If calls by protesting Sadtu members are not heeded, Cosatu members will join them on the streets, Tony Ehrenreich vowed.

Cape Town - If calls by protesting SA Democratic Teachers' Union (Sadtu) members are not heeded, Cosatu members will join them on the streets, its Western Cape secretary Tony Ehrenreich vowed on Wednesday.

“If the government does not listen to the voices of the teachers today, we want to assure them that all of the members in (the Congress of SA Trade Unions) Cosatu, all the 260 000 members in the Western Cape, will come and join you to make sure that we fix the problems in education,” he said.

Ehrenreich was addressing close to 2000 protesters from the back of a truck at the main gates of the parliamentary complex in Cape Town.

Cosatu supported them and their union “without reservation”, he said.

Sadtu has prepared a memorandum containing a series of demands, which it plans to deliver to the government.

Ehrenreich said if there was no response to this, “the next time you are on the streets, all of Cosatu will be with you”.

He also called for a more equitable distribution of resources among Western Cape schools.

“Teaching resources in schools and facilities on the Cape Flats are half those of the schools in the shadow of Table Mountain,” he said.

“The township schools have double the amount of pupils as the fancy schools, and the teachers there must do double the amount of work as those at schools in the shadow of Table Mountain.”

Ehrenreich also warned Western Cape education MEC Donald Grant over attempts to close schools in the province.

“To Donald Grant, we say... if he dares continue with the closure of schools, we will come to (the provincial legislature building in) Wale Street and we will take him out of those offices, because an attack on our children is an attack on all of us.”

Sadtu is calling for, among other things, the resignations of Basic Education Minister Angie Motshekga and her director general Bobby Soobrayan.

The memorandum also calls for better school facilities, smaller class sizes, and improved safety at schools.

In the document, Sadtu gives the government 21 days to respond to its demands. - Sapa

Peace icon Desmond Tutu checked into hospital for non-surgical treatment and tests related to an ongoing infection.

Cape Town - Peace icon Desmond Tutu checked into a South African hospital on Wednesday for non-surgical treatment and tests related to an ongoing infection.

"Archbishop Emeritus Desmond Tutu has checked into a Cape Town hospital for the treatment of a persistent infection and to undergo tests to discover the underlying cause," his foundation said in a statement.

A photograph of the 81-year-old showed him smiling at his office where he spent the morning before being admitted to the undisclosed hospital.

"He was in good spirits and full of praise for the care he receives from an exceptional team of doctors," said the statement from the Desmond and Leah Tutu Legacy Foundation.

"The non-surgical treatment is expected to take five days."

Officially retired, Tutu is often referred to as South Africa's moral guide due to his outspokenness of wrongdoing at home and in the world.

Just under two weeks ago, he took part in a celebration to mark a recent award, getting up to dance, at the cathedral where he rallied against the apartheid state.

The Nobel Peace Prize laureate was diagnosed with prostate cancer in 1997 and underwent repeated treatments. - AFP

A Woodstock resident was found murdered about a week after last being seen outside his work place.

Cape Town - A Woodstock resident was found murdered a week after last being seen outside his work place and after a missing person’s flyer on him had been distributed.

Erich Poll, 46, who co-owned a wood and metal furniture design company in Woodstock, was initially reported missing earlier this month.

On Tuesday, Woodstock Community Police Forum chairman Howard Smith, confirmed Poll had since been found killed. He said an arrest or arrests had been made and commended police for their work.

On Tuesday, provincial police did not respond by deadline to questions about Poll’s murder.

It was unclear where and when Poll’s body was found, how and where he was killed and if anything had been stolen from him.

According to a missing person’s flyer, Poll was last seen on April 9 at his business premises in Albert Road, Woodstock, at about 4pm. Poll had been on his way to meet a friend and was driving a white Ford Ranger.

“He wore black work shorts and hiking boots and carried a black laptop bag. He has not been seen since,” the flyer said.

Another flyer, by Missing Children SA, said Poll’s cellphone was switched off.

Two days ago on the Missing Children SA’s Facebook page, it said Poll’s body had been found and police con-firmed he had been murdered.

On Tuesday, Lizeth Venter, who had worked with Poll, said it was “an extremely difficult time” for her and Poll’s friends.

“It’s unreal… At this point we don’t know everything from police,” she said.

“He was my best friend. He was such an inspiration,” Venter said.

Poll’s Facebook page said he lived in Cape Town and was from Aachen, Germany. On Facebook, one of his friends wrote: “Our hearts are broken…”

caryn.dolley@inl.co.za

Cape Times

A landmark case before the Labour Court could change the face of affirmative action forever.

Cape Town - It was difficult to get promoted within the Correctional Services Department as a coloured person during apartheid – and it still is, says the department’s second-in-command in the Western Cape.

