The girl who was used as a sex slave has been placed back into the care of the social worker who failed her the first time.

Cape Town - The 13-year-old girl who was used as a sex slave - allegedly by her own mother - has been placed back into the care of the same social worker who failed her the first time.

The Daily Voice has learnt the traumatised teen was placed into foster care in March. But that she ran away - back into the evil clutches of a suspected paedophile ring operating in Atlantis.

Ward councillor and shelter owner Barbara Rass, in whose care the girl had been placed since her horrific plight came to light, reveals the teen’s case was never investigated and that the foster mom is still receiving her child-care grant.

That is because the social worker handling her case was unaware the child had run away from her foster mother.

“That means she was in the care of the department when she was raped,” an outraged Barbara tells the Daily Voice.

The girl said her mother had been selling her for sex, sometimes for as little as R20 a time.

She said her mother often watched as the men raped her. The woman has since been arrested on charges of rape.

In the latest developments, the Department of Social Development yesterday took the child away from Barbara.

She will now be placed back into foster care - and her case handled by the same social worker who failed her in March.

Melany Kühn, spokesperson for Social Development MEC Albert Fritz, could not explain why the social worker was unaware of the teen’s circumstances. But she says the girl did not want to stay with Barbara anymore.

“I can confirm that the child in question was taken to a place of safety,” Kuhn says. “She had in fact also requested to be moved.”

Wendy Rass, of the DA Ward Councillor’s office in Atlantis, says they fear the teen will fall through the cracks again.

“They didn’t know the child was being raped. Where was the social worker when this was happening?” she asks.

“How did they not know she ran away? She is now back with them and what is going to happen now, where will she end up?”

Daily Voice

A Gansbaai woman who recently moved to Cape Town has been murdered in the house she was sharing in Woodstock.

Cape Town - A Gansbaai woman who recently moved to Cape Town has been murdered in the house she was sharing in Roodebloem Road, Woodstock.

Veronic Dickson, 27, had recently moved to the city to look for work.

Her job hunt had been successful, as she was to have started working at a large shopping mall at the start of next month, people who knew her told the Cape Argus.

But her hopes of a new life in Cape Town came to a bitter end on Thursday when she was murdered.

She was stabbed several times and found with a belt strapped tightly around her neck.

Woodstock police took in a man they found near the scene for questioning.

A bystander at the crime scene said the man appeared to have several cuts on his hands.

By Friday morning the man had not been arrested.

Investigators have continued their search for a suspect, said police liaison officer Captain FC van Wyk.

Witnesses at the scene on Thursday said Dickson’s body was found by a woman with whom she shared the house.

The house the women shared is near a KFC outlet on Main Road and a film studio in Roodebloem Road.

People working at the film studio heard Dickson’s roommate scream when she discovered the horrific scene after returning home from work about 4.40pm.

The house’s front door was on a chain.

Bystanders at the scene speculated that Dickson had been murdered by someone whom she knew.

Two dogs which were kept in the yard were also missing, bystanders claimed.

The murder took place in daylight, in a road monitored by CCTV cameras, but the cameras were pointed up and down the road, not at the houses and buildings along it.

The police arrived in large numbers, with as many as 10 vehicles lining the road at one point.

Investigators combed the property for evidence and forensic experts worked late into the night to seek clues.

A uniformed policeman was seen crying at the scene. Neighbours suggested he was Dickson’s boyfriend, but this could not be confirmed.

The policeman is not a suspect.

The Woodstock police have asked for help from the public.

Van Wyk confirmed that Dickson was found with multiple stab wounds and a belt tightly strapped around her neck.

She was declared dead at the scene.

He said the motive for the killing had not yet been established and no arrests had been made.

Anyone with information about the incident or the whereabouts of the suspects was asked to contact the investigating officer, Warrant Officer Warren Smith, at Woodstock police station on 021 486 2877 or Crime Stop on 08600 10111, Van Wyk said.

Cape Argus

Western Cape farmers appealed to the labour department in a public hearing on Friday to bring stability to agriculture, an official said.

Johannesburg - Western Cape farmers appealed to the labour department in a public hearing on Friday to bring stability to agriculture, an official said.

Department spokesman Page Boikanyo said farmers who attended the hearing in Worcester expressed concern that their lives and jobs could be lost if the farming strike resumed on December 4.

Director general Nkosinathi Nhleko met farmers on Friday as part of a string of public hearings to gather opinions on farming wages and working conditions in the sector.

The sectoral determination for agriculture is being reviewed following recent violent protests in 16 Western Cape towns about working conditions.

The protests started with table grape harvesters in De Doorns, who called for wages of R150 a day. Most earn between R69 and R75 a day.

Workers agreed to suspend their strike until December 4 on condition that the Employment Conditions Commission (ECC) look at the sectoral determination.

Boikanyo said Western Cape farmers said they could not afford the workers' demand of R150 a day.

“One farmer went as far as to appeal to church, political, labour and all civic leaders to be concerned about what’s going to happen to this province,” Boikanyo said.

“At the same time, he urged farmers to be prepared to defend their farms... people and property.”

Nhleko was asked to forward farmers' concerns to President Jacob Zuma and Labour Minister Mildred Oliphant.

He reminded farmers that their problems could be resolved by talking.

“As the department, we have committed ourselves to assist parties to talk,” Nlheko said.

The next public hearings take place in Boston, KwaZulu-Natal, on Saturday.

