The Food and Allied Workers Union has accused the police and the State of colluding with farmers after the arrest of over 100 farmworkers.

Cape Town - The Food and Allied Workers Union (Fawu) has accused the police and the government of colluding with farmers following the arrest of more than 100 farmworkers in Ceres on Wednesday evening.

The farmworkers were stopped at a road block as they returned from work and immigrants among the group had their documentation checked.

By Thursday afternoon, the majority of those arrested were still in custody at the Ceres police station. The union threatened that industry strikes would be held in solidarity with those arrested.

Friends and relatives of those detained gathered outside the police station, carrying bags of clothing and toiletries.

“They were taken away in their gumboots and overalls,” said Lanki Kokoana, who carried a small briefcase containing necessities. He said 30 of his colleagues had been arrested.

Mzuvukile Faksi said his wife and 18-month-old baby were in a prison cell. “I am South African and she is from Lesotho. We are married, but she does not have an ID. Our family is being torn apart,” said Faksi.

“They say she and our child will be taken back to Lesotho.”

Katishi Masemola, Fawu’s national general secretary, said the union was “aware of an emerging alliance between farmers and some in government, be they police, home affairs officials or councillors”.

Fawu provincial organiser Mxolisi Mngxunyeni said: “We suspect that farmers are using the police to get rid of foreign workers so they can avoid paying them out retrenchment packages and arrear wages. “Their struggle for a higher minimum wage is being undermined.”

After months of strikes on Western Cape farms, Labour Minister Mildred Oliphant announced a 52 percent minimum wage increase for the industry - R105 a day, an amount which many farmers have said is unaffordable.

Braam Hanekom, of refugee rights organisation People Against Suffering Oppression and Poverty (Passop), said the arrests were undermining months of negotiations between his NGO, organised labour and the Department of Home Affairs.

Passop and Cosatu have been petitioning for documentation amnesty for foreigners, amid the “volatility and the threat of xenophobia” during the strike and its aftermath. “Many workers are being disempowered by this clampdown. Their right to organise, join unions and to report illegal and abusive conditions is being undermined.”

Yusuf Simons, provincial manager for Home Affairs, said the department had nothing to do with the arrests. He referred queries to the police, who denied an allegiance with farmers and said the arrests formed part of broader crime prevention operations in the Ceres area.

Porchia Adams, spokeswoman for Agri Wes-Cape, said Fawu was making serious and unfounded allegations against farmers - “allegations which we reject with the contempt that it deserves”.

“No farming body or individual farmer is involved in this. Fawu should get their facts straight before issuing press statements,” she said.

daneel.knoetze@inl.co.za

Cape Argus

A new prosecutor has been assigned to the case of a man accused of killing a policeman responding to a burglary at his home.

Cape Town - A new prosecutor has been assigned to the case involving a Constantia man accused of killing a police officer who responded to a reported burglary at his home.

On Thursday, Sean Meuwese appeared in the dock at the Wynberg Regional Court, charged with the murder of Constable Pheelo Lucas Masiu.

Meuwese has pleaded not guilty to the murder charge and to a charge of pointing a firearm at another police officer at the scene.

Earlier, the court heard that Meuwese had heard a noise in his house and had gone upstairs, armed with his licensed firearm.

A scuffle between him and an intruder took place. Soon afterwards, the police arrived and headed upstairs. A shot went off, killing Masiu.

It is alleged that police officers responded to the break-in at Meuwese’s Van Brede Street home after his friend called the police at his request.

The State has charged Meuwese with Masiu’s murder, but it will be Meuwese’s defence that the intruder fired the fatal shot during the scuffle.

On Thursday, magistrate Gavin du Plessis postponed the matter after the court heard that the previous prosecutor had been transferred to Gauteng.

Prosecutor Thabo Ntela is set to take over.

The matter was ready to continue with the next witness, Captain Candice Brown, in court.

Defence lawyer William Booth, however, said that he had asked the State to advise him “timeously” regarding witnesses to be called and that he had received a message that the State was calling Brown earlier that morning.

Booth said he also had plans to call a forensic expert and needed to make arrangements with his witness.

“In light of this it would be impossible to continue,” Booth told the court.

Du Plessis said: “It’s very difficult for the defence to prepare if we don’t know who is going to be called in advance.”

He postponed the matter to February 28 and preliminary trial dates were set for August 6 and 7.

Cape Argus

“We are tired of this. Something needs to be done. If it is not stories of muggings, then rocks come flying through open windows.”

Cape Town - A brawl and other violence have prompted commuters on Metrorail’s southern line to lambaste the train service for reversing recent improvements in security in the service.

Troy Changfoot, whose stabbing in a train carriage received coverage in the Cape Argus last September, said things were back to “normal” on the southern line.

“By normal, I mean that people are again commuting in fear. I have heard of a number of violent incidents and witnessed one on Monday. It is massively disappointing. All the security improvements that were made after I went public with my story have been reversed in a few short weeks,” he complained.

In August last year Changfoot was stabbed in his leg by a teenage muggers en route from Muizenberg to Lakeside station. The attackers jammed the door to the next carriage behind them as they made off with Changfoot’s laptop. He had to raise the alarm by shouting for help from a window at Steenberg station, where security guards attended to him.

On Thursday a regular commuter from Fish Hoek to Rosebank, who asked to be identified only as Elizabeth, told the Cape Argus about the continuing violence, crime and fear on the line.

“We are tired of this. Something needs to be done. If it is not stories of muggings, then rocks come flying through open windows of the moving train outside Retreat station.”

