A Pollsmoor Prison inmate was stabbed 21 times during a gang fight, which left nine other inmates injured.

Cape Town -

A Pollsmoor Prison inmate was stabbed 21 times during a gang fight, which left nine other inmates injured, the correctional services department said on Friday.

Five offenders were admitted to public hospitals after the fight between the 26 gang and 28 gang members.

“Two of those injured were referred to Victoria Hospital in Wynberg, while another three were referred to Groote Schuur Hospital for treatment,” said Western Cape regional commissioner Delekile Klaas.

It was the second fight that had broken out at Pollsmoor this week.

“Before this, another five were injured in a gang fight among members of the 26 gang,” said Klaas.

Most of the inmates had been discharged from hospital, with three remaining for treatment.

“One of those still being treated was admitted to the Intensive Care Unit with 21 stab wounds.”

Klaas said the situation had been brought under control after members of the department's Emergency Support Team (EST) had been deployed to the jail.

Police were investigating the incidents.

“During our search and seizure operations we confiscated cellphones, chargers, drugs, such as tik, a DSTV Walka and dangerous self-made weapons.”

Klaas said the ringleaders had been separated from other prisoners and were being held in single cells to prevent a recurrence of the violence.

The EST teams were on high alert, with department managers being recalled from leave to help normalise the situation.

The fights at Pollsmoor follow similar violence that broke out in St Albans Prison in Port Elizabeth and Groenpunt Prison in the Free State this month.

Three prisoners were killed and scores injured in a gang-related fight at St Albans last week.

On January 7 inmates at the Groenpunt facility went on a rampage, torching their cells and offices at the prison.

Four warders and around 50 maximum sentence inmates were injured in the incident. - Sapa

Charmaine Mare has “spoken from the grave” in celphone recordings pleading with her alleged murderer not to have sex with her.

Cape Town - Police say sixteen-year-old murder victim Charmaine Mare has “spoken from the grave” after they obtained 15 recordings from her cellphone in which she pleads with her alleged murderer not to have sex with her.

The girl recorded the conversations between herself and the man suspected of killing her, Johan de Jager, shortly before she was murdered earlier this month, various police investigators working on the case have revealed to Weekend Argus.

The investigators may not be named in terms of police protocol.

De Jager, 48, is alleged to have cut off her arms and legs with a boltcutter on January 11 and placed them together with her torso inside a drain close to the Kraaifontein home where he lived and where she visited a female friend and the friend’s mother. He allegedly later dumped the body parts elsewhere.

Investigators believe the girl was raped.

Police found her cellphone in the Kraaifontein home and were shocked when they started extracting some of the content.

One of the investigators told Weekend Argus: “It was heart-breaking to listen to the recordings. She keeps saying: ‘No, uncle, no. I can’t’. He says: ‘But why not?’ and she answers: ‘Because I’m underage, I’m not yet 16’.”

“On the recordings, she can also be heard saying: ‘No uncle, you can’t come and lie by me. Uncle, I’m only 16 and I don’t want to’,” said the policeman.

Weekend Argus also understands De Jager allegedly refused to give her food unless she agreed to have sex with him.

The investigator said in another message the girl recorded, she said: “I’m s**t scared.”

She also contacted her mother and another woman to tell them how afraid and unsafe she felt. Although this woman advised her to go to the police, she never got that far.

The investigator further described De Jager’s actions after he allegedly killed the girl.

“He tried to get her whole body into the drain, but it wouldn’t fit, so he cut her arms and legs off and fitted her body into the drain,” the police investigator told Weekend Argus.

Mare, from Mpumalanga, had been visiting her friend in Kraaifontein from January 3. Her friend’s mother is De Jager’s girlfriend.

De Jager’s girlfriend and her daughter apparently thought nothing of asking Mare to stay at their Kraaifontein home with De Jager for four days from Monday, January 7 to Thursday, January 10, while the two went on a boat cruise between Cape Town and Namibia.

On Friday morning, January 11, at 7am, De Jager sat next to Mare’s body at the Kraaifontein home and wondered what to do with it, police investigators claim.

But by 9am, when De Jager picked up Mare’s friend and the friend’s mother from their boat-trip, he had gotten rid of the body by hiding it in a drain close to the home.

When De Jager picked them up, “He told them: ‘Listen here, she went to the shop this morning and she never came back’,” one of the investigators said.

That Sunday and Monday, he allegedly took his chance when his girlfriend and her daughter were out of the house, to remove the body parts from the drain, transport them elsewhere and either dump them or hide them.

Police suspect that on Sunday night, January 13, when De Jager was alone and his girlfriend had left the Kraaifontein home, he allegedly removed the torso, took it five kilometres away to a field across the road from the Kraaifontein shooting range and set it alight.

On the Monday, he allegedly dumped the victim’s legs alongside a bridge in Macassar Road leading to the N2 highway between Somerset West to Cape Town.

Later, he allegedly removed her arms from the drain and hid them in a box underneath a car at the Kraaifontein home.

He was arrested on January 15, appeared in the Blue Down’s Magistrate’s Court the next day, and made a second appearance in the court on Thursday, when the case was postponed until February 15 for a bail hearing.

Weekend Argus

The mother of a young horror smash victim says the man responsible for the accident is “a lucky boy.”

Cape Town - The man held responsible for the death of 24-year-old Lauren Devine, who died when an object crashed through the windscreen of her vehicle on the M3 and hit her in the face, is “a lucky boy who got off lightly”, according to her mother, Alison Devine.

She was speaking to Weekend Argus yesterday after the Athlone Magistrate’s Court sentenced 33-year-old Johan Crous to three years of correctional supervision for her daughter’s death.

