A task team has been set up to come up with a strategy to ensure the integration of skateboarding as a mode of transport.

Cape Town -

The City of Cape Town and the National Skateboarding Collective have established a task team that will meet monthly to come up with a “comprehensive strategy” to ensure the integration of skateboarding as a mode of transport in the city.

The task team will be chaired by Brett Herron, mayco member for transport, roads and stormwater, who said he had an “open mind” when it came to agreeing on a strategy to ensure skateboarding became a mode of transport and a form of recreation.

“If the agreed strategy requires some by-law amendments to implement it then we will have to look at that. I don’t foresee that the by-law will need amending.”

Herron said they would focus only on skateboarding and not on other non-motorised transport like cycling.

Last year, the city temporarily lifted a ban on skateboarding and cycling on Sea Point Promenade, and Herron said on Monday that a decision was yet to be taken on whether to reinstate the ban at the end of this month or not.

In the meantime, skaters have organised an event called Promenade Mondays where they meet for a sunset skate down the Sea Point promenade. Marco Morgan, a representative of the National Skateboarding Collective and organiser of Promenade Mondays, said he started the event to use the space when the ban was lifted.

“This was our way of saying, if you open this space we will occupy it and we have received a positive response… We have gone from 16 people in October to 150 people (at the most) skating on Promenade Mondays.”

Morgan said that they had also been lobbying different city departments for the past 18 months for the establishment of the task team, and he was glad to see it being finalised.

It would open communication lines between the city and skateboarders, so that they could, for example, give input about the location and design of skate-parks.

Herron said: “Specifically, this strategy will consist of the identification of skating facilities and the infrastructure requirements of skating within the city, the formulation of a mutually agreeable policy for the regulation of skateboarding, and the implementation of practical steps that accommodate the needs of both skaters and the general public.”

neo.maditla@inl.co.za

Cape Argus

The Democratic Alliance vowed to fight the introduction of toll roads in the Western Cape.

Cape Town - The Democratic Alliance vowed on Tuesday to fight the introduction of toll roads in the Western Cape.

“(We) will fight the implementation of toll roads in the Western Cape like we are fighting them in Gauteng,” said Western Cape party leader Ivan Meyer.

Roads mayoral committee member Brett Herron earlier said an application to halt construction of the N1-N2 Winelands toll highway project in Cape Town would be heard in May.

Sanral served the city with a notice on March 6 indicating that it intended resuming the toll project.

Herron said the urgent interdict application had been set down for May 16 and 17 in the Western Cape High Court.

“Despite the best efforts of the City's legal teams, the SA National Roads Agency Limited (Sanral) has thus far not provided the people of Cape Town with a full understanding of the financial implications of this massive project,” he said.

Meyer said communities that would be affected by the toll roads had the right to be consulted properly.

“As in Gauteng, we believe that each and every community who will be affected by the implementation of these roads have the right to be properly consulted,” he said.

“Toll roads will inevitably drive up the cost of transportation and constrain freedom of movement, opportunity and growth in this province. Until now, no socio-economic impact study had been done and no consultation had taken place.” - Sapa

An alleged burglar was beaten and burned to death in Khayelitsha – in the sixth fatal mob attack in Cape Town this year.

Cape Town - An alleged burglar, Sivuyile Sothyantya, 25, was beaten and burned to death in Khayelitsha on Sunday night – bringing to six the number of fatal mob attacks on suspected criminals in Cape Town this year.

Police found Sothyantya’s badly burned body in a communal toilet on an open field off Lansdowne Road (renamed Jeff Masemola Road last week), at 40 Section in Makhaza, just after 9pm.

Last year 80 people – including at least 19 from Khayelitsha – were killed by mob violence in the province. So far this year, mob attacks have occurred in Philippi, Gugulethu and Mfuleni.

Residents told the Cape Times on Monday Sothyantya was attacked by a group of about seven men when he allegedly broke into a shack in the area. The residents said the incident occurred around 8pm.

A resident, who asked not to be named, said Sothyantya’s murder was sparked by a group of men who urged other community members to join in. “The guys were sitting outside a shebeen. They were not drinking alcohol. Someone shouted that there was a housebreaking, the men stood up and ran to the field. I stood about 40m from where they were and saw them beating him. I knew they were going to kill him,” he said.

“When there is so much crime in the area and police (are) not doing anything about it, we are going to see this happen every day. People are fed up with these young boys robbing and stealing from their own people,” the man said.

Another resident, who lives about 10m away from where Sothyantya was killed, said he heard noises just after 8pm.

“I was in bed and heard loud noises outside. I looked through the window and saw a bunch of men chasing someone. They got to him and started beating him. I closed my window,” the man said.

“About an hour later I heard the sirens and people talking outside. I knew something was wrong but did not feel like going outside… My neighbours told me that someone was killed,” he said.

Residents said they feared victimisation or prosecution. Most felt the general complaint was with police response to incidents reported.

