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Man’s body found down cliff

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A Cape Town man’s body was recovered from his vehicle found down a cliff between Gordon’s Bay and Koeël Bay.

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Cape Town - A Cape Town man’s body was recovered from his vehicle found down a cliff between Gordon’s Bay and Koeël Bay on Monday night.

The 29-year-old’s family had reported him missing to police, but asked NSRI to search along the coastline as they feared his vehicle could have left the coastal road between Kleinmond and Gordons Bay,” NSRI spokesman Craig Lambinon said.

The man had taken the R44 road from the Arabella Golf Estate to Cape Town at about 3pm on Saturday, but failed to arrive home that evening, Lambinon said.

NSRI Gordon’s Bay volunteers went out at 4pm on Monday and four hours later saw the man’s wrecked car at Dappe Se Gat near Koeël Bay, said Lambinon.

Police spokesman Tembinkosi Kinana confirmed the incident, but said he awaited more information from Gordon’s Bay police.

Cape Times


Probe into vicious attack on baboon

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The SPCA is investigating a case of cruelty after a Cape Town resident allegedly used a nail-studded stick to beat a baboon.

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Cape Town - The SPCA is investigating a case of cruelty after a resident of the Castle Rock area in the south peninsula allegedly used a nail-studded stick to beat a baboon while the animal was stretched between two dogs.

The dogs eventually released the baboon which fled into a thicket of invasive alien vegetation and could not be caught for examination.

This is one of two incidents being investigated by the SPCA.

The other involved a pit bull dog attack on the old male baboon known as Quizzy in Ocean View. Quizzy was severely injured and later put down.

“I am currently investigating both cases with a view to laying charges in terms of the Animals Protection Act,” said Cape of Good Hope SPCA wildlife unit manager Brett Glasby.

“I should have all the affidavits for the Castle Rock case from the witnesses by the end of the week. For the Ocean View case I am still attempting to find a witness who is willing to supply an affidavit. Unfortunately in that case the witnesses I have spoken to are too scared to write affidavits.”

The incidents are recorded in a report by baboon management service provider Human Wildlife Solutions.

According to the report, the baboon from the Smitswinkel Bay troop, formally known as SWB1, became involved in an altercation with a pit bull at a house after dog food had “unfortunately” been left outside.

“As the baboons had been in the area all morning, the Human Wildlife Solutions supervisor had earlier advised the owners of the house accordingly, requesting that all doors and windows be closed and the dog food be taken inside, but unfortunately the request was unheeded. Dog food is usually kept outside in the garden at this house and is a constant cause of conflict when baboons enter the garden to eat the food.”

The report noted that the pit bull had attacked the baboon and that both fell down a steep embankment, “where a second dog attacked SWB1 from the rear with the pit bull at its head. At this point the dog owner arrived and proceeded to beat the baboon with a long stick that had nails on either end”.

The dogs had finally released the baboon which fled into the thickets.

Wildlife veterinarian Hamish Currie and Human Wildlife Solutions area manager Ziggy Rode arrived to search for SWB1, but it was already very high up on the mountain when spotted and was only seen again a few days later. This incident had been reported to both the SPCA and CapeNature.

john.yeld@inl.co.za

Cape Argus

Family to sue after mountain death plunge

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The family of an Italian man who fell to his death from one of the Cape’s most popular winter scenic spots has taken legal action.

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Cape Town - The family of an Italian man who fell to his death four years ago from one of the Cape’s most popular winter scenic spots have taken legal action against those running the private reserve.

And relatives of Claremont resident Elaine Abrahams, who slipped to her death from a nearby area at the Matroosberg Private Nature Reserve a year later, may do the same.

The Italian was one of three people who plunged to their deaths from the viewing area in the Matroosberg in three years.

The spot is a very popular and a spectacular viewpoint when it snows.

Pier Alberto Za, 38, who lived and worked in Cape Town, and a friend, had been walking from their 4x4 with camping chairs under their arms when they both slipped and fell in June 2009. Za died, his friend was helped to safety.

On Monday, Willem van der Colff, a litigation director at Edward Nathan Sonnenbergs, confirmed to the Cape Times that a summons had been issued against Andre Frederik Smith and the Matroosberg Private Nature Reserve in the Western Cape High Court. Smith owned the farm Erfdeel, where the reserve was.

