was how a cop described the body of Charmaine Mare.

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Cape Town - Scorched, dismembered, decomposing and naked was how a Kraaifontein police officer described the body of Mpumalanga teenager Charmaine Mare, 16, found dumped in the northern suburbs.

Constable Timothy Schierhout testified in the Western Cape High Court that he was the first police officer on the scene of the gruesome discovery.

The stench hit Schierhout when he got out of the police vehicle.

Charmaine’s body was found in a secluded area between the Kraaifontein shooting range and Buh-Rein Estate on Darwin Road on January 14.

The State alleges Johannes de Jager had murdered her three days earlier at a house in Elterman Street. He is also on trial for the 2008 murder of sex worker Hiltina Alexander, 18.

It is alleged De Jager murdered Charmaine after she rejected his sexual advances. But De Jager has denied this. In his plea explanation, he said they were supposed to meet his family at the V&A Waterfront on January 11. Charmaine frustrated him by taking too long to get ready. He said he grabbed her arm in the bathroom and she slipped and hit her head against the bath.

De Jager said that when he realised she was dead he “foolishly” hid the body in a drain. Two days later, when he decided to move the body, he had to cut off the limbs to get it out of the drain. Then he set the torso alight in an open field.

Schierhout said he and his partner had arrived at the scene at 12.40pm on January 14. “I could smell the body was decomposing, it was very bad.”

Schierhout cordoned off the area, and while waiting for forensic investigators he noticed a bra and a black top. “On the pavement I found blood spatter as well as drag marks. We found bits of hair in the grass.”

Earlier, forensic pathologist Deidre Abrahams testified that she had examined Hiltina’s body on May 20, 2008.

She had been raped both vaginally and anally before being strangled. Based on the sunburn on her face and neck and the presence of fly eggs on her face, Abrahams said she had been dead for “a day or two” before her body was found on May 18, 2008.

The trial continues on Monday.

jade.otto@inl.co.za

Cape Argus


ANC tackles Zille over her absence

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The ANC in the Western Cape took yet another swipe at Premier Helen Zille over her absenteeism from the provincial legislature.

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Cape Town - The ANC in the Western Cape legislature took another swipe at Western Cape Premier Helen Zille over her absenteeism from the provincial legislature, accusing her of flying to the UK to seek direction from her former policy strategist while failing to respond to the needs of the people.

ANC chief whip Pierre Uys asked: “It is clear that governance is not a priority of the DA, led by the honourable Zille. Instead, she is in Britain to seek direction from her policy strategist Ryan Coetzee. How is her going there assisting the poor residents of the Cape?”

Zille’s spokesman, Zak Mbhele, said earlier this week that the premier was in the UK in her capacity as DA leader, while DA members said she was encouraging South Africans living abroad to register to vote.

Zille was expected back in the country on Thursday, but opposition parties in the legislature have criticised her for failing to pitch for the sitting of the provincial legislature.

Addressing the House, Uys said: “There is a disaster with flooding in the province, sanitation and housing, but she goes everywhere but to stay here with the people in need, knocking on her door in the Western Cape where she refuses to help them.

Why not send her national parliamentary leader to attend to such matters?”

Uys said that for the past three months the premier had failed to answer their questions in the legislature: “Not even her acting premier may answer questions on her behalf.”

warda.meyer@inl.co.za

Cape Argus

Informal settlement protesters vow to march

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Organisers of the “Cape Town Informal Settlements March” say they will take to the streets whether they get a permit or not.

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Cape Town - Organisers of the “Cape Town Informal Settlements March” have threatened to bring 25 000 people to the CBD next Friday, regardless of whether they receive a march permit from the City of Cape Town.

“The people will not be deterred,” march organiser Xolani Dywili told the Cape Argus on Thursday.

“We were at a meeting in Kraaifontein on Thursday and the attendees said they would come to Cape Town. The protests on the N2 were also in response to the city’s arrogance in denying the application. This time there will be many more people.”

On Thursday news that the group’s application was turned down prompted sporadic protests and clashes between police and informal settlement residents along the N2, near the R300. Protesters burning tyres blockaded the highway with portable toilets and stoned an ambulance.

“The EMS employee managed to flee from the mob but is severely traumatised. He reported the incident to the SAPS station in Site B Khayelitsha and remained on duty,” said Hélène Rossouw, provincial Department of Health spokeswoman.

Next week’s planned march is a follow-up to a picket outside the provincial legislature on October 30 in which 6 000 protesters marched into the CBD.

City of Cape Town spokeswoman Priya Reddy said the marchers had not received a permit after police had been consulted. “This was largely due to the credible evidence on oath received, which indicated that such a gathering could result in a serious disruption to traffic, injury to persons, and possible damage to property.” She added that the “convener” did not have the resources to control the gatherings as applied for.

The CBD’s vendors had mixed reactions.

“I lost more than R25 000 worth of stock, so I will take the day off if these people return,” said Mahamad Ahmad Farah, a Somali stall owner in St George’s Mall. Steven Banda, a Malawian crafts trader in Greenmarket Square, said he was not worried as traders had managed to band together in self defence.