Police spokesman Andre Traut said the death was being investigated. “The victim was found in a public toilet burned to death at 40 Section Makhaza. The motive is yet to be established,” Traut said. A murder case has been opened. No arrest has been made.

The deaths this year come amid wrangling over a stalled commission of inquiry into allegations of police inefficiency in Khayelitsha which has now been taken to the Constitutional Court by Police Minister Nathi Mthethwa. The case will be heard in August.

jason.felix@inl.co.za

Cape Times

Four hours before a bus crashed on the Hex River Pass claiming 24 lives, it was stopped by traffic authorities, the owners say.

Cape Town -

Four hours before a double-decker bus crashed on the Hex River Pass claiming 24 lives, the vehicle was stopped by traffic authorities and it passed a roadworthy and loading test, the owners say.

The company, Atlantic Charters and Tours, also says the bus, which crashed on March 15, had the correct permit and operating disc.

However, Transport and Public Works MEC Robin Carlisle said based on information gathered so far, the bus’s roadworthy certificate expired about a month ago and this affected its operating licence.

He said the incident was still under investigation.

The bus was transporting 60 members of the 12 Apostle Church in Christ, who were returning to Khayelitsha from an international mothers’ prayer meeting in Secunda when it crashed.

In a press release issued by Atlantic Charters and Tours’ spokeswoman, Aneeqah Salie, and its legal representative, Shaheid Schrueder, in response to earlier comments by Carlisle about the condition of the bus, the company denied there had been faults with the bus’s documentation.

Carlisle, speaking to the Cape Times two days ago, said Atlantic Charters and Tours had not contacted him.

The company said the bus’s carrier operating permit was issued on January 25 and was valid until August 31, 2016.

It said the bus’s vehicle licencing and operating disc was valid until August 31 this year.

Atlantic Charters and Tours said during the December festive season, it was “compulsory for every vehicle to be roadworthy and inspected thoroughly every day before departure” and the bus had gone through full roadworthy tests roughly every three days in December.

However, Carlisle said the bus’s roadworthy certificate expired on February 28.

“As far as we know, that also renders the operating licence invalid,” he said.

Atlantic Charters and Tours said that about four hours before the crash, traffic officials had stopped the bus in Beaufort West and it was inspected for roadworthiness and overloading.

“Needless to say, there were no issues found with the vehicle or documentation and the vehicle was released and was allowed to proceed on its journey,” it said.

But Carlisle said the traffic officers had only checked the bus’s weight and did not have the “highly complex equipment” to carry out a roadworthy test. He said he hoped investigators would dismantle the bus to try to isolate what caused the incident.

caryn.dolley@inl.co.za

Cape Times

A Cape bus crash that killed 23 people in 2010 deeply affected the lives of family members left behind, the court heard.

Cape Town -

A Western Cape bus crash that killed 23 people in 2010 deeply affected the lives of family members left behind, the Cape Town Magistrate's Court heard on Tuesday.

Testifying in the sentencing of bus driver Sisa Nonama, 41, two family members shared some of the difficulties they had faced.

Nonama was driving a bus from Leeu-Gamka to Cape Town in May 2010, when it crashed near De Doorns in the early hours of the morning.

He was to be sentenced on 23 counts of culpable homicide.

Johannes Dwangu, 47, testified that his 19-year-old wife was on the bus; he and his three-month-old child were not.

“She was working at a clothing shop (at the time). She very much contributed to the income. It's very hard (without her). I'm self-employed,” he said.

“It's very painful to me, because sometimes I get flashbacks and sometimes I find myself crying.”

Dwangu, who spoke softly to the translator, said his mother was now looking after his child.

Advocate Willem Tarantal, for the State, asked if Nonama had contacted him since the accident. Dwangu replied he had not.

Also called up to testify was Portia Nolusindiso Mnqanqeni, whose 42-year-old husband died in the crash.

She was left to care for their two children, aged 15 and seven.

Mnqanqeni told the court she had been working at that stage but was fired after the accident, because she needed time off.

“It affected me a lot during that week; I lost my work. The 15-year-old is still not right and he's attending the school for slow learners,” she said.

“I'm not coping very well. I'm struggling. I'm dependent on grant money. I need money for the school transport.”

Magistrate Bruce Langa probed her further on her eldest child's academic progress. He asked if her child was struggling as a result of the accident.

Mnqanqeni said her child did not want to attend school after the accident. The school had phoned to inform her that her child was troublesome.

“They said he's acting like a child who was not brought up very well and I said it could be because of the accident.”

Nonama sat very still during the testimonies. He looked frail and wore a surgical mask over his nose and mouth.

The court previously heard he had HIV/Aids, tuberculosis and kidney disease. - Sapa

A bus was travelling down a Western Cape Pass in its highest gear before it crashed and killed 23 people in 2010, the court heard.

Cape Town - A bus was travelling down a Western Cape Pass in its highest gear before it crashed and killed 23 people in 2010, the Cape Town Magistrate's Court heard on Tuesday.

Investigating officer Warrant Officer Dirk van Dyk was called to the scene, took notes and called in a specialist from Mercedes-Benz to investigate the bus.