Didi de Kock of the Matroosberg reserve said: “The death of Mr Za was a terribly tragic accident and the family have instituted litigation and I am unable to discuss same.”

The three incidents occurred as follows:

* August 5, 2007 – Andrew Johns, 31, of Milnerton, plunged about 200m into a ravine.

In response to a Mountain Club of SA article on the incident published on a hiking blog, a user had said: “Andrew was playing and sliding on a cardboard box down the snow when it suddenly turned to ice. The momentum and the speed he was travelling at caused him to be unable to stop himself and he slid over the edge in full view of his wife and son.”

* June 27, 2009 – Za fell about 200m to his death. At the time a witness, Otto Rall, told the Cape Times he had seen Za and his friend walking towards the edge of the deep Groothoek Kloof when they fell.

Rall had seen the friend digging into the snow to slow himself down with ripped and bleeding finger nails. Using ropes from his 4x4, Rall had managed to help him to safety.

* June 27, 2010 – While on a trip to view the snow with colleagues and her then-seven-year-old son, Elaine Abrahams, 40, sat near the Conical Peak parking area.

When she stood up, she slipped and plunged 200m to her death. Rescuers were only able to retrieve her body four months later in an intricate and risky operation.

On Monday, Simon Abrahams, a firefighter and Elaine Abrahams’s brother-in-law who helped retrieve her body as well as that of Johns, said when he had heard Za’s family was taking action against the reserve, he had told her widower and was waiting to hear if he would do the same.

Abrahams and other rescuers felt the “one or two marker poles” in the area were not sufficient safety measures and that improved warning signs needed to be erected.

“If nothing’s done, Elaine’s death definitely won’t be the last,” Abrahams said.

caryn.dolley@inl.co.za

Cape Times

Fidentia judge needs time for admissions

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The trial of J Arthur Brown was postponed to give the judge time to scrutinise an altered admissions document.

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Cape Town -

The trial of former Fidentia boss J Arthur Brown was postponed on Tuesday to give a Western Cape High Court judge time to scrutinise an altered admissions document.

Braganza Pretorius, for Brown, said he had amended the original admissions document which was handed in last Tuesday, after the court raised certain concerns.

“I believe that (this) will put the court at ease,” he said.

Judge Anton Veldhuizen spent some time reading the document.

“I'll have to look at this before I make any decisions... I need to look at it carefully and discuss this (with my assessors),” he said.

The trial would resume on Wednesday.

The court previously indicated that Brown's admissions in relation to a count of fraud were troublesome, as certain elements contradicted each other and seemed vague.

The admissions related to Fidentia's dealings with the Mantadia Asset Trust Company (Matco) in 2004. - Sapa

Captain fired over ignored rape charge

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A police captain has been fired for turning away a woman who wanted to lodge a complaint against a cop she accused of rape.

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Cape Town - Police have fired a captain for turning away a woman who had wanted to lodge a complaint against a Mossel Bay policeman she accused of raping her.

The woman said she had been raped by a reservist inside the trauma room of KwaNonqaba’s satellite station at Herbertsdale on February 15 when she went to lodge a complaint of domestic violence.

The captain is the second officer to be sacked in the case.

Earlier, a 52-year-old police reservist alleged to have raped the woman was fired after an internal disciplinary hearing, and is facing a criminal charge of rape, said Moses Dlamini, spokesman for the Independent Police Investigative Directorate.

The woman said when she reported the rape at the same station the following day, the captain “dismissed her claims as not serious and failed to institute criminal proceedings against the suspect”, said police spokesman Andrè Traut.

After instituting disciplinary proceedings against the captain in February, provincial commissioner General Arno Lamoer on Monday confirmed the findings of a disciplinary panel to dismiss him.

Asked to name the captain, Traut refused, saying the dismissal was an internal matter which the captain could appeal against.

Sharon Messina, from NGO Women on Farms Project, said women routinely faced difficulties in reporting domestic violence to police. “Women say that when they go to the police station to report domestic abuse the police say that if nothing has happened, they can’t do anything,” said Messina.

She said women often feared being targeted for simply reporting cases to the police.

 

jan.cronje@inl.co.za

Cape Times

Sadtu vows to intensify work-to-rule

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The SA Democratic Teachers’ Union in the Western Cape says it will intensify its work-to-rule, with pickets and a march planned.

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Cape Town - The SA Democratic Teachers’ Union (Sadtu) in the Western Cape says it will intensify its work-to-rule, with pickets planned for Wednesday and a march to Parliament planned for next week.

