A man is on trial for allegedly breaking into the Shimansky store at the V&A Waterfront and stealing jewels worth R1.6m.

Cape Town - A Joburg man is on trial in the Cape Town Regional Court for allegedly breaking into the Shimansky store at the V&A Waterfront and stealing jewels worth R1.6 million.

Jason van Antwerpen, 33, is alleged to have donned a mask and entered the store via the roof on May 13, 2010, and got away with the jewels.

It is further alleged that Van Antwerpen, armed with a gas gun, hit two staff during the heist.

He had allegedly bought the gun at a shop at the Waterfront the previous month.

The value of the jewels, according to the charge sheet is R1 641 744.75. They have not yet been recovered.

Van Antwerpen, a civil engineer, was arrested on July 13, 2010, after handing himself over to police. His sister got wind that police were looking for him and notified lawyer William Booth. Booth advised him to hand himself over.

During Van Antwerpen’s first appearance on July 14, prosecutor Ann Hess opposed bail, describing the crime as serious.

But Booth argued that the seriousness of the crime was not a reason to oppose bail. He said Van Antwerpen was a shareholder in many companies and had property in Cape Town and Johannesburg. He had handed his passport in and was not a flight risk.

In his affidavit asking for bail, Van Antwerpen said he supported his mother, who lives in Diep River.

“I earn a salary of R100 000 but my liquidity assets amount to R25m.”

Apart from the properties, Van Antwerpen owns a yacht valued at R1.8m.

He was later released on R100 000 bail. As part of his bail conditions Van Antwerpen is prohibited from entering the Waterfront, the airport and harbour until the end of the case. He also has to report to the Douglasdale police station every Monday.

Van Antwerpen is due back in court on November 23.

jade.witten@inl.co.za

Cape Argus

The trial of a youth accused of killing a Cape Town metro policeman has been postponed.

Cape Town - The trial of a youth accused of killing a Cape Town metro policeman was postponed by the Khayelitsha Magistrate's Court on Monday, the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) said.

Western Cape NPA spokesman Eric Ntabazalila said Sandisile Ncapayi, 18, would remain in custody until his next appearance on October 22.

"An identity parade will be held within the next seven days for bail information... a Legal Aid lawyer has come on record to represent him."

Senior Superintendent Mpumelelo Hubert Xakekile, 50, was issuing  a fine to a taxi driver in Khayelitsha on Wednesday evening when he  was shot dead.

Ncapayi was arrested on Friday. An alleged accomplice was still on the run.

According to the NPA, Ncapayi was seen running from the scene with a firearm in his hand and allegedly admitted to a witness he had shot and robbed a police officer.

In court on Monday it was revealed that the youth was apparently  unemployed and had only a primary school education. - Sapa

The case of three men accused of killing a young Cape Town mother earlier this month has been postponed.

Cape Town - The case of three men accused of killing a young Cape Town mother was postponed by the Wynberg Magistrate's Court on Monday, the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) said.

Moegamat Armien Salie, 31, Warren van Rooyen, 28, and Dudley Boesak, 32, would return next Tuesday for their formal bail application, Western Cape NPA spokesman Eric Ntabazalila said.

They would be held at Pollsmoor prison until then.

The men stand accused of stabbing Anzunette du Plessis, 33, to death in her Claremont home at the start of the month.

The trio were arrested after police spotted them in possession of items stolen from the house. - Sapa

Four people were killed in a highway smash near Macassar.

Cape Town - Four people were killed in a highway smash near Macassar shortly after sunset on Sunday.

Provincial traffic chief Kenny Africa said a car had been driving in the outside lane near the petrol stations on the N2, adjacent to Macassar, and heading towards Cape Town.

The driver lost control and veered across the inside lane, smashing into a tree. The driver died on the scene about 30 minutes after the crash.

In the same incident, another driver lost control and also ploughed into a tree. The three people in the second vehicle were killed.

A third car was also involved, but no one was killed.

Keri Davids, spokeswoman for the provincial government Emergency Medical Services, said a man was removed from the wreckage of one of the vehicles.

He sustained a serious head injury and other wounds.

Two women suffered serious injuries and two others suffered multiple abrasions.

“Patients were transported to Vergelegen Medi-Clinic, Hottentots Holland Hospital and Tygerberg Hospital,” said Davids.

Further north, on the notorious “death stretch” of the N1 between Beaufort West and Aberdeen in the Eastern Cape, a taxi accident claimed two lives.

It was the first fatal taxi accident since traffic authorities began stopping drivers to check for fatigue, on December 22.

Africa said not all vehicles could be stopped, and a taxi driver had fallen asleep behind the wheel at around 3am and ploughed into the back of a moving truck.

The driver and the passenger behind him had died.

Cape Argus

A massive search is under way for a five-year-old girl from Mitchells Plain who has been missing since Friday.

Cape Town - A massive search is under way for a five-year-old girl from Mitchells Plain who has been missing since Friday.

Kauther Bobbs, pictured, was last seen playing with two friends at a park near her home in Freedom Park in Tafelsig.

Police, including dog units, neighbourhood watch members, the NGO Pink Ladies and community members have been searching for Kauther since she disappeared.

On Friday night Kauther’s mother and grandmother, Lameez and Nazley Bobbs walked the streets of Mitchells Plain with a torch. Friends described it as an effort of “amazing bravery”, adding that, “you don’t walk these streets at night; innocent people get killed by gangsters”.

Since Friday there have been several reports of sightings of Kauther, but all have been dead ends.

“There have been so many rumours flying around. Now she’s been spotted here, now there. But all these leads have come to dead ends; it’s been very frustrating and emotional,” said her aunt, Zainonesa Bobbs.