Crous’s car crashed into the guardrail separating the lanes on the M3 highway and a rock, or object, which dislodged during the accident, smashed through Devine’s daughter’s windscreen, killing her.

Crous and his wife had been drinking beer before the crash, although a charge of driving under the influence of alcohol was subsequently withdrawn. He was convicted of culpable homicide and yesterday sentenced to correctional supervision.

Devine said although she was not angry or vengeful, bearing in mind the number of fatalities on South Africa’s roads as a result of negligent driving, she thought that Crous should serve a term in jail.

“The more people are convicted and jailed, the more awareness there is,” she said.

Western Cape Transport and Public Works MEC Robin Carlisle said he respected the sentence, but was disappointed that a term of direct imprisonment was not imposed.

“I remain certain that effective jail time is the appropriate sentence for someone like Crous. Too often people have been able to evade the conditions of house arrest, making the sentence itself ineffective in serving as a proper deterrent to dangerous and life-threatening behaviour on our roads,” he said.

Weekend Argus

33-year-old Johan Crous has been sentenced to three years’ house arrest after dislodging an object that killed a young woman.

Cape Town - Three years of correctional supervision and house arrest.

That’s the sentence Athlone Magistrate Heather Paulse imposed on Johan Crous, 33 – the man held responsible for the death of Lauren Devine, 24, on the M3 highway in August 2008. And, if he doesn’t comply with his sentence, he will be jailed for three years, the court warned.

Devine died when Crous’s car crashed into the guardrail separating the incoming and outgoing lanes of the highway.

A rock, or similar object, was dislodged during the crash and smashed through the windscreen of Devine’s car, striking her in the face. She sustained a 9cm head laceration and inhaled blood, before dying at the scene minutes later.

Crous and his wife Samantha had returned from watching a rugby match at Peddlers on the Bend in Constantia, where they each had two beers.

Crous was arrested on September 23, 2008 and charged with culpable homicide and driving under the influence of alcohol. In 2010 the charge of driving under the influence of alcohol was withdrawn and in July last year Crous was convicted of culpable homicide.

In passing sentence yesterday, Magistrate Paulse said no sentence would heal the Devine family’s wounds or the devastation to their lives.

She said it was clear from media reports and the factual position on Western Cape roads that, as a result of negligent acts, devastation occurred daily, if not hourly.

The court had to take that into account, she added.

Paulse also said the public expected that offenders be punished in such a manner that the sentence serve as a deterrent to others and so that effect was given to their demand for retribution.

Turning to Crous’s personal circumstances, she said he was a first offender who was gainfully employed and who had a young family and a mother who had supported him throughout the trial.

Referring to the defence’s submission that the court regard Crous as a fallen angel, Paulse said that, after looking at the evidence before her and his demeanour, she could not find anything to support such a submission.

“Instead, what I find is evidence of a remorseless man, who does not accept responsibility for his actions,” she said.

She also dismissed the defence’s argument that Crous was on the road to reform.

“How can anyone be on the road to reform if he does not accept responsibility?”

She sentenced him to 36 months of correctional supervision, which includes 24-hour house arrest and 16 hours a month of community service.

He is also not allowed to consume any alcohol or narcotics for the duration of his sentence.

The magistrate also told him that being under house arrest meant that he was not allowed outside his garden.

”This sentence may not be ameliorated,” she told him.

Crous must report on Monday to the commission of correctional services in Wynberg to start serving his sentence.

Crous’s attorney, Keith Gess, applied for leave to appeal against the conviction, but Paulse turned down the application. Gess later told Weekend Argus he had been instructed to petition the judge president of the Western Cape High Court for leave to appeal.

Weekend Argus

Helen Zille has been accused of a "serious case" of hypocrisy by gunning for the influential Gupta family.

Cape Town - DA leader Helen Zille has been accused of a “serious case” of hypocrisy by gunning for the influential Gupta family – this while she had gone cap in hand to the Guptas and had come away with “substantial” donations for her party.

While Zille this week publicly snubbed the Guptas – the founders and majority shareholders of The New Age newspaper and controversial backers of President Jacob Zuma – by pulling out of a New Age breakfast briefing following reports the breakfasts were sponsored by cash-strapped state-owned enterprises, sources told Weekend Argus that the party had in the past been a beneficiary of the billionaire Gupta brothers.

A well-placed source confirmed that Zille had gone to the Gupta’s sprawling compound in Saxonwold, Johannesburg in 2011 to personally ask for a donation and had emerged with a “substantial” cheque. It is believed the Gupta’s donation ran to several hundred thousand rands.

Highly-placed government insiders on Saturday took a swipe at Zille, saying her hypocrisy was “shocking”.

When approached for comment on Saturday, Zille pussyfooted around the issue, neither denying nor confirming that her party had benefited generously from the controversial family.

“The issue is not whether the Guptas have ever donated money to the DA,” Zille said when asked whether she or her party had received any funding from the Guptas.

“The issue is, if they did, whether the DA ever channelled huge amounts of public money to them in return. The answer is no.”

Zille added that the problem was not that the Guptas were ANC donors, but that they should not be benefactors of President Zuma.

“As with Schabir Shaik, it creates a major conflict of interest. The problem is, in return, if they get significant business advantages from the state (including State Owned Enterprises). That is the issue.

“What we have here is the ANC in government paying huge amounts of money to the ANC in business, who in turn gives large sums to the ANC as a party and the president’s family,” she countered.

The Gupta brothers were travelling abroad this weekend and could not be contacted for comment.

DA insiders said media reports dating back to 2011 had made mention of suspicions that the party had accepted funds from the Guptas, but because the DA had centralised its funding operations only a handful of key party members in the inner circle were aware of who the main party funders are.