Last month, the union’s national executive committee said that while its members would continue to teach for seven hours a day, it would not participate in workshops, meetings and other activities arranged by the Education Department. They said its members would no longer be available to mark exams, including the supplementary and year-end exams.

The union called for the resignations of Basic Education Minister Angie Motshekga and her department’s director-general, Bobby Soobrayan.

They said Motshekga had withdrawn from a collective agreement that would have increased the tariffs paid to markers.

On Monday, Sadtu provincial secretary Jonavon Rustin said pickets would be held before and after school, as well as during breaks tomorrow.

Meetings with principals would be held on Thursday, and a march to Parliament was being planned for April 24.

Rustin said the march was also a “victory march” after the Constitutional Court turned down a bid by Education MEC Donald Grant for leave to appeal against an interim order handed down by the Western Cape High Court regarding the closure of 17 schools.

Paddy Attwell, spokesman for the Western Cape Education Department, said teaching had not been affected by the work-to-rule and districts had not cancelled any workshops: “Two districts reported that some teachers did not attend workshops. Districts will monitor the situation.”

Motshekga’s spokeswoman, Hope Mokgatlhe, said unions had taken the matter of the collective agreement regarding the tariffs for markers to court and the department was waiting for the court’s decision.

Regarding Sadtu’s “victory march”, Grant’s spokeswoman, Bronagh Casey, said: “What victory? The Constitutional Court made no decision other than not to hear the matter at this stage given the fact that the review is set down for May in the Western Cape High Court.”

ilse.fredericks@inl.co.za

Cape Argus

Events planned to raise funds for Karabus

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An ice hockey game and a flash mob are some of the events planned to garner support and to raise funds for Cyril Karabus.

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Cape Town - An ice hockey game and a flash mob are some of the events planned to garner support and raise funds for detained Cape Town professor, Cyril Karabus.

The paediatric oncologist is due to appear in the Abu Dhabi court on April 23, after more than 16 postponements since his arrest in Dubai on August 18.

Although Karabus, 78, was acquitted of manslaughter charges more than three weeks ago, he is not allowed to leave the UAE as the prosecution has appealed against his acquittal. His local lawyer, Michael Bagraim, said they had reserved a seat for Karabus on a flight to Cape Town for April 24.

“We really hope he will be on that flight. This is now the fourth time we have reserved a seat for him. Each time we get our hopes up, only to be disappointed again,” he said. “Karabus is very upset, depressed and has lost all hope.”

Karabus was tried, convicted and sentenced in absentia for the murder of a three-year-old Yemeni girl he treated for leukaemia in 2002, during his short stint as a locum at an Emirates’ hospital. He was arrested in August when passing through the UAE on a flight from Canada to South Africa.

Meanwhile, the DA’s spokesman on International Relations and Co-operation, Ian Davidson, has called on the South African government to apply more pressure on the UAE authorities to release Karabus.

“It is time that the department of International Relations and Co-operation sent another urgent démarche to the UAE requesting that Professor Karabus be allowed to return home, pending their decision to appeal his acquittal.”

In January, South Africa sent a démarche, a strong diplomatic statement, to the UAE demanding that Karabus’s case be expedited.

Davidson said he would write to the minister, Maite Nkoana-Mashabane, to ask that she appeal to the UAE Ambassador in South Africa, and her counterpart in the UAE, for Professor Karabus’s freedom.

A flash mob, consisting of Irish and hip hop dancers, will take place at a popular shopping centre on April 27, said Táryn Harkness, a supporter of Karabus. A flash mob is a brief gathering of a group of people in a public space for the purpose of doing a dance routine, or other entertaining activity. The group is notified usually on social networks at short notice.

“The group will be wearing T-shirts emblazoned with Karabus’s name in an attempt to further increase awareness of his case,” said Harkness.

A fund-raising ice hockey game will take place at the GrandWest Casino’s South Block E, on Thursday, at 8pm. Tickets cost R30 at Computicket.

nontando.mposo@inl.co.za

Cape Argus

Maqubela cries while recalling judge’s death

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Thandi Maqubela - on trial for killing her husband - became emotional as she recalled the day she was told of her husband’s death.

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Cape Town - Thandi Maqubela - on trial for murdering her acting judge husband - became emotional in the witness stand as she recalled the day she was told of her husband’s death.

