People who commit crimes at a farmworkers' protest will be dealt with, according to the police commissioner.

People who commit crimes during a planned farmworkers' protest next week will be dealt with, Western Cape police commissioner Arno Lamoer said on Thursday.

“We want to make an appeal to all workers, all unions, all farmers, that whatever they do, they do it within the boundaries of the law,” he said at a briefing in Cape Town.

“Those who transgress the law will be charged and will be prosecuted.”

A coalition of farmworkers and their unions announced on Thursday that they would continue protest action on Tuesday over a wage demand of R150 per day and improved living conditions.

Previous protests by farmworkers this month caused chaos and destruction in 16 towns, including De Doorns, Wolseley and Ceres.

Two people were killed and many buildings and vineyards set alight.

There were indications that the renewed strike could again see flare-ups of violence.

Lamoer said the provincial joint operational and intelligence structure was ready to deal with any eventuality. This involved the departments of justice, home affairs, and correctional services, and the National Prosecuting Authority. - Sapa

A storm has erupted over a ban on all news photographers from covering Lady Gaga’s concerts in SA.

Cape Town - A storm has erupted over a ban on all news photographers from covering Lady Gaga’s concerts at the Cape Town Stadium on Monday night.

In a statement on Thursday, the SA National Editors’ Forum (Sanef) said it was seeking an urgent meeting with organisers to reconsider the ban and allow news photographers “normal” coverage accreditation.

The ban extends to Lady Gaga’s concert in Johannesburg on Friday night.

Sanef said organisers confirmed on Wednesday that no news photography would be allowed.

“It appears to be the first time that such a ban has been imposed and Sanef will be seeking an urgent meeting with the organisers to explain the negative implications of their move for media freedom,” Sanef Media Freedom Committee chairman Mpumelelo Mkhabela said.

The publicists for Big Concerts, Pamberi Communications, told the Cape Times on Thursday that they were given a mandate from Live Nations, Gaga’s management team, to not accredit any news photographers for the shows.

“This isn’t just for the Cape Town show,” said Pamberi publicist Gwen Ironsi.

“We were informed that this mandate was for all the shows globally, the company Live Nation will be supplying us with pictures for the shows,” she said.

News reporters have been given access to the concerts.

Mkhabela said: “The only way the public can trust media coverage of such events is when journalists and photographers can operate freely. Previous accepted practice at such events has been for accredited news photographers to be allowed to take pictures during the first three songs and then withdraw.”

Sanef said Gaga’s visit had caused a buzz, with a number of religious groups and other organisations protesting against her presence.

“This makes her visit a matter of real public interest,” Mkhabela said.

Tourism, Events and Marketing director Anton Groeneweld was unable to respond by deadline.

Big Concerts’ chief operating officer John Langford declined to comment.

Meanwhile, the FNB Stadium is on lockdown ahead of Friday night’s concert and excitement levels have reached fever pitch among the star’s “Little Monsters”, who are flooding social networks with posts of costumes they’ll be wearing to mark the occasion.

Gaga herself, who arrived in the country on Tuesday night with an entourage of 200, reportedly needed seven vans to carry her costumes from Lanseria Airport to an undisclosed hotel.

After landing and being greeted by more than 300 screaming fans who had been waiting at the airport’s international arrivals terminal, Gaga took to social networking site Twitter.

“I’m so happy that I was able to see my fans at the airport in South Africa. Thank u for all the time you waited, I appreciate and love you. X,” she tweeted.

On road closures around the stadium, Joburg metro police department spokesman Wayne Minnaar said: “Road traffic diversions will start at 6pm, which include the Soweto freeway between the N1 and Mentz Road. Traffic will be diverted from Nasrec Road at the Rand Show Road and the N17.”

barbara.maregele@inl.co.za

Cape Times with additional reporting by The Star

Tommie Prins, a quadriplegic is hoping for a new life after the first-ever "stem cell" transplant surgery in the country.

Cape Town - Groundbreaking stem cell surgery has been performed for the first time in South Africa at a Cape Town hospital, it has been confirmed.

The Melomed Group, which manages the Melomed Bellville Private Hospital, confirmed to the Cape Argus that a groundbreaking embryonic stem cell transplantation procedure was performed on Mr Thomas Prins, treated at the Melomed Bellville Hospital by world-renowned neurosurgeon Dr Adriaan Liebenberg.