According to a schedule on the department's website, hearings take place in Limpopo on December 6, in the Free State on December 8, the North West on December 9, the Northern Cape on December 11, Mpumalanga on December 12 and the Eastern Cape and Gauteng on December 13. - Sapa

Former Western Cape government official Dave McNamara wants drug possession charges against him dropped, the Cape Town Magistrate's Court heard.

Johannesburg - Former Western Cape government official Dave McNamara wants drug possession charges against him dropped, the Cape Town Magistrate's Court heard on Friday.

His attorney William Booth said he had been instructed by his client to ask the National Prosecutions Authority to withdraw the charges.

Booth said he and prosecutor Leon Snyman had agreed that McNamara would avail himself to DNA tests in order to complete the investigation.

He was arrested in June last year at inner city apartments in Cape Town after he was found in possession of the drug tik, and a broken bottle-neck used to inhale the substance.

Booth said tests had already been done on the bottle-neck, but that prosecutors now required more tests from McNamara.

At the time of his arrest, McNamara, 48, was the provincial director for community development and spearheaded programmes to combat drug abuse.

He was to have faced a disciplinary hearing, but resigned before it could take place.

Booth said McNamara agreed to submit to a second round of tests provided that his own private DNA experts could examine the test results.

“We all need finality in this matter as it has been pending for some time,” he said.

Magistrate Nadia Bonwari postponed the case to February 13, and McNamara's bail was extended. - Sapa

Farmers gearing up for more labour unrest with some costly security measures.

WESTERN Cape farmers are gearing up for further labour unrest, forking out money for heavily-armed private security guards, who use helicopters and wear bullet-proof vests, and buying fire engines in anticipation of chaos as time runs out for finding solutions to the farm wage crisis.

Cosatu’s Tony Ehrenreich, meanwhile, warned that further strike action from farmworkers was virtually inevitable unless “government and the farmers bring an acceptable agreement for a wage hike” to the fore.

A helicopter was circling De Doorns this week, scanning the area where farmworkers first downed tools for any sign of protest action.

Yesterday, the president of Agri Wes Cape, Cornie Swart, called a group of 300 farmers to action.

“Go back to your homes and prepare to defend yourselves, your farms, your property and your families. We were caught with our pants down (two weeks ago). We cannot allow that to happen again,” he warned them.

Swart appealed for President Jacob Zuma to intervene.

“If the president does not step in to rein in Cosatu there will be serious bloodshed,” he cautioned.

Pictures have been posted on a website of armed security guards preparing for action.

After government intervention, striking workers last week agreed to suspend further action until December 4 for government and the farmers to thrash out solutions.

But yesterday, at a meeting convened by the Department of Labour, farmers were adamant that they could not afford the R150 per day strikers demanded.

Last week, Weekend Argus reported that farmers in De Doorns were arranging for private security companies to secure their properties. In some cases, air support was on standby. It is understood that the situation is similar in the Ceres area.

Swart accused Cosatu of secretly agitating strikers towards violence.

Negotiations between Cosatu, the Department of Labour and AgriSA got under way in Cape Town on Thursday, but there is little optimism that they will reach agreement before the deadline.

Meanwhile, the parties are at loggerheads over the December 4 deadline for the law on the minimum wage to be changed to address the strikers’ demands.

Farmers have demanded to know what the department’s strategy is for preventing “bloodshed and farm burning” on December 4.

But, officials deny ever having committed to such a date and Agriculture Minister Tina Joemat-Pettersson’s office has distanced itself from the two-week deadline.

Spokesman Palesa Mokomela told Weekend Argus the minister had merely acted as an intermediary between Cosatu and the Department of Labour in urging strikers on November 13 to suspend their protests for two weeks while a long-range solution was found.

“At the time it was imperative that a deal was brokered for the strike action to be called off,” Mokomela said. “We had reports that the strike was spreading beyond De Doorns and we realised that there was the potential for massive damages to be incurred. The situation needed to be disarmed as a matter of urgency.”

But almost two weeks later, it remained “highly unlikely” a wage agreement could be agreed and implemented, according to AgriWC’s Porchia Adams.

At yesterday’s meeting in the Worcester Town Hall, farmers resisted discussion of a sectoral wage determination, demanding instead to know what the department’s strategy was for preventing mayhem from breaking out.

Titus Mtsweni, the department’s acting director of labour standards, said the department had no such mandate.

“This has nothing to do with the fourth of December,” added Thembinkosi Mkalipi, chief director of Labour Relations – at which point a farmer heckled from the floor: “It has everything to do with the fourth of December.”

Mkalipi continued: “This hearing is about whether or not there is a case to be made for the minimum wage to be reviewed. You are business people, I am asking you a simple question: Can you manage to pay R150? If you cannot, then explain to us why not. Explain to us what you can manage. We must come back to this issue. If we do not, then you forfeit your opportunity to contribute to the (determination of a minimum wage).”

The meeting was the second in a series of hearings which will run at the same time as negotiations. The hearings, which will conclude on December 13 with hearings in Gauteng and the Eastern Cape, involve getting input from both farmers and workers.

“We made it clear (at negotiations in) De Doorns that we are not negotiating, we are not putting an amount on the table. You are trying to force us to do so, but you know very well that it takes a whole year to determine the minimum wage. Who are we bluffing to say that it can be done in a couple of weeks,” said one De Doorns farmer

Swart drew attention to the fact that the industry in the Western Cape had suffered millions of rand in damages.

“Add to these expenses the fact that we now have bulk up our private security and buy fire trucks and those expenses are considerably inflated,” said Johan de Wet, a farmer in Rawsonville and chairman of Du Toits Kloof wines.