He was testifying in the sentencing of Sisa Nonama, 41, who last year pleaded guilty to 23 counts of culpable homicide.

Prosecutor Willem Tarantaal asked Van Dyk what the speed limit was at the top of the Hex River Pass, near De Doorns.

“For heavy vehicles it's 60 kilometres per hour and for other vehicles, 80km/h,” he said.

“The vehicle has got six gears and it was in the highest gear. There is a sign that says heavy vehicles must stay in the lowest gear and in the slow lane.”

Nonama was driving a bus from Leeu-Gamka to Cape Town in May 2010, in the early hours of the morning. Van Dyk said the bus had been carrying 76 passengers.

“It's common cause that on the news, there was an accident a week ago on the same pass, also involving a bus?” asked Tarantaal.

The officer confirmed the accident. The prosecutor was referring to a bus crash on March 15 in which 24 people were killed and several others injured. The double-decker bus veered off the N1 at the bottom of the pass.

Nonama's lawyer Wimpie Strauss asked what the signage at the top of the pass looked like. Van Dyk replied that the sign indicated no heavy trucks were allowed in the right lane.

“You and I would understand that as no heavy vehicles (including buses) in the right lane,” the officer said. - Sapa

The driver of the bus that crashed and killed 23 people in 2010 is very ill and would never be able to drive a bus again, the court heard.

Cape Town - The driver of the bus that crashed and killed 23 people in 2010 was very ill and would never be able to drive a bus again, the Cape Town Magistrate's Court heard on Tuesday.

The lawyer for Sisa Nonama, 41, said during sentencing arguments that the court should take into account personal circumstances, the interest of the community, and the crime committed. Wimpie Strauss said his client's health and his inability to work were a factor.

“The accused is a very sick person. He's deteriorated from the person standing in court the first time up till now. He was a stocky, well-built, healthy person.”

The court previously heard Nonama had HIV/Aids, TB, and kidney disease. He was driving a bus from Leeu-Gamka to Cape Town in May 2010 when he lost control down the Hex River Pass in the early hours of the morning.

“It was dark, the early hours of the morning, it was raining, the road was wet and under these conditions, he lost control,” Strauss said.

Nonama had been 20km/h over the speed limit and ignored signs for heavy vehicles to move to a lower gear, because he did not think buses fell into that category. He had pleaded guilty, acknowledged responsibility, and thus saved the courts time.

Strauss asked that the court give a fully suspended term of imprisonment. Alternatively, he should be given correctional supervision.

Willem Tarantaal, for the State, disagreed and said he should be given a minimum of 10 years in jail if the counts were taken as one for sentencing purposes.

“Going down the Hex River Pass at an excessive speed was a conscious risk,” the prosecutor said.

He said the consequences of Nonama's actions, that many people were killed and injured, should be taken into account. Magistrate Bruce Langa was expected to hand down the sentence at 2pm. - Sapa

A man will spend six years in jail for the deaths of 23 people in a bus crash he caused, the Cape Town Magistrate's Court ruled.

Cape Town - A man will spend six years in jail for the deaths of 23 people in a bus crash he caused, the Cape Town Magistrate's Court ruled on Tuesday.

Magistrate Bruce Langa sentenced Sisa Nonama, 41, to nine years' imprisonment, three of which would be suspended for five years.

This suspension was on condition that he not be convicted of culpable homicide involving a motor vehicle during that period.

The 23 counts of culpable homicide were counted as one for the purposes of sentencing as they flowed from one incident.

Nonama was driving a bus from Leeu-Gamka to Cape Town in the early hours of the morning in May 2010 when he lost control of the vehicle on the Hex River Pass.

It was later revealed that Nonama was driving 20km over the speed limit, that he did not have the correct licence for driving the bus, and that the vehicle was not roadworthy.

The court also fined him R500 (or one year in jail) for not having the right licence, and R1000 (or six months in jail) for the unroadworthiness of the vehicle. The sentences would run concurrently with the main sentence.

Langa said the aggravating circumstances outweighed the mitigating factors and that “the imposition of a prison term was an inescapable conclusion”.

Nonama's defence had been hoping for a fully-suspended jail term or correctional supervision.

“My view is that he should have foreseen the consequences of his actions given the dreadful conditions that prevailed on that road,” Langa said.

He found the degree of negligence in this instance was serious rather than trivial.

“That people lost their lives and limbs makes it more serious.” - Sapa

Startling statistics on police brutality presented at Parliament showed cases leapt by more than 300% in the past decade.

Cape Town - Startling statistics on police brutality were presented at Parliament on Tuesday.

MPs heard that:

* Cases of police brutality leapt by more than 300 percent in the past decade, from 416 during 2001/2002 to 1 722 cases by 2011/2012.

* Of the 720 deaths reported to the Independent Police Investigative Directorate in 2011/2012, one in five involved police criminality.

* Only one out of every 50 people who experienced or witnessed police abuse reported it.