Two operations took place, on October 10 and 24.

Liebenberg said in an interview: “This has never been done before anywhere in the world as far as we are aware of.”

On Prins’s condition, he reported: “So far the results are giving us reason for cautious optimism. If the patient continues to improve then we expect that we have new and unexpected hope for paralysed people all over the world.”

Prins told the Cape Argus: “I’ve waited for this for a very long time. I’m honoured to be the first one. I’ve had only positive results so far, so I’m really glad I did it.

“I dived into a sand bank in Haartenbos, under a wave and hit my head, on March 11, 2006.

“When I hit my head I tried to swim straight afterwards. My friends turned me around and I was on the beach for around two hours before the ambulance came. They took me to Mossel Bay hospital and the next day took me to Groote Schuur.

“When I arrive at Groote Schuur doctors basically said I’d never be able to walk again.

“I had no movement or feeling in any of my limbs. I have been a quadriplegic since then.

“I have regained sensation all over my body. I have gone from a complete injury to an incomplete injury, and am very optimistic. Every day there are new muscle groups which wake up. We can see flexes in muscles which wouldn’t move before.

“I can move my right wrist already, and my left wrist is slowly coming along. My bicep muscle can contract voluntarily.”

“It inspires me, motivates me to exercise harder every day,” Prins told the Cape Argus.

Liebenberg explained that the aim had been to restore function of the spinal cord.

“There were two procedures. The first was performed on October 10, 2012.

“There was a standard spinal fusion operation performed. At the end of the fusion operation, a second stage was performed, which is the procedure under question. In this revolutionary procedure, autologous embryonic stem cells were used in an attempt to grow back a 35mm defect in the spinal cord of the paralysed patient.

“In a six-hour procedure, the scar tissue that separated the two ends of the spinal cord was removed whilst electrophysiological monitoring by a neurophysiologist was used to limit damage to the functioning sections of the spinal cord. After the scar was completely removed, a special matrix containing autologous embryonic stem cells and growth factors were sealed in the defect.

“The procedure was carried out without any complications.”

A fortnight later, a second, much shorter procedure was performed on October 24.

“In this procedure, the stem cell mass was augmented with more embryonic stem cells and a residual fluid leak from the spinal cord was corrected,” the doctor said.

Of the patient’s subsequent healing process, he said: “There were no complications in the recovery and the patient initially had no decrease in function.

“Since then there has been improvement in the function of both arms. The existing muscle function has improved in power and there has been new muscle movement in three muscle groups on the right and in two muscle groups on the left.

“The patient has return of partial sensation throughout the body. This represents a staggering early response. The interim and final clinical results will be reported on by an independent clinician.”

The hospital said before the procedure had been authorised, the Melomed Group had requested that Liebenberg provide all the necessary and most recent documentation “with regards to the required statutory and regulatory authorisation, including Mr Thomas Prins’ consent”.

“In good faith we accepted the said documentation provided to us by Dr Liebenberg, deliberated the ethical considerations therein and on that basis proceeded to allow Dr Liebenberg to perform this ground breaking stem cell transplant operation at our Melomed Bellville Private Hospital.”

The hospital group said it had also received various permissions from a wide range of authorities – all of which had said there was no reason why the doctor could not proceed.

The hospital group said Prins was “now showing significant progress and signs of possible return of sensation and some muscle activation and has thus far had a complication-free recovery”.

“The operation has definitely improved the quality of life for Mr Thomas Prins and provided some hope and dignity to improve not only his own standard of living but also pave the way for those who also suffer from spinal injury,” the hospital group said.

Provincial Health MEC Theuns Botha told the Cape Argus he had written to the doctor before the procedure saying: “Although permission from my office is not needed in this specific situation, please remain cognizant that all activities relating to this procedure should remain within the confines of the National Health Act.”

Of the operation, he said: “It is possible that procedures of this nature could be of considerable value and have the potential to lead to a valuable breakthrough. With issues such as this and others I wish to position the Western Cape as a laboratory of new ideas.”

Cape Argus

City place poles along the N2's bus lane to clamp down on illegal use of lane.

The city will place poles along the N2’s dedicated bus lane to help clamp down on private motorists who illegally use the lane.

Hundreds of bus lane offences were recorded in just five weeks and the illegal usage remains a major problem.