JP Smith, mayoral committee member for safety and security, said police had contingency plans to control an illegal gathering. He again called on police to arrest march leaders Loyiso Nkohla and Andile Lili whom DA provincial leader Ivan Meyer has lodged a criminal case against. No arrests have been made. The police did not respond to queries about the criminal investigation.

daneel.knoetze@inl.co.za

Cape Argus

Cape ‘is ‘ready’ for any holiday protests

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The City of Cape Town’s plans to have safe festive season by deploying law enforcement officers to cope with possible protest action.

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Cape Town - The City of Cape Town’s plans for a safe festive season for the city include arranging to deploy resources and law enforcement officers to cope with possible protest action.

Mayoral committee member for safety and security JP Smith said the city was anticipating flare-ups of violence on the N2, similar to the protest action seen there earlier this week.

The city has already spent more than R3.6 million on overtime for law enforcement staff used to respond to these calls, which Smith described as a “squandering of resources”.

Land invasions were also expected to increase in the run-up to next year’s elections, he said, and the city’s dedicated land invasion unit would be on standby for the next few months.

But despite these challenges, Smith said the city’s festive season preparedness would be bolstered by the use of volunteers in all areas of safety and security.

A festive season co-ordination committee would respond to issues and mitigate risks from now until after Easter.

“Many people expose themselves to risky activities they don’t understand, and that includes swimming at our beaches and the drownings that result.”

Beach and water safety would be paramount, and disaster risk management staff would be sent to all the city’s beaches and swimming pools to support lifeguards and law enforcement staff based there.

Smith said the city would clamp down on alcohol on beaches, as this was a “major” driver of violence. There would also be 440 disaster management volunteers to help locate missing children on beaches. “Specials” or volunteer auxiliary officers would boost the city’s operational capacity, especially on priority days such as Boxing Day, when thousands of people flocked to the city’s beaches.

Traffic operations during this period include checks on long-distance vehicles, roadblocks, blitzes on outstanding traffic fines and a clampdown on motorists driving and talking on the phone. An extra 120 seasonal firefighters would be used to help with vegetation fires and 75 reservists would boost fire and rescue services during the high-risk period.

But the city’s plan is not just about enforcement and zero tolerance. There will also be more opportunities for motorists to have free vehicle safety checks at several testing stations. MyCiTi services will be extended by 30 minutes from December 9 until Christmas Eve. On New Year’s Eve, all MyCiTi buses, except those on the airport route, will run until 1am on January 1.

Smith said the city was still waiting for a decision on whether a part of Long Street would be closed off. While this would have implications for law enforcement, it would also extend Long Street’s party space.

Incidents of domestic violence increased over this period, and he appealed for people to be mindful of the way they interacted with each other.

Important numbers:

* 107 from a Telkom line - to report all emergencies, including medical, crime, fire and traffic.

* 021 480 7700 for cellphone users, which will direct them to the city’s emergency line.

* 021 597 6003 - the city’s festive season hotline to deal with any complaints about services, repairs and maintenance at city beaches, swimming pools and other recreational facilities.

anel.lewis@inl.co.za

Cape Argus

‘This was supposed to be closure for me’

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Thelma Maritz broke down in tears after the two men accused of killing her son were acquitted in the Western Cape High Court.

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Cape Town - Thelma Maritz says justice will be served - “even if it’s not on this earth” - after the two men accused of killing her son two years ago were acquitted in the Western Cape High Court.

Maritz broke down as court adjourned and Donovan Rich, 37, and his stepson, Abdullah Cassiem-Londt, 23, were freed, having being on trial for the murder of Trevor Maritz, 16, six days after his birthday on July 8, 2011.

He was stabbed to death in his family home in Eerste River during the school holidays.

Before presiding acting Judge Gayaat Salie-Samuels started reading her judgment, she addressed Maritz, Trevor’s mother.

Salie-Samuels told her that based on the evidence before court she had been an exceptional mother to Trevor.

She thanked Maritz for the time she spent coming to court. “And through you, we got to know him a little better,” she said, wishing Maritz well.

Summarising the evidence, Judge Salie-Samuels described how Cassiem-Londt had often slept over at Maritz’s Somerset Heights home in Kleinvlei while he was dating Maritz’s niece, Jade Smith, and how he had considered her a “mother figure”.

There appeared to be no forced entry into the house, and both men’s fingerprints were found in the house.

On the day he died, Maritz had been at work and unable to reach her son. After work she visited several places, including the local soccer field, looking for him.

She went home and knocked on the door, but there was no answer. She peered through a window and noticed the television was on and the house was in a state of disarray. She called the police who broke in to find Trevor’s body in his bedroom.

They later found that four DVD players, jewellery, a pink GHD hair-straightener, reading glasses and a backpack were missing. The two men were arrested shortly afterwards. Rich was held in custody and Cassiem-Londt was granted bail of R500.

On Thursday they were acquitted on charges of murder and aggravated robbery. “After careful deliberation I find your version to be reasonably and possibly true,” said the judge.

She told the men: “Embrace your liberty,” and warned them she did not want to see them again in her courtroom or any other.

In the gallery, Trevor’s relatives and friends all wore black T-shirts with his photograph on the front and the words “Justice for our angel Trevor” on the back.

Cassiem-Londt said he felt “lighter” as he descended the court stairs.

But Trevor’s relatives were disappointed by the verdict.