On Monday the widow, who has so far remained calm during her testimony, was given a moment to regain her composure during her cross-examination as tears welled up in her eyes.

Maqubela and Vela Mabena have pleaded not guilty to murdering late Acting Judge Patrick Maqubela. She also faces fraud and forgery charges regarding a signature on his will.

The judge’s body was found on June 7, 2009 in his luxury Bantry Bay apartment - two days after his death.

The State alleges he had been suffocated with cling-film.

Under cross examination, Maqubela told the Western Cape High Court she had heard from her husband’s uncle, Count Maqubela, that the judge’s body was found on the Sunday afternoon. She was in the Eastern Cape at the time.

She could not remember if she had received any other calls about it.

The court has heard that Maqubela, pictured, had flown from Cape Town to Joburg late on Friday, June 5.

She said she was supposed to meet her husband at Cape Town International Airport and fly to Qumbu in the Eastern Cape, but he had not arrived at the airport.

That Saturday she received “consistent” calls from many concerned people and decided to go the Eastern Cape.

On Monday, State advocate Bonnie Currie-Gamwo told Maqubela that her three cellphones’ detailed billing records did not list anyone who had called out of concern for her husband and that there “were no such calls”.

Questions were also raised regarding a statement she had made to a police Captain Van Ede when she arrived back at the Bantry Bay apartment after her husband’s body was found.

Currie-Gamwo said that the cellphone records and the police statement placed her at the apartment that Friday afternoon - during the time Maqubela said she had gone to the airport.

Maqubela said she did not check exactly when she went to the airport.

The trial continues on Tuesday.

natasha.prince@inl.co.za

Cape Argus


Khayelitsha police inquiry hearings postponed

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The Khayelitsha commission of inquiry into the efficiency of policing has postponed public hearings until after the Concourt has ruled on the matter.

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Cape Town -

The Khayelitsha commission of inquiry into the efficiency of policing in the Cape Flats suburb has postponed public hearings until after the Constitutional Court has ruled on the matter.

“To avoid unnecessary waste of public funds, the commission has postponed its public hearings until the decision of the Constitutional Court is handed down,” the commission said in a statement on Tuesday.

In the interim, it would continue its work “collecting statements from members of the community, and collating research on relevant matters”.

The inquiry was set up by Western Cape premier Helen Zille in August and is currently the subject of a court dispute.

Police Minister Nathi Mthethwa opposes the inquiry and the case is headed to the Constitutional Court on August 6. - Sapa

Graffiti clean-up seen as gang-deterrent

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Gang tags and expletives disappeared under a layer of red paint as graffiti clean-up operations were launched in Lavender Hill.

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Cape Town - Gang tags, expletives and even crudely drawn mushrooms disappeared under a thick layer of red paint on Monday as graffiti clean-up operations were launched in Lavender Hill.

The mass mop-up, which will see teams of people from the area take to the streets with buckets of paint and brushes, will run until June 7.

Mayoral committee member for Safety and Security JP Smith said the operation was just one part of Operation Choke, which was launched after traffic officer Wesley Woodman was gunned down in the area while issuing a fine to an alleged gangster two weeks ago.

The effort seeks to loosen the gang stranglehold on Lavender Hill by disrupting gang activity with raids and patrols. “We want to give Lavender Hill back to the community.”

Smith joined in with the clean-up on Monday, spreading red paint over the side of a semi-detached home, covering up the initials of the Mongrels Gang. He said many cynics would see the operation as “petty”, but he believed the simple act of covering up unsightly scrawls could achieve a lot.

“I believe if you clean up the indicators of disorder, such as broken streetlights, abandoned cars and graffiti, people will behave better.”

He added that it was also an act of reclaiming the area.

“Gangsters use these tags to mark their territory… If graffiti was pointless then why would they do it? In fact they do it so religiously because it has such powerful symbolism.”

Christina Jacobs, a Grindal Avenue resident whose home was cleansed of graffiti on Monday, agreed that the tags had a negative impact.

“They attract gangsters and then they hang out around here.”

The clean-up team’s manager, Shafiek Thompson, said it was great to be able to contribute positively to his own community.

The group, which started cleaning up the area in early February, had to postpone operations until Monday due to escalating gang tension. But he said the gangsters were not usually a problem.

“Sometimes they will come up to us and ask us what we are doing. We make them understand that we are just trying to help,” said Jacobs.

