The president said there had been "shocking" incidents involving the SAPS since the last Human Rights Day.

Cape Town - The shadow of the Marikana massacre hung over Human Rights Day celebrations on Thursday as the country commemorated another day of police brutality – more than 50 years before Marikana – when 69 people were gunned down in Sharpeville.

Speaking at a rally in Mbekweni, Paarl, President Jacob Zuma said there had been “regrettable, shocking and unacceptable incidents involving the SAPS since the last Human Rights Day commemoration”.

This came as opposition parties used the day to launch their campaigns for next year’s general election.

Zuma said that after Sharpeville, the liberation movement had resolved to build a South Africa “in which such incidents would never occur when freedom dawned”.

“Today we reaffirm our determination to build a police service that respects the rights of all,” Zuma told the packed hall.

This was the centenary year of the police service, and while the years up to 1994 had been characterised by “state-sanctioned cruelty and brutality by the police”, the democratic government had worked to turn the police service into one that was people centred and which served all the people of the country.

The “overwhelming majority” of police officers fought crime “within the confines and discipline of the constitution, and we applaud them for that”, Zuma added.

Events like Marikana should not lead people to write off the entire police service of 200 000 men and women as brutal.

The president urged citizens to help the police fight crime and “root out rotten apples from their ranks who engage in criminal action, including corruption”.

South Africa had a proud history of developing human rights policy, from the 1923 Bill of Rights, the African Claims of 1943, the Women’s Charter in 1954, the Freedom Charter in 1955 and the ANC’s 1988 Constitutional Principles for a Democratic South Africa.

“We are particularly proud of the fact that the landmark 1943 Bill of Rights was produced five years ahead of the 1948 United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights. South Africa led the world in this regard,” Zuma said.

Speaking in Sharpeville, DA leader Helen Zille said the Bill of Rights and the constitution had been intended to ensure that the massacre there was never repeated.

It was tragic that the country now faced increasing incidents of police brutality.

“Many have compared the Marikana tragedy last August, where 34 protesters were shot dead by the police, to what happened here 53 years ago,” Zille said.

There had also been the “brutal assault” by police on Mido Macia in Daveyton, after which he died in a police cell, and the similar case of a court interpreter being grabbed by the neck by a policeman in a vehicle and dragged down the road in Lomanyaneng, North West.

But these cases represented “only a handful of the hundreds of citizens who are killed each year at the hands of the police”.

In 2011/2012, the Independent Police Investigative Directorate had received 4 923 cases against the SAPS. “Of these, 720 were deaths,” Zille added.

She repeated the DA’s call for a judicial commission of inquiry into police brutality.

Speaking before Zuma in Paarl, African Christian Democratic Party leader Kenneth Meshoe said high levels of crime and violence, particularly against women and children, showed the state hadn’t done enough to fulfil the first-generation rights of the right to life, human dignity and freedom from all forms of violence.

Cope MP Smuts Ngonyama said the gulf growing between rich and poor demonstrated the challenge of uniting a country that was “racially separated and economically divided”.

The fundamental right to life, especially of women and children, who were brutalised, raped and maimed on a daily basis, meant all South Africans had a responsibility to help deal with these.

The police should “bear the same values that are enshrined in our constitution”.

Nqabayomzi Kwankwa, of the United Democratic Movement, said while significant strides had been made since the advent of democracy, human rights violations remained a major problem.

“Every day we wake up to news of incidents of police brutality and violence against women and children,” he said.

Cape Argus

Hazel Sibongile Nkomo had been missing for over a month before her remains were found buried with dogs in her yard.

Cape Town - A murdered Cape Town woman has been found buried along with her family’s dogs in a shallow grave in her own backyard.

Police have taken the woman’s lover in for questioning following the grim find.

The father of her two kids had been helping police dig up the woman’s corpse when he ran off only to be nabbed hours later.

Hazel Sibongile Nkomo had been missing for well over a month before her battered remains were found along with the corpses of her two family pets.

It is believed her killer buried the dogs to disguise the smell of Hazel’s decaying flesh.

It is unclear whether he also killed the dogs.

Family members say they had searched for her for weeks and that her lover had helped them.

On Wednesday evening, the truth was finally uncovered when police dug up a shallow grave at the back of Hazel’s Mfuleni shack.

Two decaying dogs were the first to be unearthed before police found Hazel’s body lying beneath the family pets.

A white plastic bag was used to cover her corpse.

The 43-year-old’s body was found with a stab wound on her upper shoulder.

She had also allegedly been strangled.

Hazel’s cellphone was also recovered from the grave.

Police have now taken her 44-year-old partner in for questioning after he fled from the scene.

He reported Hazel missing on March 14, claiming to have last seen her on February 16.

Family members said that they never believed Hazel would leave her two young children without saying anything.

Hazel’s brother-in-law Siwakhile Mgqingwana, 48 said after they got news that she was missing they arrived to try and find her.

“We searched everywhere and eventually we got suspicious of this boyfriend,” he told the Daily Voice.

“Last Saturday we went to the police station again to tell them we suspected him.

“They took him for questioning on Sunday and Monday but they kept releasing him.

“This is a very emotional time for us but we are relieved that she has finally been found even though it was right under our nose where nobody bothered to check.”

Police spokesman Captain FC van Wyk says the investigating officer Deliah Rhodes searched the house on Wednesday with the partner.