The poles will be put in place at the start of the period of bus lane operation, at 6am, and removed at the end, at 9am. New cameras have also been installed.

The city’s Highway Ghost Squad started operating in October. Along the N2, they have issued more than 400 fines to motorists who were using the lane.

JP Smith, mayoral committee member for safety and security, said there was a low level of compliance.

“The N2 lane is still problematic, although we have replaced the provincial cameras with new cameras which not only monitor the bus lane compliance but also speed over distance,” he said.

Smith said the city had also applied to place poles along the bus lane as a “mechanical engineering solution to the enforcement challenges”.

Smith said authorities in Los Angeles were having similar problems and the introduction of the poles had seen an improvement.

“These pegs will prevent motorists from ducking in and out of the lane to avoid cameras and enforcement staff. Other cities in the world use a similar system, for example in Los Angeles.”

He said city traffic services would manage the project and would place and remove the poles each day.

There would be spaces for public transport vehicles to move into the lane.

However, Smith said the biggest problem was along the parts of the N2 where there were no entry points for a long stretch.

“This means when a private motorist moves into that lane, they will be stuck. They won’t be able to squeeze back into traffic, which is really dangerous,” he said.

He said many accidents happened when motorists abruptly slowed down to move out of the lane when they spotted law enforcement officers. When this happened buses or taxis could ram into the backs of the cars.

Smith said the poles would not cause the driver to lose control of the car.

“It won’t cause dysfunction to the car, but it will cause damage. And this will be some kind of disincentive to stay out of the lane.”

The city had been in talks with provincial traffic engineers about the start of the roll-out.

This initiative is also planned for parts of Nelson Mandela Boulevard and Hospital Bend.

The city has received scores of complaints from motorists over taxis squeezing into the lanes. Some taxis use the slipways to avoid traffic then push back in.

Another plan for this road involves solid white islands or “road studs”. -Cape Argus

Mayco member JP Smith will visit law enforcement depots across Cape Town to deal with shortcomings before the festive season.

Cape Town -

The City’s mayoral committee member for safety and security, JP Smith, will visit law enforcement depots across Cape Town to deal with shortcomings before the festive season.

Smith headed out with law enforcement officers from the Khayelitsha depot on Thursday to get a first-hand account of happenings on the ground and to highlight the work of the officers.

He plans to check up on facilities, the staff and the equipment and determine some of the challenges they face.

“We’re doing it because it is the start of the festive season and we have been focusing on the specialised units like the gang and the drug unit and they become sort of the ‘celebrity boys’, instead of focusing on the guys who go out to deal with complaints every day,” Smith said.

The Khayelitsha depot services the whole east area of the city including Delft, Blackheath, Gordon’s Bay, Harmony Park and the entire Khayelitsha suburb.

Nathaneal Simmons, in charge of the Khayelitsha police station, said that “on a quiet day” they attended to an average of about 25 to 30 complaints.

In total there are 41 members servicing the east area, with 14 staff members on duty in Khayelitsha between 8am and 4.30pm every day.

Officers remain on standby duty for the night shift.

“We’ve technically got people on a 24-hour basis,” Simmons said.

Smith said the main challenge for the officers at the moment was transport. There were not enough vehicles and that put the officers at risk, he said.

However, Smith said that a R9 million corporate vehicle tender had been put out for more vehicles.

The officers also needed a truck to impound merchandise, and the absence of firearms was also a concern.

“The truth is the service has grown faster than we have been able to resource it,” he said.

Smith’s and the officers’ first stop on the streets of Khayelitsha was at Lunga Tsotsi, a trader who sells basins and bathroom plumbing equipment in Mew Way.

For Tsotsi, the pavement sales are his only means of income and he has been doing it for six years.

Tsotsi had already been given a warning that his stock was blocking the pavement and on Thursday officers returned to issue a compliance notice.

If Tsotsi still did not comply he would be issued a R1 000 fine. If he failed to pay the fine the officers could prosecute and confiscate his merchandise.

“But I will correct whatever it is I did wrong,” he said.

Smith added that gender transformation had been known to be very slow in the law enforcement division. He said the division was considered the “bad boys of transformation”.

“Slowly but surely the new blood is rising,” Smith said.

Principal inspector Nokwanele Sinduku, stationed at the Khayelitsha office, is the principal officer for the east area. She said they aimed to keep the beaches clean and safe this festive season.