Mike Louw of Cosatu said that “feedback from the department” was not enough to avert strike action on December 4.

“Our reality is that we want an offer on the table from AgriSA to emanate from these discussions by December 4. If we do not, the strike will be relaunched,” he said.

But Adams stressed that AgriWC had not endorsed the two-week agreement.

De Doorns’ ANC councillor Pat Januarie interrupted the department’s Mtsweni as the meeting began. “What’s the point of this meeting when there are hardly any farm- workers here?” he asked.

One farmworker present was Monwabisi Kondile, a Food and Allied Workers Union member employed at the Keurboschkloof table grape farm outside De Doorns.

“Farmworkers are still very angry. We will strike on December 4 (if the farmers remained unmoved). But I don’t think that people will burn vineyards like they did before. I hope not, because it is in those vineyards that we need to work,” Kondile said.

A Fawu meeting is scheduled to take place in De Doorns tomorrow.

daneel.knoetze@inl.co.za

-Cape Argus

About 300 left homeless after their shacks caught fire in areas across the Western Cape.

About 300 people have been left homeless after their shacks caught fire in areas across the Western Cape on Saturday, the City's disaster risk management centre said.

Spokesman Wilfred Solomons-Johannes said fires at Seawinds, Athlone and Langa and Phillipi destroyed shacks and interrupted power supply on Saturday morning.

No injuries were reported.

The cause of the fires was not immediately known, but authorities were investigating, said Solomons-Johannes. -Sapa

More than 300 people were left homeless after their shacks were destroyed by fires across the city.

More than 300 people were left homeless after their shacks were destroyed by fires across the city yesterday. No one was injured.

The city’s Fire and Rescue and Disaster Risk Management teams and the Human Settlements Department responded to blazes in Seawinds, Athlone, Milnerton, Langa and Philippi, Disaster Management spokesman Wilfred Solomons-Johannes said.

“At 3.25am fire gutted 60 informal structures at the Overcome Heights informal settlement in Seawinds and 240 people were left homeless. The fire also damaged the overhead electricity infrastructure that caused an interruption in the power supply. Technicians are restoring the service in the area,” he said.

Rescue workers also attended to the scene of a fire in Athlone, in which one house was damaged, and about 30 minutes later six shacks were destroyed by a fire at the Doornback informal settlement near Milnerton, leaving 10 people homeless.

After 8am, 27 structures were destroyed when a fire broke out on the corner of Washington Road and Vanguard Drive in Langa, displacing 69 people. In Philippi, one person was left homeless when a shack caught alight on Highfield Road at 10.51am. - The Weekend Argus

Family and friends were left reeling at the news that three matric pupils were killed in a horror crash in Strandfontein during the early hours yesterday – just two days before their last exam and a week before their matric farewell.

Family and friends were left reeling at the news that three matric pupils were killed in a horror crash in Strandfontein during the early hours yesterday – just two days before their last exam and a week before their matric farewell.

The Mondale High School pupils’ Toyota Corolla was crushed after colliding with a Golden Arrow bus in Mitchells Plain at 6am yesterday.

The jaws of life were used to free them from the wreckage.

Keenan Smith and Kelly Ford died on impact, and Leigh Anne Swail was resuscitated on the scene and airlifted to Groote Schuur hospital where she died a short while later.

All three were 18 years old.

A fourth passenger, Nazan Klaasens, 20, is in a stable condition in Groote Schuur Hospital.

He is an office management student and up-and-coming soccer star.

Golden Arrow spokeswoman Bronwen Dyke said the accident was being investigated and the driver had been suspended.

”As with any accident, our protocol is to immediately suspend the driver pending the outcome of the investigation.

“According to statements taken from witnesses, the bus was crossing an intersection when the car tried to turn and ended up underneath the bus.

“We will conduct further investigations before making any decision as to what may have happened,” said Dyke.

The four were returning from a night out in the city, Klaasen’s mother, Freda, told Weekend Argus at the hospital yesterday.

She said her son had not yet been told his three friends had died.

“He’s in a lot of pain and has lots of bruises, but nothing is broken. He’s still very confused, but doctors say he’s fine and doesn’t have brain damage,” she said.

She described Smith as “a humble guy who respected older people”.

Klaasens said her son and Smith left her home in Woodlands, Mitchells Plain at 5 pm yesterday to go to Blue Downs, where her son had played in a soccer match.

She saw the two friends again briefly after the match when they told her they were going out in Cape Town.

According to friends, Smith had planned to study human resource management or marketing next year.

Tamryn Eiman described Swail as a sweet but very outspoken person. Other friends said Swail loved modelling and took every opportunity at school to strut her stuff. “She loved the camera,” the friend said.

Ford was known as “the one who always made jokes”. She was also a keen soccer player.

“She loved her son so much and was always showing us pictures of him,” a classmate said.

A friend said: “Kelly and Leigh were very close and spent a lot of time together. They were both energetic and always the life of the party.”

Another friend said Smith had been an avid soccer player and was part of the Mondale school team that recently won the Mr Price schools tournament.

“I remember during the last Afrikaans paper, my pen ran out of ink. Keenan was sitting next to me and gave me a pen. Now when we write the final paper there will only be an empty desk,” the friend said.

Last night pupils at Mondale High School comforted each other during a vigil for the three and dressed in their yellow and blue matric blazers

Their parents were too traumatised to attend.

Mondale vice-principal Nigel Crowie said the school has been devastated by the deaths.