An argument that turned physical, between commuters and a suspected mugger, prompted Elizabeth to speak out. On Monday, a man was walking around the train and sitting next to women, making abusive remarks and rubbing up against them “inappropriately”.

“A number of women got very freaked out and moved down the carriage, away from the man. I heard at least one woman asking for a group of other people to protect her from the man,” Elizabeth said.

Changfoot, who was in the same carriage as Elizabeth at the time, corroborated her story.

“From the moment he got on, I could tell by his behaviour that he had sinister motives. He was walking around, then moving from seat to seat checking people out and harassing women. When he and Elizabeth were arguing (she had told him to get off) it looked for a second as though he would assault her. There was not a security guard in sight during the whole journey - there rarely is.”

Another commuter stepped up and grabbed the man by his collar and a fist fight broke out. At St James station, passengers opened the doors and the scuffle continued on the platform before security guards arrived a few minutes later.

Metrorail’s response to the Cape Argus did not specifically deal with the incidence of crime on the southern line.

Mthuthuzeli Swartz, regional manager of Western Cape Metrorail, said he was concerned at reports of “recent incidents”.

He re-issued an appeal to commuters to report any incidents or suspicious behaviour immediately.

He said security deployment was determined weekly during a joint planning meeting between Metrorail Protection Services and the Railway Police. Metrorail offers a reward of up to R25 000 for information leading to a conviction.

daneel.knoetze@inl.co.za

Cape Argus

The SPCA has accused a circus of falsely using its name to endorse its performing animals acts that include lions and tigers.

Cape Town - The local branch of the SPCA has accused a circus of falsely using its name to endorse its performing animals acts that include lions and tigers - a charge the circus denies.

But McLaren Circus, started in Cape Town by two brothers in 2005 and currently giving performances in the city, admits telling audiences it has been inspected by the SPCA “and that all was found to be in order”.

“This is fact and we do get inspected in each town we play across South Africa,” said spokesman Arnold Dickson.

The Cape of Good Hope SPCA said this week it had come to its attention that the circus was announcing at shows that its animal acts had been approved by the SPCA. “We would like to make it very clear that this is not the case and that we remain strongly opposed to animals used for entertainment,” it said.

SPCA wildlife unit manager Brett Glasby said they did not approve of animals in travelling circuses or menageries. “The SPCA is opposed to any degree of confinement or the use of any animal in sport, entertainment or exhibition likely to cause distress or suffering or which may adversely affect the animal’s welfare.”

Performing inappropriate and unnatural tricks in the name of entertainment did nothing to foster respect for animals, and desensitised people, especially impressionable children, to animal suffering.

“Animals in circuses do not benefit any educational, conservational or scientific cause and our branch of the SPCA believes wild animal acts should be outlawed.”McLaren bills itself as a “traditional circus” that uses a variety of “beautiful animals” including dogs, goats, miniature horses, camels, Welsh ponies and pythons, and says its lions, “white lions”, Bengal tigers and “white tigers” have all been born in captivity.

According to its website, the circus is regularly inspected by various animal welfare organisations throughout South Africa.

We see our animals as ambassadors of their species. They have all been born in captivity and have never been in the so-called ‘wild’.

Our animals do not perform any unnatural tricks. Each individual animal is observed by our trainers and based on their natural abilities, they are trained accordingly.”

“We can assure you that our animals receive the best care available in South Africa (and) we consult with specialised veterinarians across South Africa to maintain our high standard of animal care.”

john.yeld@inl.co.za

Cape Argus

Ten of the 13 Hawks officers accused of torturing and murdering a suspect in their custody have pleaded not guilty.

Cape Town - Ten of 13 Hawks officers accused of torturing and murdering a suspect in their custody have pleaded not guilty.

Three are yet to plead.

They appeared in the Western Cape High Court before Judge Robert Henney on Thursday. Each of them faces several charges - up to 11 - relating to the death of New Crossroads resident Sidwell Mkwambi, 24.

It is the State’s case that the alleged crime stems from an incident on January 18, 2009 when police officers took four suspects to New Crossroads to verify their addresses in preparation for a bail hearing.

In an attack, their vehicles were shot at and four people, two policemen and two suspects, were wounded.

A few weeks later on the night of February 9, 2009 all of the officers on trial had been on duty and a few of them had questioned Mitchells Plain resident Mthuthuzeli Rantaoleng at his house in connection with the shooting.

The State believes they assaulted him in front of his family and then later at the police offices in Bellville South.

The following morning, their probe led them to Philippi where two more men, Siyabulela Njova and Mkwambi were taken into custody. The State alleged the trio were tortured, suffocated with a plastic bag, forced to strip naked and beaten with a wooden stick. A post-mortem showed Mkwambi had died of multiple injuries.

But when officer Tobezi Jam Jam and his co-accused Norton Ndabambi, Banele Mgogodlo, Ludwe Mzana, Nkosikhona Mthembu, Zamikaya Mbali, Reginald Mtshali, Wayne Louw, Edmunt Sombo and Siseko Mtotywa pleaded not guilty to their respective charges yesterday, they maintained that while they had taken the men into custody, they had not assaulted the men and that they had no knowledge of such assaults.

It was also their version that Mkwambi had indicated that he was prepared to point out the addresses of two more suspects in the shooting, as well as the firearms used.

But he had died, they said, because he’d jumped from a moving vehicle while they were on their way.