The 34-year-old officer has held the position of principal inspector for six months, following 11 years as a metro police officer.

“I think the biggest challenge at work is that it’s a man’s environment, so many men – and about 50 percent of them are older so there is a level of respect that I am expected to show to them – so sometimes I have difficulty dealing with that,” she said.

Sinduku said the dangers of the job included attending operations at night.

“I have a good relationship with my staff, so if I am called out at night I will contact an officer I know is closest to the area [of the complaint] and we’ll drive together,” she said.

“It’s a challenge being a mother, a wife and an officer,” she added.

natasha.prince@inl.co.za

Cape Argus

Luthando Klaas is one of SA’s first recipients of a “litre of light”, a device which feeds natural light through a hole in the roof.

Cape Town -

Luthando Klaas stands in a pitch dark shack, the consulting room for his work as a traditional healer.

He lifts his hand to the roof, tugs at a black plastic packet and, the room fills with light. The light is not harsh and electric, but soft and natural.

Klaas, a resident of Mtshini Wam informal settlement in Joe Slovo Park, is South Africa’s first recipient of a “litre of light,” a low-tech device which feeds natural light through a watertight hole in the roof of a tin shack.

The device was pioneered in the shacklands of Indonesia, and knowledge of its simplicity and effectiveness is now being spread to informal settlements across the world.

It consists of three simple, cheap ingredients: water, a recycled plastic bottle and a few spoonfuls of bleach.

“This is going to be great for business. I have to close the door for privacy during consultations, but people – especially those from other cultures – get a bit creeped out by all these things in the dark,” says Klaas, pointing to the muti and calabashes on the ground.

“Besides, now I can keep an eye on my pet snake. He won’t be able to creep up on me so easily any more.”

Klaas is one of the leading members in Mtshini Wam’s reblocking initiative. In a few short months the cluttered, dense informal settlement has been systematically demolished and rebuilt. Clusters of shacks now huddle around easily accessible open spaces.

The idea is that areas for recreation double up as arteries for basic services – fire trucks, ambulances, sanitation – to be able to penetrate into the community.

“Shack fires were a big problem in this area before,” said Khaya Nozombile, another recipient of a litre of light in his shack nearby.

The litre of light has allowed Nozobile and Klaas to refrain from using candles – a common cause of shack fires around Cape Town – during the day.

The community-based reblocking initiative is being facilitated by Cape Town’s branch of Shack Dwellers International and the Community Organisation Resource Centre.

On Thursday, these organisations were joined by Touching the Earth Lightly, an eco-design company, and students at Worcester Polytechnic Institute, from the US, to demonstrate to City of Cape Town officials the potential for transforming informal settlements into more habitable areas where the risk of fires is greatly reduced.

With the litre of light, Touching the Earth Lightly’s arsenal includes a vertical vegetable garden which runs up the outside wall of a shack. The irrigation system kept the plants nourished and acted as an additional barrier to spreading fires, explained the company’s Stephen Lamb.

“The city has been looking for innovative ways to reduce shack fires and to get services to informal settlements within our boundaries,” said JP Smith, the mayoral committee member for safety and security.

“I am very proud of Mtshini Wam community. This is exactly the sort of thing that we would like to see happening in other informal settlements.”

The different organisations involved in the reblocking and “greenblocking” (to use Lamb’s term) of Mtshini Wam will be petitioning the city to fund a wider roll-out of this initiative.

daneel.knoetze@inl.co.za

Cape Argus

A woman allegedly raped inside a police station’s toilet may have been coerced into implicating a police officer.

Cape Town - A Bonteheuwel woman allegedly raped inside the Elsies River police station’s toilet may have been coerced into making a statement implicating a police officer, the Western Cape High Court has heard.

This was the evidence of Constable Vuyo Nyaka, who testified in former Warrant Officer Theodore Syster’s defence on Thursday.

Syster, along with three other Elsies River police employees, Jaede Fillies, Beverly Carelse and Theo van Wyk, were charged in connection with the incident two years ago.

The State alleges Fillies and Syster kidnapped the woman and her boyfriend from Viking Park, Epping, on June 15, 2010 and took them to the police station. Her boyfriend paid a R100 public nuisance fine and was told to leave.

Syster allegedly raped the woman inside a toilet at the police station while Fillies allegedly filmed part of the incident on a cellphone.