“I’ve spoken to the pupils as well as the parents of the children, who are clearly traumatised by what has happened. There will probably be many unanswered questions as to what happened and why, but we will mourn the loss of three wonderful young people.”

Bronagh Casey, Western Cape Education Department spokeswoman, said the department had sent its condolences to the families.

“Our thoughts and prayers go out to everyone affected by this sad and tragic event and we hope that the fourth victim has a speedy recovery.

“We are also concerned for their fellow classmates and pupils who will be writing their English exam tomorrow. We have made counsellors and psychiatric support available should they need it.”

Dozens of condolence messages poured in on Facebook following the accident as shocked relatives and friends come to terms with the tragedy.

Yesterday afternoon, some of the mourners placed a bouquet of white flowers at the intersection where the accident took place.

Three people have been arrested in Gugulethu after being found in possession of Tik worth R1.2 million.

Three people have been arrested in Gugulethu after being found in possession of Tik worth R1.2 million, Cape Town police said on Saturday.

Police were conducting routine searches in the area on Saturday afternoon when they noticed the driver of a Ford Fiesta acting “suspiciously,” said police spokesman Captain FC Van Wyk.

“Members pulled him over for a routine stop.

“After searching the three occupants of the vehicle they found a small plastic bag containing Tik and an undisclosed amount of cash in the possession of one of the individuals.

“The members then searched the vehicle in which they found a box and upon examining it they recovered a large bag and also a smaller bag also containing Tik.”

The three people, a man, aged 29, and two women, aged 29 and 33, were then arrested.

“In total 1.2 kilograms of Tik with an estimated street value of approximately R1.2 million was seized.”

The three are due to appear in the Athlone Magistrates Court on Monday. - Sapa

Paramedics have attended to a man who was reportedly pushed onto the train tracks at a station in Kraaifontein.

Johannesburg - A woman was injured at the Unibell station in Belhar in Cape Town on Sunday after allegedly trying to board a moving train, paramedics said.

“According to bystanders, the other occupants on the train had tried to assist the woman into the coach, but they lost their grip of her and she fell between the platform and the train,” said ER24 spokesperson Vanessa Jackson.

The woman was hospitalised with suspected internal injuries.

In another incident, a man was injured after he was reportedly pushed in front of a moving train at a station in Kraaifontein.

Jackson said the man fell on the tracks and sustained a deep cut on his head.

“It is still not precisely clear as to what took place... As soon as the bystanders saw what had happened they shouted to the conductor and he managed to stop the train,” said Jackson.

Paramedics treated the man on the scene before transporting him to Tygerberg hospital. - Sapa

Fires at five informal settlements in the Western Cape have left as many as 79 people without homes.

Johannesburg - At least 79 people were left homeless after fires at five informal settlements in the Western Cape this weekend, the disaster risk management centre reported on Sunday.

The centre’s spokesperson, Wilfred Solomons-Johannes, said they attended to fires in the Lotus River, Langa, Milnerton, Khayelitsha and Kraaifontein areas.

The Milnerton blaze, which occurred on Saturday evening, left the biggest disaster.

“The fire destroyed 16 shacks at the Siyahlala informal settlement. As a result, 36 people (including seven children) were left displaced,” said Solomons-Johannes.

He said disaster management teams were providing food parcels, blankets, clothing and building material to those who were affected.

It was unclear what sparked the blazes. - Sapa

The final paper will not be a joyous occasion for matric pupils at Mondale High, after 3 classmates died in a horror smash.

Cape Town - The final matric paper will not be a joyous occasion for matric pupils at Mondale High in Mitchells Plain. On Sunday, many of them broke down in tears as they mourned the deaths of three fellow pupils in a horror smash early on Saturday.

Kelly Ford, Leigh-Ann Swail and Keenan Smith, all 18, died in the collision, while 20-year-old former Mondale High pupil Nazan Klaasen, 20, is fighting for his life at Groote Schuur Hospital.

Shortly before 6am on Saturday, Ford phoned her mother to say that she was on her way home from a night out on the town. Minutes later, the Toyota Corolla Smith was driving collided with a Golden Arrow bus.

The crash took place on the corner of Spine Road and Church Way, Strandfontein, and the Jaws of Life was used to free the four.

Ford and Smith died on the scene while Swail died at Groote Schuur Hospital.

Ford’s mother, Patricia, said that Ford and Swail were best friends and had been inseparable since Grade 8. She said Ford had lived for her 22-month-old son Alex. “She hardly went out, she was always at home, Alex was her life.”

Ford said that when her daughter called her she had said to her, “okay, I’m waiting for you”.

News of the crash spread like wildfire on social networks and more than 1 000 people assembled at the school on Sunday evening to hold a candlelight vigil.

Principal Owen Bridgens said the three had been athletes and were well liked by their peers.

He said that messages of condolence had been received from from all over, including calls from Education MEC Donald Grant, Minister of National Planning Trevor Manuel and ANC provincial leader Marius Fransman.

On Sunday, the school assembled most of its matrics to offer them grief counselling ahead of their final paper to be written on Monday afternoon.

When the Cape Argus arrived at the Ford home in Portland on Sunday, Swail’s mother, Samantha, was there, but she was too overcome with grief to talk about her only child.

Her sister, Marci Lodewyk, described her niece as a wonderful young woman, who loved life, modelling, clothes and shoes.

Swail was planning to do an au pair course next year, or “something in management”, she said.