At the time of her disappearance Kauther was wearing a pink top with a Tinker Bell print, blue pyjama pants and dark blue Crocs.

“It is very unusual for her to venture away from home. She is five years old, and getting more confident. But she is very obedient and she knew she wasn’t allowed to go to the park by herself,” said her aunt, Zainonesa Bobbs.

Kauther had apparently told a neighbourhood boy that she had permission to be in the park without supervision.

Dessie Rechner, of the NGO Pink Ladies, which is assisting police in the search, said the rumour that Kauther’s body had been found today was “malicious” and “untrue”.

“Extensive ground searches have been done and dog units were involved, along with the neighbourhood watch. The community needs to be thanked for [its] efforts to try to find her,” Rechner said.

The Bobbs household was abuzz with people coming and going this morning, as family and friends discussed the search.

Kauther’s mother said police had treated her as a suspect in the disappearance. She said she was questioned by police for most of Saturday.

“I’m very upset because they treated me like dirt and prevented me from searching… I am a mother looking for my missing child and all they can do is accuse… Meanwhile, they aren’t searching properly… they aren’t questioning the community.”

l Anyone with information can call investigating officer Detective Warrant Officer Faizal Meyer at 082 522 1066 or Dessie Rechner at 072 214 7439 or e-mail missing@pinkladies.org.za

Cape Argus

Irish businessman denies attempt to divert surplus funds from South African company

Cape Town - Irish businessman Niall Mellon and a group of associates this week firmly seized control of the SA-registered charity bearing his name, in the latest twist in a saga which last month had SA directors of the section 21 Mellon Housing Initiative launching an application in the Western Cape High Court to have the company placed under protective curatorship.

In a virtual orgy of corporate bloodletting following the dismissal of the application on September 14, Mellon and a group of Irish associates – as controlling members of the Niall Mellon Township Trust, the Irish-registered parent charity of NMI – appointed themselves directors of the SA entity at a board meeting convened the same day. They also signed up as a new director Mellon’s business partner in commercial ventures in SA, ANC parliamentarian Stone Sizani.

At the same meeting, the new board registered its strong dissatisfaction with the SA directors of the company, who had brought the action against Mellon and his fellows on the Irish Trust. Particular invective was directed against the company’s chief executive, Jim Maasch – who, ironically, was chairing the meeting ex officio.

At a subsequent meeting the next week, Maasch and fellow executive director Mark Johnston were suspended with full pay, pending “forensic” investigations into their launching the application.

While it was indicated the disciplinary process was to be independent, it was to be co-ordinated by Mellon’s close associate, Irish barrister Gavin Bonnar – who led the attack on Maasch in the September 14 meeting, according to a verbatim transcript in the possession of Independent Newspapers.

Among other issues highlighted around the suspension is that around R450 000 of company money was used to bring the application against its founder to court.

It also emerged from a verbatim record of the September 14 company board meeting that the founding documentation for the company and its member trustees was being rewritten.

The immediate force of these changes – those to the Memorandum of Incorporation for Members (as opposed to the company’s directors) – was felt last week when engineer Nolan Marsh, the sole SA member of the company, who had sided with the board in bringing the application, resigned.

Weekend Argus understands the decision was taken in light of a new provision for dismissing members on the strength of a 61 percent vote, and his expectation that the power was to be used to remove him.

At the heart of the dispute that has torn the highly regarded housing initiative apart is a battle for control over donor funds accumulated by both the SA and the Irish entities connected with the initiative.

In the SA accounts of the company, there lies a substantial surplus of around R80 million, most of it derived from government subsidies on the 20 000 houses the charity has built around the country since its launch in 2006.

Meanwhile, Mellon is under increasing financial pressure owing to the meltdown of the Irish economy, and his construction empire is currently under administration.

The R80m remains under the control of the SA-registered company – and, until their suspension, under signature of directors Maasch and Johnston.

The money is also subject to stringent limitations, flowing from the company’s constitution and its status with the Treasury and the SA Revenue Service as a charity registered with the Department of Social Development, as Mellon learned from two legal opinions he commissioned.

The first of these was delivered by auditors BDO in 2011, and the second from Cape Town attorney Jacques Louw, who has subsequently been dismissed as the company’s lawyer.

At issue was whether it would be lawful to extract surplus funds from the SA entity, using them to fund new Mellon initiatives in the Republic of Congo. The answer from both was a resounding “no”.

While BDO focused on the fiscal responsibilities of an untaxed charity, the nub of Louw’s argument was that, in terms of the company’s constitution, the ultimate beneficiaries of the project were SA’s poor and homeless. Thus, monies accumulated by the company ultimately belonged to the SA fiscus.

Responding to queries from the Weekend Argus, Mellon said the inquiry was commissioned for philanthropic reasons after a devastating explosion in an ammunition depot in Brazzaville early this year left thousands homeless.

“We asked for an independent legal opinion on whether the Mellon Housing Initiative… surplus funds could be used to build charity housing in Congo. An initial legal opinion came back that the funds should be kept for charitable use within SA. We immediately accepted that advice, and that was the end of that line of inquiry.”

The earlier BDO legal opinion – commissioned nearly a year before the explosion – was, however, not referred to in Mellon’s response. At the time, a hostel for homeless youths was on the table, although this project appears to have been dropped in favour of the construction of 100 houses, at an average cost of around R350 000 per unit.

At the same time, on the back of Irish initiatives to build trade links with the kleptocratic Sassou Nguesso government, Mellon is understood to have established business interests in the country, while at the same time pursuing farming initiatives.