The remaining accused, George Ainslie, Mphathi Velani and Riaan Kielblock, are yet to plead.

The charges include murder, attempted murder, assault with the intent to do grievous bodily harm and kidnapping.

Prosecutors Alta Collopy and Phitus Palesa, however, have withdrawn two theft charges.

They contend that the group acted in common purpose in killing Mkwambi - a matter of contention, which prompted the defence to launch an application for the State to provide them with further information and documentation on it.

Judge Henney on Thursday dismissed the application, saying the State wasn’t expected to prove at this early stage of the trial whether the accused had acted in common purpose.

The trial continues on Monday with the first witness expected to be called.

leila.samodien@inl.co.za

Cape Times

Unions in the agriculture sector have threatened more strikes if farmers undermine the minimum wage and dismiss workers.

Cape Town - Unions in the agriculture sector have threatened more strike action if farmers undermine the minimum wage and dismiss workers.

The minimum wage of R105 a day, announced by Labour Minister Mildred Oliphant on February 4, will come into effect next month.

This came after farmworkers in the Boland went on a three-month strike demanding R150 a day and better working and living conditions. Many were earning the R69 current minimum wage. Unions say farmers are using the new minimum wage as as an excuse to dismiss workers.

At a government-arranged meeting last week, farmers said the R105 was not affordable and would lead to job losses. Deputy President Kgalema Motlanthe assured them the government would help. He said those who were not able to pay the amount could apply for an exemption.

“Cosatu is concerned about an orchestrated political attempt by farmers to circumvent and undermine new minimum wages. These concerns are borne out by threats of retrenchment even before applying for exemptions. This is their way of fighting new minimum wages in principle,” Cosatu provincial secretary Tony Ehrenreich said.

The government should expropriate farms where owners refused to co-operate, he said.

“These farms could then be put into partnership by farmworkers. Should farmers not heed this warning, the Western Cape agriculture sector could see a return to strike action on the farms.”

Food and Allied Workers’ Union general secretary Katishi Masemola said the union would not support a call for a blanket strike but targeting farmers “hell bent” on undermining the minimum wage.

“It is the rotten potatoes that should be dealt with. We can’t just call strikes against farmers (who) are law abiding, even if that call is made by Cosatu,” Masemola said.

The union was aware of workers who had been been dismissed in the province, Limpopo and Mpumalanga.

Bawsi Agricultural Workers’ Union of SA head Nosey Pieterse said the the union was negotiating with farmers to reinstate more than 200 workers dismissed for taking part in the strike. “It is because of this blatant undermining of the law that we would support Cosatu’s call.”

xolani.koyana@inl.co.za

Cape Times

A Khayelitsha man was gunned down as he was walking to work in Bishop Lavis.

Cape Town - A Khayelitsha man was gunned down as he was walking to work in Bishop Lavis on Thursday morning.

He was 63-year-old Stanley Qhayiya, who worked at a BP garage.

Three men approached Qhayiya and one opened fire, said witnesses on the scene of the shooting at the corner of Sky Road and John Ramsay Avenue.

“It looks as though we are dealing with a case of a robbery gone wrong. It looked as though a scuffle ensued and (Qhayiya) was shot,” said Faisal Abrahams, chairman for the Bishop Lavis Community Policing Forum.

He added that Qhayiya’s phone and his few possession were still on him when police officers arrived.

Cape Argus

The Western Cape will invest R112m to create first-time jobs for young people this year, Helen Zille has announced.

Cape Town - The Western Cape government will invest R112 million to create first-time jobs for young people this year, resulting in 1 000 job opportunities for people aged 18 to 35, Premier Helen Zille has announced.

In her State of the Province address on Friday, Zille said the provincial government was committed to making the National Development Plan (NDP) work.

She said the Western Cape had been chosen to pilot three crucial initiatives under the NDP. They are:

* Reduction of red tape.

* Creation of an economic development partnership to facilitate growth and jobs.

* An after-school programme to keep young people involved in productive activities.

“We have added a fourth component: we will expand our version of the youth wage subsidy to give more young people a foothold on the ladder of our economy so that they can build their careers and move out of poverty.”

The Western Cape’s version of the subsidy, the Work and Skills Programme, provides learning and work placement opportunities to unemployed people aged between 18 and 35.

More than 2 800 job opportunities have been provided under the programme since its launch in 2009, with 60 percent of participants being offered permanent jobs.

“I am pleased to announce today that the Development Bank of Southern Africa has granted R64m from its jobs fund to build this programme.

“Our government and partners have equalled this commitment, which means that R112m will be invested in creating first-time jobs for young people during the coming financial year, resulting in the creation of 1 000 work opportunities,” Zille said.

Turning to the spate of rapes and murders in the Cape, she said there were no appropriate words to describe the crimes against women and children. “As we piece together the tragic story of Anene Booysen’s short life, and the background of her alleged killers, we see the all-too-familiar strands of a web in which so many young lives are trapped: absent parents, dysfunctional families, drug and alcohol abuse, school drop-outs.

“Yes, the state has a crucial role to play in combating these social ills and in protecting our young people. But it is impossible to resolve any of them without everyone playing a role.”

Zille said 76 percent of the province’s annual budget was directed towards opening opportunities for people in poor communities through education, health services, housing and social development programmes.

On business and the economy, she said the province’s Red Tape Reduction Unit had helped to create an enabling environment for new businesses.

Of the 921 administrative bottle necks reported since August 2011, 89.3 percent had been successfully cleared, she said.

clayton.barnes@inl.co.za

Cape Argus

The Western Cape will pilot three national development plan (NDP) projects, provincial premier Helen Zille said.