“Nobody knows when or how much money was donated,” another party source said.

There has for some time been a drive to get the government to review the issue of transparency in political party financing.

The DA, like the ANC, does not reveal details about donors who in the past controversially included German fraudster Jurgen Harksen as well as slain businessman Brett Kebble.

warda.meyer@inl.co.za

Weekend Argus

Farmers should allow their workers to return without facing disciplinary action after their strike was called off, a trade union said.

Western Cape - Western Cape farmers should allow their workers to return without facing disciplinary action after their strike was called off, a trade union said on Sunday.

“We reiterate our call on all farm owners to allow all their workers back and nullify disciplinary actions and to allow those staying on farms to continue dwelling on farms,” Food and Allied Workers' Union general secretary Katishi Masemola said in a statement.

“If anything, we still encourage all other farm owners and management to turn the new page by negotiating with trade unions and by recognising their right to organise farm workers.”

Masemola said Fawu leaders held meetings with workers in Ceres and De Doorns over the weekend. About 700 attended the meeting in Ceres, which was hosted by the African National Congress. He said 500 workers attended the meeting in De Doorns.

The union rejected calls for the strike to continue on Monday.

“We informed workers that as Fawu we distance the union from such irresponsible call and that we expect workers to report for duty on Monday and beyond.”

Issues raised at the meetings included victimisation of labourers returning to work, some farm owners refusing workers to return, dismissal and eviction notices.

“Fawu (will) defend its members, legally or through collective power, and calls for (a) selected or targeted local consumer boycott or international retailer boycott.”

Farmworkers went on strike last year, demanding that the minimum daily wage be increased from R69 to R150, and that a cohesive land reform programme be implemented.

The Congress of SA Trade Unions announced on Tuesday that the strike had been called off, but said it would co-ordinate “the mother of all strikes against bad farmers” later in the year.

Agri Wes-Cape spokeswoman Porchia Adams said on Wednesday that workers had largely heeded the call to return to work.

On Saturday, ANC Youth League deputy president Ronald Lamola said farmworkers should not back down in their fight for a minimum daily wage of R150.

Speaking at an ANC by-election rally in Prince Alfred's Hamlet in the Boland, Lamola said workers should fight for a share of profits made on farms. Fawu and farm owners in Limpopo and the Eastern Cape were holding talks, he said. - Sapa

A four-year feud has been raging between next-door neighbours in Melkbosstrand and the police have had to step in.

Cape Town - A four-year feud has been raging between next-door neighbours in Melkbosstrand and the police have had to step in and ask the family who live on one side of the fence, Philip and Angelique Victor, to keep a diary of when their pet dogs made any noise.

On the other side of the fence are Arno and Ronel Vorster. Arno works as a strategic adviser for the City of Cape Town.

Angelique Victor says when a Melkbosstrand police officer was asked why the police were following up ridiculous claims, he told her that his job was on the line because Vorster worked for the city council.

Vorster denied this.

He admitted that complaints were laid against the Victors but said they were predominantly made by his wife.

“As a ratepayer my wife and I have the right to complain and lay a charge against any person who does not obey the law and causes a nuisance.

“This matter has absolutely nothing to do with my work and the city, as this is my democratic right as a ratepayer and registered property owner to live in peace and harmony,” said Vorster.

“I’ll get my day in court,”

he said. “The matter must follow a due legal process…”

The Victors claim the Vorsters have been “harassing” them since they started building their home in 2008 and that Melkbosstrand police have paid numerous visits to them – more frequently over the past two months – to investigate a range of complaints by the Vorsters.

These included any noise emanating from the Victors’ property, including dogs barking, music, children splashing in the pool and one complaint that “screams of domestic violence” were heard while the Victors were having a dinner party with two other couples.

“I (once) caught (Ronel Vorster) from next door with her garage door open, leaning out to hear the music from our house,” said Angelique Victor.

“She didn’t acknowledge me. I’ve only ever seen her in the shadows. I wouldn’t even know her in the street.

“It’s revolting and it’s so unnecessary.

“The cops are here so often that our neighbours must think we’re running a brothel,” she said.

She added that the main complaint from the Vorsters was the number of times thefamily’s dogs – a bulldog, Luca, aged 4, and Jack Russell, Jake, aged 13 – barked.

Jake had been described as the offending barker.

“Our dogs have only been unsupervised once since we’ve lived here.

“There is always someone here,” she said, adding that the dogs rarely made any noise.

Matters came to a head last month when the police asked the family to keep a “doggie diary” to record the number of times the dogs barked or made any noise, but the diary was empty because, said Angelique Victor, the dogs didn’t bark at all. But by mid-January, the police removed the dogs, impounded them and kept the empty diary.

“How does that justify them being impounded?” said Angelique Victor.

“Neighbours behind us have dogs that bark all the time. It doesn’t bother us.”

On the advice of their vet, they moved the dogs to Angelique Victor’s mother’s home. Luca returned to the family last week but the family decided to leave Jake with her mother until the police gave them permission to have him back.

“We’re living in silence at the moment. My kids can’t play. My son is scared to use his scooter because it might make a noise,” she said.

The Victors said they had tried to organise a meeting to resolve their differences, but the Vorsters “were not interested in talking to us and asked us not to correspond with them”.

Kylie Hatton, media spokeswoman for the city, said law enforcement staff treated all complaints from residents equally, and that allegations of unfair treatment were taken seriously.

She said the city was aware of complaints related to barking laid by Ronel Vorster and that the city was investigating.

Police spokesman Lieutenant Colonel Andrè Traut confirmed that a disturbance-of-the-peace case was being investigated.

At the time of going to print, peace had yet to be declared.