Freddie Engelbrecht, 52, a deputy regional commissioner, said on Wednesday some of his colleagues shortlisted only black African candidates when it came to appointing staff.

He was testifying in the Labour Court in a landmark case brought by Department of Correctional Services (DCS) employees who have taken the department to court over its employment equity plan as they believe they have been unfairly discriminated against when applying for promotions.

Initially there were five applicants in the case, but another five were added on Wednesday. The 10 are backed by trade union Solidarity, also a party in the court action.

Solidarity believes that the department’s employment equity plan is unfair and should be declared unlawful because its equity targets are in line with national, and not provincial, demographics.

Solidarity said coloured South Africans made up less than 10 percent of the national population, but 53 percent of the Western Cape population.

It said the judgment in the case “could change forever the face of affirmative action”.

On Wednesday Engelbrecht, employed by the department for nearly 31 years and who started as a junior warden, was called as the first witness. He said that during apartheid his promotion to a higher position had been hampered because “my matric in apartheid was equal to a white man’s Standard 8”.

“During apartheid it was very difficult to get promoted… Promotion was basically only for white persons... Now, post-apartheid, it’s also difficult.”

He said between December 6, 2011 and February 3 this year, 97 percent of those appointed in the department were “ethnic black” people. Engelbrecht did not specify if this was nationally or in the province.

When it came to filling vacant posts, Engelbrecht said a selection panel of up to six department members would shortlist candidates.

The panel was meant to take into consideration different race groups and gender.

However, Engelbrecht said: “You’ll find specific area commissioners who just shortlist black candidates. The majority of them only shortlist black candidates.”

Engelbrecht said at one stage he had been stationed in Gauteng and applied to be transferred to the Western Cape.

But the national commissioner said there were too many coloured people in the province.

Engelbrecht went to court and through a settlement reached on December 1, 2009, he was allowed the transfer.

He had later requested a meeting between himself, other colleagues, his then regional commissioner, James Smalberger, and the department’s national commissioner, Tom Moyane, to discuss employment equity.

At the meeting, on February 18, 2011, Engelbrecht said that after listening to his and other colleagues’ concerns, Moyane had appeared caring and said the department’s implementation of employment equity “was wrong”.

However, Engelbrecht said after Moyane returned to Pretoria he changed his tune, saying his understanding of the matter was different.

Engelbrecht and some colleagues later approached correctional services portfolio committee chairman Vincent Smith and provincial ANC leader Marius Fransman.

“We went to many politicians. We tried to find a solution. The idea we got (from them) was: This is a coloured issue. We don’t want to get involved.

“We said to them... It’s not a coloured issue... it’s a justice issue,” Engelbrecht said.

During cross-examination, Engelbrecht said he had applied for the position of deputy director-general and the outcome of that hinged on a Labour Court case. “I lodged a case based on racial discrimination. It reminds me of apartheid,” he said.

The case continues on Thursday. - Cape Times

Professor Cyril Karabus has been found not guilty by a court in the UAE - but prosecutors have 30 days to launch a new appeal.

Cape Town - Professor Cyril Karabus may have been found not guilty by a United Arab Emirates (UAE) court on Wednesday, but prosecutors now have another 30 days in which to launch a new appeal after their previous attempts failed.

And on Wednesday night, a South African government official cautioned the public and media against speculating when Karabus, who has been in Abu Dhabi for 251 days since his arrest on August 18, would return home.

“There are currently intense engagements taking place on the iminent return of professor Karabus,” International Relations spokesperson Nelson Kgwete said.

Earlier in the day, it emerged that a UAE judge had decided to turn down the state’s appeal against Karabus’s acquittal last month.

“The South African government has today, April 24, learned of the current developments in the case of Professor Cyril Karabus and calls on the media and the public to refrain from speculating on the outcome of the process.”

Kgwete said the government and the family and friends of Karabus remained “very hopeful” and they would continue to monitor the developments around the case.

The 78-year-old South African paediatric oncologist has been detained in the UAE since August 18, after being sentenced in absentia for the death of a Yemeni girl he treated for leukaemia in 2002. He was acquitted on March 21, but was not allowed to leave the country pending the appeal.

Karabus’s lawyer, Michael Bagraim, said the doctor was in “a bit of shock” after he heard of the acquittal.

“The doctor is not feeling good. He is in a bit of shock as the decision took him by surprise,” he said. “His health is not that good, so Karabus is lying down after hearing the good news.”

Bagraim said the appeal was heard on Tuesday and the judge indicated the verdict would be on Monday, April 29.

The court phoned the attorneys in Abu Dhabi on Tuesday to say the judge reached a decision and wanted to deliver it earlier.

“The judge decided to not grant the state’s appeal and said Karabus is not guilty on all the charges,” Bagraim said.

The prosecution had 30 days to bring a new appeal, he said.