Leigh-Ann’s grandmother, Freda Swail, said her daughter had been at Leigh-Ann’s side when she had died.

According to Ford, Kelly was going to go home from a club in the CBD with another friend, but then Leigh-Ann had suggested she stay on at the club.

Ford’s heartbroken boyfriend Eugene Pieterse said he was still coming to terms with her death. “It is just so unreal,” Pieterse said.

Smith’s friends described him as having a great sense of humour. He was planning to study a human resources course next year.

On Sunday, his tearful classmates clutched photographs of him.

Speaking to the gathered matriculants on Sunday, vice-principal Nigel Crowie said it was the saddest day in the history of the school, but he added that the matrics now had to concentrate on getting through their final exam paper.

Crowie said the deaths resounded across the province and would impact on how matriculants celebrated the end of their school careers.

Bridgens said it was not good to see young people die. “The school won’t ever forget this,” he said.

Errol van Wyk, the education district director, said that while teachers were good at preparing children academically, they felt powerless to fix the after-effects of a tragedy.

Police spokesman FC Van Wyk said police were investigating a case of culpable homicide.

A memorial would be held at the Mondale High School hall on Wednesday at 10am.

lynnette.johns@inl.co.za

Cape Argus

Recent farmworker protests over poor labour conditions have changed SA’s history, Tina Joemat-Pettersson said.

Cape Town - Recent farmworker protests over poor labour conditions have changed South Africa's history, Agriculture Minister Tina Joemat-Pettersson said on Monday.

“We cannot wish away our problems, we cannot be in denial. We have to face up to challenges… in our country,” she said at a New Age breakfast in Johannesburg.

“This is exactly why I said it's a historic moment in agriculture. If you do not stand up for your own rights, no one will recognise your pain and agony.”

She said research reports by the Human Rights Commission since the late ’90s had highlighted atrocities in the sector, particularly in the North West and Western Cape, where recent protests were held over wages and living conditions.

The reports showed workers were living in inadequate shelters and were subject to racial and gender abuse.

“All farmers are not abusive. There are very good farmers. But farmers think that if they pay a basic salary and they have paid the minimum wage requirement, they have done enough,” Joemat-Pettersson said.

She acknowledged that not all farmers would be able to afford a wage demand of R150, up from the R70 daily wage set in law.

“Our (agriculture) production costs in this country are very high and this includes the cost of fuel, electricity and fertiliser,” she said.

She said, however, that it was “criminal” to pass on this cost of production to farmworkers.

The minister agreed that the perception of very high profit margins in agriculture was not entirely accurate.

“The profit margins in agriculture are actually very small. There are different commodities which are obviously more lucrative.”

She said these perceptions were based on workers who witnessed their employers go on luxurious holidays and drive fancy cars, while they remained in their shacks.

“Those inequalities will never go missed.” - Sapa

“We are not powerless. The law is there but the implementation and monitoring of the law is our challenge.”

Cape Town - The government had done its best to promote the rights of farmworkers but monitoring labour conditions remained a challenge, Agriculture Minister Tina Joemat-Pettersson said on Monday.

“We are not powerless. The law is there but the implementation and monitoring of the law is our challenge,” she said at a New Age breakfast in Johannesburg.

“Government monitors. Government isn't there every day to ensure implementation. It cannot be government's sole responsibility.”

She said civil society organisations, non-governmental organisations and unions had a role to play in making sure rights were upheld.

The agriculture and labour departments also relied on oversight visits to farms by MPs.

“When the labour officials visit, farmers do a little bit of window dressing,” she said.

She suggested that the labour department conduct surprise visits, rather than pre-arranged visits, to combat such tactics.

Joemat-Pettersson denied not doing enough to prevent recent farmworkers' protests in sixteen Western Cape towns, including De Doorns.

“We have been working consistently with farmworkers. We have been working in De Doorns for more than a year. I don't even think xenophobic attacks in De Doorns were captured that intensively in the media,” she said.

She explained that farmers initially employed workers from Lesotho but then hired workers from Zimbabwe through labour brokers, causing tension.

“It was a melting pot simmering and ready for an explosion.”

She said South Africa still had a long way to go in agriculture as racism, sexual abuse and sexual oppression on farms was prevalent.

“If we are still pretending there is no crisis and blaming it on each other, saying it is a problem of national government or that this is a political problem.

“We are trying to ignore a fundamental situation which has been highlighted by so many different stakeholders and that is unfortunate.” - Sapa

Negligence and handling a fire or electrical appliances while intoxicated are among the main causes of fires in informal settlements.

Cape Town - Negligence and handling a fire or electrical appliances while intoxicated are among the main causes of fires in Cape Town’s informal settlements, says city disaster management spokesman Wilfred Solomons- Johannes.

He was speaking on Sunday after several shack fires left more than 300 people homeless across the city at the weekend.

Solomons-Johannes said structures were destroyed in Seawinds, Athlone, Milnerton, Langa and Philippi.

He said most of the fires occurred in the early hours of the morning.

The city’s disaster response teams assisted the fire victims with food parcels, hot meals, clothing, blankets and building material. No one was injured.

When the Cape Argus visited the informal settlement in Langa on Sunday, residents were clearing debris and trying to rebuild their homes.

Ncediwe Makiva, a mother of a two-month-old baby, said she had lost everything in the blaze.

She had been living in the shack for five years.

“It’s the first time my house has burnt down. I feel so sad right now,” Makiva said.

Solomons-Johannes said the cause of the fires was still unclear.