“After walking around, she caught a smell of decay,” he told the Daily Voice.

“The partner told her it must be the two dogs that died that he had been meaning to throw out.

“She insisted on digging them up and called the K9 unit and that was when he left to fetch a spade but never came back.

“In the hours of [yesterday] morning a 44-year-old was taken in for questioning and if charged he will appear in court soon. A post-mortem will be done to establish a cause of death.”

Daily Voice

The City of Cape Town is to legally challenge the Sanral plan to toll the N1 and N2.

The City of Cape Town is to challenge South Africa’s road building company urgently in court after it announced it planned to resume work on the controversial N1/N2 toll road.

The N1/N2 Winelands Toll Highway Project is on hold, pending the conclusion of an earlier legal challenge by the city.

But now the city fears that the SA National Roads Agency Ltd intends to start work on the toll roads as soon as April 20 without first resolving the city’s concerns.

On Wednesday mayoral committee member for transport, roads and stormwater Brett Herron said Sanral had sent a notice to the city on March 6 saying it had “indicated its intention to conclude a concession contract with the preferred bidder - the Protea Parkways Consortium - or if necessary the reserve bidder, at an unspecified time after April 20, 2013”.

Herron said: “Sanral has also notified the city that it intends commencing with construction work, but it refuses to tell the city what work it plans to do, or when it will do it.”

GRAVELY CONCERNED

He said the city was “gravely concerned” by Sanral’s notification because the city believed Capetonians had still not yet been given a full understanding of the financial implications of the project.

He claimed Sanral had thus far refused to provide:

Information relevant to the costs of upgrading and tolling the N1 and N2.

The likely magnitude of the toll fees.

The impacts on road users, the local economy and the city and a review application, currently before the Western Cape High Court, still to be decided.

In November 2011, the city filed an urgent interdict application to halt the project, after which Sanral agreed it would take no further steps towards implementing the toll road project pending the city’s review application being heard. It also undertook to provide the city with 45 days’ notice of its intention to start work.

“The city does not believe that Sanral has been transparent in its engagement with the city.”

On March 28 2012 the city filed its application in the high court to review the decisions of Sanral, the minister of transport and the minister of environmental affairs, which make it possible for Sanral to toll the N1 and N2 into Cape Town. This review process has not yet run its course, prompting the city to now threaten renewed legal action.

“We will ask the court to compel Sanral to provide all information necessary regarding this project as a matter of urgency,” said Herron.

He said the city did not want the toll road to be built before residents had a full understanding of the fees and cost implications, as had happened in Gauteng.

Sanral could not be reached for comment. - Cape Argus

Arrival of three-wheeler taxis creates a red-tape headache for authorities.

From New Delhi to Bangkok, the brash, noisy tuk-tuk is king of the road in south-east Asia.

But the arrival of the three-wheeler taxis on Cape Town's scenic streets has created a red-tape headache for authorities, with one operator grounded as dozens clamour to enter the market.

Upstart firm Monarch Tuksi, owned by the Clarence brothers, was shut down after putting its fleet of Indian imports on the road despite being refused operating licences.

“We were inspired on a trip to Thailand in 2008,” said James Clarence.

“We used tuk-tuks there, we loved them, we went to the beach, to shops, to restaurants etcetera. Really loved it. Thought it would work great in Cape Town and it does.”

Interest in the cheap and cheerful trade is high.

Some 80 would-be operators have lodged applications with the city. But tuk tuks fall into a policy black hole with no model for three-wheelers to be used as public transport in current plans. New rules are set be finalised later this year.

Not wanting to wait, the Clarence brothers launched Monarch Tuksi in 2012 ahead of Cape Town's busy summer season with a shares-for-fares scheme to try find a legal loophole.

This saw customers sign up as shareholders for R40 instead of paying the direct fare for short trips around the city.

“Our opinion is that we do not form part of the public transport service,” said Clarence, who believes the company was operating legally above board.

“We are a private transport company. We transfer our shareholders from point A to point B.”

It was a gimmick that did not impress the authorities.

Western Cape MEC for transport Robin Carlisle said: “It's charming and it's cute and it's cool but it's a scam.

“Either they are a form of transport that charges or they are not.”

Cape Town is beefing up public-transport options. While the level of tuk-tuk domination found on Asian roads is unlikely, it does see a role for the feisty three wheelers.

But tuk-tuks will have to fall within a regulated model that takes in buses, minibus taxis and metered cabs in a city already battling traffic congestion.

The brothers first applied for 10 licenses in October 2011 and received just one, in error. Assurances were given that the rest would follow, they say.

Eventually, 20 tuk-tuks were zipping around Cape Town until the company pulled them off the road in March after being warned that they would be impounded.

JUMPING THE GUN

Mayoral committee member for transport Brett Herron said: “As far as we're concerned, they were operating a public transport service illegally.”

The city had received some 80 applications and each had to be handled equitably and based on a plan.

“So what they've done is they've jumped ahead and operated a service kind of outside of that framework,” said Herron.

Tuk-tuks have run into similar problems in Johannesburg where a separate company started a service in the city's leafy suburbs in 2012.

Although the tuk tuks were granted licences, there's debate about whether they'll be able to keep them.