While taggers could respray their signatures on the clean walls, Smith said it would not be an issue.

“We have deeper pockets than the gangs.

“If they retag, it gives me more room for job creation. The faster they tag, the faster we clean up.”

kieran.legg@inl.co.za

Cape Argus

Father held for leaving baby in hot car

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A Durban father has been charged after he left his six-month-old daughter inside his car, apparently while he went to buy a pizza.

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Durban - A Durban father has been charged with endangering the life of his child after he left his six-month-old daughter inside his car parked on the Pavilion Shopping Mall’s rooftop, apparently while he went to buy a pizza.

The baby was spotted by a passing couple and a car guard who alerted the mall’s security.

Westville police spokesman Stephen Clark said that the father was arrested at the scene on Friday. The baby was removed by the police after she was examined by paramedics and, it is understood, later reunited with her mother.

Sandile Ngcobo, from Malandela’s Security, said that the couple who found the baby had parked their car at 11.30am, when they heard crying.

“They did not know where the cries were coming from,” he said.

As they looked around, the husband saw the baby in the locked car parked in the open without shade.

Ngcobo ran to the scene when he was alerted by a car guard.

“The man and I tried to force open the windows, but we failed,” he said.

It was hot and they could see the baby sweating, even though one window was slightly open.

Ten minutes later, after they agreed to break a window, a man carrying a pizza and juice arrived and identified himself as the father.

“He asked us why we were standing around his car,” the guard said.

Ngcobo said the concerned passer-by confronted the father, asking how he could “lock up his baby in the car and leave her unattended, alone, in the heat, while he went shopping in the mall”.

“But the father was only interested in his car and did not even bother asking about his daughter.”

The man who had found the baby became so emotional that he banged on the car’s windscreen, and cracked it.

Ngcobo moved the child and phoned ER24 paramedics and the police. The child was perspiring and feeling hot, he said.

“Even when the police arrived, the father wanted the man to pay for his windscreen and was not interested in his baby.”

ER24 spokesman Derrick Banks said on Monday that it was “very dangerous” to leave a child or pet unattended in a car.

“If it is hot, the child can dehydrate and lose consciousness, which can be fatal,” said Banks.

The Mercury

HPCSA boycotts medical conference

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The Health Professions Council of SA has withdrawn from an international medical conference in protest against the continued detention in the UAE of Prof Cyril Karabus.

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Johannesburg - The Health Professions Council of SA has withdrawn from an international medical conference in protest against the continued detention in the UAE of local doctor Prof Cyril Karabus, it said on Tuesday.

“As the custodian of healthcare ethics and standards of professional conduct of registered healthcare practitioners in the country, the HPCSA is appalled at the manner in which the UAE (United Arab Emirates) has handled the Karabus case,” acting registrar advocate Tshepo Boikanyo said in a statement.

“As such, we have decided to boycott the conference and exhibition as we will not be associated with the travesty of justice as in this case.”

The Africa Health Exhibition, which is run by the Dubai-based company, Informa Life Exhibitions, is scheduled to be held next month in Johannesburg.

Karabus, 78, has been held in the UAE since August on charges of manslaughter and falsifying documents after the death of a three-year-old Yemeni girl he treated for leukaemia in 2002.

He was to have been released after the case against him was dropped last month, but was told the decision would be taken on appeal.

He is expected back in an Abu Dhabi court on April 23. - Sapa

‘Wine law limit is ludicrous’

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His red wine collection is the "love of his life" - but could spell trouble for wine collector Aubrey Keller.

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Cape Town - His red wine collection is the “love of his life” - but could spell trouble for Aubrey Keller, 75, of Kenilworth, who has been collecting wine for 52 years and has had a wine cellar for 40 years.

Now he has over 2 000 bottles of wine in his cellar and could be in trouble as the new liquor laws prohibit one from having more than 200 bottles of wine, or 150 litres, on your premises.

Keller has slammed the new regulation as “ludicrous”.

With only South African red wines in his collection, he had 3 000 bottles at one stage and currently has 2 000 bottles.

His collection includes a cabernet sauvignon from 1984 which cost R4 a bottle in 1986 and is now worth R265.

Then there’s a bottle of wine he received in Spain which was bottled in the year of his birth, 1938

Keller’s love affair with red wine started when he was 16. He jokes that he “cut his teeth” on Tassenberg.