He said there had been a noticeable reduction in shack fires this year compared to the previous year, thanks to fire safety awareness campaigns the city had run throughout the year.

“We are doing our utmost by engaging with the community regularly, but it’s also up to them to prevent those [fires] from happening by being vigilant,” he said.

Solomons-Johannes said most fires were caused by unattended cigarettes, matches, lighters, candles, and cooking and heating appliances.

Earlier this month, two people were killed in a shack fire in Joe Slovo Park, Milnerton.

Days earlier, 43 people were left homeless in Scottsville, Kraaifontein. Five days later another 43 people were displaced in separate fires in Strand, Lotus River and Parkwood Estate.

On October 28, a child burnt to death in a shack fire at the Kosovo informal settlement in Philippi. Three men aged between 30 and 40 died in separate fires in Khayelitsha and Heideveld in August. One fire was caused by an unattended electrical stove.

City fire and rescue spokesman Theo Layne said the city had enough manpower and resources to deal with the recent spate of fires.

“There are some periods where there are more incidents than others, like now, but we have enough resources to handle them,” he said.

How to prevent shack fires:

*Keep a close eye on paraffin stoves. Don’t cook near a window with a curtain.

* Make sure candles are secure and can’t fall over. Don’t go to sleep with candles still burning.

* Teach children about the dangers of fire.

* Watch out for discarded cigarette butts.

* Be aware of the dangers of illegal and faulty electricity connections, which also cause fires.

* Keep a bucket handy to fill with water so you can extinguish flames easily.

* Keep a bucket of sand to put out paraffin fires.

* Build dwellings a good distance (at least 3m) apart to prevent fires from spreading throughout the area. Make sure this space is kept open for emergency purposes.

Cape Argus

Gang violence has flared up in Cape Town with three shootings reported in or near Hanover Park and one in Delft.

Cape Town - Gang violence has flared up in Cape Town with three shootings reported in or near Hanover Park and one in Delft at the weekend.

Late on Sunday, a 34-year-old man was gunned down in Pinati Estate, adjacent to Hanover Park.

Police are investigating the circumstances surrounding his death.

According to police, residents heard gunshots around 6.30pm and called the police station.

The man’s body was found with several bullet wounds in Allison Road. He had not been identified at the time of going to press as his next of kin had not been informed.

No arrests have been made and an attempted murder case was opened.

Earlier on Sunday, a 22-year-old man from Hanover Park was killed near his home. A six-year-old boy was injured in the crossfire.

Police provincial spokesman Captain Frederick van Wyk confirmed the shooting incident at Lomond Court in Hanover Park.

Van Wyk said the man had sustained multiple bullet wounds. The child was wounded in his side and his arm.

Police are investigating a case of murder and attempted murder and no arrests had been made by 6pm on Sunday.

Around the same time another shooting occurred in Athburg Road, also in Pinati Estate.

Police said they were investigating an attempted murder case after a 30-year-old man was shot in his right leg.

In Delft, a 14-year-old girl from Hanover Park was killed in a drive-by shooting on Sunday morning.

It is alleged she had been sitting in the passenger seat of a stationary green Nissan Navara when the shots were fired from a white Golf in Gregory Street in Eindhoven. She died from a bullet wound to the head. The 21-year-old driver was not injured.

Van Wyk said the incident may have been gang-related. A murder case was opened for investigation.

Piet Siegelaar, the neighbourhood watch co-ordinator in Eindhoven, said the community was in shock.

He said people were speculating about the shooting and believed it might have been a revenge attack.

“It is the first time in years we’ve had something like this in this area. They were not from here, they were from Hanover Park,” he said.

“As the neighbourhood watch, we are not going to tolerate this kind of gang violence in our community. These gangs are not welcome here and we will work with police to get them out.”

In Hanover Park on Sunday several police cars patrolled the area, cordoning off some roads.

Community Safety MEC Dan Plato confirmed the shooting in Hanover Park. He said he was aware of current conflicts between rival gangs the Americans and the Laughing Boys.

He confirmed that a child had been injured in the crossfire on Sunday morning and taken to hospital.

Plato said he had a meeting with community leadership in Hanover Park last Thursday.

He was optimistic that the leadership remained “unified” despite the breaking of peace truce negotiations among gang members.

He said the leadership had said they were given a “directive” by certain gang members last week who threatened to “shoot at random”.

“The leadership is of the opinion that the police know about it,” Plato said.

“If the police can arrest the top ring leaders, the feeling from the leadership is that the violence will stop.”

Anyone with information is asked to contact Crime Stop on 08600 10111.

natasha.prince@inl.co.za

Cape Argus

“We acknowledge that the timing of the annual national assessments had put tremendous pressure on the teachers.”

Cape town - The SA Democratic Teachers’ Union (Sadtu) in the Western Cape says it has received many complaints from teachers and principals struggling with the extra workload of marking annual national tests.

Last week, the Cape Argus reported that Alexander Sinton Secondary principal Fazil Parker had been called to a disciplinary meeting by the Western Cape Education Department because his teachers did not mark the Grade 9 annual national assessments. The tests assess pupils’ literacy and numeracy skills and are administered by the Department of Basic Education.

The Western Cape Education Department has indicated that Alexander Sinton was the only school in the province that did not mark the tests.

Parker told the Cape Argus that he only found out in August that teachers would have to mark the tests. By then the school had already released its September Grade 12 exam timetable and grades 8 to 11 control test programme.

He said that when he informed his teachers that they were expected to mark the scripts, they considered this an unreasonable instruction as they already had an enormous workload.