* The SAPS was facing civil claims totalling R1.1 billion related to shooting incidents, and assault cases of more than R800 million.

* Civil claims against the police had doubled in the past two years to R14.8bn.

* Thirty-five percent of citizens interviewed last year were scared of the police and about 41 percent did not trust the police.

The figures were presented to Parliament’s portfolio committee on police by Gareth Newham of the Institute for Security Studies.

“Senior police management have to take full responsibility and be held directly accountable for changing the culture, behaviour and performance of the police,” Newham said.

The committee’s meeting took place as the national police commissioner, General Riah Phiyega, was quizzed at the Farlam Commission of Inquiry into the Marikana massacre on progress in the “urgent demilitarisation” of the police as outlined in the government’s National Development Plan (NDP).

This included “changes in the police insignia, military ranks and force orders to create a civil police service as a first stage of community policing”.

“We have noted the recommendations. We are engaging the NDP, looking at how we can implement those recommendations,” Phiyega said.

Asked whether she agreed with the NDP recommendations, the police chief said: “It is difficult for me to say I agree or I don’t agree. With certain reservations and discussions we will embrace the recommendations.”

“It’s a recommendation and we must embrace it, we must find a way of working around it.” Phiyega said she was leading a team who were “working on the matter”.

The militarisation of the police has been one of the factors identified by analysts as contributing to a culture of brutality.

The police controversially adopted military ranks and styling three years ago at the behest of Police Minister Nathi Mthethwa, who argued this was necessary to improve discipline to win the war against criminals.

“For any force to discharge its task effectively, there needs to be a commander, because wars are led by commanders,” he said.

Former education and water affairs minister Kader Asmal, a long-time human rights activist who has since died, slammed the move, sparking a public confrontation with the then-deputy minister, Fikile Mbalula, who had first mooted the idea.

Mthethwa suggested that the names of potential police recruits be published before they were hired in an effort to weed out bad apples, as applicants’ behaviour was often known to their communities.

After the meeting, veteran DA MP Dianne Kohler Barnard said Mthethwa had seemed underprepared and had presented no plan for dealing with police brutality.

“The minister failed to answer most questions with any detail, but made sweeping, generic statements about training, code of conduct and improving command and control.”

ANC MP Annelize van Wyk, acting chairwoman of the committee, said people felt there was a “lack of consequences” for police who did wrong.

She said the committee’s visit to the Wierda Bridge police station in Centurion had left MPs appalled and distressed.

The visit was spurred by reports of unaccounted-for firearms, an alleged rape at the station of a woman who had gone to report a rape, and the threatening of a woman officer by colleagues after a suspect had been assaulted.

Cape Times

For six days, on a ventilator and unable to speak, Bongiwe Maqandana was unaware of what had happened to her family.

Cape Town -

“Mommy and daddy have died. But mommy is coming back.”

When four-year-old Saliena uttered these words, she was picked up and hugged by a motherly nurse at Worcester Hospital. At the time, no one had any idea how right Saliena was.

In the confusion following the deadly bus crash in the Hex River Valley earlier this month, staff at Worcester Hospital were informed that Saliena and her seven-month-old brother, Nathi, had been orphaned.

Twenty-four people died when their bus veered off the N1 outside De Doorns on March 15.

Meanwhile the children’s mother, Bongiwe Maqandana, 35, did not know where her children were when she was rushed semi-conscious from Worcester for specialist treatment at Tygerberg Hospital. She had multiple fractures and a deep gash to her head.

For six days, on a ventilator and unable to speak, Maqandana lay in pain and doubt, unaware of what had happened to her family – her husband Thandinkosi and the two children.

Then last Friday, Helene Louw of Tygerberg’s social work department walked up to Maqandana’s bedside in the ICU ward 1 and handed her two teddy bears. One had a pink ribbon around its neck, the other a blue ribbon. Both had the words “I love you” printed on them.

It was Louw’s way of telling Maqandana that her children had survived unharmed.

On Tuesday, mother and children were reunited at the hospital’s Tygerbear children’s therapy unit.

The reunion was bittersweet, however – Thandinkosi had died in the crash.

With Nathi in her lap, Maqandana beckoned to Saliena to come over. She giggled as her daughter ran away, still carrying a bunch of flowers. But Saliena went into a plastic playhouse, shut the door and peeked out from a window.

Maqandana laughed: “She’s scared because my hair has been shaved and I am not wearing my church uniform.”

Later, though, Saliena warmed up and inspected her mom with a toy stethoscope.

“Are you still sore, mommy?” she asked.

A nurse from Worcester, Anati Makohoiso, who accompanied the children to Cape Town, said Saliena wanted to be a doctor when she grew up.

“She was following them around the hospital for a whole week, now she wants to be one as well she told me.”

She said Saliena remembered the bus accident vividly, and had told hospital staff about how passengers shouted to the driver to stop shortly before the bus veered off the road. She and her brother only sustained very minor injuries in the crash.