Weekend Argus

Experts in the Lotz murder case have distanced themselves from investigators whose theories are scheduled to be broadcast.

Cape Town - Several legal experts and investigators in the Inge Lotz murder case, including legendary detective Piet Byleveld, have firmly distanced themselves from two amateur investigators whose theories are scheduled to be broadcast on MNet’s Carte Blanche programme on Sunday night.

This comes amid a flurry of accusations of fraud, lies and defamation and a series of mysterious burglaries at the offices and homes of professionals linked to the case.

Inge Lotz was murdered in Stellenbosch in 2005. Her body was found with at least 50 wounds, including serious head injuries, but her murder remains unsolved.

Two amateur investigators, Thomas and Calvin Mollett, recently contacted key witnesses who had testified on behalf of Lotz’s former boyfriend, Fred van der Vyver,

who was acquitted at the end of a high-profile court case.

Van der Vyver is involved in a R47 million damages claim against the State for wrongful prosecution. The Cape High Court found the State liable, but the case is heading for a showdown when it goes on appeal in March in Bloemfontein.

The Molletts have complained to the International Association of Identification (IAI) in Los Angeles, US, that it was “undisputed” that Van der Vyver’s fingerprints linked him to the crime, despite this being rejected in the Cape High Court.

They initially made this complaint using the names Henry and John McAlpine but later changed their names to Thomas and Calvin Mollett, a move that smacked of dishonesty, according to local forensic analyst Dr David Klatzow, who worked on the Lotz case.

“The Molletts are committing fraud. They signed to the association as McAlpines. They are threatening people,” said Klatzow.

Van der Vyver’s defence advocates have submitted arguments to the International Association of Identification saying the Molletts were “deceitful”, “fraudulent” and were “telling blatant lies” that were “grossly defamatory”.

The Molletts have also sent witnesses in the case messages such as: “The end of the lies is nigh. Those who come forward and redeem themselves will be better off than those who don’t. No threat. A factual promise.”

Meanwhile a series of crimes have troubled professionals working on the Lotz case.

* Thieves stole laptop computers and equipment from Van der Vyver’s advocates, Dup De Bruyn and Barry Pienaar, from the lawyers’ Port Elizabeth offices in March.

* A few months ago, a robber tried to steal the laptop of a forensic expert involved in the case from his Cape Town home.

* On Tuesday thieves broke into Pienaar’s security complex apartment in PE and cut his electrical wires before being chased away.

Meanwhile Byleveld said of the amateur investigators’ probe: “I deal with facts. I don’t keep busy with perceptions and I don’t rely on hearsay. I don’t have a clue who they (the Molletts) are and I don’t want to know. I am investigating in my own way and I work on facts, not stories and tales.” He said he was investigating friends of Lotz and Van der Vyver.

Last week, Weekend Argus published details of a secret group, the Wolverines, whose members had been close to Lotz and Van der Vyver and had sent each other e-mail messages with homosexual and bisexual undertones. The person who uncovered the e-mails believes a member had been in love with Van der Vyver.

One of the main police investigators on the Lotz case, who may not be named because of police protocol, said he had not heard of the Molletts and they were on the wrong track.

“Fred should never have been arrested. He was working at Old Mutual at the time.”

Thomas Mollet said in an e-mail sent to Weekend Argus yesterday afternoon that they had compiled a report of over 500 pages involving the forensic evidence in the case.

He said they had used a different identity before because of safety concerns. He denied threatening witnesses.

Weekend Argus

The control of illegal items being smuggled into Pollsmoor is at the root of recent fighting, a top official has said.

Cape Town - The control of illegal items – including drugs and cellphones – being smuggled into Pollsmoor prison is at the root of bloody battles that broke out between rival gangs there on two consecutive days last week.

This is according to Delekile Klaas, the province’s correctional services department’s regional commissioner, who said 10 inmates were injured, one of them stabbed 21 times, during the attacks.

The first fight broke out between rival gangs in the juvenile section of Pollsmoor on Wednesday and five inmates were injured.

In a second fight the next day another five inmates were injured.

By Sunday one inmate remained in the intensive care unit at Groote Schuur Hospital and a second, who had undergone a few operations, was in Somerset Hospital.

Three inmates were in Pollsmoor’s hospital wing.

On Sunday Klaas said the main reason behind the fights was control of what was being smuggled into the prison. “We’re looking into where these items come from.”

Klaas said some officials, a minority, could be working with inmates and this was also being looked into.

On October 10 last year, a Pollsmoor warden was arrested for trying to smuggle two packets of tik, a packet of unused straws, 23 dagga sticks, two cellphones, five SIM cards and a cellphone charger to prisoners.

Klaas said this warden had been dismissed last week.

He urged citizens not to assist in smuggling illegal items into the prison.

Klaas said last week’s fights were between rival gangs, the 26s and 28s, in the juvenile section where 40 inmates were held.

“Most of them come from Khayelitsha, where they already belong to gangs... Some come from Bishop Lavis where they are Americans.”

The inmates had used whatever objects they could as weapons.

A team was monitoring the situation and Klaas said gang leaders had been identified and placed in another area, and the two rival gangs had been separated.

“When I went to see them in person and asked why are you fighting, all of them agreed that the moment you tell the truth you’re in trouble (with your gang),” he said.

The Pollsmoor attacks are the first in the Western Cape following violence in the Groenpunt prison in the Free State where a riot broke out on January 7 and clashes erupted between prisoners and warders on January 16.

Ten days ago at the St Albans Prison outside Port Elizabeth three inmates were killed and scores injured when a gang fight broke out.

The Pollsmoor fights prompted the Portfolio Committee on Correctional Services to urge the correctional services department to deal with inmate fights.