Sadtu provincial secretary Jonavon Rustin said the union had received many complaints from teachers and principals. “We acknowledge that the timing of the annual national assessments had put tremendous pressure on the teachers,” Rustin said.

The concerns had been reported to the union’s national office.

David de Korte, provincial president of the SA Principals’ Association, said that after the annual national assessments were completed, principals had been asked by the Education Department for feedback.

Among the concerns raised was that the timeline for marking was tight and that teachers had to work during the holidays.

Asked if any principals or teachers had raised concerns with the department about the extra workload that the marking of the assessments was creating, department spokesman Paddy Attwell said: “Yes. The department explained that we are working with colleagues across the country as part of a national process.”

Concerns were also raised about the time of year the annual national assessments had to be written and Attwell said this had been relayed to the Department of Basic Education.

He said the Western Cape Education Department had given notice of the assessments for 2012 in a circular minute issued on February 15.

Attwell said the Department of Basic Education had confirmed plans for the assessments in a circular dated August 20. The circular had stated that teachers would mark the assessments.

The Western Cape Education Department had provided detailed instructions to schools on how to manage and mark the assessments in a circular minute issued on August 27, he said.

ilse.fredericks@inl.co.za

Cape Argus

The success of anti-drug enforcement agencies at Cape Town International Airport has moved the trade to national roads.

Cape Town - The success of anti-drug enforcement agencies at Cape Town International Airport has moved the drug trafficking trade to national roads.

On Monday, Lead SA - a collaboration between the Cape Argus, 567 CapeTalk, 94.5 Kfm and law enforcement agencies - kicks off Operation Drug Watch to highlight efforts by law enforcement agencies to clamp down on the drug smuggling trade and to give readers and listeners a way to report drug peddling in their communities.

There has been an escalation in the transportation and distribution of drugs by taxis, according to police.

Buses and trucks are used for the transportation of drugs by road and taxi drivers seem to be actively involved in some of cases, said provincial police spokesman Lieutenant-Colonel André Traut.

Investigators at the police’s command centre said tik, mandrax and dagga were still among the most popular drugs in Cape Town. Traut said that with the exception of large seizures at drug laboratories, the largest seizures were made on roads.

Police said it appeared that the recent successful seizures at the airport had “definitely” caused changes in criminals’ strategies in terms of drug smuggling.

Domestic flights from OR Tambo International Airport to Cape Town International have been noted as the most popular drug trafficking routes.

Tik is also trafficked between OR Tambo airport and George airport and then transported by road to Cape Town.

Buses have been known to be used to traffic drugs between the Eastern Cape and Cape Town, while long-distance freights are used to transport drugs between Gauteng and via the N1 to dealers in the Western Cape.

Operation Drug Watch was born from a collaboration between Lead SA as well as SAPS, provincial traffic and Metro police and traffic.

Both radio stations and the Cape Argus will report on the number of arrests and seizures on a regular basis, to be published in the newspaper and broadcast on Eye Witness News on 567 CapeTalk and Kfm.

Kfm station manager Colleen Louw said: “We all got together to discuss a roll-out and execution plan.”

She said the broadcasters had decided to commit to support local authorities because an overwhelming majority of crimes in the Western Cape were related to substance abuse.

“Our listeners are affected every day by drug-related crimes... it affects families from all over the Western Cape. We want to take back control by stopping perpetrators in their tracks; on our roads and in our neighbourhoods.”

Louw called on radio listeners to be vigilant about reporting criminal activity: “As civil society we need to be accountable in assisting to uphold the laws. Lead SA encourages South Africans to ‘do the right thing’ by standing up for the law.”

She said it was about “telling the story of the harsh realities we face and the implications of drug-related crimes”.

“This is by no means a ‘quick fix’, but an attempt to put a dent in a growing problem.”

Western Cape provincial police commissioner Arno Lamoer said arrests related to the confiscation of tik were very high.

When asked whether police were winning the war on drugs, Lamoer said: “You can ask whether Mexico is winning the war, or whether Columbia is winning the war on drugs… the issue is: drugs [are] and will continuously be a major problem.”

Lamoer added that even though police were making progress with thousands of arrests, their successes were merely a way of highlighting how serious the problem was.

“The problem is that we are only seeing it as a policing problem, but it’s a bigger societal problem,” he said.

He encouraged law enforcement agents to “stay focused and stay vigilant” during the festive season.

The city’s mayoral committee member for safety and security JP Smith agreed that tik and the growing availability of the drug was a major concern.

Smith said there were plans afoot to regulate commercially-bought precursor products used in the manufacturing of chemicals used to make drugs like tik.

However, Smith said “there are definitely loopholes in terms of regulations” relating to precursor chemicals.

He said local authorities had turned to the national government in an attempt to close the loopholes and that in the last six months they had a series of meetings, had worked on a memorandum and made recommendations to cabinet to initiate legislation for consideration.

He said during the festive season the focus would shift to roadblocks and the separation of areas with a focus on the CBD.

“Not a week goes past when I don’t have a delegation of community representatives unpacking situations on drugs in certain areas,” he said.

The Cape Town Drug Counselling Centre’s Ashley Potts said tik was statistically the most commonly used drug, followed by heroin and dagga.

He said of the people who came to the centre, between 40 and 50 said tik was their drug of choice. “Generally, the sense is that it’s too readily available in all local communities - in both poorer and affluent areas.”

He said the main concern was getting a message out of what kind of help was available. Tik patients were generally treated as out-patients.