Also present at Tuesday’s reunion was Maqandana’s mother, Nonceba Joja, who had arrived from the Eastern Cape.

Joja had also received mixed reports about the accident and had initially thought that she was coming to identify the bodies of her daughter and grandchildren.

Now, once Maqandana has recovered and been discharged, the family will travel back to East London where Thandinkosi will be buried.

“Don’t worry baby. This time we’ll go in a taxi or maybe a train,” Maqandana comforted Saliena, before turning to the nurse:

“She’s still afraid of the big bus.”

* If you would like to make a donation towards the travel expenses for Saliena and Nathi to visit their mom in hospital, please call the Tygerbear Foundation for Traumatised Children and Families at 021 931 6717 or 082 994 4301.

daneel.knoetze@inl.co.za

Cape Argus

About 46 condoms were distributed per adult male in the Western Cape - 30 more than the national average, according to the SAIIRR.

Johannesburg - The Western Cape was the province where the most condoms were distributed per adult male, the SA Institute of Race Relations (SAIRR) said on Wednesday.

About 46 condoms were distributed per adult male there, followed by Limpopo with 20 and Mpumalanga with 19, the SAIRR said in a statement.

The Eastern Cape was fourth with 15, the Free State fifth at 12, and KwaZulu-Natal sixth with 11.

The Northern Cape and Gauteng, with eight condoms distributed per adult male, and the North West with six, were the bottom three.

The national average hovered around 16 condoms per adult male.

“The condom distribution target was missed by 60 percent in the 2011/12 financial year,” according to the institute.

“Some 399 million condoms, both male and female, were distributed, against a target of just over one billion.”

SAIRR researcher Lerato Moloi said condom distribution was likely more difficult in areas with low population density such as the Northern Cape.

“The Northern Cape, for example, has the lowest population density at three people per square kilometre. This is consistent with its low distribution rate of eight condoms per adult male.

“Gauteng, however, has a population density significantly higher than that of all the other provinces with 675 people per square kilometre, yet it has the same distribution rate as the Northern Cape.” - Sapa

Donald Grant has approached the ConCourt for leave to appeal an order to keep 17 schools open which he had decided to close.

Cape Town - Education MEC Donald Grant has approached the Constitutional Court to seek leave to appeal against an order handed down in the Western Cape High Court last year regarding the closure of 17 schools.

The move comes just days after Judge Siraj Desai, in agreement with Judge Elizabeth Baartman, gave reasons for granting an interim interdict to prevent Grant from closing the schools on December 31.

The decision was not unanimous since Judge Dennis Davis, who also sat on the full bench, didn’t agree.

“I do this (seek leave to appeal) because, having considered the pleadings, transcripts of the hearing and the judgment itself, I am of the view that the case presented by the counsel representing us in the hearing of that matter was not given its due accord by the majority of the court prior to it reaching its decision in this matter and that the decision itself is not in the interests of all the learners in this province, nor indeed the country,” Grant said on Tuesday.

He said the “longevity” of the interim interdict had been made almost indefinite because of the wording chosen by the court when the order was handed down.

“In terms of this order, even if we win the review application, due to be heard in May, and show that the reasonable prospects of success (upon which the interdict order was premised), do not in fact exist, the interdict will still remain in place if the applicants choose to appeal that review order.”

He said this meant that there could still be a three- to five-year process after May during which the schools could not be closed and needed to be maintained and staffed, no matter what the attendance numbers would be in years to come.

“This will vitally affect our planning and preparation for the 2014, 2015 and ongoing school years, including the budgets for the maintenance of old schools, the opening of new schools and the closing of schools.” Grant said he had submitted an affidavit to the Constitutional Court that addressed all the concerns as well as a number of factors affected by the order, including the power of provinces to close schools.

ilse.fredericks@inl.co.za

Cape Argus

A domestic worker has accused her employer of locking her up and beating her with a golf club for some hours.

Cape Town - A Langa domestic worker has accused her employer of locking her up and beating her with a golf club for some hours.

But Roshaan Davids, from Surrey Estate, says her domestic worker, Sindiwe Moyikwa, threw the first punch. Davids has appeared in the Athlone Magistrate’s Court on a charge of assault with intent to commit grievous bodily harm.

Moyikwa, 37, of Langa, said the incident had left her bruised and suffering from dizzy spells.

She accused Davids, a woman she said she trusted, of beating her for six hours.

Moyikwa began working for Davids six months ago, charring three times a week for R120 a day. “I thought she was a nice person.”

Trouble began at the beginning of the month when Davids accused her of stealing a set of bangles and a watch. Moyikwa denied knowing anything about them. On Humans Rights Day, Davids confronted her about the missing items. “I was changing from my work clothes in the children’s room, getting ready to leave at about 3pm, when she asked me about her watch.”

Moyikwa said she told her employer she did not know where it was. Davids reportedly then said Moyikwa would tell the truth, and locked the door. A punch was thrown and Moyikwa fell, knocking her tooth out.

Moyikwa alleged the assault included being hit with a golf club and being sprayed with pepper spray. She passed out several times.