Meanwhile, Mellon confirmed that significant proposed changes had been introduced to the company’s constitution and were currently under consideration. He insisted there was no intention to move funds outside SA.

Faced with the Louw advice, Mellon explained: “We decided it was necessary to update our original constitution of [the] Mellon Housing Initiative and to broaden our South African constitution to permit us to... help [a] host of other good causes within South Africa. We have now presented an updated constitution to the members of MHI, which will permit the Mellon Housing Initiative to broaden its scope of help to other South African worthy causes, such as community buildings, care centres, educational support and some health areas, as well as housing.

“It is at this stage envisaged that all of the MHI surplus funds currently accumulated will be used for these purposes within South Africa.”

While SA critics of the new direction taken by the company remain unconvinced of Mellon’s good intentions, they also question the handling of finances at the Irish end of the operation.

According to the most recent financial statements, from December 2011, Mellon’s Irish-registered Mellon Township Limited holds assets to the value of e3.5 million (about R35m), money collected from donors to provide “quality social housing for the impoverished communities in the townships of South Africa”.

Since 2009, however – beyond the actual costs associated with the week-long annual building blitzes – that money has not been making its way to SA in furtherance of those objectives, and has instead continued to be held in Irish accounts. Nor does it appear likely that it will be reserved for the purposes as stated above.

“Every board member of MHI has said that funds are no longer required from our sister charity NMTT,” Mellon said. “When I originally came to South Africa, the subsidy was only R11 000, and it was not enough to build a decent home. That’s why I gave help. Our government [SA] is now putting up all the funds necessary to build a decent home, and that is the sole reason that ongoing support from our sister charity in Ireland is no longer required.”

Moreover, the situation in Ireland was more flexible than in SA, he said.

“We received similar advice [similar to the Louw opinion] from our professional advisers in Ireland whether Irish-based Niall Mellon Township Trust surplus funds could be used in Congo, and the opinion received was ‘yes’, as the broader constitution of NMTT permitted funds to be used anywhere in Africa for housing-related purposes.”

In addition, Mellon said, “a substantial part of the surplus funds accumulated were specifically originally donated for use anywhere in Africa by the original donors”, and “no update of the constitution was required”.

Earlier this year, Mellon announced that the 2012 building blitz would be the last of its kind in SA.

Exactly how the company will operate thereafter will be up to the newly established board to decide – and the government to approve or disapprove.

Mellon reponds:

In an e-mail responding to a series of questions, Niall Mellon expressed disquiet saying:

… given the slant of your questions and the possible inferences within, I am very concerned about the direction your article seems to be taking. I am giving a reply to you in an effort to ensure that you form a more balanced article.

“I must caution you that I will be seeking exemplary damages in multiple jurisdictions if you try and create a false impression in any way [that] my behaviour or actions… have been anything less than 100 percent bona fide and proper…

“I am specifically putting you on legal notice both personally and professionally that I will be seeking major financial damages from you and your employer if your article infers even the slightest act of impropriety by myself at any time, as nothing could be further from the truth.”

Mellon also demanded that “my replies are used in full, or I am expressly forbidding you or your newspaper to use any of my quotes in isolation. This is very important to me and a precondition of my reply.

“If it is a case that my replies are too extensive for you to put in your article, then I would be willing to consider a smaller version being used, only if I am given an advance copy of your article to approve or make additional comments on, in advance of publication.

l Mellon’s full response runs to well over 1 000 words. It has been used as comprehensively as possible where relevant to issues raised by the article.

This story first appeared in the Weekend Argus Sunday edition.

Thirteen cyclists were stung by a swarm of bees while competing in a race in Oudtshoorn.

Cape Town - Thirteen cyclists were stung by a swarm of bees while competing in a race in Oudtshoorn on Monday, a Western Cape health official said.

Emergency services spokeswoman Keri Davids said seven cyclists unknowingly disturbed a hive around 11am, while on an off-road section of the Cape Pioneer cycling race.

Two of the racers were critically injured and airlifted to hospital. Five others were in a serious condition.

Davids said race organisers diverted the remaining racers to another route, but not before a team of six accidentally passed the hive and were attacked. They were also taken to hospital.

Twelve of the injured were locals, and one a Belgian. - Sapa

Investigations into what led to the capsizing of the Miroshga near Hout Bay are expected to take at least another week.

Cape Town - Investigations into what led to the capsizing of the Miroshga near Hout Bay on Saturday are expected to take at least another week.

David Colly, regional manager for the SA Maritime Safety Authority (Samsa), said they were in the process of reconstructing the course of events to find out what went wrong.

The whale-watching boat was upended on its way to view the seal colony at Duiker Island, spilling its 40 passengers into the sea. Tour guide and crewman John Roberts, 37, and British tourist Peter Hyett , 64, drowned in the accident.

Brad Geyser, NSRI Houtbay’s station commander, was told by the ship’s captain that waves smacking into both sides of the boat had somehow got water into the batteries, causing the motors to fail.

“When a boat like that is stationary in rough conditions, it starts to take on water,” said Geyser.

He said he didn’t know how water got into the hull.

Workers and operators at the harbour agree that the vessel had had its issues in the past, and some suggested that it was overloaded.

But Colly warned against jumping to conclusions: “With incidents such as this there is always more than one factor.”

He added that the vessel had been certified by Samsa to carry that many passengers.

“We go through a stringent process when certifying vessels, more stringent, for example, than places such as the US,” he said. “We are particularly strict when it comes to passenger crafts.”

Sean Amor, captain of the Extravagance, the first boat to come to the aid of the survivors, agreed that the process to obtain certification was stringent.