Cape Town - The Western Cape will pilot three national development plan (NDP) projects, provincial premier Helen Zille said on Friday.

“We have been chosen... to pilot three crucial initiatives under the NDP: the reduction of red tape; the creation of an economic development partnership to facilitate growth and jobs, and an afterschool programme to keep young people involved in productive activities in the afternoons,” she said.

The province had also decided to expand its version of the youth wage subsidy, known as the work and skills programme, to give more young people a chance to participate in the economy.

Zille's comments were contained in a speech prepared for her state-of-the-province address and opening of the provincial legislature in Cape Town.

She said never before had the country had a national plan which all major political parties subscribed to.

“This is a milestone for our country. We agree that to tackle our many problems and the legacy of the past, we need good leadership at every level of society, a capable state, and an active citizenry.”

“This cabinet agrees with Minister 1/8in the Presidency 3/8 Trevor Manuel that the time for discussing the plan is over; the time for implementation has begun.”

The province already had in place a red-tape reduction unit.

Zille said that of the 921 administrative bottlenecks reported since August 2011, 89.3 percent had been successfully cleared.

To further speed processes up, the province was looking at regulations and by-laws hindering economic development, and also streamlining the approval of building plans.

Regarding economic development, the Enterprise Development Fund had been created, which distributed R1.7 million to help finance new businesses.

Over R442 million was invested in skills development programmes in the past financial year.

The work and skills programme had been in place since August 2009.

The programme had provided at least 2800 job opportunities for unemployed youth between the ages of 18 and 35.

Zille said the Development Bank of SA had granted R64 million to build the programme, which would help create 1000 new work opportunities each year for three years.

The NDP was tabled in Parliament last August as a growth plan for the country until 2030.

President Jacob Zuma announced in his state-of-the-nation address last week that government had begun drafting a strategic framework for “the first five-year building block” of the NDP, 2014 to 2019. - Sapa

The Western Cape High Court reserved judgment on an appeal by Australian accountant Shumsheer Singh Ghumman against a nine-year prison sentence.

Cape Town - The Western Cape High Court reserved judgment on Friday on an appeal by Australian accountant Shumsheer Singh Ghumman against a nine-year prison sentence.

It was imposed in May last year for the petrol bombing of the luxury Clifton home of businessman Philip Rhind.

Ghumman, 34, was found guilty by the Cape Town Regional Court on charges of fraud, incitement to commit murder, attempted murder and malicious damage.

Ghumman admitted the malicious damage charge, but pleaded not guilty to the others.

His appeal was against the sentence imposed on all four counts, taken as one for the purposes of punishment.

He also appealed the convictions on the fraud, incitement, and attempted murder charges, but not the conviction for malicious damage, as he had in fact pleaded guilty to this.

Ghumman is a former asset manager in the employ of a Japanese financial company based in London.

He had a platonic relationship with Rhind's daughter, Hannah, at the time an executive with a London pharmaceutical company.

The daughter had ended the relationship when Ghumman became too serious about it, and approached her father in her attempts to shake him off Ghumman was offended by the father's interference in the relationship, and followed the daughter secretly when she went home to her parents in 2009.

The Regional Court ruled that his purpose was to petrol bomb the Rhind home, as punishment for the father's interference in the relationship.

In the Regional Court, Ghumman appeared before magistrate Herman Pieters, who rejected his claim to have come to Cape Town on a freelance photo-journalistic mission, to take photographs and write reports about violence in the townships.

On the fraud charge, he falsely informed two senior Cape Town journalists of the reason for his visit to Cape Town, and duped one into setting up interviews for him with township criminals.

The true reason for his wish to make contact with township criminals, was to secure the assistance of someone to assist with the petrol bombing, the Regional Court ruled.

Ghumman in fact met someone who was willing to assist, and this led to the charges of incitement to commit murder and attempted murder.

However, Ghumman petrol bombed the home himself, without assistance, when the township contact withdrew from Ghumman's mission. - Sapa

A group of youngsters high on tik followed Inge Lotz from university to her flat, where they planned to rob her.

Cape Town - A group of youngsters high on tik followed Inge Lotz from Stellenbosch University to her nearby flat, where they planned to rob her.

But when they got there, one of them looked through her kitchen window, saw a man hitting her and the group ran off in fright.

The youngster had seen her being murdered. This is according to private investigator Christian Botha, who briefly probed the case and identified a suspect.

The Cape Times contacted Botha after new media reports on the murder investigation surfaced recently.

But he says a contaminated crime scene, the youngster who was an unreliable witness and the inability to gather enough evidence to secure a conviction have resulted in her murderer going free for years.

Lotz, 22 years old at the time and a Maties student, was found bludgeoned to death in her Stellenbosch flat on March 16, 2005.

A few months after her murder, Fred van der Vyver, her boyfriend, was arrested and stood a lengthy trial, but was later acquitted.

Botha said Van Der Vyver’s father had hired him when Van Der Vyver was charged with Lotz’s murder.

“Our investigation was to establish who the killer was… We had our suspicions, but it was very difficult to prove. We couldn’t gather enough evidence to prove beyond reasonable doubt,” he said. “But I think we’re right on the person involved.”

Botha said through his probe, he established that on the afternoon of Lotz’s murder a group of “youngish people involved in drugs” had planned to rob her at her flat.

On that afternoon, they had followed her from Stellenbosch University to the complex she stayed in. But Botha said when the group got there, Lotz was already being attacked.