Police spokesman Colonel Tembinkosi Kinana confirmed that Moyikwa had laid a charge of assault with intent to cause grievous bodily harm. Davids was arrested the following day and had appeared in the Athlone Magistrate’s Court.

Kinana said: “It was alleged that a domestic worker from Langa was accused of stealing a watch, a situation which resulted to the employer assaulting her with a golf stick. She sustained injuries to her upper body and was later taken to hospital for medical treatment.”

Monyikwa said she was rescued by Davids’s ex-boyfriend, who came to the house at about 9pm and heard her screams.

Her twin sister, Sindiswa, said she got suspicious when her sister did not pick up her phone. She then phoned Davids to ask where she was. “She told me that my sister was a thief and refused to tell me where she is. She switched off her phone after that.”

Davids told the Cape Argus Moyikwa had attacked her first and that her lawyer was handling the matter. She said she would lay a counter-charge against Moyikwa.

nontando.mposo@inl.co.za

Cape Argus

After losing his teeth in a mugging, a Sea Point ice-cream vendor is now showing off a dazzling new smile.

Cape Town -

After losing his teeth in a mugging, a Sea Point ice cream vendor is now showing off a dazzling new smile.

Luke Dausi was hit in the face with a baseball bat and knocked unconscious while selling ice cream on the Sea Point promenade last month.

Apart from being robbed of his money and cellphone, he lost eight teeth, four each from his upper and lower rows.

He was helped by a passer-by and taken to hospital by his boss, David East, of Ola ice cream.

His employers, East and Gary Saven, also hooked Dausi up with dentist Dr Marc Sher, who was one of a team of dentists and technicians to provide Dausi with a new set of teeth, worth about R200 000, for free.

Dausi said he liked to sing, and when he lost his teeth he could barely talk. “I like my new smile a lot and I am always smiling now.

“I don’t know how I can express my gratitude to all the people who have helped me – I am very proud of Dr Marc.”

Sher paid tribute to Herman Bauerrichter of Surgicast Dental Lab, Marcel van der Vaart and his team from Ceramiart Dental Lab, Daniel Millner from Wright Millners, MegaGen who sponsored the implants and a top periodontist who asked to remain anonymous.

But the job is not over.

Sher said: “Luke has had four implants which are healing. He will be fitted with permanent teeth in November.”

yolisa.tswanya@inl.co.za

Cape Argus

The nurse who was sent home after she reported for work without false teeth has people chattering both here and abroad.

Cape Town - The nurse who was sent home after she reported for work without false teeth has people chattering both here and abroad.

The woman was catapulted into the headlines after revealing to the Daily Voice that hospital bosses told her to go home after discovering her teeth had been stolen.

The veteran nurse said she has been left humiliated.

Within hours of her story being published, word spread across the globe and it prompted two South African dentists based in Ireland to offer the cash to pay for a new set of dentures for the Ravensmead nurse.

The 52-year-old woman was sent home last Friday when she reported for duty at N1 City Hospital without her front teeth. She said her boss told her to take time off work until she replaced her dentures.

The woman said she is grateful for the offer from Ireland, but is more concerned about returning to work.

“I don’t know what is going to happen when I return to work,” she said.

“I went for fittings at the private dentist at work and I need the dentures done by Friday, when I’m supposed to return for my next shift.”

Meanwhile, the missing dentures have Cape residents divided.

A restaurant manager who did not want to be identified suggested that the woman take legal action against her employer for treating her unfairly.

While another clothing store manager said she would not allow her staff to work without their front teeth.

Cape Town flower-seller Delia Gamildien – who proudly showed off her passion gap – said the woman should be allowed back at work.

“Why shouldn’t she be at work just because she’s not wearing her dentures?” she asked.

“If a customer does not want to buy flowers from my stall because I have dentures, I will tell them to go to a seller with permanent teeth.”

Meanwhile, her friend Karin Bachmann, 40, said the woman should not be kept from doing her job.

“What is more important, the fact that she has no teeth or that she is caring for her patients?” Karin asked.

“If I was one of the patients, I wouldn’t care if the nurse has teeth or not – as long as I am taken care of.”

Newspaper vendor, Natasha McClure, 49, has had dentures for over 10 years and admits to forgetting her smile at home.

“I left my teeth at home a couple of times,” she said, baring a toothless grin.

“One day I forgot to put in my bottom set and when I got to town, I realised.

“That day, my customers noticed I wasn’t talking as much as I used to and I just kept my mouth covered until I got home. I was very shy.”

Clothing store manager Barbara Abrahams said her boss doesn’t have a problem with her gapped smile.

“I extracted my teeth four years ago and I never got dentures,” she said.

“My boss has never had a problem with this and I don’t mind if my staff come to work without dentures.”

But Cell C store manager Amanda Scholtz said she can’t allow her consultants to work if they don’t look presentable.

“They can’t come to work like that and work with customers. Depending on the circumstances, they either have to work at the back of the store doing something else, or they have to take sick leave until they can sort it out,” she said.