Van Wyk had allegedly known about the rape and the video, he had lied about it in a sworn statement. Syster, Fillies and Carelse had also allegedly tried to coerce the woman into dropping the rape case.

But at the end of the State’s case, Judge Patricia Goliath found that there was insufficient evidence to convict Van Wyk. He was discharged last Wednesday.

On Thursday, Syster called three witnesses to testify in support of his version. Syster testified that he and the woman had sex, but denied that he raped her.

Nyaka told the court on Thursday that he and another police officer went to the woman’s workplace to interview her on June 17, 2010.

The other police officer interviewed her inside a police vehicle, Nyaka said.

“I was in the car the whole time. His approach was intimidating. He never asked if she was comfortable speaking in the car and with me being present,” Nyaka said. Nyaka said the woman did not want to talk about the incident.

“He asked if she was raped and she said she was not raped,” Nyaka said.

The woman was then taken to the police station where she had to make a statement implicating the men.

Sergeant Esmeralda Pheiffer, who took down the statement, also testified for Syster on Thursday. She said the woman appeared at ease during the time the statement was recorded.

“She was very calm compared to other victims who cried and appeared traumatised,” said Pheiffer who, at the time, had eight years experience in recording rape victim statements.

The woman had nonetheless taken the stand in the trial this year.

The trial continues on Monday.

jade.otto@inl.co.za

Cape Argus

A row has erupted over the removal of the old South African flag from the parapet of the Castle in Cape Town.

Cape Town -

A row has erupted over the removal of the old South African flag from the parapet of the Castle where it has been flown together with flags denoting the history of South Africa.

The old “oranje, blanje blou” flag was removed with four others that flew along with the new flag on instruction from the Portfolio Committee on defence and military veterans earlier this month.

The removal of the flags came after committee member and ANC MP Nomfunelo Mabedla commented that the sight of the old South African flag on Leerdam Bastion upset her. She said the old flags belonged in a museum.

Roland Hudson-Bennett, who served on the Castle Control Board for 18 years until early this year, said the removal of the flags was a “shame” and “stripping the Castle of its history”.

The old flag was flown in sequence with the Dutch flag and the Union Jack to show the sequence of colonial powers that ruled South Africa.

The Castle is government-owned, but occupied by the military. The board comprises civilians, military personnel and historians who oversee the daily running of the institution. Hudson-Bennett said after 1994, it had been decided that the flags of countries that colonised South Africa would be flown along with the new flag as they were part of our history.

“I think [the removal] is a shame because the flags are part of our history.

“The history of the Castle is good and bad.

“Their decision is very contentious because they have to go back to the stakeholders involved. They didn’t and they just gave the order.”

It came as a shock to him that such a decision could be taken in less than two weeks, Hudson-Bennett said.

Cape Town author Neil Veitch said the flags should be reinstated as flags had played a “crucial role in the history of this great seaport”.

“To discard everything pertaining to the period before that date is simply disingenuous and takes us back to the mind-engineering of apartheid’s junior thinkers,” Veitch said.

The FF Plus, has written to the committee, requesting it reconsider its decision, but Parliament’s Joint Standing Committee on Defence chairman JJ Maake, who chaired the meeting in which Mabedla raised the issue, said the flags would not be reinstated.

“It is wrong for the flags of oppressors to fly side-by-side with the new flag,” Maake said.

“It doesn’t look right. You wouldn’t fly those flags at the Olympics or when Bafana Bafana play, so why should [those] fly at the Castle.”

He said the decision had been taken by the committee in consultation with the board, and the flags would be displayed at the Castle’s museum.

xolani.koyana@inl.co.za

Cape Times

The south-easter ripped off roofs, uprooted trees, overturned a truck and caused electricity blackouts across Western Cape.

Cape Town - Gale force winds caused major damage to properties throughout the Cape Town night.

No deaths or injuries had been reported by mid-morning today.

On a tour of ravaged areas near the central business district on Friday morning, the Cape Argus found roofs completely off buildings and balconies, with flying debris having caused considerable damage to cars and adjacent properties.

Shipping was affected, with the passenger liner MSC Sinfonia and its passengers stranded in Cape Town harbour.

The vessel had been due to leave port on Wednesday.

Elsewhere in the Western Cape a truck was blown over near the tunnel on the N1, near Paarl.