Paul Browning, a public transport analyst and advisor to government, said authorities feared a repeat of the uncontrolled rise of the private minibus industry characterised by turf wars and violence.

What if, he asked, scores of tuk tuks were suddenly buzzing around a train station, as commonly seen in Asia?

“It may be a good thing but government is very cautious about letting the genie out the bottle until it is quite sure it knows what it is doing,” he said. - AFP

CATCH A RIDE ON A TUK-TUK

“The government remains concerned over the high number of people who die tragically on our roads,” President Zuma said.

Cape Town - President Jacob Zuma is concerned about the alarming number of road accidents in South Africa.

Zuma was speaking at the Khayelitsha Stadium, where thousands gathered for the memorial service for 24 people who died in a bus crash on the Hex River Pass last Friday.

The double-decker bus was carrying members of the Twelve Apostles Church in Christ in Khayelitsha when it crashed near De Doorns on its way to Cape Town. Among the dead was a child and the driver, and 45 others were injured.

The group, most of them women, were returning from a national prayer gathering in Secunda. Several other church members were following the bus in smaller buses and private cars.

“The government remains concerned over the high number of people who die tragically on our roads. This results in social and economic consequences,” Zuma said. Authorities were investigating the cause of the crash.

“As soon as the preliminary report is finalised, we will be informed of what led to the fatal crash. A number of people die every day on our roads.

“All of us should participate actively to promote road safety, as we are all affected.” Zuma said the Department of Transport was working on tighter sanctions for those who broke the rules of the road.

Members of the Western Cape government attended the memorial service, among them Human Settlements MEC Bonginkosi Madikizela. Deputy Minister of International Relations and Co-operation Marius Fransman also attended.

Dumisani Ximbi, provincial leader of the Twelve Apostles Church in Christ, said a mass funeral service would be held on Saturday at the Khayelitsha Stadium, at 10am. “The families will decide whether to have a mass funeral or to bury their loved ones separately. It has been a trying time for the church,” he said.

nontando.mposo@inl.co.za

Cape Argus

It's official - Hendrik Verwoerd Drive is no more. After a six-year process, the City of Cape Town has renamed six streets.

Cape Town - It’s official - Hendrik Verwoerd Drive in Tygerberg Hills is no more. After a six-year process, the City of Cape Town on Thursday renamed six streets - including that named after the former prime minister and architect of apartheid.

Hendrik Verwoerd Drive is now Uys Krige Drive, after the popular poet, writer and dramatist.

Speaking on behalf of the family, Krige’s daughter, Eulalia Krige, said they were thrilled that their “simple father” had been recognised by the citizens of Cape Town.

“It is a tremendous honour,” Krige said.

“My father was a fighter for the rights of the poor and the marginalised. He spoke a lot, but was well loved.

“We are thankful to the mayor and everyone involved with nominating my father to be named after a street in this wonderful city.”

Other streets renamed on Thursday include Coen Steytler Avenue on the Foreshore to Walter Sisulu Avenue and Modderdam Road to Robert Sobukwe Road.

Lansdowne Road has been divided into three sections: from Turfhall to Palmyra roads it is now Imam Haron Road, the stretch from Wetton to Swartklip roads will be known as Japhta K Masemola Road, and the section between Swartklip and Baden Powell Road has been renamed Govan Mbeki Road.

The Athlone Civic Centre has been renamed Dulcie September, after the Gleemore teacher and ANC activist who was assassinated in Paris in 1988.

September’s niece, Nicola Arendse, said she was three years old when her aunt left the country.

“I’d just started university when she was killed, and we didn’t even know what she was involved with and doing overseas until after her death,” Arendse said.

“Dulcie September worked towards justice for our country and was murdered because of that commitment.

“Some may not know her, but when they walk past the Athlone civic and see her name, they’ll ask and someone will tell them who she was.”

Professor Mohamad Haron, son of Imam Abdullah Haron, who flew in from Gaborone for Thursday’s ceremony, said: “Imam Haron and the others honoured here today lived ubuntu in the real sense of the word.

“They lived for others and through others and were eventually killed for the cause.

“The renaming process is a step in the right direction, despite what the critics say. We have to remember those who made a positive contribution and who lost their lives fighting for freedom during the Struggle.”

Lulu Mabusela, speaking on behalf of the Sisulu family, said whenever she and the other grandchildren visited Cape Town in the 1970s, they would know that they were “close to Tata”, who had been in prison with Nelson Mandela on Robben Island.

“Today’s event is a progressive step to creating a more open and inclusive city,” Mabusela said.

Otua Sobukwe Whyte, speaking on behalf of the former PAC leader Robert Sobukwe’s family, said: “By renaming a major road after my grandfather, citizens of Cape Town have ensured that his legacy will never die.”

“I pray that my generation will mirror the great works of all of those who are honoured here today. Nothing makes me happier than to see my grandfather being remembered for good.”

Linda Mbeki, speaking on behalf of the Mbeki family, said her grandfather had been under the impression that things would change after the dawn of democracy.

Before his death in 2001 he thought that he and many others had fought for and secured a safer and equal South Africa for all citizens.

“Were he here today, I’d tell him that he was wrong,” Mbeki said. “The right to life has no meaning today. Women are raped and beaten. These are abnormal times. Were he here today I’d tell him that without his leadership we feel helpless.”

Mbeki said the family was honoured to have the name of their “pillar of strength” on a street in Cape Town.