Meanwhile Netcare Regional Director Ian Goble said that the woman had requested to take leave and change her shift around.

“It is important that members of staff within the healthcare environment are able to communicate with patients and others effectively and safely at all times and without compromising the health of anyone,” he said.

“The staff member concerned expressed her embarrassment... for not having her dentures and was therefore afforded the opportunity to change her shift around so that she could have time off to replace her dentures.

“She instead requested to take leave.

“Netcare strives for excellence and professionalism in the delivery of quality patient care. We care passionately about the dignity of our patients and our staff.”

Daily Voice

"Their eyes are lit up like the headlights of a car. They are like vampires because they only come out at night."

Cape Town -

Giant rats that attack in packs at night are terrorising residents.

Lundi Galanda, 47, of Dura Hostel in Langa, said residents heard rats scratching the front door at night: “Their eyes are lit up like the headlights of a car. They are like vampires because they only come out at night. They have eaten their way through the metal door… there is nothing they won’t get through.”

Galanda said the rats had nibbled their way through peanut butter lids and Tupperware.

Galanda shares the hostel with seven other families, and many of the residents are toddlers. The hostel is divided into eight small cubicles which are crammed with furniture, mostly a single bed, stove, pots and clothes.

Community leader and pensioner Eunice Phathiwe, 65, who has lived in the hostel for 40 years, said it formerly housed migrant workers.

She said: “The rat problem has got worse over the years and they are not scared of us. They attack around 8pm. When we sleep we cover ourselves with blankets, even in summer.

“Now and again there is a horrible stink and we will find a dead rat under the bed or cardboard. This place is so crowded that some people sleep on the floor, which makes them easy targets. They bite us in the face, head and feet… wherever they find exposed flesh,” said Phathiwe. “They know what they want and where they are going… they walk with a purpose like humans.”

When the Cape Argus visited the hostel, a decomposing rat lay on top of a wheelie bin.

Phathiwe added: “We can’t live like this; soon these rats will make us sick. The government has to intervene.”

Phathiwe’s plea comes after the city’s mayoral committee member for health, Lungiswa James, announced last week that the department had budgeted R530 843 for rat poisons.

This followed a tweet from Premier Helen Zille who told her Twitter followers that she had been bitten on the toe by a rat in the garden of her Leeuwenhof home.

James said food waste attracted rats and that in areas with high rat populations, it had been found that some residents dumped their rubbish next to collection bins rather than inside them, or left their rubbish out on days other than collection day.

Eileen Slabber, managing director at Ecofirst Pest Prevention and Hygiene said the rat problem was likely to spread to the inner city in winter: “During winter, when it is cold and wet, rats prefer warm houses and factories because the food source is less outside and it is easier for them to find food and water indoors.”

She said the most common rats found in the city were the Norway drain rat and roof rat.

“The Norway rat prefers meat and the roof rat prefers vegetables and fruit; however, both are omnivores. They always go where they can find food or meat, such as food factories, in roofs and cavity walls and even in cold rooms – rats can adapt to very cold conditions.”

Tips to avoid rat infestation

Eileen Slabber’s tips for preventing rat infestations:

* Remove all refuse and thoroughly clean refuse areas on a regular basis.

* Ensure that all refuse bins, toilets and drains are covered when not in use.

* Products need to be kept away from walls and off floors.

* Ensure that all doors to areas where food is prepared are kept closed.

* Immediately isolate a room suspected of an infestation.

nontando.mposo@inl.co.za

Cape Argus

Harley’s has filed an urgent application for an interdict to stop the planned ban on alcohol sales in Cape Town on Sundays.

Cape Town -

Harley’s Liquor and Wine Specialists has filed an urgent application in the Western Cape High Court for an interdict to stop the planned ban on the selling of alcohol on Sundays.

Owner Michael Brownstone is taking the City of Cape Town and three other parties, including the Western Cape Liquor Board, to court before a by-law prohibiting the sale of booze on Sundays comes into effect next month.

“There is a serious problem with these laws. They are nonsensical and several departments are involved,” said Brownstone.

He said the by-law would see an increase in illegal alcohol trading and would lead to job losses in the industry.

“If these laws are passed, I would have to retrench half my staff. The laws are not constitutionally sound and this is what I am challenging.”

The City of Cape Town said the interdict was not sought against them specifically, as the City was not a liquor licensing authority.

“The City as a local authority can only determine the hours and days of trading and does not issue liquor licences,” said councillor Garreth Bloor, mayoral committee member for economic, environmental and spatial planning.

Asked whether the liquor trader would be allowed to operate on Sundays, Bloor said: “The finding of the court is of no real significance to the City.

“The interdict is not against the by-law which controls trading hours.”

The City said no other traders could apply for a Sunday licence, as the new by-laws come into place next month.

The Western Cape Liquor Authority’s Philip Prinsloo said they would abide by the ruling of the court.

sibusisiwe.lwandle@inl.co.za

Cape Argus

The City of Cape Town will hand over new houses to beneficiaries in Philippi before the Easter weekend.