“When one got to the door, he looked through the kitchen window and saw the person hitting her… They just ran,” he said.

The group had not known Lotz’s murderer and had accidentally stumbled upon the attack.

Botha said the man who had seen Lotz being beaten had been about 20 at the time and was traced to Pollsmoor Prison, where he was serving time for housebreaking. “This specific person said he saw the person (who killed Lotz) in court.”

Botha said the witness to Lotz’s attack and the others he had been with outside her flat had been high on tik at the time and would therefore not have been reliable witnesses in a trial.

He said he had not been provided with a big budget when tasked with investigating the murder, as Van Der Vyver’s family had been saddled with various other costs.

Van Der Vyver was acquitted of Lotz’s murder in November 2007 when Judge Deon van Zyl rejected all aspects of the State’s case, which was criticised for shoddy police work.

Top detective Piet Byleveld, a retired police brigadier who has solved some of the country’s most controversial murder cases, took on a commission nearly a year ago by Lotz’s parents to probe her killing.

Around the same time, Lotz’s parents offered a R1 million reward for information leading to the killer’s conviction. A few days ago, asked whether a suspect had been identified or if there was progress in the case, Byleveld replied: “All I can say is that I’m still busy with the investigation.”

On the Facebook page “Justice for Inge Lotz”, users voiced their belief that an acquaintance of Lotz’s “knew more than he was letting on”.

caryn.dolley@inl.co.za

Cape Times

Australian Shumsheer Singh Ghumman clearly had a plan to kill Clifton businessman Philip Rhind, the court heard

 Cape Town - Everything in the entire case involving Australian accountant Shumsheer Singh Ghumman pointed to his plan to kill Clifton businessman Philip Rhind, the Western Cape High Court heard on Friday.

Senior counsel Billy Downer, who secured Ghumman's convictions in the Cape Town Regional Court last year on charges of fraud, incitement to commit murder, and attempted murder, opposed Ghumman's appeal against the convictions and his nine-year sentence.

The appeal was argued before Judges Anton Veldhuizen and Nape Dolamo, who reserved judgment.

Ghumman had pleaded guilty in the Regional Court to a charge of malicious damage to the Rhind luxury home in Clifton, but not guilty to the other charges.

The fraud charge arose from Ghumman's pretence to two senior Cape Town journalists to have been in Cape Town to do a freelance photo-story about violence in the townships, when in fact he was in Cape Town to execute plans to kill Rhind.

This duped one of the journalists into setting up interviews for Ghumman with known township criminals.

In the course of an interview with one of the township residents, Ghumman persuaded him to assist with the petrol bombing of the home.

The resident at first agreed, but then got “cold feet” and withdrew.

Downer told the court: “As far as the incitement charge is concerned, everything revolves around what was said between Ghumman and the township resident in their discussion about the Rhind home.”

Senior counsel for the defence, Francois van Zyl, said the fact that the first of two petrol bombs exploded on a balcony of the Rhind home Ä far from where they were sleeping Ä indicated that Ghumman had no intent to kill but merely to damage the home.

Downer countered: “There was nevertheless direct intention to kill from the word go.”

Van Zyl said the Regional Court was mistaken in rejecting Ghumman's stated reason for his visit to Cape Town; namely, to do a photo-story about township violence.

Had the Regional Court accepted Ghumman's stated reason as being “reasonably possibly” true, as the court should have, the result would have been entirely different, Van Zyl said.

Ghumman, formerly an accountant with a Japanese financial company in London, had had a platonic relationship with Rhind's daughter, Hannah, in London.

However, Ghumman had felt deeply aggrieved when Rhind, at his daughter's request, had interfered in the relationship to end it.

Ghumman had secretly followed the daughter when she went home to her parents and planned to kill the father by burning down the house as revenge for his interference, the Regional Court ruled. - Sapa

One contractor died and another was seriously hurt in an explosion shortly before 5pm at the Chevron oil refinery in Milnerton.

One contractor died and another was seriously hurt in an explosion shortly before 5pm at the Chevron oil refinery in Milnerton yesterday.

Although it was not immediately clear what had caused the explosion, Chevron general manager Steven Parker said at the time of going to press that the fire that followed the explosion had been extinguished.

About 6 000 workers are employed at the refinery.

A fire department spokesman said last night five fire engines responded to the blaze about 6.20pm.

ER24 media spokeswoman Vanessa Jackson confirmed two injured workers had been working in the chimney where the blast occurred.

Colleagues attempted to resuscitate the man who died on the scene, with paramedics taking over when they arrived.

The other man suffered burns and was admitted to the Milnerton Medi-Clinic.

Parker said in a statement the incident had occurred during a scheduled maintenance and inspection shutdown.

The incident was being investigated and further information would be made available later.

“The incident is under control and there is no cause for concern by the surrounding communities,” he said.

Last December emergency crews evacuated 500 people from the Milnerton fleamarket after the discovery of a chemical substance covering a portion of the trading area next to Otto du Plessis Drive. A chemical had leaked through

a maintenance manhole for the pipeline that pipes diesel from Cape Town harbour to the refinery. The leak was contained.

Last July the Chevron refinery had to be shut down after a malfunction, the city’s disaster risk centre said at the time. The refinery’s emergency crews responded immediately and there were no injuries. - The Weekend Argus

Two men and a woman have been found guilty of kidnapping Sisanda Ngcawuzele, daughter of popular restaurant owner Mzoli Ngcawuzele.