Last week the Western Cape Liquor Authority announced that if you have over the stipulation you have to apply for written consent from a presiding officer at the Liquor Licensing Tribunal.

The application must be done as an affidavit, commissioned by the Commissioner of Oaths including why the liquor is being stored, the type of liquor, a plan of the storage area and colour photographs of the area.

Offenders can face a fine of up to R100 000 or a jail term of less than six months.

The 150-litre limit is part of the Western Cape Liquor Act which came into effect last year and is aimed at curbing illegal trading from residences.

When Keller first heard about this in March he thought it was an April Fools joke.

“It sounded so ludicrous. I don’t even know how something like this came about because it makes no sense.”

 

“If they are worried about shebeens then close them and fine them but you can’t come after someone’s private collection,” he said.

The Western Cape Liquor Authority said since the act came into effect last year no one has been fined. Authorities will rely on complaints from the public to police the situation.

“If this gives them the right to come into my home at anytime then that’s invasion of privacy,” Keller said.

zara.nicholson@inl.co.za

Cape Times

Couple pedal to tap water resources

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A Norwegian couple cycled through 25 countries to help the world’s poorest countries achieve access to clean water and sanitation.

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Cape Town - A Norwegian couple have cycled through 25 countries to Cape Town to help some of the world’s poorest countries achieve access to clean water and sanitation.

The 20 000km journey, which took Susanne and Rasmus Engberg 10 months to complete, ended at the V&A Waterfront on Monday.

Susanne, 26, said they set off from Norway on the tandem bike a few weeks after their marriage.

The couple raised R108 000 for WaterAid Sweden, a non-government organisation whose mission is to help provide safe water, hygiene and sanitation.

Except for a few punctures, their long ride was smooth, although Susanne had some health scares along the way due to her type 1 diabetes.

“There were times when it felt like our bodies were giving up. But we held on. We achieved what we set out to do,” said Susanne.

nontando.mposo@inl.co.za

Cape Argus

‘Guards watched as I was robbed’

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A Cape teen who was beaten up and robbed on a train says guards at the station watched as his attackers escaped.

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Cape Town - A Lakeside teenager who was beaten up and robbed on the train between the St James and Muizenberg stations while on his way home from school says security guards standing metres away at the station watched as his attackers escaped.

Metrorail officials have since deployed their chief of Protection Services to investigate the incident.

Tyler Holderness, 17, from Lakeside was travelling home when two men grabbed his cellphone and iPod before assaulting him about 3.15pm on Thursday.

“I got in at Fish Hoek after school. The carriage was quite empty, but I’ve been travelling on that train since last year. The two guys got in at Kalk Bay and they went to sit down. As we left the St James station, they came up to me and grabbed my cellphone. They took my prescription glasses and tried to get my bag,” he said.

Holderness said one of the men started choking him, while the other one started hitting him.

“I tried to push them away and move closer towards the door so I could get away. When the train stopped at Muizenberg station, the one guy ran away and I managed to grab the other one that still had his hands around my neck and held on to him. We managed to get out the carriage and I shouted for help,” Holderness said.

He said during the scuffle, the man dropped his cellphone before escaping.

“There was a security guard standing at the window in the next carriage and two others that arrived, and I asked them to call the police. They didn’t do much so I walked to the police station and gave them the guy’s cell that I picked up. My eye was badly swollen and my neck was full of scratches,” he said.

Holderness said his attackers would’ve been caught had the security guards at the station been more reactive.

Police spokesman FC van Wyk confirmed the that a case of robbery and assault was opened at Muizenberg police station on Thursday.

 

Van Wyk said police are still searching for the two men who escaped with Holderness’s cellphone and iPod.

Metrorail’s regional manager Mthuthuzeli Swartz said the chief of Protection Services will be investigating the allegations that guards failed to assist Holderness.

 

* Last week, the railway police stations at Bellville, Cape Town, Philippi and Retreat conducted operations where 18 knives and drugs to the value of R5 128 were seized.

Swartz said a reward of R25 000 will be given for information leading to a conviction in cases on Metrorail.

If anyone witnessed the attack or has information on the case, they can contact Metrorail’s security line at 0800 21 00 81, Crime Stop confidentially at 0860 010 111 or SMS an anonymous tip-off to Crime Line at 32211.

barbara.maregele@inl.co.za

Cape Times


‘Myth’ of jobless graduates debunked

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A new study indicates that university graduates have a 95% chance of getting a job, compared to 58% for non-matriculants.