The South African embassy staff in Abu Dhabi regularly visited Karabus and had been in regular contact with the foreign affairs minister of the UAE, Kgwete said.

“The South African government reiterates its call for calm on this matter until the judicial process has been concluded.”

Bagraim said they have approached the prosecution to ask them not to appeal.

“We are now waiting to hear if they are going to exercise their right to a third appeal. His return home is dependent on their decision,” he said. “Once we know we can start the process of applying for the return of his passport.”

Karabus’s son Michael said they were expecting their father to be back in a few days and the family is happy that it’s over.

“We are excited and happy that it came through now, we are glad that the authorities that side are escalating it.”

Michael said that the next step, as he understood it, would be to process the paperwork and get his father home.

Michael said the last nine months without their father was difficult, especially because he missed the birth of his grandchild.

Meanwhile, the Professional Ethics and Standards Committee (PESC) of the Faculty of Health Sciences at the University of the Witwatersrand has called for a boycott of all activities associated with the UAE, including the Africa Health Conference, which is set to take place at the Gallagher Convention Centre in Midrand from May 7 to 9.

“The organisers are not academics belonging to academic institutions - this programme is purely a business venture. Many leading South African academics and others from abroad will be participating as presenters or speakers, while several Wits academics will also be participating, said professor Ames Dhai, director of the of the Steve Biko Centre for Bioethics in the Wits Faculty of Health Sciences.

“With the manner in which Dubai has handled the Karabus case, how can we at Wits and in South Africa support such a conference?” he said.

UCT’s Interim Dean, professor Susan Kidson has also asked members of the university’s Faculty of Health Sciences to withdraw from the conference.

Karabus has devoted his career to the care of children with cancer for more than 35 years, during which time he has earned the respect of colleagues, students, patients and international peers, she said.

Karabus served as a consultant in paediatric haematology-oncology at UCT and as Head of the Paediatric Haematology-Oncology unit for more than 20 years.

* Additional reporting by Yolisa Tswanya

Cape Argus

Western Cape residents have been invited to comment on new regulations to protect cyclists from motorists, and vice versa.

Cape Town - New regulations to protect cyclists from motorists, and vice versa, have been drafted and put out for public comment.

Transport MEC Robin Carlisle announced on Wednesday that the new regulations - first announced last year - would form part of the Western Cape Provincial Road Traffic Administration Act (6 of 2012), passed in December, which comes into effect on June 1.

The act, in terms of section 8, gives Carlisle the power to make regulations governing road safety matters in the province.

The regulations require drivers to:

* Exercise care passing a cyclist.

* Leave at least 1m distance between the vehicle and the cyclist.

* Maintain that distance until safely clear of the cyclist.

The regulations require cyclists to:

* Keep as close as possible to the left edge of the roadway.

* Obey traffic signs and rules.

* Fit and use effective front and rear lights when riding after dark and when visibility is limited.

* Not ride on the right-hand side of a vehicle driving in the same direction, except when passing it or turning right at the intersection.

* Not ride abreast of another cyclist riding in the same direction, except when passing that cyclist.

* Not ride while wearing a headset, headphones or any listening device other than a hearing aid; or while carrying another person on the pedal cycle, unless it is equipped to carry more than one person.

The public comment period opened on Wednesday and ends on May 24. The public can email malcolm.watters@westerncape.gov.za or fax 021 483 2166. - Cape Argus

The DA wants answers amid revelations of a R4.1-million payment to the farmworkers’ union Bawsi by the Agriculture Department.

Cape Town - The DA is set to ask the public protector and the auditor-general to investigate after Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries Minister Tina Joemat-Pettersson revealed that her department paid R4.1-million to the Black Association of the Wine and Spirits Industry (Bawsi).

Joemat-Pettersson confirmed this in a parliamentary reply to Annette Steyn, the DA’s spokesperson on agriculture.

Bawsi - the farmworker union - had been at the forefront of the recent violent strikes in the farming regions of the Western Cape.

Steyn said it was clear from the reply that this funding was given to Bawsi on October 8, 2012, just before the farm strikes began across the province.

“This amount of money, coupled with the timing of the transfer, brings into question whether the Department of Agriculture helped fund the farm strikes in the Western Cape.

“I will write to Public Protector Thuli Madonsela to fully investigate this provision of funding and whether or not it was provided to Bawsi to assist them to fund the farmworkers’ strikes.

“I will also write to Auditor-General Terence Nombembe and request that he investigates whether this provision of funding constituted irregular, fruitful and wasteful expenditure, and whether all proper processes were followed in its allocation to an ANC-aligned trade union,” said Steyn. - Cape Argus

Author Gladys Thomas hasn’t heard anything about her land claim in seven years - and she’s tired of waiting.

Cape Town - Anti-apartheid poet, playwright and author Gladys Thomas held a two-hour lone protest outside the Land Claims Commission offices in Long Street on Wednesday, saying she had heard nothing about her claim in seven years.