“The department must come up with strategies to eradicate gangsterism as it is becoming a cancer in prisons,” the committee’s chairman Vincent Smith said.

The Judicial Inspectorate for Correctional Services 2011/2012 annual report said there were 236 correctional centres around the country housing 158 165 inmates. Western Cape prisons had a 142 percent occupancy rate

caryn.dolley@inl.co.za

Cape Times

What started as a fun night out turned into a nightmare for a Cape student after eight men jumped his party of five.

Cape Town -

What started as a fun night out playing pool turned into a nightmare for a first-year college student after a gang of men jumped his party of five and beat him into a coma.

Jean Lambrechts is in the ICU at Tygerberg Hospital after a vicious and reportedly unprovoked attack.

Doctors said his condition was stable.

The 19-year-old hasn’t opened his eyes nor spoken a word since he was admitted over the weekend.

On Saturday morning, at around 1.30, Lambrechts and four friends were on their way to play pool at the popular nightspot Stones on Edward Street in Bellville.

Juan Strydom, 20, was part of the party of five and said they had all been laughing and joking about leaving things so late.

While walking through an underground parking lot on the way to the club they ran into a gang of eight men.

“They were well-dressed – they looked like they could’ve been at clubs,” said Strydom.

The gang started following and threatening them.

“The big guy pulled off his shirt and asked us if we wanted to start something,” he said.

Lambrechts had stepped in to try to reason with the group of men.

Strydom said his friend was being calm and was just telling the men to relax.

“But then he was punched in the jaw,” he said. The men then attacked them and Strydom was forced to defend himself.

Amid the chaos he could see them stomping on Lambrechts’ head.

“He was passed out on the ground and they just kept kicking him.”

The eight men eventually fled from the scene, leaving Strydom and his friends to rush a comatose Lambrechts to the hospital.

Strydom said the gang hadn’t taken anything.

Strydom suffered a few minor cuts and a bruised neck.

On Saturday, doctors removed two blood tumours from Lambrechts’ brain.

While the 19-year-old is steadily regaining control over his neck, his mother Henrietta Sauer is still distraught as it isn’t clear yet how much damage was done to his brain.

“I just want to hear his voice and hear that everything is alright,” she said.

Lambrechts was meant to start as a first-year at Prestige Academy on Monday, but his mother said those plans were put on hold while he recovered.

“We are just going to have to take this day by day,” she added.

She said her son was always calm and friendly and never looked for a fight.

She hoped that the people who did this to him would be brought to justice.

Police said they were aware of the incident and were investigating.

No suspects had been arrested at the time of going to print.

kieran.legg@inl.co.za

Cape Argus

The DA will not return money donated to the party by the Gupta family, which owns The New Age newspaper, says Helen Zille.

Cape Town -

The DA will not return money donated to the party by the Gupta family, which owns The New Age newspaper, as there is nothing wrong with businesses donating money to political parties, says Helen Zille.

She insisted it was not hypocritical to accept a donation from the Guptas for her party’s coffers, but to criticise government sponsorship of The New Age’s business breakfast briefings.

Last week, Zille publicly snubbed the Gupta family by pulling out of a scheduled New Age breakfast briefing after revelations that state-owned companies were sponsoring the events to the tune of millions.

“What is wrong is when governments abuse their power to channel huge amounts of money to their donors’ private businesses under the guise of sponsorships,” Zille said. “If you can show me anywhere that a DA government has done that, you can call me hypocritical.”

The Weekend Argus on Sunday reported that, according to sources, Zille had gone to the Gupta’s compound in Saxonwold, Joburg, in 2011 to personally ask for a donation and had emerged with a “substantial” cheque.

The ANC committed several years ago to review private political party funding but as yet no legislation to regulate this is on the cards. The DA was one of the parties that Idasa took to court in a bid to get them to reveal their private sources of funding.

Political Bureau

The wife of a former SA psychiatrist accused of sexually assaulting 10 patients in Canada has allegedly tried to bribe a juror.

Cape Town - The wife of a former South African psychiatrist accused of sexually assaulting 10 patients in Canada has been charged with contempt of court for allegedly trying to bribe a juror.

Erica Levin is married to Dr Aubrey Levin, the former head of psychiatry at 1 Military Hospital in Pretoria.

The psychiatrist, known as Dr Shock, headed a programme at the hospital during the apartheid years that was designed to “cure” gay soldiers with shock therapy.

Levin has been at her husband’s side in court every day for more than three months of the trial, according to the Calgary Herald.

The charges against Aubrey Levin were brought by former patients, mostly jailed prisoners for whom he provided psychiatric counselling on behalf of the Canadian government.

He initially faced 21 charges of sexual assault after former patients alleged he sexually abused them during court-ordered assessments, but 11 were withdrawn due to unco-operative witnesses and weak evidence.

The Calgary Herald reported that Levin had been under 24-hour house arrest following an encounter near the Calgary Courts Centre earlier this month and police had said a charge of obstruction of justice was expected to be laid early this week.

This was after Court of Queen’s Bench Justice Donna Shelley, who is presiding over the 73-year-old’s trial, cited Levin for contempt.

The Calgary Herald reported that a female juror had been dismissed two weeks ago after she wrote a letter outlining the alleged bribe. The juror had told Justice Shelley that she recognised the woman, who offered her either $1 000 (R9 200) or $10 000 in a white envelope, in exchange for a not guilty verdict.

The juror also told the judge the perpetrator had said “my husband” at least twice. According to the Calgary Herald, the police had acquired closed-circuit video involving the alleged bribe. Criminal charges could be laid after Aubrey Levin’s trial.