“Out-patient treatment is still the better option because it gives them an opportunity to remain in their current scenario and at the same time giving them the tools to elevate from the situation and in that way families are also involved and need to be aware of what counselling is available so that they can come on their own without the users,” he said.

About tik, he said counselling was essential: “There is a strong therapeutic process to assist them in getting out of it and the help that is offered… but there is still a huge stigma attached in terms of accessing therapy for treatment,” he said.

SMS tip-offs to Crimeline at 32211 (SMSes cost R1).

Cape Argus

The case of a patient who slept in his car due to a shortage of beds at Helderberg Hospital is not unique to the Western Cape.

Cape Town - The case of a patient who ended up sleeping in his car because of a shortage of beds at Helderberg Hospital is not unique to the Western Cape, according to the SA Medical Association (Sama).

Dr Zameer Brey, provincial chairman of Sama, said the 48 hours for which Marius Gerber had to wait before getting a bed after suffering heart problems was “unacceptable”, but was not something out of the ordinary at some provincial hospitals.

Health Department spokeswoman Faiza Steyn said initial screening tests on Gerber had not indicated a heart attack, but he was suspected of having cardiac ischemia - a condition characterised by insufficient blood going through the arteries.

“Since there was a concern that he could have cardiac ischemia, causing chest pain, he was observed and during this period elected not to remain in the waiting area, but in his car,” she said.

Brey, however, has expressed concern at the poor management of beds at some provincial hospitals, which has often led to some patients waiting for up to five days before getting a bed.

He said that according to the international benchmark, emergency patients - including those with heart attacks - should wait only four hours before getting appropriate treatment. In South Africa this is not the case. On average in the Western Cape, patients waited for between 16 and 108 hours before getting a hospital bed.

Brey was reacting to the Cape Argus story that exposed a critical shortage of beds in Helderberg Hospital.

The shortage led to Gerber, of Somerset West, sleeping in his car in the hospital’s parking area as he was tired of sitting on hard chairs in the trauma unit.

Gerber - who has since been transferred to Tygerberg Hospital for surgery - said he had slept in his car after being repeatedly told there were no beds available. He tried to sleep on the floor, but had found it too uncomfortable and cold.

Brey said:

“Research has shown that if patients are not treated in an appropriate setting where there is appropriate equipment and in an environment that encourages recovery - the result is that treatment is less effective or becomes more expensive.”

He said that while health workers needed to be commended for the sterling work they did despite the “challenges of a broken health system”, they were often overburdened by administration work of managing resources.

“I often receive complaints from doctors who have to spend many hours trying to secure beds for patients. They shouldn’t be doing such administrative jobs... their job is to tend to patients and provide the most possible care, but they often feel... frustrated and disempowered by the system,” he said.

Steyn said patients waiting for admission from emergency units was a reality at hospitals across the province: “[This] is the patient load experienced by the Western Cape health services due to the increase in the population and the burden of disease [and] increasing numbers of people requiring hospitalisation... many for preventable diseases resulting from their lifestyle.”

sipokazi.fokazi@inl.co.za

Cape Argus

Police officers across the Cape have signed a declaration committing to eradicate abuse against women and children.

Cape Town - Police officers at 16 stations across the province with the highest reported cases of domestic violence have signed a declaration committing to eradicate abuse against women and children.

To mark the start of the police’s 16 Days of No Violence Against Women and Children campaign on Sunday, members of the 16 precincts lit candles and signed a declaration vowing to reduce cases of domestic abuse.

Provincial police top brass and representatives of NGOs and Community Policing Forum members from the areas attended the launch in Bellville.

The identified areas include Mitchells Plain, Khayelitsha, Delft, Kleinvlei, Grassy Park, Knysna, Oudtshoorn, Gugulethu, Nyanga, Conville near George, Worcester, Milnerton, Harare in Khayelitsha, Atlantis, Mfuleni and Manenberg.

In 2011 56 000 incidents of domestic violence were reported in the Western Cape, according to deputy provincial commissioner Major-General Peter Jacobs. The 16 precincts contribute to 25 percent of all domestic abuse cases in the province.

Jacobs, who heads the provincial campaign, said the 16 stations had decided to take their campaign a step further - turning the spotlight on abuse for the next 100 days.

Officers at those stations will undergo training to increase service delivery, revisit reported domestic abuse incidents recorded in the last year and speak to victims and perpetrators. On December 10 each of the 16 stations will deliver a progress report.

Western Cape police commissioner Major-General Arno Lamoer has instructed staff to make the campaign different this year. He said that for the last 13 years not much had changed when it came to domestic violence.

Lamoer challenged all men “who are macho enough” to speak out against domestic abuse.

Domestic abuse survivor Caroline Davids was left unconscious in hospital for three days in 2010 after she was attacked by her estranged husband.

Davids, who today calls herself an “empowered woman”, encouraged people who are in abusive relationships to “speak out”.

“The system didn’t fail me, it was just slow... and for so many other women out there the system is slow.”

Lungiswa Memela, of the Western Cape Network on Violence Against Women, said the associated social ills could not be solved by police and NGOs alone. She said other role players such as parents, teachers and those in the justice system needed to step up.

* Four new mobile police trailer units were also handed to police to assist in Nyanga, Khayelitsha, Philippi East and Milnerton on Sunday. There are now seven trailers in the Western Cape and 24 across the country, according to Mercia Maserumele of Edcon, which donated them.

natasha.prince@inl.co.za

Cape Argus