In Oldfield Road, Sea Point, the roof of Neill Snape’s house blew off in the early evening.

It hit a nearby electricity pole, cutting the power supply to a number of homes in the street, Snape said.

It next flattened a fence before landing on two cars.

Five other cars and a scooter were damaged by debris from the dislodged roof.

“I didn’t hear it at all, but looked out my window and saw sparks coming from the pole,” said Snape.

“I ran outside to see what had happened. But when I saw the roof lying in on my neighbours’ cars, I realised that it was dangerous to be there. One of those metal sheets, flying around at that speed could have taken my head completely off.

“I made my way back indoors, so it was only this morning that I could assess the extent of the damage.”

A new car belonging to Snape’s wife was one of the seven vehicles damaged in the incident.

The city disaster management department reported that the roof of the New Cumberland apartment building in Beach Road, Mouille Point, was blown off.

In the Bo-Kaap, the roof of a house in Longmarket Street blew off and debris landed in a nearby cemetery.

“This building has stood for more than 100 years, it must have survived hundreds of storms. I wasn’t at home, but the wind here must have been quite something. The neighbours said it was like a bomb that went off. Just look at that,” said homeowner Garfield Taylor, pointing to the bent wrought-iron poles that once held up the roof.

“The bizarre thing is that I can’t find [most of] the roof. I don’t know where it ended up.”

Walking around the block with Taylor, the Cape Argus found a beam weighing around 40kg lying 20m from the house.

In Kloof Street, the balcony of a bar, Rafikis, also suffered damage. But it was a building on the opposite corner that constituted the biggest threat. The roof of the building where Kloof Nek Pharmacy is housed came off and zinc sheets ended up wrapped around the poles holding up Rafikis balcony.

Sleeping on the pavement nearby, metres away from where the roof landed, were Sheila Frank and Chadley Cyster.

“I woke up in the middle of the night, thinking that it was a car crash,” said Frank.

“The bang was so loud. I woke Chadley up and said ‘What was that?’ and then I saw this massive roof lying close to my head. I was scared, so we packed up all our stuff and had to go sleep somewhere else. Thank God our lives were spared.”

Business owners in the area also reported damage to cars, and debris flying through a window of a nearby apartment.

Henning Grobler, of Cape Town weather office, said the average wind speed was 40-45km/h on Thursday night, continuing into this morning.

“This was obviously interspersed with gusts that exceeded that speed – up to 60 km/h,” he said.

“But it’s not yet anywhere near hurricane [force] winds.”

Wilfred Solomons-Johannes, spokesman for the disaster management department, said 40 trees in the city were brought down by the wind on Thursday night.

Electricity wires were down in Maitland, Oranjezicht, Pinelands, Bantry Bay and Kensington, causing blackouts on Thursday night.

Cape Argus

Seven options to save the Cape Town Stadium have been proposed – and the public will be asked to comment.

Cape Town -

Seven options to save the Cape Town Stadium have been proposed – and the public will be asked to comment on the business models for the commercialisation of the struggling R4.5 billion venue.

The stadium has run at a loss since the 2010 Soccer World Cup, costing the city R44.6 million a year to run.

The city has been unable to secure an anchor tenant, but it is still in talks with the Western Province Rugby Union to come on board.

Cape Town mayor Patricia de Lille is expected to release more details of the business plan and public participation process next week.

The seven proposed business models are:

* The city as an operator with an anchor tenant.

* An independent operator with an anchor tenant.

* The anchor tenant as the operator.

* The city as an operator with no anchor tenant.

* An independent operator with no anchor tenant.

* A public/private partnership.

* Operating the stadium as a municipal entity.

The analysis of the business models, by International Risk Mitigation Consultants, shows that 2016 would be the first year that three of the seven models could generate a surplus of around R6m, doubling by the following year to between R13m and R14.5m.

These are the three business models that will turn a profit by 2016: the city as the operator with an anchor tenant, a public/private partnership, and running the stadium as a municipal entity (the latter is similar to how the Cape Town International Convention Centre is run).

The other models would generate a surplus much later.

Anton Groenewald, executive director of the city’s tourism, events and marketing department said if the city continued with its current method as the operator with no anchor tenant, the stadium would never generate a surplus.

Analysts cited successful stadium governance, management and commercialisation experiences from the Wembley Stadium in London, the Barcelona Olympic Stadium in Spain and the Allianz Arena in Munich.