Cape Times

A former Cape Town area court manager has been convicted of indecently assaulting one of his subordinates six years ago.

Cape Town - A former Cape Town area court manager has been convicted of indecently assaulting one of his subordinates nearly six years ago.

Cape Town Regional Court Magistrate Herman Pieters found that Kenneth Sikiti’s evidence was improbable and “far from the truth”.

Pieters found that Sikiti had indecently touched a justice department employee in 2007 but was acquitted of sexually assaulting another in 2008.

Pieters said it was “extremely difficult” to come to a finding in such cases because, on one hand bosses abused their authority and on the other, staff took revenge. But in this case Pieters found that the women had no reason to falsely implicate Sikiti.

“He clearly exceeded his procedural bounds for someone in his position,” Pieters said referring to Sikiti’s evidence in which he admitted to having sex with one of the women.

Pieters found that the women made a professional impression on the court and accepted the evidence of one of the woman becauseshe had notified her husband at the start of inappropriate behaviour.

While Pieters said he thought the other woman may have been sexually assaulted by Sikiti, there was nothing to support her evidence.

She was a single witness and had to be treated with caution.

“I have a strong suspicion that her (the second woman’s) version is the truth but she is a single witness,” Pieters said.

Pieters found that the State proved beyond reasonable doubt that Sikiti was guilty of the indecent assault of the first woman but acquitted him of the sexual assault on the second woman.

State advocate Samantha Raphels told the court that Sikiti had no previous convictions, no pending cases and no warrants of arrest.

She asked that bail be set to secure that Sikiti return to court. “I don’t think that’s necessary,” Pieters said.

Sikiti’s legal team, advocate Theresa Ruiters and attorney Cecily-Ann Daniels said they would appeal Pieters’s conviction.

Sentencing is set to start on April 5.

jade.otto@inl.co.za

Cape Argus

The Western Cape government communications contract with TBWA/Hunt Lascaris – which expired in December – has been extended.

Cape Town - The Western Cape government communications contract awarded to TBWA/Hunt Lascaris in 2010 – which expired in December – has been extended until a new tender process is completed.

Provincial communications director Nick Clelland said a new tender process for a communications contract had begun and it would be ensured that all regulations, policies and prescripts were adhered to.

“This detailed process takes time and has necessitated an extension of the current service – perfectly allowable in terms of the existing contract,” Clelland said.

The communications tender – worth between R50 million and R70m – was awarded to TBWA/Hunt Lascaris in 2010 to develop a communications strategy for the provincial government.

In August 2011, the ANC asked Public Protector Thuli Madonsela to investigate whether the contract was awarded irregularly after the Sunday Times reported that the correct supply chain management procedures had not been followed.

The ANC in the Western Cape also filed a complaint against Clelland, Premier Helen Zille’s former chief adviser Ryan Coetzee, former provincial Education Department head Paul Boughey, and Zille’s former speech writer Gavin Davis for their alleged involvement in awarding the contract. The five denied the allegations and dismissed claims by the ANC as a “political smear campaign”.

In her final report on the tender, Madonsela made four findings of maladministration, but none of unlawfulness, which meant she would not recommend the contract was invalid or should be scrapped.

ANC provincial leader Marius Fransman said: “The Western Cape premier’s department under a cloud entered into a multimillion-rand communication contract and is still pumping at least a million rand a month into that company TBWA\Hunt Lascaris.

“The contract with TBWA\Hunt Lascaris was suspiciously renewed without starting a fresh competitive process – as was undertaken. Zille and her government, at the end of the dubious contract, unilaterally extended it at a vast cost to the taxpayer – at least a million rand a month. This excludes all kinds of extra incidental costs of millions that was claimed by TBWA\Hunt Lascaris. The estimated cost now ranges between R50m to R70m.”

In response, Clelland said: “Mr Fransman is doing his best to reheat the stone-cold storm in a teacup over the Western Cape government’s communications contract.

“The public protector found that there was no corruption in the awarding of the TBWA/Hunt-Lascaris contract; neither was there any political involvement, interference or manipulation in the procurement process. In short, the contract is legitimate and was validly awarded.”

clayton.barnes@inl.co.za

Cape Argus

The Cape’s oldest and most hotly anticipated horse race, the J&B Met, is expected to generate a whopping R58m for the province.

Cape Town - The Cape’s oldest and most hotly anticipated horse race, the J&B Met, is expected to generate a whopping R58 million for the province’s economy.

The country’s top racehorses will compete for a stake of R2.5m while about 50 000 guests are expected to descend on Kenilworth Racecourse in their finery for the glamorous spectacle on February 2.

This year the Met celebrates its 36th anniversary.

Grant Pascoe, the mayoral committee member for tourism, events and marketing, said the event was “one of Cape Town’s biggest, drawing the elite of the country’s fashion industry, punters and celebrities, and is a boost for domestic tourism”.

“It also speaks to Cape Town’s versatility as a location, a key quality in positioning the city as Africa’s events capital,” he added.

He said February was one of the busiest months in Cape Town and the event drew many international tourists as well as international participants who usually travelled with a group.

“As the number of participants continue to grow, so will the number of foreign guests.”

He said there would be a spike at accommodation establishments in the city.

“There’s also a spread across the sector - we find that stretches from the high-end luxury hotels to the small bed-and-breakfasts.”

Pascoe added that a recent assessment by Cape Town Routes Unlimited showed the Met had a R6.9m economic impact, through direct spending and accommodation costs.

Wesgro chief executive Nils Flatten said R58m was expected to be spent on domestic flights, catering, fashion and other features of the Met.

This included money spent by people coming into the city, on transport and hospitality.

An estimated R14m would be spent on fashion for the event.