“My grandfather was an ordinary South African man, but he cared for people and justice.”

Cape Town mayor Patricia de Lille said the renaming process was an open and fair process.

“Our naming and renaming process is a way of reclaiming our common history and changing our very way of thinking and, in so doing, recognising our shared past.”

Who they were:

* Coen Steytler Avenue renamed Walter Sisulu Avenue

Coen Steytler was the brain behind development of the Foreshore and was instrumental in transforming Cape Town into a modern city, a civil servant who chaired a committee to develop the Heerengracht.

Walter Sisulu was an anti-apartheid activist and a leader of the ANC who served 25 years on Robben Island, after which he was elected party deputy president. A close friend of Nelson Mandela, was married to Albertina Sisulu and was the father of the current Speaker of Parliament, Max Sisulu, and Lindiwe Sisulu, the public service and administration minister.

* Hendrik Verwoerd Drive to Uys Krige Drive

Hendrik Verwoerd (1901-1966) was prime minister from 1958 until his assassination in 1966, and the man behind the formal conception and implementation of apartheid. He was prime minister during the establishment of the republic in 1961. During his tenure anti-apartheid movements were banned.

Uys Krige (1910-1987) wrote novels, poems and plays in English and Afrikaans. During World War II he was a war correspondent with the South African forces in north Africa, was captured at Tobruk and spent two years as a prisoner of war before escaping. Krige also translated many Shakespeare plays into Afrikaans, as well as works by Baudelaire and Pablo Neruda.

* Modderdam Road to Robert Sobukwe Road

Robert Sobukwe (1924-1978) was an activist who broke from the ANC in 1959 to form the PAC, becoming its first president. On March 21 the PAC led a nationwide protest against the carrying of passes, and Sobukwe was arrested in Soweto. On that day police opened fire on PAC supporters at Sharpeville, killing 69. After years of solitary confinement on Robben Island, he was released in 1969 and forced to live in Kimberley where he opened a law practice.

* Lansdowne Road (between Turfhall and Palmyra roads) to Imam Haron Road

Lord Lansdowne (1845-1927) was Viceroy of India and later Britain’s secretary of state for war from 1895, a post he held at the time of the start of the Anglo Boer War in 1899. He became British foreign secretary in 1900.

Imam Abdullah Haron (1924-1969) became imam of Al-Jamia Mosque in Claremont in 1955. He publically criticised South Africa’s race laws, particularly the pass laws and the Group Areas Act. He was arrested in 1969, and killed in custody, allegedly having “slipped on the stairs”.

* Lansdowne road (between Wetton and Swartklip roads) to Japhta K Masemola Road

Japhta “Bra Jeff” Masemola (1928-1990) was a founding member of the PAC. He died in a mysterious car accident on his way to hospital only six months after his release from Robben Island, having served 26 years.

* Lansdowne Road (between Swartklip and Baden Powell roads) to Govan Mbeki Road

Govan Mbeki (1910-2001) was one of the leaders of the ANC imprisoned on Robben Island with Nelson Mandela and Walter Sisulu. The father of former president Thabo Mbeki, he was freed in 1987 and became deputy president of the senate and later the National Council of Provinces.

* Athlone Civic Centre becomes the Dulcie September Civic Centre

Dulcie September (1935-1988) was a Cape Town anti-apartheid activist jailed for five years for conspiracy to commit sabotage in 1964. After her release she was banned, and left South Africa in 1973. She became the ANC’s chief representative in France, and was shot dead outside the ANC’s Paris office on March 29, 1988.

clayton.barnes@inl.co.za

Cape Argus

The Pakistani community in Mitchells Plain have laid bare their concerns about the murders of four of their countrymen.

Cape Town - Emotions ran high in Mitchells Plain as members of the Pakistani community laid bare their concerns about the murders of four of their countrymen to Community Safety MEC Dan Plato on Thursday.

Plato visited the house in Rocklandson Thursday where a gun attack on six men on Tuesday night left four dead and two others in hospital.

Gunmen entered the house in Uranus Street and opened fire on Muhammad Shafique, 42, Adnan Haider, 23, Ghulam Baqar, 23, and Shazad Ahmad, 39. They died on Wednesday morning.

Police arrested a 28-year-old man in connection with the shooting, and a firearm and a stolen safe were recovered.

The men were relatives, friends and employees of businessmen Abid Hussain, who has lived in Mitchells Plain for 16 years. Hussain is abroad.

His company, Eastern Distributors, distributes bread - and recently landed a lucrative contract.

Recalling the incident, Hussain’s wife, Rhukshana Hussain, and a 12-year-old girl who were in the house at the time of the shooting, wept uncontrollably.

The girl was comforted by Plato, who was outraged to hear that the girl had not yet been given trauma counselling.

It was not the first attack on the house. There had been another incident where a van was set alight outside the house, Plato was told. Plato offered sympathy to the family and the community as a whole.

The murders have sparked an emotional reaction from Pakistanis across the city, many of whom gathered at the house on Thursday.

Neighbour Noegh Soeker asked Plato what the community could do to protect themselves.

He told Plato that a few months ago residents launched an informal neighbourhood watch, armed with sticks and doing routine patrols.

“And for two months there was peace, until this happened,” Soeker said. The patrols had stopped after the police told the group they were “vigilantes”.