Thomas, 78, held a placard which read “Waiting for my land claim… no correspondence… no apologies… Is this what I fought for” until she was invited upstairs to speak to senior officials from the commission.

The Cape Argus visited Thomas at her Ocean View home on Wednesday afternoon where she explained that the officials told her there were 300 other people who had also made claims and that the process took time.

She said the department had not responded to any of her queries about her claim over the years.

After her protest on Wednesday, officials told her she needed to wait another four months for them to get the history of progress on her claim.

“They said they were busy with claims from 300 other people. But I think it is very unfair to make people wait like that.”

The land Thomas is claiming is located in Main Road in Lakeside where it is being used as a parking lot.

Thomas said her family had lived there until they were forcibly removed by the apartheid government.

“My brother was an architect and he had built this beautiful house for my mother and father.

“Then came the Group Areas Act where they broke down at least a million houses that belonged to people.”

She said their Lakeside home was bulldozed and she married and moved to Simon’s Town with her husband where they were again moved to Ocean View, where she has lived for the past 40 years.

“I don’t want the land back. I want to be compensated because I don’t want to give up this house (in Ocean View). I am used to this house and my neighbours.”

Thomas said she decided on the lone protest because she was angry, an emotion that drove her to pen her first anthology called Cry Rage in 1967 with fellow anti-apartheid poet James Matthews. It was the first book of poetry to be banned in South Africa.

She has written several children’s books, plays and short stories and has travelled to places such as Germany, Switzerland and the United States.

Thomas was awarded the Order of Ikhamanga in 2007 by former president Thabo Mbeki for her “outstanding contribution to poetry and short stories through which she exposed the political injustices and human suffering of the apartheid regime and for raising international consciousness about the ravages of apartheid”.

She said she stopped writing a few years ago. “I don’t have to impress anyone any more,” she laughed. - Cape Argus

Raafiq Abrahams, who confessed last year to killing Sulaiman Brey 11 years ago, says his adolescence was difficult.

Cape Town - The man who confessed last year to killing a Wynberg shopkeeper 11 years ago is set to speak to a probation officer before he starts plea bargain proceedings with the State.

Raafiq Abrahams, 25, appeared in the Wynberg Regional Court for the first time on Wednesday after his case was transferred from the lower court.

Sulaiman Brey, 63, was killed inside his Wittebome Superette in Wynberg after a botched robbery on November 13, 2002.

The knifeman fled the scene and was on the run for just over a decade. In December, Abrahams came forward and confessed to Brey’s murder saying he was just 14 at the time.

“I was taken into custody and later made a full confession to a captain from Kirstenhof police. I will, during my trial, disclose full reasons for my actions and intentions for confessing to this offence,” Abrahams said in his bail affidavit which forms part of the court record.

“My family has provided clinical reports to my attorney regarding my psychological assessments, dated 2002.

“I confirm I went through a troubled teenage phase. Full details will be disclosed during my trial.”

Abrahams has now been charged with murder and aggravated robbery.

Abrahams’ lawyer, Milton de la Harpe, told the court on Wednesday that he received copies of the case docket and that he had consulted with his client. Abrahams’s intention was to plead guilty.

De La Harpe said a proposed plea and sentence agreement was discussed with the State and that the document would be supplied to the prosecution within a week.

He said a probation officer’s report was completed and, all that was needed was for his client to consult with the officer.

Magistrate Gavin du Plessis postponed the case to June 11 for the probation officer’s report as well as a possible plea bargain.

Abrahams’s bail of R1 000 was extended. - Cape Argus

The Cape Argus has filed an application to get the full story behind the parting of ways of CapeNature and senior official Nazeem Jamie.

Cape Town - The Cape Argus has filed a Promotion of Access to Information Act (PAIA) application in an attempt to get the full story behind the parting of ways of the province’s nature conservation authority CapeNature and its senior official, Nazeem Jamie.

Jamie, who has previously been acting chief executive of the organisation but who at the time of his departure was the human resources director, left in mid-February under a confidential “termination agreement”.

He had been suspended with immediate effect at the end of July last year after a forensic investigation by auditing company Deloitte & Touche had allegedly revealed that he had been conducting unauthorised business outside his official work for CapeNature and while still on a formal warning from the organisation for a previous misdemeanour.

This had reportedly included work for Edward Beeka, the head of a security company and the brother of slain security boss Cyril Beeka, and involvement in a vehicle hiring company, Soho Management Services.

He was suspended on a “precautionary” basis on full pay of R62 000 a month, pending a disciplinary hearing.

In response to queries by the newspaper, acting chief executive Dr Kas Hamman confirmed that Jamie had left CapeNature with effect from February 15 and that a termination agreement had been reached.