“You have to send Samsa your boat’s plans from the manufacturer,” he said. “And once a year they come round and inspect the vessel.”

Southern Ambition Marine Safaris, the owners and operators of the Miroshga, told the Cape Argus they would not be commenting on the incident until authorities were done investigating their vessel.

The charter company is set to brief the press within the next three days.

Meanwhile, the autopsy on the body of Hyett, who was on a two-week holiday in Cape Town with his family, was completed on Monday morning. The city’s disaster management spokesman Wilfred Solomons-Johannes confirmed that the 64-year-old man had drowned.

He added that Hyett’s wife, Suzanne, and daughter, Helen, were staying in Cape Town until plans were made to transport his body to the UK, which was expected to happen within the next three days.

kieran.legg@inl.co.za

Cadet news agency

Cape Argus

Thirty cyclists taking part in an event in Oudtshoorn were stung by bees so badly they had to be rushed to hospital.

Cape Town -

Thirty cyclists in the Bridge Cape Pioneer Trek event in Oudtshoorn were stung by bees so badly they had to be rushed to hospital, two in a critical condition and five serious.

“The cyclists were on a farm along the Kruis River when a team of seven must have disturbed a beehive while on the off-road section,” EMS spokesperson Keri Davids said.

“The two cyclists in a critical condition were airlifted by AMS helicopter to the Klein Karoo Medi-Clinic. Five cyclists were pre-diagnosed as serious and taken by EMS ambulance to the health facility.”

After that incident, event organisers diverted the rest of the cyclists to another route.

“Unfortunately a team of six went past the beehive and were also attacked by the bees. They were airlifted to Klein Karoo Medi-clinic by AMS.”

Of the cyclists taken to hospital one was from Belgium and the rest local.

Carel Herholdt, of event organisers Dryland, said 30 riders in all were stung.

“The medics were on the scene within two minutes of us calling them. We’d like to thank them for their fast and efficient handling of this matter”, he said on the event’s website.

Herholdt said the riders had encountered the swarm of bees about 60km into the race’s first stage.

“We have adjusted the rules to accommodate the injured riders. All riders who are fit for riding may continue the race with no penalties,” he said.

Henk Meyer, a Bridge Team rider said: “I was treated on the scene with over 100 stings removed from me. Some riders were allergic and unable to continue with their race.”

Klein Karoo Medi-Clinic spokesperson Johanna Mokoena said on Monday night: “There were 13 patients still in hospital at the time I left at about 4.30pm. One of them was in a serious condition. He had an allergy. Doctors will do another check on the patients in the morning.”

aziz.hartley@inl.co.za

Cape Times

The four boat tour operators in Hout Bay were all operating on Saturday - the day the pleasure craft Miroshga capsized.

Cape Town -

The four boat tour operators in Hout Bay that offer trips to Duiker Island were all operating on Saturday – the day the pleasure craft Miroshga capsized with loss of life.

On Monday, Brenda Owen, owner of Nauticat Charters, which runs trips to Duiker Island, said her vessel had been at Duiker Island when Miroshga got into trouble.

“As far as the weather goes, it was safe to go out… It was a bit windy, but okay to go out,” she said.

Ken Evans, whose craft Calypso was running on Saturday, said other than a slight swell, the weather had been “nothing out of the ordinary”.

Both he and Owen said a third vessel from Drumbeat Charters had also operated on Saturday, as had Miroshga.

These four vessels were from the four operators based at Hout Bay harbour that run trips to and from Duiker Island.

On Monday, Sean Amor, skipper of Extravagence which had also been at sea on Saturday, said the weather had been fine and at the time of the accident there had been no big swells.

He said Miroshga got into trouble in an area known as the “washing machine” – given this name because of the choppy water.

Miroshga capsized near Duiker Island on Saturday with 39 people, four of them crew members, on board.

Two people, Peter Philip Hyett, 64, from the UK, and crew member John Roberts, 37, of Hout Bay, died.

On Monday, asked if the incident would deter people from going on boat trips, Evans replied: “Aircraft crash and people don’t stop flying.”

Owen said a day after the accident, Nauticat Charters had run seven trips throughout the day and most had been full.

A number of passengers had called and asked about the Miroshga incident and how safe the Duiker Island trip was.

“People are still booking,” Owen said.

She said customers who had pre-booked trips to Duiker Island might call to cancel.

“I’m sure it’s going to have a ripple effect… We’ll probably know in two weeks’ time.”

On Monday, all the charter companies at Hout Bay harbour were closed due to strong winds.

Employees at Southern Ambition Marine Safaris, which owns the Miroshga, at first declined to speak to the Cape Times, but then confirmed they were no longer taking bookings for any trips.

“We’re waiting on the investigation,” one employee said, referring to a probe into the accident by the SA Maritime Safety Authority and police.

On Monday,.during a press briefing, Finance, Economic Development and Tourism MEC Alan Winde referred to Miroshga’s capsizing.

“This is a very unfortunate incident and it has, to some extent, dented our image. The rescue services were tremendous. Some international press criticised us, but we turned around a situation that could have been so much worse.”

He conveyed his condolences to Hyett and Roberts and asked for a minute’s silence.

caryn.dolley@inl.co.za

Cape Times

“He had his jogging clothes on - a red T-shirt, black shorts and red running shoes. That’s the last time we saw him.”

Cape Town - Mystery surrounds the disappearance of a 43-year-old jogger from Observatory.

Paule-Henry Botha was last seen by his housemate, Jana Cloete, last Thursday morning. Cloete, 29, suspects Botha disappeared during his regular morning jog.