Plato promised to follow up the matter with police.

natasha.prince@inl.co.za

Cape Argus

“The killings of Muslims from other countries in South Africa is a blot against all Muslims in South Africa.”

Cape Town - The Al Jama-Ah political party on Friday condemned the murders of five Pakistanis in Mitchell's Plain.

“The killings of Muslims from other countries in South Africa is a blot against all Muslims in South Africa,” party president Ganief Hendricks said in a statement.

He said his party was concerned about the escalation of the killing of Muslims in South Africa.

The five Pakistanis were killed at their bakery in Rocklands, Mitchells Plain, Cape Town, on Tuesday around 10pm. Western Cape police said two men entered the premises, demanded the safe and opened fire. Four of the six people died on the scene. One died in hospital. The other was wounded. The attackers fled with the safe.

A 28-year-old man was arrested in connection with the crime.

In August 2012, Muhammad Fayaaz Kazi was beaten to death in a fight outside the Chicken Licken outlet in Magaliesburg. - Sapa

A great piece of detective work led to the discovery of the body of a woman who had been missing for more than four weeks.

Cape Town - A great piece of detective work by Mfuleni policewoman Warrant Officer Delia Rhodes led to the discovery of the body of a 43-year-old woman who had been missing for more than four weeks. The police have arrested a man in connection with the case.

The body of Hazel Nkomo was found in a grave behind her home in Kala Walk, Mfuleni, on Tuesday. Two dogs, the family pets, were buried on top of her.

According to the police, Nkomo’s husband Nothununu Mfazwe said he had last seen his wife on February 16. She was reported missing on March 14 when her family became suspicious about her disappearance.

On a visit to the house on Tuesday, Rhodes, who has been with the police for 18 years, noticed an unusual smell in the yard.

Mfazwe reportedly told her it was caused by the two dead dogs, but “investigative skills and a hunch” told her otherwise.

Acting on her instinct, Rhodes asked for the dogs to be dug up.

“After the dogs had been dug up, the husband said that he would go next door to borrow a shovel. He went, but did not come back,” said police spokesman Captain FC van Wyk.

“A 44-year-old man has been taken in for questioning after good investigation from the police and the community.”

According to the police, the man was arrested in Khayelitsha and would appear in court next week on a charge of murder.

sibusisiwe.lwandle@inl.co.za

Cape Argus

The Supreme Court of Appeal has converted murder charges against Jacob Humphreys to culpable homicide, reports said.

Bloemfontein - The Supreme Court of Appeal has converted the 10 murder charges against Jacob Humphreys to 10 charges of culpable homicide, according to reports.

The SCA also reportedly replaced Humphreys' 20 -year prison sentence with 8 years behind bars.

The Cape Town taxi driver was appealing both his conviction and sentence in the Supreme Court of Appeal in Bloemfontein.

Humphreys began serving a 20-year jail term in February last year after the Western Cape High Court found him guilty on 10 counts of murder and four of attempted murder.

The remaining 4 convictions of attempted murder against Humphreys were reportedly set aside altogether.

Humphreys, 57, was behind the wheel on August 25, 2010 when an oncoming train smashed into his taxi, killing 10 children and injuring four.

He had overtaken a queue of cars waiting to cross the railway line at the Buttskop crossing in Blackheath and ignored warning signals.

When Judge Robert Henney convicted Humphreys in December 2011, he found that he had acted with indirect intent, in that he had foreseen the possibility of harm but nevertheless taken a risk.

* More details to follow.

IOL

Doctors have welcomed a ruling that Prof Karabus is not to blame for the death of a three-year-old cancer patient in his care.

Johannesburg - Doctors have welcomed a ruling that Prof Cyril Karabus is not to blame for the death of a three-year-old cancer patient in his care.

“The SA Medical Association (Sama), along with the World Medical Association, have expressed both delight and relief,” Sama said in a statement on Friday.

A United Arab Emirates court acquitted Karabus on Thursday on charges of manslaughter and falsifying documents.

“[We] commended the efforts of all who supported the global appeals for justice and restoration of the 77-year-old professor’s right to freedom over the last seven months,” Sama said.

Karabus is an emeritus professor at the University of Cape Town and a specialist paediatric oncologist.

He was charged and sentenced in absentia. On August 18 last year he was arrested in Dubai while in transit to South Africa from Toronto, Canada, where he had attended his son's wedding.

Sapa

The navy has started to strip its Silvermine radio antenna field of equipment because it’s not sure when the fence will be fixed.

Cape Town - The navy has started to strip its Silvermine radio antenna field of equipment because it’s not sure when the fence supposed to keep out looters, will be fixed.

Radio communication between naval vessels at sea and Simon’s Town have to be relayed via Durban.

The navy was deaf in one ear, said Tim Flack of the SA National Defence Union.

Since last year thieves have stolen more than 5km of copper wire from the Silvermine communication centre and its antenna field inside the Table Mountain National Park.

SANDF spokesman Xolani Mabanga said the navy had not guarded the upper antenna field and thieves had stolen the copper.

The navy has to replace the fence that has deteriorated completely.

“The navy has removed all valuable equipment from the antenna field to prevent further theft,” said Mabanga.

Flack said union members were concerned about security at Silvermine and Simon’s Town and had raised it with management. “The blame was just shifted and no one rectified the problem,” he said.