A weeping Maritz said: “I’m very disappointed, I thought the judge would see through the lies and the witnesses that were prepped. This was supposed to be closure for me, but I still believe justice will be served - even if it might not be on this earth.”

natasha.prince@inl.co.za

Cape Argus

Education gets big slice of Cape’s cash pie

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The Western Cape will spend almost R150bn to deliver equitable services over the next three years, says Finance MEC Alan Winde.

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Cape Town - The DA-led Western Cape government will spend just shy of R150 billion to deliver equitable services and drive inclusive growth over the next three years, says Finance and Economic Development MEC Alan Winde.

Delivering his mid-term budget policy in the provincial legislature on Thursday, Winde painted a picture of effective governance and in-depth planning to address unemployment, improve service delivery and economic growth.

He said 70 percent of the province’s budget over the medium term would be used for education and health.

“We have managed to reduce the number of under-performing high schools - that is, schools with a pass rate of less than 50 percent - from 85 in 2009 to 26 in 2012.”

Winde said plans included the provision of daily meals to more pupils, the continued rollout of more textbooks across particular grades, competency tests for aspirant principals and an ambitious programme of new and replacement schools.

“We will also roll out mobile health clinics so that we are able to measure the wellness of our children at key development milestones. This is a South African first.”

The provincial government had set its sights on creating 100 000 jobs using the youth wage subsidy.

“I would like business to commit, by using this programme, to increase their staff establishment by 10 percent. This will generate over 100 000 jobs for unemployed youth.

Winde said unemployment in the province stood at 23.4 percent, which translated into 566 000 unemployed people, most of them young adults.

Through the work and skills programme and the premier’s “pay project”, more than 5 000 unemployed young people had been given the opportunity to enter the job market.

“We will use the lessons learnt in the roll-out of these programmes, in conjunction with the new tax legislation announced on a youth wage subsidy due to start in April 2014, to set up a facilitation unit that will work with the private sector to make it easy for business to access this scheme.”

Winde said the Western Cape continued to draw investment; in the 2012-2013 financial year, 1 783 jobs had been created through investment projects.

“Since coming into power, we have attracted 80 investment projects into our province valued at R30.1bn.

To further strengthen our trade ties with nations across the world, we are in the process of developing an international relations strategy focused on economic diplomacy,” he said.

Winde said the budget would provide for additional expenditure of R341 million, including R69.8m for hospital revitalisation, R19.8m for the repair and replacement of infrastructure damaged by floods, a further R86.3m for regeneration projects, R89.4m for road infrastructure and R54m for property acquisition.

warda.meyer@inl.co.za

Cape Argus

Van der Vyver looks to UN for payout

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Fred van der Vyver, acquitted of killing Inge Lotz, has approached the UN in an attempt to win damages.

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Cape Town - Fred van der Vyver, the man acquitted of murdering his Stellenbosch girlfriend Inge Lotz in 2005, has approached the UN Human Rights Committee in an attempt to win damages and recover costs for what he believes was his unjust treatment by prosecutors.

 

An application to the committee, drafted by senior advocates Dup de Bruyn and Barry Pienaar, maintains that Van der Vyver’s human rights were compromised.

It also argues that the government should pay damages to him. The complaint was filed with the UN’s Geneva head office.

Ryan Tutt, a member of Van der Vyver’s legal team, told the Cape Argus he had been instructed not to comment on the specifics of the complaint.

 

“We do not wish to comment… save to say that it relates to the violation of our client’s rights in terms of the preamble and articles 7, 9 and 17 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, to which South Africa is a signatory state.”

Article 7 prohibits torture and cruel, inhuman or degrading punishment. Article 9 recognises the right to liberty and security.

Article 17 mandates the right of privacy. It protects people against unlawful attacks on their honour and reputation.

 

Lotz was murdered at her flat in March 2005. Van der Vyver was charged with the murder, but acquitted in 2007. He successfully sued the police for R46 million, but the decision was reversed on appeal.

Lotz’s parents lodged a civil case against Van der Vyver, but it was settled out of court in 2009. Van der Vyver then made an unsuccessful approach to the Constitutional Court.

daneel.knoetze@inl.co.za

Cape Argus

Teenager drowns at Mnandi beach

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A teen drowned at a popular Cape beach after a rescue operation in which four of his friends were saved from the surf.

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Cape Town - An 18-year-old youth from Lower Crossroads drowned at Mnandi Beach on Sunday after a rescue operation in which four of his friends were saved from the surf.

 

The teenager was swimming with friends when lifeguards noticed them struggling in the water, according to the National Sea Rescue Institute (NSRI).

The lifeguards went to help but when they could not find the fifth swimmer, a helicopter was sent to the area to help search for him.

NSRI spokesman Craig Lambinon said the other four, aged between 18 and 22, were uninjured.

“While a sea, air and shore search commenced, investigations were conducted to try to determine if the teenager had, in fact, left the water and gone home without informing anyone. During the search, the body of the teenager was found washed up in shallow surf and the body was recovered.”

The drowned teenager has not been named. People at the beach said his friends were taken to the police station for counselling soon after his body was found.

Natasha Fisher, who was on the beach at the time, said the search lasted for about an hour before the body washed up.