She told the Cape Argus on Monday that Botha, who works for a restaurant in Constantia, gave her a lift to the Observatory train station just before 7am on October 11.

“He had his jogging clothes on - a red T-shirt, black shorts and red running shoes. That’s the last time we saw him,” she said.

Cloete said Botha was a regular morning jogger who either ran down Cranko Road in Observatory to Liesbeeck Park or along Salt River main road.

Botha moved to Cape Town from Joburg two years ago. He had been staying with Cloete and her partner since January this year.

On Thursday evening, the couple suspected something was amiss when Botha was still not home at 9pm.

“It was weird that his car was parked in front of the house,” she said. “He is someone who sticks to a regular routine. His work clothes, a shirt, socks and pants were neatly folded on top of his bed… it’s clear he was planning to go to work.”

Private Investigator Kurt Kitshoff, employed by Botha’s employers, said R3 000 was withdrawn from Botha’s account on Thursday morning at an ATM at Cape Town station.

“We are now waiting for ATM video footage from the bank to determine who withdrew the cash,” Kitshoff said.

Police spokesman Captain Frederick Van Wyk confirmed that a missing person’s report had been filed.

Anyone with information can contact Sergeant Hilton Malila at 021 442 3151 or Crime Stop at 08600 10111.

nontando.mposo@inl.co.za

Cape Argus

Five-year-old Kauther Bobbs has been missing for four days and was last spotted playing with friends at a park close to her home.

Cape Town - The search for missing five-year-old Kauther Bobbs continued in Freedom Park, Tafelsig, on Monday.

Kauther has been missing since Friday and was last spotted playing with two friends at a park close to her home.

Police on Monday took Kauther's mother, Lameez Bobbs, 24, to Mitchells Plain police station for questioning.

Bobbs complained to the Cape Argus that police had focused too much attention on her as a “suspect” and not enough on interviewing people in the community.

“They treat me like a criminal, as though I killed my own child or as though I am trying to hide something. They don't understand I am also going through a difficult time emotionally,” she said.

Police were not immediately available to respond to her comments, but Dessie Rechner of Pink Ladies - an NGO that works closely with police in Cape Town on missing children cases - said that Bobbs was not necessarily being treated as a suspect in the disappearance.

“But it is very frustrating. We are looking for the right clue so that we can make a breakthrough. Sometimes in these situations parents close up and aren’t forthcoming with all the information. The stress can make them forget important details in the events leading up to a child going missing. It is important that we keep asking questions untill new information comes up,” she said.

Over the weekend, a police helicopter, sniffer dogs and volunteers from the local community policing forum and neigbourhood watch searched the immediate vicinity in which Kauther had last been seen. There have been a number of reported sightings, but none have proved reliable.

The latest rumour, circulated on social networks late on Sunday night, was that the child’s body had been found in an open field. This was described as “unnecessary” and “malicious,” by Rechner.

Albie Isaacs, the CPF chairperson in Mitchells Plain, said: “We ask people to respect the family and to corroborate information before sending it out on social networks. Our volunteers have gone beyond the call of duty. They are exhausted, and these kinds of rumours waste our time and resources.”

At the time of her disappearance Kauther was wearing a pink top with a tinker bell print, blue pyjama pants and dark blue crocks.

Anyone with information should contact Detective Warrant Officer Faizal Meyer at 082 522 1066 or Dessie Rechner at 0722147439 (emailmissing@pinkladies.org.za).

daneel.knoetze@inl.co.za

Cape Argus

“The amazing thing is how everyone pulled together… that turned this terrible incident into a remarkable rescue.”

Cape Town -

“Last but not least, [we thank] the small poaching boat whose crew gallantly got into the water and helped save passengers into rescue craft. One was seen to be holding a child in his arms all the way back to harbour whereupon he handed the child to waiting medical staff and disappeared.”

So said the NSRI on Monday night as it paid tribute on behalf of the Joint Operations Command and the Emergency Services to the many helping hands in the rescue of the passengers and crew of the ill-fated Miroshga on Saturday at Bakleiplaas, between Duiker Island and Duiker Point, near Hout Bay.

“The amazing thing is how everyone pulled together regardless of background or where they came from that turned this terrible incident into a remarkable rescue, said Brad Geyser, of the NSRI Station 8, Hout Bay.

But first they extended “sincerest condolences to the family of John Roberts and the family of Peter Philip Hyett”, the two fatal casualties.

Geyser said: “I would like to thank in no particular order:

* NSRI Stations 2, 3 and 8;

* Darren Zimmerman, NSRI rescue helicopter duty controller, for his standby for air support;

* Ian Klopper and his team for managing the entire triage operation which included verifying the casualty numbers which was so vital in determining who we still had to find;

* Dr Cleeve Robertson and the Metro EMS Team from WC Government Health Emergency Medical Services who supplied wise advice, physical on site evaluation on both days at sea and of course all of the medical, rescue, logistics, communications and counselling support during both days;

* Skymed EMS Helicopter (Red Cross Air Mercy Services);

* Charter Boats Nauticat (Mark Coetzee), Extravagence (Sean Amor), Captain Sea (Gary Thompson), Whitmore (JJ De Villiers), Alfonso Whichman and his boat Crew and Ken Evans (Circe Launches);

* Cape Town Disaster Management and Law Enforcement;

* Cape Town Fire & Rescue Services;

* SA Police Services Visible Policing and the Hout Bay SAPS Team;

* SA Police Services Diving Unit;

* Metro EMS Technical Dive Unit;

* SA Navy and the SA Navy Diving Unit from Simonstown;

* Netcare 911 and ER24;

* Hout Bay Volunteer EMS;

* Emergency Medical Treatment and Training;