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Cape Town - If you are a university graduate, you stand a 95 percent chance of getting a job - compared to just 58 percent for those who have completed less than 12 years of schooling.

This is according to a new study by the Centre for Development and Enterprise (CDE) on university graduates who were employed in 2011.

“The myth that graduates in general, and black graduates in particular, are struggling to find work needs to be put to bed,” said the report’s authors, Ann Bernstein, Antony Altbeker and Evelien Storme. “South African employers (public and private) desperately need skilled and educated workers.”

The study defined graduates as having a bachelor’s degree or higher from any South African university. South Africa currently has one of the highest unemployment rates in the world - 24.9 percent, or about 4.5 million people, according to Stats SA. However, the expanded definition of unemployment, which includes discouraged job seekers, gives a rate of 35.9 percent, or 7.5 million people.

The CDE’s study found that black graduates now account for half of all graduates in the workforce, as their numbers have trippled from 200 000 in 1995 to 600 000 in 2011.

During the same period, the number of degree holders in the labour market grew from 463 000 to 1.1 million.

“Our data gives the lie to the claim that high graduate unemployment indicates that business has failed to transform itself,” said the authors. “Not only is unemployment among graduates low, an increasing number of graduates emerging from the universities are black and levels of unemployment - including among black graduates - have fallen.”

The research, commissioned by the CDE, was undertaken by Professors Sevaas van der Berg and Hendrik van Broekhuizen from Stellenbosch University’s economics department.

 

jan.cronje@inl.co.za

Cape Times

Christmas maths question backlash

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Does Christmas Day fall on December 25? Matriculants who were able to answer this question correctly scored two points.

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Cape Town - Does Christmas Day fall on December 25? Matriculants who were able to answer this question correctly scored two points in their maths literacy exam last year.

The question was asked to test the pupils’ ability to use probability to predict outcomes in real life situations, Minister of Basic Education Angie Motshekga said.

Last year, 87.4 percent of grade 12 pupils passed maths literacy.

Peter Smith of the IFP asked Motshekga in a parliamentary question whether she thought the question served “any mathematical purpose”. The question read: “State whether the following event is certain, most likely or impossible: Christmas Day is on December 25 in South Africa.”

Motshekga said the question assessed the concept of “probability” and therefore did serve a mathematical purpose.

She said that because the statement “Christmas Day is on 25 December in South Africa” was true and its probability was 100 percent, it could be expressed as “certain”.

There was an outcry last year when it was revealed this question had been asked.

 

michelle.jones@inl.co.za

Cape Times

Judge’s death ‘left widow unstable’

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The trauma of acting judge Patrick Maqubela's death left his widow Thandi Maqubela unstable, the Western Cape High Court heard.

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Cape Town - The trauma of acting judge Patrick Maqubela's death left his widow Thandi Maqubela unstable, the Western Cape High Court heard on Tuesday.

Maqubela is on trial with her business associate, Vela Mabena, for the alleged murder of her husband in his luxury Bantry Bay apartment in June, 2009.

She claims her husband died of natural causes, but the State alleges he was suffocated with cling wrap placed over his face.

At Tuesday’s proceedings, before Judge John Murphy and assessor Danie Marais, it was heard that Maqubela made a sworn statement to a police captain at the apartment the day after the judge’s body was found.

“I did not make the statement myself. I was asked questions and my answers were written down by the captain, after I had heard the bad news about my husband’s death,” she testified.

“My state of mind was not healthy, so I answered questions, and my answers were not necessarily correct. I was in emotional pain, and there were visitors, including the media, in the apartment at the time, and I was in a state of confusion.”

Prosecutor Bonnie Currie-Gamwo asked if Maqubela had informed her advocate that she was in a state of confusion and that the media was present.

“I did. Not only were the media present, but photographers also, and they were there for a long time,” Maqubela replied.

The judge asked her if the media were actually in the apartment with her while she was being questioned.

“Yes, in the apartment,” she replied.

Currie-Gamwo reminded her of the captain’s testimony that he had been alone with Maqubela during the questioning, and that everything was quiet.

“Yes, but there were other people on the side of the room,” Maqubela said.

She said she could not remember if she told the captain that she had gone to the airport on the day of her husband’s death.

“You could have, because this information is in the statement,” Currie-Gamwo said.