Two men and a woman have been found guilty of kidnapping Sisanda Ngcawuzele, daughter of popular restaurant owner Mzoli Ngcawuzele.

Luther Kwinana, Mzwamadolo Tyuluba and his girlfriend Nandipha Mshudulu appeared in the Wynberg Magistrate’s Court yesterday to face judgment on counts of kidnapping, robbery with aggravated circumstances, illegal possession of a firearm, extortion and alternative counts of fraud and theft.

They were found guilty of posing as prospective clients for Sisanda’s promotions company in December 2006, then requesting a meeting at a Parklands house, where she was held at gunpoint.

They demanded her car keys, cellphone, and bank card pin codes, and police later established they had withdrawn R9 000 from two of her accounts.

They then called her father using her phone, and demanded R300 000 for her safe release.

Mzoli Ngcawuzele contacted the police, who arrested Kwinana shortly afterwards.

He led them to Sisanda, who had spent three days tied to a chair. She was severely dehydrated and in need of medical attention.

Mshudulu was arrested, along with a friend who turned State witness. Tyuluba fled the city before the bust but was arrested a year later in the Eastern Cape.

Yesterday magistrate Gavin du Plessis found Kwinana and Tyuluba guilty of all five counts. Mshudulu was found guilty of kidnapping and extortion. She was released on R15 000 bail.

After the judgment, Kwinana apologised “about everything”, via a translator, saying he had heard in prison that Sisanda was happy, “and that made me happy because it is good when people put bad experiences behind them”.

Ngcawuzele said he was happy with the verdict, especially after the lengthy trial period.

“We can finally put this behind us and move on as a family,” he added.

Sentencing is

on April 9. - Weekend Argus

Premier Helen Zille has highlighted her key focus areas for the year ahead.

Premier Helen Zille has highlighted education, agriculture, economic development, jobs for youth and combating substance abuse among her key focus areas for the year ahead.

But opposition parties were not impressed, and slammed her State of the Province address as weak, anti-poor and insulting.

Zille coined the phrase “a whole-of-society approach” in her speech yesterday, saying this was necessary to tackle the scourges of rape, drug and alcohol abuse, and crime.

The murder of Anene Booysen three weeks ago in Bredasdorp reflected the confluence of many strands of societal malfunction, she said.

“It is clear that if we hope to tackle violence in our communities we need to ensure our children stay in school up to matric, and are kept away from alcohol, drugs and gangs, which fuels violent crime and risky sexual behaviour.”

Zille lauded President Jacob Zuma’s National Development Plan (NDP), saying the Western Cape was “prepared to play our part in making the NDP work”.

On the jobs front, she announced that the Development Bank of SA had granted R64 million to the Western Cape’s version of the Youth Wage Subsidy.

“This will support the creation of 1 000 new work opportunities for young people each year over three years.”

The roll-out of the province’s broadband project, announced last year, was on track, and residents of Mitchells Plain, Khayelitsha and Saldanha Bay will have access to the internet without having to be connected to a modem or a digital subscriber line by the end of next year.

A key project for the province this year, Zille said, was the Saldanha Industrial Development Zone, which will be designated by the national Trade and Industry Department in the next few months.

“It is estimated that an eight-week stay by an oil rig is worth R200 million and 2 000 job opportunities.”

Zille warned that the Western Cape government anticipated significant job losses in the agricultural sector this year as a result of the new minimum wage for farmworkers.

On education, Zille said 26 new schools, 46 replacement schools and 124 Grade R classrooms would be built by 2016.

On health, Zille said the province’s HIV prevalence rate was “cause for grave concern”.

In 2009, the provincial government set a target of reducing HIV prevalence from 16 percent to 8 percent by 2014.

“We have failed to meet this target. In fact, the prevalence rate has increased to 18.4 percent in 2011,” she said.

“The biggest increase was among women between the ages of 30 and 39 years.”

Zille said that where illnesses could be prevented, citizens must take responsibility for doing so.

“(It must start) with us, right here in this Parliament, going on an eating and exercise regime to bring our weight to normal limits.”

But Cope MPL Mbulelo Ncedana said Zille had insulted the majority of people in the Western Cape with her comments.

“I don’t understand her logic. She has insulted us by saying our eating habits place a burden on the health system,” Ncedana said.

ANC MPL and leader of the opposition in the legislature, Lynne Brown, said: “It was a very weak State of the Province speech.

“The premier gave us a budget speech. For the short-term she’s given us no solutions. There is no plan.”

Grant Haskin, of the ACDP, said Zille failed to spell out how she would tackle corruption.

A Durban man takes on one of South Africa’s richest men in a land dispute worth R25 million

Durban - A Durban man has vowed to reclaim “his” Cape wine farm that he alleges was illegally sold to Africa’s second-richest man, Johann Rupert, for R25 million.

Ian Brakspear, a Zimbabwe-born investment market trader, says the Durban High Court order authorising the sale is fictitious and the work of corrupt legal practitioners and liquidators. He wants the “fraudulent” liquidation order overturned.

Rupert, chairman of the Swiss-based luxury goods company Richemont bought the Franschhoek Klein Normandie farm in 2009. It borders the Boschendal farm L’Ormarins that is owned by his family.

Brakspear, who was in financial difficulty, initially negotiated in November 2007 for his farm to be sold for R37m. But before any agreements could be reached with potential buyers, Brakspear’s company, West Dunes, which owned the farm, was provisionally liquidated by the Fairbairn Group, owned by Nedbank, in the high court, two days before Christmas 2008.