* Critical Care Retrieval System;

* Cape Medical Response and Camps Bay Community Medics;

* Ronin;

* Hout Bay Neighbourhood Watch;

* ADT and Watchcon and their Radio Control Centre in Hout Bay for the HBNHW;

* MRCC, Samsa and The Department of International Relations and Co-operation;

* NPA and the Harbour Master of Cape Town as well as Deputy Harbour Master Sydney Minnaar who was present in the JOC on both days;

* MEC for Tourism Alan Winde and the support of his department and the foreign consulates who assisted;

* Deputy Shadow Minister for Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries who was present in the JOC for both days;

* Andy Wood and Andre van Schalkwyk and their WASAR Team who conducted the ground search on Sunday;

* CT Metro Police and Traffic Department and all hospitals that received and cared for patients;

* MCM and their management for assisting with the control of access to the harbour during the operation;

* SA Air Force Squadron 22 for going on standby for us;

* The Press for their indulgence, patience and ultimately good reporting of the operation;

* The Community of Hout Bay who opened up their hearts and homes and supplied blankets, dry clothing, food and drink and in many cases personally came to the base to help with the patient counselling and comforting;

* Bronwyn and her team of trauma counsellors who worked with all of the bereaved on both days.

Cape Times

Skipper Sean Amor’s decision to go to Duiker Island helped save 26 passengers who were aboard the Miroshga pleasure craft.

Cape Town -

Skipper Sean Amor was heading a birdwatching charter when one of the 10 people aboard his boat asked to go to Duiker Island to have a look.

Amor obliged and took the boat towards the island – a decision that helped save 26 passengers who were aboard the Miroshga pleasure craft that capsized near Duiker Island on Saturday.

“It was really by chance we were there,” he said on Monday at Hout Bay harbour, recalling how, minutes before the craft had gone underwater, he had yelled to the passengers to jump off it.

Amor and a few others on his boat, including his colleague Alain Tardin, had managed to pull 26 of the passengers from the choppy water.

Two people who were on the Miroshga, Peter Philip Hyett, 64, from the UK, and crew member John Roberts, 37, of Hout Bay, died.

Amor said when his boat had arrived at the Miroshga shortly after he had spotted a flare and just after hearing from another charter company, Nauticat, about a possible accident, he could see the vessel was taking on water and had drifted towards rocks. Passengers were clinging to the vessel.

“I shouted three times: ‘Listen to me, watch me, get into the water and swim to me,’” Amor said.

Four women, one who had a child with her, jumped into the water and swam to Amor’s vessel, which he could not manoeuvre closer to the Miroshga as crayfish buoys and a line from the vessel’s anchor blocked his way.

People aboard his boat used ropes to drag the women, one using a life jacket as a boogie board, towards safety.

“We were busy loading people when I heard a woman scream, then I saw the white water and the boat rolled,” Amor said.

He and others on his boat then helped passengers aboard it in groups of four.

“One guy on board said his daughter was missing,” Amor said.

He then called out to suspected poachers on a rubber duck and one of them then jumped into the water and helped locate the daughter.

Amor said his boat was meant to carry 12 people, but in the end 26 passengers had been loaded onto it. He had to balance their weight and keep them calm. Some of those rescued cried, he said, while others remained quiet.

Amor said he asked them if anyone they knew was missing.

“One guy and girl were crying. The girl said: ‘Where’s the lady with the red top?’”

Amor was not sure what had happened to this woman.

Brenda Owen, owner of Nauticat Charters, said the accident happened while its vessel, with 85 passengers aboard, was at Seal Island.

“Our skipper heard: ‘May day. May day’… They threw life rings to people without life jackets,” she said. Three people from the Miroshga were helped aboard the Nauticat and Owen said its 85 passengers had been “in an absolute state of shock”.

caryn.dolley@inl.co.za

Cape Times

A 27-year-old man was shot and wounded outside the Bellville Magistrate's Court, Cape Town police said.

Cape Town - A 27-year-old man was shot and wounded outside the Bellville Magistrate's Court on Tuesday, Cape Town police said.

“He was shot in the head around 9.40am,” said Warrant Officer November Filander.

The man, from Delft, was about to appear in a dagga-related case but it was unclear if he was an accused or a witness.

“He was about to enter the building when occupants of a green Audi A4 fired shots,” said Filander.

“We don't know if they aimed directly at him as there were other people there.”

The man was taken to hospital in a serious condition.

On Monday, an Inkatha Freedom Party supporter was shot dead outside the Ntuzuma Magistrate's Court in KwaZulu-Natal in front of police and journalists.

A man was arrested at the scene and is due to appear in the same court on Wednesday. - Sapa

The 27 Western Cape schools facing possible closure will know their fate today.

Cape Town -

The 27 Western Cape schools facing possible closure will know their fate today.

Each will be visited by a representative from the Western Cape Education Department with a letter that will inform them whether or not they will have to close.

The reasons for the possible closures include dwindling pupil numbers, multigrade teaching, high drop-out rates and unsuitable schooling facilities.

The issue has caused much debate, and marches and pickets against the possible closures have been held over the past few months.

Most are small rural schools while seven are in the greater Cape Town area.

On Monday MEC Donald Grant said the representations received had included some very powerful arguments for and against the closure of particular schools.

“I have carefully considered these arguments and have allowed them to shape my final decisions where they support the best interests of the learners.”

He said the issue of pupil safety, for example, had been raised in some cases. “This is an issue which this government takes seriously and which has ultimately influenced my decision with regard to the closure of particular schools.”

The Western Cape Education Department had developed a placement plan for each school, Grant said.