“The terms of the termination agreement will not be disclosed due to a confidentiality agreement,” Hamman said.

He also confirmed that the disciplinary hearing had been concluded, but declined to give details of what Jamie had been charged with or what the outcome had been, again citing the confidentiality agreement.

According to a source, who asked not to be named, there is concern among some staff members that Jamie has been given a “golden handshake”, but this has not been confirmed.

The Cape Argus is asking for a copy of the Deloitte & Touche report; a copy of the findings and recommendations by the chairman of the disciplinary committee; and a copy of the termination agreement.

At the time of going to press, Jamie had not responded to a voicemail left on his cellphone requesting comment about the matter.

john.yeld@inl.co.za

Cape Argus

The Cape Chamber of Commerce and Industry is playing hardball with Sanral over the proposed Winelands toll project.

Cape Town - “Give us an updated impact assessment or scrap the tolls.” That was the message to the South African National Road Agency (Sanral) from the Cape Chamber of Commerce and Industry.

Peter Hugo, chairperson of the chamber’s transport portfolio committee, said on Wednesday that the N1/N2 Winelands toll project “simply makes no sense”.

He said Sanral was trying to justify the need for the tolls with the promise of 5 000 jobs and an outdated socio-economic study.

The study by UCT’s Graduate School of Business (GSB) in 2008 indicated that price hikes would be minimal on fruit and other goods transported along the roads. The highest potential increase on goods was 0.31 percent.

However, public transport commuters would be hit the hardest.

The report said commuters travelling into the city from Kraaifontein by taxi could pay up to R1 100 more for their journey a year if Sanral went ahead with the project.

A taxi journey between Khayelitsha and Somerset West would cost commuters an extra R4.16 per trip, while commuters travelling between Grabouw and Somerset West would have to fork out an extra R6.24. Those travelling between Grabouw and Hermanus would pay R8.23 more.

The study said that any cost increase as a result of the proposed tolls would be passed directly on to commuters and that bus and taxi owners would not bear any cost increases. Generally, the report noted that the overall benefits of the project would be greater than the costs.

But Hugo said on Wednesday: “(Sanral) must present us with an updated needs and desirability study, and a business plan, before we’ll consider tolls. But for now, we’ll do anything to stop it from going ahead.”

Finance, Economic Development and Tourism MEC Alan Winde said the tolls were “far from being economically viable”.

He said the GSB study had been conducted prior to the global financial crisis, which meant poor commuters would have to pay even higher fees should the tolls go ahead.

“The entire project has to be scrapped,” Winde said.

“It will hit the poor people on the Cape Flats, and the agriculture band surrounding them, the hardest.”

Winde said the Cape’s agriculture and small business industries were struggling and the tolls would exacerbate an already difficult situation.

“The economy needs certainty. Proposed tolls is not giving investors certainty in our region,” he said.

“We are saying no to this. We will maintain our own roads. But we don’t want any tolls in the Western Cape.”

Political parties are expected to debate the proposed tolling of the N1, N2 and R300 in the legislature on Thursday.

Earlier this month, the DA, ANC and Cosatu announced that they opposed the tolls.

Winde said that if all political parties opposed the tolls in the legislature today, it would send a strong message to Sanral that “no one in the Western Cape wants it”.

Sanral spokesman Vusi Mona said reports that the proposed tolls were anti-poor were misleading.

“The upgrade of the N1/N2 Winelands route will be of great benefit to all communities in the region and will not impact negatively on poorer communities,” he said.

The agency was planning a R10-billion toll project on the N1 and N2, involving 175km. This would include a 105km stretch on the N1 between the Old Oak Interchange and Sandhills, and a 70km section of the N2, from west of Swartklip to Bot River. - Cape Argus

Experts have warned that the knock-on effect of prolonged labour strikes will harm the economy in the long run.

Cape Town - Bus strikes, service delivery protests and marching teachers - it is the time of the year that commuters and businesses have come to dread.

And now experts and economists have warned that an annual pattern of prolonged strikes could have dire consequences for South Africa’s economy.

National transport strikes since Friday saw bus services, such as Golden Arrow and UCT’s Jammie Shuttles, across Cape Town suspended or stripped to skeleton staff.

On Wednesday, queues snaked around taxi ranks, train stations and UCT shuttle stops as commuters waited for hours to catch rides into work or school.

“The current bus strike is really affecting us students, hope things get back to normal sooner,” tweeted @bethuelpooe117m.

“My bosses said I shouldn’t go to work until the bus strike ends,” said @NomzamoThomas.

Hector Bam said it has been a nightmare. The Gugulethu resident travels by bus to go work in Montague Gardens. But he said he has been forced to take a taxi, which has been more than just an inconvenience.

“We had already paid to take the bus, now I must pay more… So close to the end of the month, we can’t afford this. I’m borrowing money just to go to work.”