Brakspear has since laid formal complaints with the KwaZulu-Natal Law Society, has written to KZN Deputy Judge President Achmat Naaim Jappie and laid charges of fraud with the Hawks. Brakspear says the court order was granted under the pretext that he owed a fictitious loan of R7m to Nedbank – a loan he says never existed.

The Sunday Independent has seen a copy of the interim court order, which is attributed to Judge Sharmaine Balton, but which bears no signature and appears not to be in the usual court format.

In a response, Jappie says, “I have spoken to Judge Balton and she cannot recall dealing with the matter… This is to say that it may be that that matter had come before her and she simply cannot recall having dealt with [it].

“Similarly I have spoken to Judge [Trevor] Goven’s Registrar (Goven made the interim order final) and she too cannot recall whether the matter would have come before Judge Goven.”

Brakspear said: “I have been fighting every day for the past four years. I have received threats on my life if I don’t stop.” Brakspear’s investigation, aided by the senior court registrar, has produced a thick dossier in which he claims:

l The court file for his case is missing;

l The index motion roll book pages for December 2008 have been torn out;

l There are no court recordings for the case or minutes of proceedings and reason why the order was granted; and

l The court order accepted by the Master of the High Court in Durban was unsigned, undated and not stamped.

Brakspear’s claims are supported by a report from Hawks investigator Lieutenant Vusi Mbhele, who interviewed three High Court staff members, who all questioned the veracity of the court order.

In his report, Mbhele says, “When the liquidation was eventually heard… it was clear most, if not all the documents have been created. The signatures on important documents are fraudulent, and I base this on statements obtained from the responsible officials.”

Durban’s Master of the High Court Varsha Sewlal refused to comment but said the national communications officer would furnish a statement on the allegations. Department of Justice spokeswoman Phumla Mthala had not responded by the time of going to press.

Rupert’s spokesman Gary Baumgarten said: “We are the farm’s legal owner. We are not aware of any lawsuit. Neither Mr Rupert nor L’Ormarins is involved or being sued.”

Meanwhile, Brakspear, assisted by his friend Robert Lotter, are preparing to file a court application to have the liquidation overturned and the farm transferred back to him. The men are determined to expose “rampant fraud by unscrupulous people in the legal fraternity”.

Nedbank managing executive of wealth Dave Macready said, “The allegations are unfounded. In 2009 these were investigated by the office of the Master of the High Court and found to be without merit.

“An insolvency inquiry was also held by the liquidators of this company, at which Brakspear would have had another opportunity to vent his allegations. However, he elected not to participate in these proceedings and did not appear at the inquiry, despite being subpoenaed to give evidence in June 2009. It is unfortunate that he resorts to unfounded allegations in the media.”

Sunday Independent

More than R5 million has been spent on repairing vandalised and burgled Western Cape schools since April.

Cape Town -

More than R5 million has been spent on repairing vandalised and burgled Western Cape schools since April – an increase of more than R1m compared to the previous financial year.

In her State of the Province address on Friday, Premier Helen Zille said millions more were spent on providing security guards for schools.

“This is money that should be going to our core function of education,” Zille said.

Bronagh Casey, the spokeswoman for Education MEC Donald Grant, said R3.8m was spent on repairing vandalised and burgled schools in the 2011/12 financial year

Casey said fencing, piping and electrical cabling had been the biggest target. She said the department spent about R500 000 each year on repairing fences at schools. In many cases, wire and mesh fencing that was replaced, was soon vandalised or stolen again.

Casey said the absence of a fence could create a safety risk for pupils during the school day as trespassers could enter the premises. This could also lead to further incidences of vandalism and theft. It also allowed easy access for pupils to leave the grounds during school hours.

“To improve security at school in order to minimise vandalism the Western Cape Education Department is now replacing wire mesh fencing with steel palisade and concrete palisade fencing at schools. Palisade fencing is more costly but less prone to vandalism.”

She said the department could not police fences around the clock and needed the assistance of schools and school governing bodies to raise awareness among communities to alert the police if they noticed vandalism or theft. During the December holidays 24 schools reported vandalism or burglary cases to the Education Department. The same number of cases were reported during the previous December holidays .

On the first day of the school year the Cape Argus reported that Blomvlei Primary in Hanover Park had been among the schools hit by vandals during the holidays.

The school’s principal, Dawn Petersen, said feeding scheme supplies, including samp and beans, had been stolen, as well as sports uniforms.

Earlier this month buildings at Heideveld Primary, which were scheduled to be demolished, were badly vandalised. People came by horse, on foot and by car to steal any usable part of the buildings.

The Western Cape Education Department placed around-the-clock security at the school.

ilse.fredericks@inl.co.za

Cape Argus

It’s been almost two months since John Commins was killed in his Newlands home, yet there have been no arrests.

Cape Town - It’s been almost two months since former Western Province cricketer John Commins was killed in his Newlands home, yet there have been no arrests.

Commins’s family is now offering a six-figure reward to anyone who can help track down his killers.

The 71-year-old was killed last month in a break-in by three men.

Commins and his wife, Cherie, were tied up. The robbers stole cash, traveller’s cheques and jewellery out of a safe. They also took the rings off Cherie’s fingers and her watch and tanzanite pendant.

After they left, his wife found Commins’s body tied to the bed. Police said at the time they had found no visible signs of injury.

The family’s private investigator, Christo Herselman, believes the killing might have been an accident and the plan had been just to rob the couple of cash and jewellery.