“I saw two guys going to pick the body up and put it on the shore and then the lifeguards came over and told the people to step away. He was dead already. “

Mnandi Beach lifesaving service administration officer Keith Matthews said eight lifeguards and and an additional six trainee lifeguards had been on duty.

“It is possible that he went into a riptide. We had between 5 000 and 7 000 people on the beach with as many as 1 000 being in the water. The lifeguards only guard a section of the beach and we try to tell people to swim in the designated area.”

“Among the other problems we had was people who swam too deep in the water and are not strong swimmers. I think if water safety was introduced in schools it could help save a lot of lives.”

Matthews appealed to the public to adhere to the warning signs on beaches and to listen to lifeguards.

Meanwhile, the body of a man that was last seen on Saturday at Kings Beach in Port Elizabeth was found on Sunday.

Friends of the 28-year-old said he had been collecting mussels at the time of his disappearance.

Lambinon said the body was found during a police unit scuba dive.

Police have opened inquest dockets into the drownings.

yolisa.tswanya@inl.co.za

Cape Argus


UCT admissions policy stirs debate

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The implementation of the University of Cape Town’s new admissions policy has been delayed.

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Cape Town - The implementation of a new UCT admissions policy has been delayed for a year - if its council approves the policy.

UCT’s Senate had been expected to meet on Friday to discuss the proposed admissions policy model and whether the current race-based policy should be kept or changed for 2015.

But vice-chancellor Max Price said additional time was needed before a new policy could be implemented. The new policy, if it was approved, would be implemented for admissions for 2016.

UCT had proposed changing its policy in order to define disadvantage in terms other than race.

Factors to be taken into account, according to the proposal, included whether a prospective student’s parents and grandparents had degrees, home language, whether the family received a social grant, and the school the applicant had attended.

A group of UCT students, the Progressive Youth Alliance, called last month for the policy to remain unchanged because it said a changed policy would result in fewer black students accepted at the university.

UCT responded that it would not reverse its commitment to affirmative action in admissions.

Luntu Sokutu, a member of the alliance’s admissions policy task team, said on Sunday it would continue to reject the proposed policy.

“We have rejected the motion. It is based on a false premise. To postpone it for a year is to indicate there is no basis for it.”

 

UCT spokeswoman Gerda Kruger said Price had reported that “good progress has been made in developing a new admissions policy”.

She said new proposals had been considered by all faculties and there had been in-principle support for most elements of the proposals.

“In addition, the faculties suggested minor modifications, mostly relating to the specific circumstances within each faculty but in principle no bigger changes have been made.”

Kruger said the Admissions Committee of Senate, which had consolidated all the proposals to form a single admissions policy, had also approved the new policy.

“The changes contained in the new draft policy will require substantial development in software, additional work on our online application system as well as training of staff. Since the application for 2015 has to begin early next year and information must be distributed even earlier than that, it presented a significant implementation challenge.”

She said the consequences of getting the implementation of the new policy wrong were serious and it had therefore been decided to postpone implementation by a year.

“Dr Price will therefore propose that the 2013/14 admissions policy be implemented for next year.”

 

Kruger said the Senate would now discuss the draft policy in the first quarter of next year.

Cape Times

‘Aggett case may open doors for others’

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The Neil Aggett Support Group plans to lay a criminal complaint against one of the late trade unionist’s interrogators.

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Cape Town - A support group is to lay a criminal complaint against one of Neil Aggett’s interrogators this week in pursuit of a private prosecution.

Trade unionist and doctor Aggett died in detention in 1982. He was 28.

Neil Aggett Support Group co-ordinator Brian Sandberg said the group would on Wednesday formally lay a complaint of culpable homicide against Stephan Whitehead, who interrogated Aggett in prison, at the Johannesburg Central police station. Wednesday is the 32nd anniversary of Aggett’s initial detention.

Aggett, organiser for the Food and Canning Workers’ Union, was detained with 17 other unionists.

He died on February 5, 1982, following a 60-hour interrogation and 70 days in detention without trial. He was found hanged from the bars of the steel grill of his cell in John Vorster Square police station, now Johannesburg Central. A 1982 inquest held that no one was to blame.

Sandberg said the group was pursuing a private prosecution but they needed a National Prosecuting Authority certificate stating that the NPA would not prosecute him. The NPA’s intentions were not yet clear.

“A private prosecution works exactly like any other prosecution but instead of the State, you have a private legal team. It can have the same consequences,” said Sandberg.

He said the group could have pursued a charge such as murder or attempted murder, but wanted only the truth behind Aggett’s death.

“All we want is to get this man in court, in the dock, and to tell the truth,” he said.

They previously called for Aggett’s interrogators - Whitehead and his superior at the time, Arthur Cronwright - to be prosecuted. They wrote to Justice Minister Jeff Radebe, who replied that the matter had been considered by the Priority Crimes Litigation Unit in the NPA and the Hawks.

Cronwright’s whereabouts were unknown.

Sandberg believed the probe was moving too slowly, so the support group decided on private prosecution.

“This needs to get finalised. It’s more than three decades later,” he said. “Out of all the unresolved detention cases, Neil’s is the one that, if it’s pushed through the justice system, will help open the door for others to get justice down the line.”

Cape Times

Alliance is still safe - Mantashe

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ANC secretary-general Gwede Mantashe has poured cold water on reports that the tripartite alliance is in danger.