“The first thing to note is that it’s the heart of destination marketing - the physical features of the destination. We want to market it globally, we want to prove we can host a global event,” he said.

The Met would also have spin-offs for the horse breeding sector, including the creation of a lot of jobs.

Flatten said last year, R300m was made from horses sold at the Cape yearling sale.

Mariëtte du Toit-Helmbold, Cape Town Tourism chief executive, said a number of tour operators put together short city break packages around the event each year, partnering with airlines and accommodation establishments, around the event each year.

These packages were reported to be selling well.

“The J&B Met is a signature lifestyle event on Cape Town’s annual event calendar, bringing visitors from across the country to Cape Town for a glamorous day at the track...

“The hosting of this event in Cape Town positions the city as a fun, creative and stylish leisure destination for domestic travellers.”

Here are some facts on the J&B Met:

* 16 – The number of horses taking part in the race

* 2 000m – The distance they run

* 50 000 – The number of people expected at Kenilworth Racecourse

* 2 500 – The number of guests expected at the J&B Met Hospitality Village and picnic spots

* 5 – The number of different parking areas in a 1km radius of the racecourse

* +-20 000 – Number of vehicles to bring spectators to the Met

* 600 – Individual stores that participate in the branding promotion for the Met in Cape Town, Joburg and Durban

* 2.5m - The stake for the oldest horse race in the country

* 36 - Number of years J&B sponsored the event

natasha.prince@inl.co.za

Cape Argus

A 14-year-old boy who has not been to school is one step closer to his first day in a classroom.

Cape Town - A 14-year-old boy who has not been to school is one step closer to his first day in a classroom.

Phakamane Blayi, of Wallacedene, has been spending his days at home or visiting neighbours while his siblings go to school.

Earlier this month the Cape Argus reported that his mother, Nophelo Blayi, blamed it on lack of documentation.

She doesn’t have an ID and her children don’t have birth certificates.

Her other children attend schools without the documents, but she said Phakamane had meningitis as a baby and would need to attend a school for children with special needs.

Blayi said she had previously tried to enrol him in such a school, but could not do so without an ID.

The family said they had not contacted the Western Cape Education Department for help, but social workers had visited their home and knew of Phakamane’s case.

Bronagh Casey, spokeswoman for Education MEC Donald Grant, said the department had visited Phakamane and his mother twice since the matter was reported to them.

“We are 100 percent committed to supporting him,” said Casey.

She said Phakamane had mental and physical disabilities and his mother had been asked to obtain his medical records from Tygerberg Hospital.

This would help the department to assess the appropriate school for Phakamane to go to.

“Our officials are also assisting the family in getting some kind of identification for the mother and child.

“Our psychologist, social worker and the circuit team manager are working on the way forward in terms of placement. It is most likely that he will be placed at a centre for intellectually and cerebrally disabled learners.”

Casey said officials were investigating the nearest, most suitable centre and were also looking at transport options.

Nophelo Blayi said she had tried to obtain a letter, but had been unable to get it from Tygerberg Hospital as the records were from too long ago.

She had been referred to another hospital, which she would visit on Monday.

“I would feel happy if Phakamane went to school. I have been very worried about his safety during the day when I go to work. I didn’t feel comfortable leaving him at home.”

ilse.fredericks@inl.co.za

Cape Argus

The SA Agulhas has arrived in Antarctica and delivered British adventurer Sir Ranulph Fiennes to the icy continent.

Cape Town - The SA Agulhas has arrived in Antarctica and delivered British adventurer Sir Ranulph Fiennes to the icy continent.

On Sunday, South African cadets and seasoned sailors aboard the training vessel, which sailed from Cape Town two weeks ago, were still unloading the explorer’s luggage - which includes two loaders and industrial-strength sleighs.

Anton Bowring, co-leader of the expedition, lauded the efforts of the South African Maritime Safety Authority cadets. He said the cadets had spent the past few days hooking up pallets, nets and slings with cargo from the holds.

Fiennes will spend the next six months as part of the Coldest Journey, an expedition which will see him and his team travel 4 000km across the frozen continent during winter.

The expedition isn’t just a crazy foray into freezing temperatures of -90°C. They will be the first to ever cross Antarctica during winter, raise money for the charity Seeing is Believing and making scientific advancements as part of the White Mars project.

Fiennes lost the tips of his fingers when he journeyed across the North Pole in 2000. He said this time they were better prepared.

But while the team reached Antarctica without a hitch, Bowring said they had a close shave yesterday.

Writing on the Coldest Journey blog, Bowring said they were forced to retreat from their docking position when ice at sea moved towards them. “This was always a possibility and, as a result, a constant watch has been maintained since we’ve been here to monitor the movement of sea ice.”

While the equipment was safely stored on shore, Bowring said it was frustrating because the weather was perfect for unloading the ship but snow was forecast for Tuesday.

He said it would take a day or two to unload the rest of the equipment.

- The wreckage of a plane has been found in Antarctica and three men are presumed dead.

The plane, operated by Calgary-based Kenn Borek Air, was reported missing after it failed to reach its destination on Wednesday.

kieran.legg@inl.co.za

Cape Argus

The embezzlement trial of former Fidentia boss J Arthur Brown was postponed for a day in the Western Cape High Court.

Cape Town -

The embezzlement trial of former Fidentia boss J Arthur Brown was postponed for a day in the Western Cape High Court on Monday.

Prosecutor Jannie van Vuuren told the court Brown had made “substantial admissions” to shorten proceedings, but that a few things needed to be clarified.

“I've had a discussion with the accused this morning. There are one or two aspects that need to be corrected... I need to sit with the accused and be more precise,” he said.