Commins, who played for the Western Province Cricket Union in the 1960s, was the youngest brother of Western Province CEO Kevin Commins and the uncle of former Proteas cricketer John Commins.

His daughter, Donne Commins, agent to former cricketer Mark Boucher and cricketers JP Duminy and Albie Morkel, said her family recognised that the police needed the support of the community in following up leads.

They are offering a R100 000 reward - part will be covered by the police - to anyone with information leading to the conviction of the killers.

“Finding the killers will not bring back our father but it will help us and those who have been affected by this tragedy to move forward, to prevent another tragedy and to believe that crime does not pay,” Commins said.

“Our family is still shattered… because of the violence and untimeliness of his death. We could pack up and leave as so many have suggested or we can stay and do something, as our father would have done.”

Four unique items of jewellery were stolen during the robbery, including a tanzanite pendant, a gold and silver Rolex, a diamond ring and another ring with the inscription “D Deh B . E C”, that could help track down the killers.

“Someone, somewhere, has come into contact with this jewellery,” said Donne Commins. “Someone, somewhere knows something and we appeal to these people to contact our private investigator or investigating officer at Claremont police station.”

The Claremont police confirmed that they were still handling this case as a priority.

* Contact the private investigator Christo Herselman at 079 026 1267 or the investigating officer Mkhusili Ngqiyana at 073 305 4763 if you have any information that could help with the case.

kieran.legg@inl.co.za

Cape Argus

Khayelitsha police officers have pleaded not guilty to charges of corruption for allegedly trying to extort money from off-duty cops.

Cape Town - Two Khayelitsha police officers have pleaded not guilty to charges of corruption for allegedly trying to extort money from two off-duty law enforcement officers.

Former police reservist Gugulethu Rasmeni and Constable Lungile Michael denied corruption and extortion during two instances in 2011.

It is the State’s case that Michael stopped Ally Mvuza May in Khayelitsha in August 2011 while he was driving home. May was informed that he would be arrested for driving under the influence of alcohol, but to avoid prosecution, he should give the officer some money.

May said he had only R200 in his possession and allegedly handed it to Michael. “May was not further detained or formally arrested for driving under the influence of alcohol,” the charge sheet reads.

During the early hours of November 1, 2011, the two officers were patrolling in the Khayelitsha area.

They allegedly stopped Thabang Charlton Moses and May, who were off-duty law enforcement officers at the time, who were on their way to Mandalay around 2.30am.

Moses was asked to get out of the car because he was driving without his headlights on.

The State alleges that while Michael did most of the talking during the transactions, Rasmeni was present during the conversations between the men and therefore acted in common purpose when the offences were committed.

The officers allegedly told Moses he was driving drunk. Half a bottle of alcohol was also found in the car. The car keys, a cellphone and driving licence card were confiscated and the men were informed that they would be taken to jail.

But the officers allegedly approached them in the back of the police van, saying that if they paid R600, they would be released.

Moses, however, did not have the money on him.

The officers allegedly then drove the men to an ATM at a petrol station in Mandalay to draw the money.

Moses and May reported the incident and the men were later arrested.

Rasmeni told the court on Friday that he disputed an alleged confession taken down by investigating officer Colonel Johan Marais.

He said he was not informed of his rights, which included that an interpreter could be present during the consultation, and that the charges were never put to him.

jade.otto@inl.co.za

Cape Argus

Bredasdorp, where Anene Booysen was raped and murdered, was quiet, ahead of the next court appearance of her alleged killers.

Western Cape -

The sleepy town of Bredasdorp, where Anene Booysen was raped and murdered, was quiet on Sunday, before the next court appearance of the two men accused of the crime.

There is no one in sight, the open sports field and the streets are quiet.

A cloud of sand is swept across the dusty road leading to the town of Simunye where 17-year-old Anene lived. But most people the Cape Argus come across are unwilling to speak about the gruesome rape and murder, which has shocked South Africa and made international headlines.

Anene’s rape and murder has sparked renewed campaigns to stop the scourge and the incident was mentioned during President Jacob Zuma’s State of the Nation address.

The front door of the home Anene shared with her foster mother, Corlia Olivier, is shut. No one is home.

In Bergsig, Ellen Harmse, Anene’s foster grandmother, sits in a chair inside her house. The front door is open and welcoming.

“It’s so quiet here now,” she comments from her chair.

Family will be gathering at her home for a Sunday visit.

“It’s going so much better and with Corlia too. So many people have reached out to her.”

Harmse says she misses Anene, who she describes as well behaved and shy.

“In January she still lived up the road from me, before she moved to her (foster) mother.

“At the time she would come to store food in the freezer, because there wasn’t a freezer where she lived.

“Just the other day, someone walked up the road and it was someone who looked just like her.

“I felt that she would anytime walk through the door.

“We used to chat. I loved her very much and I miss her.”

The granny adds that she hopes that justice takes its course.

A few doors away from Harmse, over the road, lives 26-year-old Adele Abrahams.

Abrahams lived with Anene for two years before the teen moved to Simunye to live with her mom.

“We shared a room,” she said on Sunday.

She goes silent, not comfortable talking about her friend.

By early evening children start playing in the yard and front doors are left open to combat the scorching heat.

Johannes Kana, 21, and Jonathan Davids, 22, are expected to appear in the Bredasdorp Magistrate’s Court on Tuesday in connection with the rape and murder.

natasha.bezuidenhout@inl.co.za

Cape Argus