This included the placement of pupils, teachers and support staff at alternative schools, providing pupil transport where required, providing new school uniforms and making provision for school fees where pupils would move from a no-fee school to a fee-paying school.

These would be finalised in consultation with the schools concerned.

“Each decision to close a school has been carefully considered and I believe that, together with the placement plans developed by the department, the outcome of the entire school closure process will benefit each learner from the affected schools.”

He said he was also pleased with the department’s proposals to assist schools that would not face closure.

“I am fully aware that in some cases communities may be upset with my decision to close their school given the historical and cultural significance that these schools have in their respective communities.

“I am mindful of this but am equally mindful of what is in the best interests of the learners concerned.”

Grant said school closures were a common occurrence “yearly” throughout the country and internationally.

“They are part of any provincial department’s education strategy when re-evaluating and assessing the size, shape and needs of their education system.

“Many educationists would agree that closing a school is sometimes a necessary step to improving an education system.”

Save Our Schools campaign organiser Magnus de Jongh said Save Our Schools wanted all 27 schools to remain open.

“We will continue to fight after tomorrow [today]. We believe that Grant will not close all of the schools. For the rest we will go to court.”

ilse.fredericks@inl.co.za

Cape Argus

Western Cape police will not be intimidated by the recent attacks on law enforcement officers, the police commissioner said.

Cape town - Western Cape police will not be intimidated by the recent attacks on law enforcement officers, says provincial police commissioner Lieutenant-General Arno Lamoer.

At a press conference on Monday, Lamoer revealed that there had been more than 150 attacks on police officers in the Western Cape since April - three of them fatal. He said the attacks were either by shooting, stoning or physical assault.

“It is really a sad state of affairs because these attacks mean an attack on the community, [an] attack on the state.”

Lamoer’s comments come after three law enforcement officers were killed while on duty in Cape Town last week. He said two men have been arrested in connection with the three murders.

A 28 year-old man was arrested on Sunday and will appear in the Wynberg Magistrate’s Court on Wednesday in connection with the murders of two Hout Bay police officers, Phindiwe Nikani and Mandisi Nduku.

Lamoer added that an 18-year-old man, Sandisile Ncapayi, had appeared in the Khayelitsha Magistrate’s Court on Monday in connection with the murder of metro police Senior Superintendent Mphumelelo Xakekile.

National Prosecuting Authority spokesman Eric Ntabazalila said the case against Ncapayi had been postponed to October 23 so that an identity parade could be held.

Ndabazalila said Ncapayi would be remanded in custody and that the identity parade would take place in the next few days.

Lamoer said there had been more than 150 attacks on police officers since April and that three had been fatal. He said it had been a sad week not only for the SA Police Services but for all law enforcement agencies in the province.

“[Detectives have been] working around the clock since last Wednesday for the arrests of these people and they will appear in court,” he said.

“We condemn it in the strongest possible way that people can attack law enforcement officers who are just doing their duty in their communities.

“The work of the police will never stop. We will never be intimidated by anyone that feels that they can try and intimidate members of the South African police and also the other law enforcement agencies of this province.

“The three members who were killed in the line of duty are heroes for us that give their lives for the work that they do and the work that they love.”

The memorial services would be arranged this week.

neo.maditla@inl.co.za

Cape Argus

Two State witnesses said they saw a Hanover Park man fire the shots that injured six-year-old Leeana van Wyk, the court heard.

Cape Town - Two of the four State witnesses in the attempted murder case against a Hanover Park man allegedly saw him fire the shots that injured six-year-old Leeana van Wyk.

This was the evidence of Warrant Officer John Jacobs in the Athlone Magistrate’s Court on Monday.

Jacobs testified during the opposed bail application of 18-year-old Fernando Johnson. Johnson has been charged with attempted murder for the shooting in Johndown Walk on September 15.

Leeana and her friend, Liam Davids, were playing in the alley and were caught in the crossfire during infighting between members of the Mongrels gang.

While one bullet grazed Liam’s skull, another hit Leeana in her head. She is recovering at Red Cross Children’s Hospital.

Johnson testified last week that he is a former member of the gang but denied that he had handled a gun that day.

He claimed that two men - who are leaders of the same gang - shot at him and that the bullet subsequently hit Leeana.

Jacobs told the court on Monday that two witnesses, who said they saw Johnson fire the shots, were the two gang bosses.

One of the other witnesses, a woman who lives in the area, said she saw a gun in Johnson’s possession but not that he actually fired a shot.

The witness said in her statement that she was certain she could identify Johnson because he grew up in front of her.

Jacobs said bail was opposed because the State had a duty to protect society and to ensure Johnson’s safety.

Closing arguments and judgment is expected on Friday.

jade.witten@inl.co.za

Cape Argus

Twenty Western Cape schools will be closed at the end of this year, provincial education MEC Donald Grant said.

Cape Town - Twenty Western Cape schools will be closed at the end of this year, provincial education MEC Donald Grant said on Tuesday.

Most were small farm schools in rural areas with low enrolment numbers and multi-grade classes, he said.

The remainder were in urban areas and largely plagued by a decline in pupils.

“This has not been an easy process and I have had to make some very difficult decisions, but I am convinced that these decisions are in the best interests of all the learners concerned,” Grant said.

The department originally earmarked 27 schools for possible closure. Public hearings were held recently to collect arguments for and against these closures, by school governing bodies, parents and civil society.

The MEC said that although he was not present at all the hearings, he received transcripts of every parties' arguments and used these to shape his decisions.