A signed copy of the original admissions document was handed up to Judge Anton Veldhuizen.

Van Vuuren said he would hand in an addendum to the statement after meeting with Brown.

“It seems we're getting somewhere with formal evidence,” the judge responded.

“I accept that what you intend doing will save lots of time at the end of the day. Once this is done, we must get the show on the road and not waste more time after that.”

Brown has pleaded not guilty to four counts of fraud, two counts of corruption, one count of money-laundering, and two counts of theft.

He was arrested in 2007 in one of the biggest financial scandals South Africa has seen.

The State alleges Brown ran a pyramid scheme and used investors' funds for his personal gain, including the acquisition of luxury cars and beach houses.

The case had been dogged with many delays and changes in Brown's legal representation.

He was representing himself pending an application for Legal Aid.

Brown told the court he was assigned a lawyer, who then asked for a five-month postponement to prepare for the case. He declined the counsel on the basis it would waste time, requesting that his former lawyer Braganza Pretorius be brought back on board.

Brown, who was out on bail, would return to court on Tuesday. - Sapa

A hijacker who robbed a woman in Kenilworth had allegedly met his victim through Gumtree.

Cape Town - A hijacker who robbed a woman in Kenilworth on Sunday had allegedly met his victim through Gumtree.

She had apparently placed an advert for the sale of an antique watch on the classifieds website, and had met the would-be buyer at McDonald’s on the corner of Rosmead Avenue and Wetton Road.

The woman who was robbed could not be contacted by the Cape Argus at the time of going to print, but an eyewitness, who asked not to be named for fear of his safety, described Sunday’s events:

“When the man arrived at the parking lot he asked if she could give him a lift to a nearby ATM.

“She let him into the front passenger door, at which point he pulled a gun on her.

“She was pushed out of the car and he tried to escape, but other motorists saw what was happening and tried to block him off.”

The hijacker fired his gun, and an ADT guard who was in the car park returned fire, the eyewitness said.

The robber fled in the woman’s white VW Polo, but lost control of the vehicle about a kilometre away, where he crashed into another car.

He was chased by members of the public but made his way to another vehicle and drove off.

ADT spokeswoman Lynn Erasmus confirmed that one of their guards was involved in the shootout, and that police were investigating.

Hanif Loonat, chairman of the Western Cape Community Policing Forum, said people should conduct sales of this sort at police stations.

Neither police nor Gumtree had responded to Cape Argus queries at the time of going to print.

Cape Argus

A fierce row has broken out between the SA Medical Association and the WCape government over plans to centralise academic hospitals.

Cape Town - A fierce row has broken out between the SA Medical Association (Sama) and the Western Cape government over plans by the national Department of Health to centralise academic hospitals.

Last week, Sama welcomed the proposal by Health Minister Dr Aaron Motsoaledi to move control of South Africa’s tertiary hospitals from the provinces to the national government with the aim of increasing the number of trained doctors and improving management of these training institutions.

The doctors’ union has criticised Western Cape head of health Professor Craig Househam for his opposition to the possible transfer of Tygerberg and Groote Schuur hospitals.

Dr Phophi Ramathuba, chairwoman of Sama’s public sector doctors, said the anger displayed by Househam was driven by the fear of losing control of the funding allocated to these two hospitals, which are among 10 hospitals in the country.

Househam has said that the national department had neither the capacity nor the skills to run the two hospitals from Pretoria.

He was quoted by Business Day as saying the decision to centralise the two hospitals was a “mistake” as they were well-managed and had competent chief executive officers.

But Ramathuba said that if Tygerberg and Groote Schuur were centralised, Househam would lose not only the control of the multimillion-rand grant from the national government, but the “control to cut the number of beds and theatre time to divert funds where it is critical for his province and not (for) the country”.

Ramathuba said that Sama believed the responsibility of skills production was a national competence and that the provincial responsibility was to render services to the people of the province and focus on service delivery.

“These central hospitals have seen waiting times increase over the years and service delivery, too, has been compromised.

“The current system has failed the public in the provinces with no academic centres, as patients from these provinces (have been) seen (as) ‘exhausting budgets’ of those provinces with such centres,” she said.

Ramathuba also described the attempt to retain the two hospitals as a “political game” between the ANC and DA. She said the control of academic hospitals by provinces would “result in provinces not taking sufficient interest in research and training of health care professionals as their main priority”.

She said the national Treasury had always provided funding to these academic centres, but provinces, including the Western Cape, had often diverted this funding into provincial interests.

But Househam struck back at Sama, saying Ramathuba’s comments were “regrettable and ill-informed” regarding the hospitals in question and the role of provinces.

“The references made to my alleged fear of losing control of the two hospitals and that I have diverted funds earmarked for these hospitals is frankly untrue. Any independent audit will indicate to the contrary.

“My objection to the national decision is based on the considered view that this step ‘in the current context’ will fragment a national and provincial health system, decrease local accountability and conflate the functions of the national and provincial departments.”

Househam said that while Sama was correct in saying that the national government had a responsibility to train adequate numbers of health professionals, it was wrong in saying that the Treasury had always provided funding to these academic centres and provinces.

“The reality is that in the case of the Western Cape funds have been diverted by the national Health (Department) in the past to other provinces.”

Househam said this had resulted in a R450 million shortfall for highly specialised health services.

“This shortfall has been addressed by the diversion of provincial equitable share funding to the two hospitals in question and thus the situation is exactly the reverse of that alleged by Sama,” he said.

Motsoaledi aims to increase the number of doctors trained in South Africa from 1 200 to 3 600 a year, with medical schools having increased their intake by 160 students last year.

sipokazi.fokazi@inl.co.za

Cape Argus