Mabanga said the navy had asked the Department of Public Works to replace the fence but wasn’t sure when this would happen because of “resource constraints”.

He said the naval communication centre and Simon’s Town had lost radio coverage in certain areas but still had full satellite cover. Vessels in the northern Mozambique channel to combat piracy were not affected.

Mabanga said the police were investigating the theft and the department had started its own probe.

Defence analyst Helmoed Römer Heitman said:

“The navy can probably manage with just the Durban communication centre but if we need to send ships up the west coast of Africa we will need Silvermine, especially should piracy increase there,” he said.

cobus.coetzee@inl.co.za

Cape Times

A symbolic ceremony was held on Friday to “release” 12 political prisoners who died on Robben Island.

Cape Town - A symbolic ceremony was held on Friday to “release” 12 political prisoners who died on Robben Island, the correctional services ministry said.

Minister Sibusiso Ndebele said for the last four years, the Robben Island museum staff and the families of the 12 prisoners, who died during the apartheid era, had tried to find out what had happened to them.

It was believed the men were buried at the Stikland cemetery, in Bellville, Cape Town.

“Since 2009, the families had been conducting pilgrimages to Robben Island, and to the Stikland cemetery, to reconnect spiritually with the deceased,” said Ndebele.

However, remains exhumed at the cemetery could not be positively identified, and in 2011 archaelogists also could not locate any remains of the prisoners.

“The parties then decided to explore alternative mechanisms to honour political prisoners who died during incarceration on Robben Island.”

In January, it was decided to hold a “spiritual repatriation” ceremony.

Ndebele said it was part of African culture to return the spirit of someone who had died away from home to their place of birth.

“The fetching and symbolic repatriation of the spirits forms part of a body of knowledge of African thoughts about incarceration.”

He said during the ceremony the prisoners were spiritually cleansed so their traumatic experiences of life in jail were removed and they could start on a “clean slate”.

The names and prison numbers of the political prisoners are:

Jimmy Simon 10/63; Zincwasile Mvalwana 271/64; Sipho Khalipha 426/64; Mountain Langben 297/64; Marthiens Batyi 107/63; Frank Mani 55/65; John Poni 81/65; Mlungisi Mqalu 869/64; Reuben Maliwa 34/66; Solomon Makisi 85/65; Charlie Mkele 58/65; and Lameki Kula 126/63.

“May this symbolic release ceremony today serve to inform the entire nation about the first steps towards the symbolic closure of this painful chapter that was endured by these family members for more than 40 years,” said Ndebele.

“These sacrifices of our freedom fighters were not in vain, and we have a responsibility to demonstrate, and celebrate that fact.” - Sapa

Making the public service work was a special focus for Western Cape Premier Helen Zille when she presented the budget of her department.

Cape Town - Making the public service work was a special focus for Premier Helen Zille when she presented the budget of her department in the provincial legislature today.

Zille announced that the Department of the Premier’s 2013/2014 budget of R853.8 million has increased by 14.15 percent, or R105.9 million, from last year, mainly due to an expansion in the services provided by the Corporate Services Centre to provincial departments, especially IT services.

To build a “capable state that’s professional, competent and responsive to the needs of citizens” was one of six pillars of the National Development Plan (NDP) and the Western Cape government was committed to playing its part to make it work, Zille said.

“Minister Trevor Manuel... said (last week) that fixing the public service was the first step towards future prosperity because no economic policy could succeed if the ‘engine room’ (government) did not work,” she said.

“The NDP makes a number of proposals for the creation of a capable state, including greater accountability of individual employees, rules restricting the business interests of public servants, a public service that is not weakened by cadre deployment and is insulated from political patronage as well as developing specialist and technical skills and improving operational systems within government.”

Zille said it was important to state the additional funding would be spent on new infrastructure and systems that would enable provincial departments to focus on service delivery.

“The department remains committed to its austerity drive and no-frills ethos, including closely monitoring and curbing unnecessary expenditure on hotels, cars and catering,” she said. “The department’s budget is divided into five programmes, namely, executive and administrative support, provincial-wide strategic management, human capital, the centre for e-innovation and corporate assurance.”

Executive support has been given R62.5m to provide back-office administration and assistance for cabinet engagements and meetings of the provincial top management and the Department of the Premier, as well as other key functions, such the Office of the Chief Financial Officer and departmental strategy.

Some of the targets under this programme include achieving an unqualified audit, spending 99 percent of the department’s budget and ensuring all required annual strategic and annual plans and annual and quarterly reports are submitted.

It also supports the Intergovernmental Committee, which has been established to remove blockages threatening the success of strategic projects that require province/city collaboration.

Provincial strategic management was aimed at, among others, overseeing the so-called Provincial Transversal Management System, and has been allocated R52.1m.

Zille said the provincial government would soon introduce an international relations strategy.

One of the key aims of this strategy would be to reposition the Western Cape as the green economy hub of Africa by promoting the province’s competitive advantage in renewable energy capacity, strong financial services sector and design, built environment and manufacturing sectors.

Cape Argus

A crowd gathered at a Mitchells Plain court to protest at the bail application of a man accused of killing four Pakistani men

Cape Town - An enraged crowd gathered at the Mitchells Plain Magistrate’s Court on Friday morning to protest at the bail application of a man accused of killing of four Pakistani men in Rocklands.