Groenewald said international case studies gave the city a better understanding of the costs and benefits attached to each option.

The Barcelona Olympic Stadium has a major retail component and hotel attached to it, and Groenewald said another successful practice was selling the naming rights, as in the case of the Allianz Arena, where financial services company Allianz bought the naming rights. A local example is the Sahara Park Newlands cricket stadium.

Business analysts say the highest-risk business models are the ones where the city is not part of controlling operations.

International and local examples had also shown that when private entities had full control of stadiums, they neglected spending or underspent on maintenance.

“We have spent 12 months on the report refining it to our best effort and we will now ask residents whether they agree or disagree or whether there are any other alternatives. Their comments could drive the outcome of this process,” Groenewald said.

The 48-page analysis will give the public the associated risks of each business model.

“This is so that the public can understand what the city is trying to do to cover costs. Their comment has an influence and we need to establish whether residents will support changing the ROD,” Groenewald said. (The ROD, or record of decision, was the original agreement that the stadium was built under, which banned certain commercial activities.)

Commercial aspects the city could incorporate at the stadium include a nightclub, hotel, paid parking facilities, restaurants and sports bars, a gym, banqueting and conferencing facilities, retail space and a sports centre.

zara.nicholson@inl.co.za - Cape Times

UK tourist Diane Berwick was left wheelchair bound after a paragliding crash in Hermanus in 2004.

Cape Town -

A UK tourist whose holiday went awry when she was injured in a paragliding crash, which left her wheelchair bound, is suing for millions.

Diane Berwick, 43, of Tyneside, suffered a string of injuries – including a spine fracture that resulted in paraplegia – when she was on a tandem flight on a paraglider that hit a mountain slope in Hermanus.

The incident occurred on April 12, 2004.

More than eight years later, she has returned to Cape Town for her case to be heard in the Western Cape High Court. The hearing began before Judge Patrick Gamble on Thursday.

Berwick contends in court papers that it was unsafe to fly that day and that the weather conditions posed a risk of injury.

At the receiving end are the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) and the South African Hang- and Paragliding Association (SAHPA), both of which are fighting the claim.

She wants damages to the tune of £1 450 000 (presently just over R20 million), as well as an additional R1.1m for medical expenses incurred in South Africa and the UK, as well as future medical expenses, general damages – such as pain, suffering, loss of amenities of life and her disability – and her past and future loss of earnings.

For now, however, the parties are arguing the merits of the case and only if it is found that the aviation authority and the association are liable, will the amount later be argued.

Berwick’s legal team has already settled her dispute with the other defendants in the matter: paraglider Robert de Villiers-Roux, paragliding businesses Airteam and Adventure Africa CC, and the office of the minister of transport.

She maintains that the CAA and SAHPA were obliged to reduce the risk of aircraft accidents and that they should have been aware that De Villiers-Roux and the businesses were regularly conducting paragliding flights for commercial gain.

The CAA, SAHPA and their employees and agents had a duty, she argues, to people engaging in paragliding, hang gliding and power gliding activities, such as herself, to “act with due skill, care and diligence as is reasonable… in the circumstances”.

In papers submitted to the court, SAHPA denied Berwick’s allegations against it and said that if the court found it owed a duty of care to Berwick, the association denied it had negligently breached its duties.

It argued that she was warned of the risks associated with paragliding before she went flying, but nevertheless embarked on the tandem flight.

The association also contended that the incident was as a result of the inherent risks in paragliding and that it had occurred, in particular, because of “unexpected air turbulence”.

The CAA similarly denied Berwick’s allegations.

If it was found that the authority had a duty to her, it maintained that the agreement between her, De Villiers-Roux and the businesses were “remotely” connected to the authority’s duties and functions and that there was “no legal or policy consideration” which justified them being held liable for Berwick’s injuries and damages.

leila.samodien@inl.co.za

Cape Times

Songs and T-shirt slogans said it all in the Western Cape ANC, with a clear split in preferred candidates.

Divisions on who Western Cape ANC branch delegates want to nominate for the ruling party's Mangaung Conference were evident at a Provincial General Council (PGC) meeting on Thursday.

The nomination proceedings, taking place at the University of the Western Cape, were delayed as Provincial Executive Committee members met behind closed doors to verify branch lists.