Maqubela was questioned about the contents of the statement, but she said she “unfortunately” could not answer questions about it. This prompted the judge to say she had to answer questions.

“You may say that you cannot remember saying this or that, but you cannot refuse to answer the questions,” the judge said.

Maqubela told the court she was “screaming and crying” when she made the statement.

Currie-Gamwo responded: “Yet, despite your trauma and screaming, you did remarkably well with the statement. What you told the captain he wrote down.”

Maqubela replied: “But some of the things he wrote were wrong, maybe because he was more Afrikaans-speaking than English. Some of the things are correct, some not.”

The trial continues. - Sapa

Man to appear for attack on fellow inmate

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Cape Town - A Malmesbury prisoner is to appear in the Malmesbury Magistrate's Court on Wednesday in connection with the assault of another inmate, Western Cape police said.

Constable Hennie du Randt was unable to give more details of the assault or the prisoner's name.

A family member of Australian accountant Shumsheer Singh Ghumman has linked the court appearance to an assault on Ghumman.

Ghumman is serving a nine-year sentence in the same prison for fraud, incitement to commit murder, and attempted murder.

A family member, who asked not be named, told Sapa that Ghumman was assaulted by his cellmate last month.

He was severley beaten up and suffered a broken nose, cuts to his face and other injuries.

Du Randt said he was not in a position to confirm or deny this.

Correctional services in the Western Cape had not commented on the assault case by late afternoon.

On May 31, the Cape Town Regional Court jailed Ghumman for petrol-bombing the luxury home of Clifton businessman Philip Rhind.

He was sentenced for fraud, incitement to commit murder, attempted murder and malicious damage.

On February 22, the Western Cape High Court heard Ghumman's appeal against his conviction and sentence.

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

Ghumman had pleaded guilty in the Regional Court to a charge of malicious damage to the Rhind luxury home in Clifton, but denied guilt on the other charges.

The fraud charge arose from Ghumman pretending to two senior Cape Town journalists he was in Cape Town to do a freelance photo-story about violence in the townships.

He was in fact in the city to execute plans to kill Rhind.

One of the journalists was talked into setting up interviews for Ghumman with known township criminals.

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

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

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

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

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

Tourist ‘scratched’ by shark

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A Swiss tourist was bitten by a blue shark during a dive organised by one of False Bay's main shark dive operators.

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Cape Town - A Swiss tourist was bitten by a blue shark on Sunday during a free dive organised by one of False Bay’s main shark dive operators.

NSRI spokesman Craig Lambinon said the man sustained a “light scratch” and drove himself to hospital for treatment. The NSRI had responded to a call, but upon arrival paramedics noted that bleeding from the cut had stopped.

Yesterday Stephen Swanson, co-owner of Shark Explorers, which organised the dive, said the incident had been “blown out of proportion” because of miscommunication.

“The incident was not remarkable. We merely alerted the NSRI as a matter of protocol. Because we deal with foreign tourists, we have to maintain professional conduct and take all possible precautions. The fact is that free diving is an adventure sport, and all adventure sports carry with them a small element of risk.”

Swanson declined to divulge the identity of the man without his consent, and said he was already on his way to his next dive - off the coast of Mozambique.

Swanson said while cage diving had the divers safely behind bars, free divers had no such protection. There was a certain amount of contact between blue sharks and divers during these dives. He described blue sharks as “curious” and “non-aggressive”.

Divers who go out with the Shark Explorers wear wetsuits and are covered from head to toe. In Sunday’s incident the shark bit through the tourist’s wetsuit in the hand/wrist area and scratched his skin.

“The tourist has booked to dive with us later in the year before returning home. We just want to ensure that the blue shark’s reputation is not damaged as a result of a misunderstanding,” said Swanson.

Free diving in False Bay generally takes place between 20 and 40 miles from the coast. Water visibility can be around 30m, and Shark Explorer’s dive-masters accompany groups of about six divers at a time. Staff on the boat and in the water keep an eye out for great white sharks that may be entering the area.

“When you are far offshore, a diver really is a needle in a haystack. The chances of coming into contact with a great white are minute. But one has to remain vigilant. Never say never,” said Swanson.

Blue sharks are listed as Near Threatened on the International Union for Conservation of Nature’s Red List of Threatened Species. They are among the most heavily fished sharks in the world, often as by-catch in tuna and swordfish fisheries.

daneel.knoetze@inl.co.za

Cape Argus

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