Bam is frustrated with the bus drivers, who he feels are bleeding him dry with their strike action. While the strike is meant to hurt big businesses, he felt like he was the real victim.

“Everyone here where I live is having problems… My wife couldn’t get into work, and we were lucky that her friend gave her a lift.”

Daniella Wheatley said it took her three hours to get home last night. The Mitchells Plain mother-of-three has had to resort to using taxis to get to and from work.

She said the taxis were overcrowded because there was such a high demand for alternative transport at the moment and she had found herself standing in long queues just to get home.

“Last night I got home at 8pm… I have three daughters that are waiting for me.”

Viola Manuel, executive director of the Cape Chamber of Commerce, said “strike season” at this time of the year had become such a common occurrence that businesses had begun to anticipate it.

“They have even started considering letting their employees work from home.”

She said the transport strikes were incredibly disruptive and crippled the productivity of local businesses.

“If we cannot deliver our goods and products on time and at a reasonable price, international investors will take their money somewhere else.”

The knock-on effect would be that local businesses would be forced to cut back. Instead of expanding and creating new jobs, they would have to scrap the few jobs that are available.

She added that it wasn’t just businesses who had to take responsibility for the country’s economy, but the unions, too. “We have to start looking at the impact of what we are doing, especially the way we are negotiating wages - there is clearly something significantly wrong.”

South African Transport and Allied Workers Union (Satawu) chairperson Wayne Louw acknowledged that strike action had become a common sight at this time of the year.

“As a union we must apologise to the commuters, but in the same breath - look at our members’ interests, all we want is a living wage.”

He said it wasn’t the unions prolonging strike action, and as a result, disrupting South Africa’s economy, but the companies who refused to agree to their demands. - Cape Argus

In a cupboard inside a Stellenbosch University museum a researcher, found a human skull, a box of glass eyes and a case with hair samples.

Cape Town - In a cupboard inside a Stellenbosch University (SU) museum a young researcher, Handri Walters, found a human skull, a box of glass eyes of different colours and a long silver case with hair samples, from straight and blond to curly and black.

Engraved on the box was the name Dr Eugen Fischer, a German scientist during the Nazi era, whose work focused on racial “purity” and what he saw as the problems of mixed-race marriages.

The hair and glass eyes were apparently used in many parts of the world in the early part of last century as a way of classifying people into races and advancing the idea of “racial hygiene” and eugenics, the science of using controlled breeding to increase “desirable” characteristics in human populations.

What were these objects doing in Stellenbosch University, and were students once taught to use these to classify people by race?

Did academics use them in research? And if so, what did this mean about the university’s role in developing ideas to support ideas about racial segregation and the development of apartheid?

A team of SU academics from the faculty of Arts and Social Sciences is about to find out. They have embarked on a research project that will focus on the role of academic thought in the past, and its influence on apartheid policies that divided people into race and outlawed racial mixing and intermarriage.

Eugene Cloete, vice-rector in charge of research and innovation, said the university was in the process of transformation but could not move forward without looking at its past, which included the university’s link with apartheid.

Initially the university was concerned about the origins of the human skull, but found that it had come from a legal anatomical facility and conformed with the Human Tissue Act.

The museum was part of the former Volkekunde department, which was closed in the 1990s.

Steven Robins, professor in the department of sociology and social anthropology, said the idea of eugenics was not a Nazi invention, but at one stage was shared by the left and the right.

The objects found in the museum had become a catalyst for thinking about “science writ large” and about the history of the abuse of science. “The past will sensitise us to start asking critical questions,” Robins said.

Cape Times

Striking bus drivers renewed their protests in Cape Town, insisting their demands be met.

Cape Town - Striking bus drivers renewed their protests in Cape Town on Thursday, insisting their demands be met.

Drivers have been involved in a nationwide bus industry strike for better wages.

Drivers affiliated to the SA Transport and Allied Workers' Union (Satawu) and the Transport and Omnibus Workers' Union (Towu), were expected to picket throughout the city.

“Our member bus drivers are gathering outside the Athlone Library and will march to the Bargaining Council offices,” said Satawu Western Cape spokesman Wayne Louw.

Golden Arrow Bus service spokesman John Dammert said parties could not reach an agreement during talks facilitated by the Commission for Conciliation, Mediation, and Arbitration (CCMA) on Wednesday.

“Our representative, who is part of the bargaining council, told me that unions brought down their demands to a 13 percent wage increase, while the employers improved their offer to eight percent,” said Dammert.

The CCMA suggested that parties settle at nine percent.

Commuter Bus Employers' Organisation spokesman Barry Gie said the unions' demands were a major hurdle during talks.

“One of the stumbling blocks is that unions continue to ask for a double digit increase, which we simply cannot afford,” said Gie.

Earlier in the week, the Congress of SA Trade Unions expressed support for striking bus drivers and their wage demands.