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Cape Town - ANC secretary-general Gwede Mantashe has moved to quell fears that the tripartite alliance is in danger, saying there is “no visible threat” at this stage.

Speaking on the sidelines of the ANC Western Cape’s volunteer launch in Khayelitsha on Sunday, Mantashe said plans by the National Union of Metalworkers of South Africa (Numsa) to dump Cosatu and the ruling party were “not an issue”.

This was because the ANC was in alliance with Cosatu, not Numsa.

Mantashe’s statement came in the wake of Numsa’s revolt - less than six months before the elections next year - over the suspension of Cosatu’s embattled general secretary, Zwelinzima Vavi.

The Cape Times’s sister paper, The Sunday Independent, reported on Sunday that Numsa discussion documents ahead of next month’s special national congress had proposed a breakaway from Cosatu and the formation of a civic movement or a new political party to the left of the ANC.

Numsa, which has about 320 000 members, has already withheld its R8 million budgeted for the ANC’s election campaign due to its unhappiness about Vavi’s suspension.

But Mantashe said on Sunday one “should not put the cart before the horse” and Numsa’s proposed breakaway was at this stage just a recommendation to its national congress next month, not a resolution.

He said Numsa’s plan was not an indication of Cosatu’s loyalty to the alliance comprising the ANC, SACP, Cosatu and the South African National Civic Organisation.

“There’s no issue around Cosatu. The ANC is in an alliance with Cosatu, Numsa is an affiliate. The dynamics will be dealt with as such… in that, there are issues in the federation and we will help them resolve it… at this point, there is no visible threat to the alliance,” said Mantashe.

“One thing I try not to do is to pretend to be a prophet... We can’t put the cart before the horse.”

However, Mantashe expressed a concern over the problems facing Cosatu, which seems poised for a split.

“The federation must be strong. We can’t be happy. What’s bad for Cosatu is bad for the alliance,” he said.

Cosatu president S’dumo Dlamini said Numsa had not yet taken a final decision about dumping Cosatu and the ANC, and he was confident that the union would remain in the labour federation.

Four of Numsa’s regions - the equivalent of provinces - have insisted that the union should dump Cosatu or force it to leave the tripartite alliance.

Numsa leaders in Kwazulu-Natal, Western Cape, Mpumalanga and Eastern Cape said the alliance was being led by “neo-liberals” who had “sold out” on the Freedom Charter and the struggle for the working class.

The leaders include Numsa Western Cape regional leader Vuyo Lufele and his KwaZulu-Natal counter-part Mbuso Ngubane.

The others spoke on condition of anonymity because they feared victimisation.

They have labelled Cosatu’s decision to investigate Numsa a strategy by President Jacob Zuma’s supporters, led by Dlamini, to neutralise Numsa and prevent it from taking part in the federation’s special congress next year.

They said the probe was also a move by Zuma’s sympathisers to stop Numsa from using the special congress to reinstate Vavi, remove his nemesis and change Cosatu’s ideological trajectory.

Cosatu’s central executive committee is probing Numsa for allegedly defying the federation’s call to participate in its failed national strike against e-tolls and labour brokers, among other things, in line with congress resolutions.

Cape Times

Man in court for 8-year-old’s murder

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A man accused of raping and killing an eight-year-old Uniondale girl is already facing another rape charge.

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Cape Town - A man accused of raping and killing an eight-year-old girl appeared in the Uniondale Magistrate's Court in the Southern Cape on Monday, the National Prosecuting Authority said.

Western Cape spokesman Eric Ntabazalila said the man was charged with kidnapping, raping, and killing Shafeeka Baartman.

He did not apply for bail and the matter was postponed to January 13 for further investigation.

Ntabazalila said the man was out on bail for another rape case at the time of his arrest.

The victim in that case initially wanted to withdraw the charges.

"The State was on the verge of withdrawing the charges today but after a discussion between the prosecutor and the victim, the victim has indicated that she wants to continue with the trial," he said.

"This means the accused will appear on two cases of rape, and also kidnapping and murder (on January 13)

Shafeeka Baartman was found with a scarf around her neck and her legs tied with clothing at a house on Friday night, Captain Bernadine Steyn said at the weekend.

Earlier in the day, the girl was sent by her mother to a friend's house to fetch money.

"On her way to the house (a) suspect approached her on foot and took her to his house... where he allegedly raped and murdered her," said Steyn.

The man was arrested on a farm outside Uniondale on Saturday. She said the preliminary autopsy results suggested that the cause of death could have been strangulation.

Ntabazalila said people picketed outside the court on Monday, protesting against rape and demanding the man not be granted bail.

The group handed a memorandum to prosecutor Gerda Marx, who was a case manager at a care centre in George.

In court, Marx said the accused had a police dog wound and received medical help.

 

Sapa

EFF promises houses for all in Cape

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Delivery of services to poor residents of the Western Cape was at the heart of the message from the EFF in Mitchells Plain.

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Cape Town - Delivery services to poor residents of the Western Cape was the message from the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) during a campaign meeting in Mitchells Plain on Sunday.

The meeting, held in the Portlands sports complex, attracted about 30 people.

The party’s regional co-ordinator, Menzi Manyonga, said they would not only promise, but deliver to those who voted for them.