Gunmen entered the premises of a home bakery in Rocklands on Tuesday night and opened fire on Muhammad Shafique, 42, Adnan Haider, 23, Ghulam Baqar, 23, and Shazad Ahmad, 39.

Two other men were wounded in the attack, one critically.

Outside courtroom 4, confusion reigned when a large group of friends and family were blocked by police from entering. They argued and banged on the door. They were told that they would be allowed to enter only once other cases scheduled for Friday morning had been heard. This subdued the crowd.

In the street outsidee court, several hundred Pakistanis and locals chanted for “justice” and the denial of bail for the accused.

Meanwhile, two men injured in Tuesday evening’s attack remain in hospital, one of them still in a critical condition.

Abid Hussain, whose brother and cousin were killed, has not been able to secure a flight back from Pakistan, where he is visiting. Hussain, a businessman and owner of a company called Eastern Distributors which delivers bread, has lived in Mitchells Plain for 16 years. The Pakistani community believes that the killings were motivated by business rivalry.

But police have warned against speculation.

Hanif Loonat, chairman of the Western Cape Community Policing Forum said: “This case is receiving our full attention. It makes no difference whether the victims of crime are foreign nationals or South Africans. We call for calm, and for the community to trust that the truth will be revealed through the investigation and the processes of the court.”

On Wednesday night, another Pakistani man was threatened at his home, allegedly by two men and a woman. Strandfontein police had not responded to the Cape Argus’ queries about the arrests of the three at the time of publication.

“They broke his window with a spade and said to him: ‘We will kill you, that is why we are here’. He hid with his family, and neighbours came out and scared the suspects off. Two of them were arrested by police,” said Javed Iqbal.

Iqbal is the uncle of Shazad Ahmad, one of the men killed on Tuesday.

“I have not been able to tell my sister (Ahmad’s mother) of her son’s death. The pain will be too deep, and she has a bad heart. She hasn’t seen her son for six years and I know that she was looking forward to him coming to visit later this year,” he said.

The final arrangements for the bodies of the deceased to be repatriated to Pakistan are being made, said Iftikhar Butt, general secretary of the Pakistani Community Welfare Association of the Western Cape.

“We expect that their bodies will be flown out on Monday, by which time we will ensure that all of the next of kin are informed about the deaths. We wanted to shield them from all the stress and admin involved in the repatriation process.”

Cape Argus

The Western Cape provincial treasury will beef up its efforts to improve financial management and fight corruption, finance MEC Alan Winde said.

Cape Town - The Western Cape provincial treasury will beef up its efforts to improve financial management and fight corruption, finance MEC Alan Winde said on Friday.

His asset management programme would continue to help enforce the efficient management of financial systems, supply-chain and moveable asset management across the provincial and municipal spheres, he said.

This would be done to close loopholes which resulted in corruption.

“With its allocation of R39.8 million... this programme will focus on enforcing compliance with the supply chain... by ensuring data integrity and transparency in reporting and by training the staff who deal with government financial transactions,” Winde said.

He was delivering his provincial budget in the legislature in Cape Town.

In total, the provincial treasury received a budget of R446.2m in the 2013/14 financial year.

This included R252.6m being housed within the Western Cape department of finance for distribution to special projects. The money would be disbursed once the implementation plans for these projects had received final approval.

Winde allocated R24.8m for financial governance to develop stringent accounting and financial management practices within provincial and local government.

At a municipal level, in the coming year, the primary tasks of this programme would be to improve the application of Generally Recognised Accounting Practice (Grap) standards and financial reporting, he said.

Winde said he wanted full compliance with Grap minimum standards by 2015.

An amount of R86.2m was set aside for the provincial wide area network plan.

A further R34.7m had been allocated for e-education hardware, and R6.9m for broadband library services.

Private sector investment in the green economy would get a boost of R6m.

Just under R104m had been earmarked for the development of systems and processes which would professionalise the public service, strengthen accountability, improve co-ordination and reduce instances of corruption, Winde said.

“Under this allocation, funding has been earmarked for the roll out of biometric fingerprinting devices for those staff members designated to handle government's money,” he said. - Sapa

Transport MEC Robin Carlisle is disappointed at the decision to overturn the charges and sentence of taxi driver Jacob Humphreys.

Cape Town - The decision to reduce the charges and sentence of Western Cape taxi driver Jacob Humphreys was disappointing, the province's transport MEC Robin Carlisle said on Friday.

“We are never going to change the reckless and irresponsible behaviour on our roads unless severe consequences are imposed by our courts on those who kill on the roads,” he said in a statement.

“While I respect the judgment delivered by the respected Supreme Court of Appeal (SCA) in this instance, I do feel that the consequence of a murder conviction and a 20 year jail sentence was appropriate.”

Earlier on Friday, the SCA reduced the 20 year sentence imposed on Humphreys to eight years, and replaced his 10 murder convictions with 10 counts of culpable homicide. It also set aside four counts of attempted murder.

The minister said reducing the sentence and convictions showed that the highest courts had not yet fully understood the need for consequences as a deterrent to dangerous behaviour on the road.

Humphreys overtook a queue of cars waiting at the Buttskop level-crossing, Cape Town, on August 25, 2010, and tried to cross the railway line, even though the safety booms were down.