“(We) wish the workers at the bus companies well during their strike and support them in their struggle for a living wage,” Cosatu Western Cape secretary Tony Ehrenreich said in a statement.

Satawu Gauteng spokesman Vincent Masoga said on Tuesday workers needed a substantial increase to offset rising food and housing costs.

“Members don't have a problem to negotiate, but they cannot take anything less than a double-digit 1/8increase 3/8,” he said. - Sapa

Cape Town’s deputy mayor admits that the city was suspicious about the high costs for the construction of Cape Town Stadium.

Cape Town - Cape Town deputy mayor Ian Neilson has admitted that the city was suspicious about the high costs for the construction of Cape Town Stadium, but said the city had to carry on to meet the deadline to complete the R4.5 billion venue for the World Cup.

On Wednesday the DA in council came under attack from the ANC over a “lack of political oversight” over the finances during the construction of the stadium. Council was asked to approve the appointment of a law firm and a team of experts for R4 million to investigate how much money the city could recover if the Competition Commission finds companies involved guilty of collusion and bid rigging.

Neilson admitted: “We were very suspicious from the beginning. We were particularly concerned when we got to the sub-contracts, where prices came in twice as high than we expected. The city didn’t just sit back, we looked for other contractors… but in the end the city had to proceed because the deadline to complete was upon us.”

Mayco recommended the appointment of Adams & Adams, a law firm specialising in competition law, to investigate possible damages the city could claim.

In a memorandum to the city, Adams & Adams said: “The Competition Commission’s view is that the information and documentation they have received provides strong evidence in support of allegations of collusions and bid-rigging in respect of the construction of the Cape Town Stadium.” The law firm will appoint a team of specialists including forensic auditors and construction industry specialists to calculate the damages the city could recover.

The city has notified the Competition Commission of its formal status as a complainant in the case.

As a complainant the city can negotiate a settlement if contractors admit to flouting competition law in the construction of the stadium.

Earlier this year, the Hawks revealed that top construction companies had illegally rigged contracts worth billions of rand. The Hawks said their investigation disclosed details of a “decades-long, formal kickback and price-fixing racket that allegedly involved prominent names in the industry”. Some of the companies said to be involved in the bid-rigging are Wilson Bayly Holmes-Ovcon (WBHO), Stefanutti Stocks, Murray & Roberts, Group Five, Concor, and Aveng.

The Competition Commission is also investigating possible tender-rigging by the companies related to contracts worth at least R30bn, including the Cape Town Stadium.

ANC chief whip Xolani Sotashe said: “It is very interesting to listen to the deputy mayor on the lack of political oversight over the finances of the institution. That was the role of the deputy mayor.”

The recommendation for council to approve the team of experts to quantify damages also included the establishment of a mayoral sub-committee to report on progress in the matter. Sotashe added: “We are going to waste R4m of ratepayers’ money for something that should never have happened.”

zara.nicholson@inl.co.za

Cape Times

God resides in the picturesque Mother City, President Jacob Zuma said at the release of the annual tourism statistics.

Cape Town - God resides in the picturesque Mother City, President Jacob Zuma said at the release of the annual tourism statistics on Thursday.

Speaking in Cape Town, where he announced a 10 percent increase in tourism growth in 2012, Zuma recounted a story told to him in Uganda some years ago.

The president said he was visiting Lake Victoria, where he remarked to a local man how beautiful Uganda was.

“(The man) said when God created the earth the last place he created was Uganda. There was a lot of material left over so he played around with it to separate it and make it beautiful.”

Zuma said he told the Ugandan man how lucky he and his countrymen were.

“He said, but do you know where God went when he finished the job here? I said I don't know and he said he went to stay in Cape Town,” Zuma said to laughter from the audience.

Zuma could not tell exactly where in Cape Town God lived, but suspected it was on top of Table Mountain.

“So we are here at a place which is blessed,” he said.

The story was meant for Capetonians as a lesson on how the world viewed the city.

“Capetonians must know this (story) so they are nicer to people when they come here.”

Zuma urged the Mother City's people to exhibit warmth and show their welcoming spirit when high-level delegations from around the globe visited Cape Town for next week's World Economic Forum Africa meeting.

“We again have an opportunity to prove our expertise in hosting an event of this magnitude, particularly with the people of Cape Town,” Zuma said.

After announcing the tourism statistics, he went on a walkabout in the V&A Waterfront to meet tourists and view the attractions.

Zuma and his large entourage attracted huge interest from visitors who flocked to the walkway at the water's edge to snap photographs on their cellphones of the president.

A marimba band and dance groups performed for him while he showed his support by helping to fill their money baskets.

A mime, who managed to surprise Zuma and his bodyguards, received the biggest tip - a R200 note.

Zuma walked past the man - painted in gold - apparently taking him for a statue.