“We are happy to see the coloured community take a stand, and I want to promise you that the EFF is the way to go.

“The DA and ANC came and made promises and did not deliver, but we are here to make that change.”

Manyonga added that they were disappointed in President Jacob Zuma and his party “as they quickly forgot about the voters after they came into power”.

“He (Zuma) tells the people to vote for him and forgets about those same people five years down the line. We don’t only speak, but we will go to the communities and we will deliver.”

The party was founded in August by ousted ANC Youth League president Julius Malema.

The party’s provincial convener, Nazier Paulsen, referred to the EFF leader as the “commander in chief and president in waiting”, and said they were planning to “take back our mines and banks”.

“We will take back our banks and our mines but we will do it in a clever way and we will provide the people with loans for housing and cars with zero interest.”

Paulsen said if they were to win the Western Cape they would ensure everyone had a house.

“What kind of government does this to its people? It should be illegal for the government to live comfortably and their people don’t.

“When we had the floods here a couple weeks ago where was the government? That was not a natural disaster but a political disaster.”

Paulsen said the party was not an ordinary party but a revolutionary one.

“Normally size doesn’t matter but in a revolution it does, and we are a revolutionary party and we will make sure that there won’t be a person that is unemployed under the EFF.”

Cape Argus

Brutal attack on Gugulethu woman

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Police are still searching for the suspect in the brutal murder and rape of a Gugulethu woman.

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Cape Town -

Police are still searching for the suspect in the murder and rape of a Gugulethu woman on Friday.

Namhla Nomqa, 22, was found face down next to the perimeter wall of a home in NY 89. Her hands had been tied behind her back and her pants pulled down. She had been assaulted, had lost an eye, and a bloodied brick lay next to her body.

Just six months earlier, her brother, 27-year-old Yanda Nomqa, was murdered in nearby Philippi.

Also on Friday evening, eight-year-old Shafeeka Baartman from Uniondale was found raped and murdered in a home in Dekella Circle in the Karoo town. Her body was found shortly after her mother had sent her to a friend’s house to fetch money.

Police spokeswoman Captain Bernadine Steyn said while Shafeeka had been on her way to the house, a suspect had approached her on foot and taken her to his house in Dekella Circle where he allegedly raped and murdered her.

“She was found with a scarf around her neck and her legs tied with clothes,” Steyn said.

A preliminary autopsy report suggested Shafeeka had been strangled.

On Saturday, police arrested a 31-year-old man on a farm outside Uniondale in connection with the murder and rape. He was due to appear in Uniondale Magistrate’s Court today.

The two incidents occurred shortly before Monday’s launch of the national 16 Days of Activism for No Violence Against Women and Children, based on an international UN initiative.

The Western Cape launch of the programme by the provincial police commissioner, Lieutenant-General Arno Lamoer, was scheduled for this morning in the Weltevreden community hall in Samora Machel, Nyanga, – less than 3km from where Nomqa’s body was found.

“The death of Namhla will be a rallying call at the launch. We condemn the murder in the strongest terms and vow that the perpetrator will be brought to book,” Lamoer told the Cape Argus early on Monday.

“Our message at the launch will be that 16 days needs to be converted into 365 days of activism. The struggle against gender violence is ongoing, around the clock.”

The campaign was being supported by Men For Change, an organisation of men who stand against rape and gender violence, Lamoer said, stressing that the emphasis of gender activism was all too often placed on the victims and on what they should and should not be doing.

“This year we would like to focus on targeting and educating men,” he said.

Phumla Williams, acting chief executive of the government’s communication service, said the government was doing all it could to fight child and women abuse.

“We introduced the 16 Days of Activism for No Violence Against Women and Children campaign to conscientise South Africans of the unacceptably high levels of violence and abuse against women and children.

“While, as a society, we rightly express our shock, condemnation and disbelief at these atrocious crimes (against women and children), there is a desperate need for early action. It is in our power and within our means as South Africans, even in the smallest of ways, to contribute to the fight against the abuse of women and children.”

Police have asked anyone with information about Nomqa’s murder to contact Crime Stop at 08600 10111.

* Police are investigating a double murder and an attempted murder in Kleinvlei after a man and a woman were shot dead and another man wounded.

Provincial police spokesman Captain FC van Wyk said the shooting in Impala Street was reported on Saturday afternoon.

The circumstances are being investigated but police have reports that there was one, unidentified, attacker.

* In Hanover Park a 28-year-old man was shot dead early on Sunday at the taxi rank.

Police are investigating a murder case. No arrests had been made by late Sunday afternoon.

daneel.knoetze@inl.co.za

Cape Argus

Cape braced for ‘massive’ march

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The group that led the march that turned violent in Cape Town has warned businesses to close their doors on Friday.

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 Cape Town - The group that led the march that turned violent in the Cape Town’s CBD last month has warned businesses to close their doors on Friday, when they plan to march again, in spite of a refusal by the city authorities to grant them permission.

The Cape Town Informal Settlements Organisation intends to march on the Western Cape Provincial Legislature to present a memorandum to Premier Helen Zille.

Last month, the organisation led a march which was legal but ended in mayhem, with breakaway groups looting stalls and attacking traders.