The schools to be closed are: Beauvallon Secondary, Bergrivier NGK Primary, Bracken Hill EK Primary, Denneprag Primary, Hoopsrivier NGK Primary, Klipheuwel Primary, Krombeksrivier NGK Primary, LK Zeeman Primary, Langklook Primary, Lavisrylaan Primary, Protea Primary, Redlands Primary, Rietfontein Primary, Rondevlei Primary, Tonko Bosman Primary, Unionskraal Primary, Valpark Primary, Wansbek Primary, Warmbad-Spa Primary and Welbedacht UCC Primary.

The schools that would remain open were Athwood Primary, Bosplaas NGK Primary, Nuhoop NGK Primary, Peak View Secondary, Rodewal UCC Primary, Wittedrif Primary and Zonnebloem NEST Senior.

“I would like to stress that parents of learners at schools that will close do not have to worry about enrolment for the 2013 school year,” Grant said.

He said pupils would be transferred to schools that offered better opportunities.

Where necessary and possible, the department would assist with school uniforms, transport and feeding.

If a pupil was moving from a no-school fee school to one charging fees, the department would cover the fees for 2013.

The department also would cover the difference in cases where fees were more expensive.

“Where necessary, the department will also assist parents to apply for fee exemptions for future years.”

Parents were encouraged to read the plan for their affected school for further details.

The principals and staff of the schools to be closed would be transferred appropriately.

Grant gave assurances that their salaries would not change. - Sapa

A businessman was arrested following a car chase after he was spotted soliciting sex from a heavily pregnant woman.

Cape Town - A Table View businessman is arrested following a high-speed car chase with city law enforcement officers after they spotted the man attempting to solicit sex from a heavily pregnant woman.

The city’s vice squad is out on patrol on Saturday night and the Cape Argus has joined them.

When the vehicle is eventually brought to a stop it emerges that the driver, originally from China, has been drinking and is nearly double the legal limit.

Officers find a stack of money – between R60 000 and R80 000 – in his panel van, stored in compartments under the seat.

He tells them he has had “many back accounts” but does not want to pay the charges. He owns three liquor stores in Cape Town.

He tells officers that his brother-in-law had wanted to invite the woman for a “party”.

However, he claims he mistook the cops for robbers and sped away.

“I have been robbed here in Cape Town before,” he tells officers. He admits that he has been drinking.

The woman he was soliciting is well-known to the vice squad. At 24, she is six months pregnant.

From Mitchells Plain, she tells an officer she is expecting a boy and will stop working closer to her due date.

Police first met her when she was working in Bellville.

It was here that the woman injured her ankle after jumping from a third-floor apartment during an argument with the man she worked for.

Officers ask her if she is still drinking. She admits she has just smoked dagga and that she drinks “now and then”.

She is fined and encouraged to go home and rest. But less than an hour later the woman is spotted leaning into the white panel van, belonging to the Table View businessman… and the chase ensues.

 Members of the vice squad profile women on the streets. They issue fines in some cases and help them into a safe house if they are willing.

Officers say that many women are lured to Cape Town with promises of high-paying jobs.

However when they arrive, the women are forced to take drugs and work the streets.

 Some are given heroin before the night starts and when they return. They are warned that if they try to escape their families will be harmed.

JP Smith, the mayoral committee member for safety and security said there had been a case where a suspected human trafficker used a woman’s one-year-old child as leverage.

The man looked after the child while she worked and she would only be able to see her child when she had brought in enough money.

The woman appealed for help, and she and her child were placed in a safe house.

“The manipulation varies, whether it’s physical, drugs or holding personal property,” said Smith.

On Saturday night, law enforcement officers and Smith visited alleged brothels in Durbanville, the city centre and patrolled the street prostitution trade in Brooklyn.

 During an operation last week, they profiled more than 60 sex workers in Brooklyn on one night.

 Also in Brooklyn, the vice squad met a young girl from Worcester who had just turned 19.

She told them the bruise on her face was from a fight with another girl the previous night.

The girl said all her clothes had been taken away, but said she was “satisfied” with her circumstances.

Initially she refused to tell officers where she was living.

 “I want to know if your mother knows what you are doing. You are a pretty, young girl,” the officer tells her.

However, she says she cannot remember her family’s phone numbers nor the address she lives at.

 Fearing being locked up, the young girl finally gives officers the address. She directs officers to a small flat in Brooklyn. But the man living there denies ever having met the girl.

She begs the man to tell the officers that she has been sleeping there. “Why are doing this? Why are you lying like this?” she says.

A large box of condoms is found in the man’s closet. His bedroom is strewn with women’s clothes and shoes. These, he says, belong to this girlfriend.

An officer explained that in many cases the woman have to share their clothes with each other. Their own belongings are often taken away.

 The vice squad then heads to the city centre to a suspected brothel in Bree Street.

It has applied for a business licence to operate as a massage parlour.

Inside there are several rooms, each with a bed and shower.

Officers ask one man what he is doing there. He explains that as a fashion designer, he has created the clothing that all of the women are wearing.

Smith tells a bouncer at the premises he believes the establishment is a brothel.

The man, who is not from SA, asks Smith how one can apply to operate a brothel in this country, and he is told that this is illegal.

In Durbanville, another business owner was fined for not having a licence to operate a massage parlour. When the vice squad arrived, gaining entry was not easy.

The electric gate was locked, but the lounge was clearly visible through a flimsy pink curtain.

When the women inside the house heard that police were at the door, they rushed to get dressed.

Officers say that women of all ages work in brothels.

The youngest are in their early teens and are taken to a social development office. However, one officer tells of a 62-year-old woman working in Sea Point.

She says she has to work because she cannot survive off her monthly pension alone.

bronwynne.jooste@inl.co.za

Cape Argus