But when the still figure moved, mimicking the motions of a robot, Zuma turned around and shook his hand, bending down to place his donation in a wooden moneybox. - Sapa

Musician Arno Carstens’ defence team has challenged forensic testing of blood samples for drunken driving cases.

 Cape Town - Forensic laboratory analysts involved in the testing of blood samples in drunken driving cases “do their own thing” and ignore instructions contained in a blood-testing manual, the Cape Town Magistrate's Court heard on Thursday.

Analyst Pakama Pati testified in the drunk-driving case of Western Cape musician Arno Carstens, who has pleaded not guilty before magistrate Nadia Bonwari to a charge of drunken driving, and driving with a blood-alcohol level of 0.20 percent as the alternative charge.

The legal limit is 0.05 percent.

During Thursday's proceedings, Pati was cross-examined by defence attorney Milton de la Harpe, who focused on the level of care taken in the laboratory, and the reliability of Carstens' blood-alcohol count.

Carstens, the former Springbok Nude Girls frontman, was arrested in the Cape Town CBD in December 2010, when a traffic officer noticed his black Mercedes-Benz swerving.

It transpired during the proceedings that a solution specially prepared by the National Metreological Institute of SA, was used in the laboratory for blood-testing, and that personnel involved in the process, including Pati, had to carefully followed the instructions contained in a special manual.

De la Harpe told Pati that in his closing argument at the end of the case, he would call for Carstons' acquittal on the grounds that the analysis performed by her was unreliable.

“I will say that, due to careless practices in the laboratory, some of the blood used in a previous test contaminated my client's alcohol,” he said.

De la Harpe explained that a sealed container known as a standard, contained the solution specially prepared by the institute for blood-alcohol testing.

The contents of the sealed container lasted for a number of months, but once the seal had been broken, and the container opened, the solution only lasted for eight weeks.

It transpired that opened standards were sometimes used for blood testing, even after the eight-week period.

Pati admitted that she and other colleagues in the laboratory sometimes failed to comply with the instructions in the manual, and instead “do their own tests”.

At De la Harpe's request, the case was postponed to May 8, when defence expert Dr Neels Viljoen, retired head of the forensic laboratory in Pretoria, would attend the proceedings.

De la Harpe explained that Pati's cross-examination would become “extremely technical”, and for this reason he preferred Viljoen's presence.

He said his cross-examination had so far only dealt with two of eight technical aspects concerning the practices in the laboratory. - Sapa

Archbishop emeritus Desmond Tutu spent a second day in hospital for treatment and tests related to a persistent infection.

Cape Town - South Africa's peace icon, retired Archbishop Desmond Tutu spent a second day in hospital Thursday for treatment and tests related to a persistent infection.

Tutu on Wednesday checked into a Cape Town hospital to receive treatment for an undisclosed “persistent infection” and to take tests to establish its underlying cause, according to his foundation.

“We are not going to issue updates on his condition because he is currently undergoing a five-day treatment. At the end of the course we will inform the media,” a spokesman told AFP.

Known fondly as “the Arch” Tutu has survived an illness believed to be polio as a baby, battled tuberculosis as a teenager and in 1997 was diagnosed with prostrate cancer.

Nearly 10 years later, he said the cancer had returned after having gone into remission but was non-aggressive.

In December 2011, he underwent minor elective surgery in Cape Town for an undisclosed complaint.

His recent public appearances have shown little hint of ill-health.

Officially retired, the outspoken Tutu is still seen as South Africa's moral beacon.

He won the 1984 Nobel Peace Prize for his work, which he said has always been motivated by religion. - Sapa-AFP

A child died after two cars collided in Southfield in Cape Town.

Cape Town - A child died after two cars collided in Southfield in Cape Town on Thursday, paramedics said.

The girl, believed to be eight, died in the afternoon, said ER24 spokesman Derrick Banks.

“Paramedics responded to the scene and found the two vehicles in the road. (They) were shown to where the little girl was lying on the back seat. She was unresponsive and paramedics started CPR and advanced life support intervention was performed to help save her life.”

Banks said the girl was taken to a nearby hospital but died due to the extent of her injuries.

The cause of the accident was still unclear. - Sapa

MyCiti bus services across Cape Town have been suspended "due to threats of possible violence".

Cape Town - All MyCiTi bus services were suspended on Friday morning because of ongoing strike action, the City of Cape Town said.

“MyCiTi has now decided to suspend all services from 9am this morning, due to threats of possible violence against the service,” said transport mayoral committee member Brett Herron.

Routes in the Table View area were suspended on Friday out of safety concerns for passengers and staff, but this was later extended to all routes.

“MyCiTi will monitor the situation during the course of the day, and if the service can return to operation in the Table View area, it will,” Herron said.

Drivers have been involved in a nationwide bus industry strike for better wages. - Sapa