After the violence, the city said it planned to sue ANC councillor Loyiso Nkohla and former ANC councillor Andile Lili – among a group that have become known as poo-fighters for dumping human waste – who it alleged led the breakaway group.

After the march, both Lili and Nkohla told the Cape Times a second march was planned for Friday.

The city has denied the group permission to march, saying it has credible evidence to show that “such a gathering could result in a serious disruption to vehicular and pedestrian traffic, injury to persons and possible damage to property”.

But on Monday, Cape Town Informal Settlements spokesman Sithembele Majoba said this would not stop them.

“There will be no cancellation at all. Whether it’s legal or not, we will march,” he said.

He said they would again wait for Zille to address them.

The march would start at 10am at the Grand Parade and the group would make its way to the legislature.

He said at least 50 000 residents from areas including Gugulethu, Strand, Delft, Mfuleni and Khayelitsha were expected. “We’re encouraging all shops and businesses to close. It’s going to be massive.”

“With the last strike there were opportunistic criminals in the CBD who started the looting and were then joined by our people. We want businesses to be watchful, but as the organisation we will try to ensure that there will be no looting or violence,” Majoba said.

He called on Zille to accept the memorandum from protesters. “During the last strike, she refused to accept the memorandum and that just fuelled the anger of the protesters. Government should stop sidelining poor people like this.”

Some street vendors and shopowners who had their stores damaged said they would open, but others said they would not take the risk.

Mahamad Ahmad Farah, a vendor in St George’s Mall who was injured, said: “They took all my stuff and I lost R25 000. I will open my stand on Friday because I’m trying to recover the money I lost.”

 

Bag It store manager Frank Agbuba said he would not risk opening as he had spent R40 000 to repair broken windows. “I am too afraid to open because my future profit is gone.”

Mavuyi Noyila, who sells sculptures and accessories, said: “If they take my stuff again, I will deal with them. This is my business and it’s my children’s bread. If I don’t sell, and close, my kids will not eat.”

 

City media manager Priya Reddy said after consulting with police and the march’s convener, the application for Friday’s gathering had been turned down.

 

On Monday, police spokesman Frederick van Wyk said: “There will be sufficient law enforcement deployed to deal with any kind of marches.”

 

caryn.dolley@inl.co.za

Cape Times


Cop claims colleague stroked his thigh

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A Cape Town police officer says he has been sexually harassed by a colleague on several occasions.

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Cape Town - A Cape Town metro police officer has approached the Equality Court for redress after a female colleague allegedly repeatedly sexually harassed him, The Times reported on Tuesday.

The 39-year-old superintendent accused the City of Cape Town of failing to protect him from the officer, of the same rank, who allegedly made sexually provocative remarks and once stroked his thigh.

The man said he launched the legal action as a last resort after his managers did not take his complaints seriously.

In court papers, he said the problems began in January, when he had to raise the height of his computer screen to avoid her stares.

Incidents listed included the woman asking to sit on his lap and suggesting undressing in front of him.

Once he played with a stress ball in the office and she appeared in the doorway.

“(She) opened her legs and suggested I need to bowl the stress ball through her legs.”

The incidents caused him “emotional and professional turmoil, embarrassment, shame, trouble in marriage (and) brought my good name into disrepute”, he said. - Sapa

Two rapes, murders precede annual drive

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“When will we ever be able to celebrate the freedom of women and children in this country?”

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Cape Town - Minutes after visiting a Gugulethu property where Namhla Nomqa, 22, was found raped and murdered, provincial police commissioner Lieutenant-General Arno Lamoer launched the Western Cape’s 16 Days of Activism.

He asked: “When will we ever be able to celebrate the freedom of women and children in this country?”

He was addressing a gathering of police, NGOs, government members and journalists at Weltevreden community hall in Samora Machel.

The 16 Days of Activism for No Violence Against Women and Children Campaign is an international campaign run annually from November 25 (International Day of No Violence against Women) to December 10 (International Human Rights Day). The period includes Universal Children’s Day and World Aids Day.

In the next two weeks, the police will open a number of “victim-friendly rooms” and “domestic violence offices”.

This year’s 16 Days was preceded by the rape and murder of Nomqa in Gugulethu, as well as an eight-year-old in Uniondale at the weekend.

On Monday, a 31-year-old man appeared in the Uniondale Magistrate’s Court, charged with kidnapping, raping and murdering Shafeeka Baartman.

“At the time of being arrested, the accused was out on bail. He was facing a charge of rape,” said Eric Ntabazalila, National Prosecuting Authority spokesman.

On Saturday Nomqa was found dead in the garden of a house near her home.

She was half naked, her hands were tied and her head had been smashed in.

daneel.knoetze@inl.co.za

Cape Argus

Gang-ravaged areas brace for crime surge

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Cape Flats residents have been warned of an increase in gang-related violence during the festive season.

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Cape Town - With more money circulating during the festive period, crime is expected to rise in gang-ravaged areas such as Hanover Park and Mitchells Plain, says Abie Isaacs, chairman of the Mitchells Plain Community Police Forum (CPF).

Gang activities had slowed in Lavender Hill in recent months, but had increased in Hanover Park and Mitchells Plain.

“Drug turf is getting smaller and there is more police intervention. Money this time of year is in high circulation, so it’s not only gang-on-gang violence, but also white-collar crime.”