Cape Town - The City of Cape Town will hand over new houses to beneficiaries in Philippi before the Easter weekend, the municipality said on Wednesday.

Member of the mayoral committee (MMC) responsible for human settlement, Tandeka Gqada, said the project was in its final stage and houses would be handed over on Thursday.

“Despite the hurdles faced during this housing project, the City is pleased to announce that some of the critical housing needs in Philippi East have been addressed by the provision of new homes to 432 deserving beneficiaries.”

She said project was initiated in 2003 and had experienced several obstacles which hampered the completion of the development and the handing over of houses to beneficiaries.

“The city faced a number of challenges, which included the facilitation of the community’s involvement and illegal operations being conducted on the site allocated for development.”

She said the problem was solved when the municipality engaged with the provincial department of human settlements to acquire additional vacant land adjacent to the site.

“This land would accommodate all beneficiaries from this area who had requested a house from the city,” she said.

Gqada said that in March this year, while the contractor was in the process of completing the remaining additional units allocated to the project, a group of people illegally entered the site, and started occupying and vandalising the newly built houses. - Sapa

If two signatures are identical, one of them is extremely likely to be a forgery, a handwriting analyst told the Western Cape High Court.

Cape Town - If two signatures are identical, one of them is extremely likely to be a forgery, a handwriting analyst told the Western Cape High Court on Wednesday.

“We decide to create a signature for ourselves... and it's unique, it's a contrived piece of writing and we use it for identification purposes,” expert Cecil Greenfield said, in the trial of Thandi Maqubela and Vela Mabena.

“The paradox is that if two signatures are identical in every way, it must be a forgery because it's impossible to repeat your (exact) signature twice.”

Maqubela and Mabena stand accused of killing her husband, acting judge Patrick Maqubela, by suffocating him with clingwrap in his Sea Point, Cape Town, apartment on June 5, 2009.

They have pleaded not guilty to a charge of murder. Maqubela has also pleaded not guilty to additional charges of forgery and fraud.

Prosecutors Bonnie Currie-Gamwo and Pedro van Wyk allege she forged her husband's signature on his will, and then fraudulently presented the forged will at the Johannesburg office of the Master of the High Court.

Greenfield, who was called as a defence witness, said he collected over 65 signatures from the late judge to use as a comparison against the signature on the will.

He looked at the overall consistency in the specimen signatures and other characteristics such as quality, tremor, the slope, hesitation, and inappropriate pen lifts. Spontaneity and speed were the best indicators as they were not easy to imitate.

The expert said signatures could never be identical because of the different situations and moods people found themselves in, which would affect the aforementioned characteristics.

“(I have to ask) where does variation stop and where does difference begin? Where does forgery come in and at what point can we say it's fraud?”

Greenfield said a signature could be forged in three ways; either by tracing; practising the signature until similar by freehand; or the cut and paste method, manually or electronically. - Sapa

The signature on acting judge Patrick Maqubela's will is in all possibility not a forgery, the Western Cape High Court heard.

Cape Town - The signature on acting judge Patrick Maqubela's will is in all possibility not a forgery, the Western Cape High Court heard on Wednesday.

“There is variation on the pressure, but it has all the attributes of the genuine. There are no stops or pen lifts in the line of the body of the signature,” handwriting analyst Cecil Greenfield testified.

“The signature is written fluently and under a microscope one can see clearly the clearness of the line.”

Greenfield was called as a defence witness in the trial of Maqubela's wife, Thandi, and co-accused Vela Mabena.

The pair have pleaded not guilty to murdering Maqubela by suffocating him with cling-wrap in his Sea Point apartment on June 5, 2009.

Thandi Maqubela has also pleaded not guilty to additional charges of forgery and fraud.

Prosecutors Bonnie Currie-Gamwo and Pedro van Wyk allege that she forged her husband's signature on his will, and then fraudulently presented the forged will at the Johannesburg office of the Master of the High Court.

The court heard that the High Court declared the will invalid on an unopposed basis and thus rejected it.

Greenfield said he first had sight of the will in December 2011.

He said there were no latent impressions on the paper to suggest the signature had been traced or manipulated by a graphics programme.

He disputed the four differences raised by the State's handwriting expert, who had declared that the signature on the will was in all possibility a forgery.

“They are not differences then but variations.”

He said these variations were missed by the State's expert as he had looked at only a limited number of signature specimens.

The expert said signatures could never be identical because of the different situations and moods people found themselves in, which would affect certain characteristics.

He collected over 65 of the judge's signatures to use as a comparison against the signature on the will.

He looked at the overall consistency in the specimen signatures, and other characteristics such as quality, tremor, the slope, hesitation and inappropriate pen lifts. Spontaneity and speed were the best indicators as they were not easy to imitate.

A signature could be forged in three ways; either by tracing; practising the signature until similar by freehand; or the cut and paste method, manually or electronically.

The State will cross-examine Greenfield on Thursday. - Sapa