Ten children died and four were seriously injured when the train hit his minibus. - Sapa

The Director of Public Prosecutions in the Western Cape has accepted the decision to reduce the sentence of Jacob Humphreys.

Cape Town - The Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) in the Western Cape has accepted the Supreme Court of Appeal (SCA) decision to reduce the sentence of convicted taxi driver Jacob Humphreys, the National Prosecuting Authority said on Friday.

In a statement, DPP Rodney de Kock welcomed the SCA's clarification of the legal test for whether drivers were guilty of intentional murder or negligent culpable homicide.

“The court found that Humphreys' actions did not amount to murder because he did not accept that either his passengers or he himself would die, even though he realised that they might.”

Nevertheless, De Kock described Humphreys's behaviour as representing “the most reprehensible degree of negligence”.

“The legal certainty that this matter has brought will promote the proper and effective prosecution of motor-vehicle accidents resulting in death in future,” he said.

“The sentence of eight years' imprisonment imposed reflects the extreme seriousness of Humphreys' behaviour and it will continue to serve as a deterrent to other negligent drivers.”

He said the DPP would continue to pay special attention to prosecuting reckless drivers who caused the deaths of others on the road.

Earlier on Friday, the SCA reduced the 20 year sentence imposed on Humphreys to eight years, and replaced his 10 murder convictions with 10 counts of culpable homicide. It also set aside four counts of attempted murder.

Humphreys overtook a queue of cars waiting at the Buttskop level-crossing, Cape Town, on August 25, 2010, and tried to cross the railway line, even though the safety booms were down.

Ten children died and four were seriously injured when the train hit his minibus. - Sapa

The original envelope of a letter sent to Jan van Riebeeck in October 1658 has been saved from auction.

Cape Town - In October 1658 Jan van Riebeeck, the founder of the Cape colony, received a letter from someone in Saldanha thanking him for supplies which included a barrel of buttermilk and 680 eggs.

Following intervention by the VOC Foundation and the Cape Archives, the original envelope of the letter written by Jakob Sijms was saved from being auctioned in London on Wednesday. The envelope was valued at R52 000 to R65 000.

It was among several Dutch East India (VOC) documents withdrawn from going under the hammer at Spink and Son’s auction after it was established the items had been stolen from the Cape Archives, foundation spokesman Piet Westra said on Thursday.

“The Dutch East India archives is a Unesco-declared heritage and nothing from it can be sold. The sale was stopped a day before the auction and they (Spink and Son) just had to,” he said when asked if the auctioneers had surrendered the envelope.

Westra said arrangements were being made to have it and other historical documents belonging to the Cape Archives returned to Cape Town.

VOC Foundation secretary Dan Sleigh said the envelope had been seized by police in London.

“The words on the envelope were written by Jakob Sijms who was the secretary of the captain of the ship West Friesland. He wrote it on 24 October 1658 to thank Jan Van Riebeeck for provisions they had received. The provisions were vegetables, live sheep, a barrel of buttercream and 680 eggs,” Sleigh said.

It was ironic because, had it not been saved from being auctioned, the envelope would have been sold on Wednesday, March 20 - the same day on which the Dutch East India Company had been founded, he said.

“There were also other historical items in the auction catalogue including stamps and about 15 envelopes addressed to commanders or governors of the Dutch East India Company. There were about 30 stamps from the British period. The items are very rare and worth thousands,” said Sleigh.

He said Cape Archives head Yolanda Hogg had approached Sports and Cultural Affairs MEC Ivan Meyer for assistance and Meyer had arranged for lawyers who in turn had Spink and Son remove the items from its auction catalogue.

“They (the lawyers) also ensured that we reserve the right to examine other items on the catalogue - items also possibly stolen years ago from the archives by someone named Hutchinson,” said Sleigh.

He said Hutchinson was a Franschhoek man in whose flat items stolen from the archives were found and who had received a seven-year jail sentence in 1988.

aziz.hartley@inl.co.za

Cape Times

Professor Cyril Karabus is pleased and relieved at being found not guilty of the death of a three-year-old cancer patient in his care.

Cape Town - Professor Cyril Karabus is pleased and relieved at being found not guilty of the death of a three-year-old cancer patient in his care, he said on Friday he was

“It has been a long, difficult and trying journey,” he said in a statement.

“I look forward to returning to South Africa and to spending quality time with my family and friends.

“I hope that all the required processes will be finalised as soon as possible, and that I will be able to celebrate my birthday with my loved ones on 1 April in Cape Town.”

Karabus thanked his family, his legal teams in South Africa and the United Arab Emirates, and the international governments, business, civil society and all the individuals who had supported him.

“I would like to thank the South African government, the embassy in Abu Dhabi and the minister of international relations... for their continuous efforts to ensure a positive outcome,” Karabus said.

“In particular, I would like to thank Deputy Minister Marius Fransman for the personal interest he took in my case.”

A UAE court acquitted Karabus on Thursday on charges of manslaughter and of falsifying documents.

It was reported on Friday that Karabus would have to wait before returning home, as the prosecution in the UAE has 14 days to appeal the ruling.

Karabus is an emeritus professor at the University of Cape Town and is a specialist paediatric oncologist.

He was charged and sentenced in absentia. On August 18, he was arrested in Dubai while in transit to South Africa from Toronto, Canada, where he had attended his son's wedding. - Sapa