Matrics at Mount View Secondary School in Hanover Park wrote their English exam on Monday to the sound of gunshots, and p

rincipal Archie Benjamin said police were now stationed outside the school gates.

He said not a year went by without gang activity during exams and the festive period. “Our children are traumatised and have to deal with it through counsellors.”

Since police had been deployed to Manenberg, violence had flared up in Hanover Park.

“We normally advise the pupils to come to school earlier and in the afternoon we phone the police to patrol the area when they go home.”

Dino Abrahams, principal of Crystal High School in Hanover Park, said not one of his 29 years at the school had passed without disruptions.

“At night when children are supposed to be studying, the shooting begins. Our kids have all these barriers impacting on learning. Last week while pupils walked to school they had to dodge bullets and then looked at the body of someone who had been shot dead.”

Hanover Park CPF spokesman Weldon Cameron said drug dealing caused flare-ups at this time of year.

“Some members do not want to be part of the peace treaty. It is, however, mostly the youngsters shooting at each other.”

While gang violence in Lavender Hill has abated, robberies have increased.

Steenberg CPF chairman Kevin Southgate urged people to be careful when carrying money, adding that police, law enforcement and the neighbourhood watch would put measures in place to ensure residents’ safety.

natasha.bezuidenhout@inl.co.za

Cape Argus

‘Black caucus put Zille in her place’

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The so-called "black caucus" in the DA has put Helen Zille firmly in her place, Cosatu in the Western Cape has said.

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Cape Town - It appears the so-called “black caucus” in the DA has put leader Helen Zille firmly in her place, Cosatu in the Western Cape said on Tuesday.

“Helen Zille and the white defenders of the apartheid generational advantage in South Africa were soundly beaten by the black caucus of the DA,” Congress of SA Trade Unions provincial secretary Tony Ehrenreich said in a statement.

“Helen Zille and the DA appear to 'kick her traditional white support base into touch' at their policy conference in Cape Town over the weekend.”

Speaking at the end of her party's federal council meeting in Cape Town on Sunday, Democratic Alliance Zille said race remained a legitimate measure of disadvantage in South Africa.

She said the conference could be summarised in three broad themes.

“The first is we support BBBEE (broad-based black economic empowerment) that creates jobs… The second is that black advancement benefits everyone. And the third is we support BBBEE when it is broad-based and productive.”

She said this did not imply the party supported the ANC's approach to redress.

Ehrenreich said it would be interesting to see how the DA's white supporters reacted to what he called affirmative action with a few “frills” becoming part of the party's policy to attract black voters.

“This poses an interesting dilemma for politics in the Western Cape and politics in the DA in the run up to the general elections.

“Zille is playing a high risk game assuming that whites will not go to another party and that blacks are the most important numbers for their party to secure,” he said. - Sapa

Girl was scared of De Jager court told

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Murdered teenager Charmaine Mare twice told people she was scared of Johannes de Jager, the Western Cape High Court has heard.

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Cape Town -

Johannes de Jager reported Mpumalanga teenager Charmaine Mare missing on the same day he allegedly murdered her, the Western Cape High Court has heard.

Constable Nozibonele Mnxeba testified on Monday that De Jager and three others went to the Kraaifontein police station on January 11 to report her missing.

At the start of the trial De Jager said he had pulled Charmaine and she had slipped and fallen, hitting her head against the bath. He hid her body in a municipal drain, but was unable to pull her out two days later until he had cut off her limbs.

The State alleges that De Jager killed Charmaine, 16, after she rejected his sexual advances.

De Jager is also on trial for the May 2008 murder of prostitute Hiltina Alexander, 18.

Charmaine went to Kraaifontein on January 3 to live with her friend Kristen White and Kristen’s mother, Carol, because things were tough back home, Carol White testified on Monday.

But months previously White had booked a four-day cruise for herself, Kristen and De Jager’s son, Nick, from January 7. Charmaine stayed home with De Jager, White’s live-in boyfriend.

White told the court that De Jager met the family after their cruise at about 9am on January 11, and while driving home Kristen received messages from Charmaine’s cellphone number. In one message, Charmaine said De Jager was sitting next to her and that she was scared. She also said he had tried to sleep with her.

White confronted De Jager, but he denied it, saying he last saw Charmaine before he left for the harbour. Once at home White went looking for Charmaine.

By 7pm that day De Jager, Kristen, Nick and a neighbour went to file the missing persons report. Mnxeba testified that De Jager provided the information, and signed each page.

But Sakkie Maartens, for De Jager, said his client supplied limited information to the police and that he had to refer to Kristen for most of the details.

Lieutenant-Colonel Willem Rademeyer gave evidence about a Kraaifontein estate agent who told police that Charmaine had asked him for money to go back home because “she was scared of the man she was staying with”. The agent refused, but gave her his cellphone number so she could contact him if she felt threatened.

Two days later, Charmaine’s scorched torso was discovered in an open field near the Kraaifontein shooting range. Her limbs were missing.

On January 15, detectives seized De Jager’s Ford Mustang and Charmaine’s cellphone that was found inside a pocket of De Jager’s leather jacket. He was arrested the same day.

The trial continues on Tuesday.

jade.otto@inl.co.za

Cape Argus

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