The Western Cape has 170 branches.

Only 150 qualified to attend the PGC, because they had, according to party rules, held their branch general meetings to nominate a delegate to attend Mangaung.

Of the 150, 122 delegates have been verified to vote in Thursday's PGC.

The rest of the names will be checked against branch lists to confirm whether they are members in good standing, and whether they have been endorsed by branch leadership.

Delegates were told to go for lunch while the verification process continues.

They were expected to return and register for the PGC.

As delegates left the UWC lecture hall where voting is to take place, two groups emerged, some singing pro-Zuma songs, others singing that it was time for the president to go.

Delegates and their supporters were also told to take off T-shirts bearing the pictures of their preferred candidates.

Some wore attire with Zuma's face painted on it.

Others wore sweaters with the words “anti-tribalism” printed on them as well as a list of their top six for the ANC, which included Kgalema Motlanthe for President, Matthews Phosa for deputy president, and Tokyo Sexwale for treasurer general. - Sapa

Allister “Ster” Brooks, 20, was shot dead just a short distance from his home in Blikkiesdorp, Delft.

Cape Town - A young man was gunned down in cold blood – because he was too good-looking.

Allister “Ster” Brooks, 20, was shot dead in the early hours of on Thursday morning, just a short distance from his home in Blikkiesdorp, Delft.

A passerby found the young dad’s bullet-riddled body lying between two shacks in O Block.

Allister’s heartbroken mother Priscilla Brooks, 43, believes her son was killed for his “stylish good looks”.

She said: “He was too f***ing good looking.”

She admitted that he was a former drug addict, but was adamant that her son was never involved with gangsters.

The mom said her middle child feared for his life and asked to move back home with her shortly before his death.

Allister and his eldest brother moved in with their granny in Blikkiesdorp four years ago.

Their ouma passed away a few months ago.

“When I saw him two days ago he told me he wants to move back home [to Belhar] because people in Blikkiesdorp want to kill him and his brother out of jealousy,” the mom said.

“I know that is why they killed him.

“Hy was ’n f**ken mooi klong en daai is hoekom hulle hom doodgeskiet het [he was a handsome boy, that is why they killed him].”

The mother of three said her sons were going to move back to Belhar on Saturday.

“I told them they could come home once I had the money to erect a Wendy house in my yard for them,” she said.

“We were going to get it this Saturday. They were very excited and so were their friends because they knew they would be safe there.”

Priscilla now fears for the life of her eldest son: “I want him to come home before they come for him too.”

Police spokesperson Captain FC van Wyk said Allister’s killers are still on the loose.

“The deceased died as a result of multiple gunshot wounds to his chest,” he said.

“Police are investigating a charge of murder.”

* Anyone with information on the murder is kindly requested to contact Detective Constable Egan Knoop of Delft SAPS on 021 954 9064.

*This article was published in the Daily Voice

Cosatu urges the labour minister to set things right after her “regrettable statement” about farmworkers’ wages.

Cosatu on Friday urged Labour Minister Mildred Oliphant to get negotiations with Western Cape farmworkers back on track.

“The minister has made a regrettable statement... and if it was not her intention to derail the process, she should assist to get negotiations back on track,” Congress of SA Trade Unions provincial secretary Tony Ehrenreich said in a statement.

Farmers changed their attitude towards negotiations when Oliphant announced there would be no higher wages until next year.

A coalition of farmworkers and their unions announced on Thursday that they would continue to protest on December 4 over a wage demand of R150 per day and improved living conditions. Most earned between R69 and R75 a day.

Previous protests by farmworkers this month caused chaos and destruction in 16 towns, including De Doorns, Wolseley and Ceres. Two people were killed and many buildings and vineyards set alight.

There were indications the renewed strike could again see flare-ups of violence. Workers wanted the employment condition commission (ECC) to look at the sectoral determination for agriculture, which prescribed minimum wages and conditions of employment for farmworkers.

Oliphant said this week that sectoral determination was put in place in March this year and, by law, could only be reviewed again in 12 months.

“The sectoral determination process has no bearing on the issue at hand, as the parties 1/8farmers and workers 3/8 were negotiating to find an agreement that could have been announced before 4 December 2012, and could have averted the strike,” Ehrenreich said.

“These issues are not difficult to find solutions to, but what is difficult is to find the political will.” - Sapa

The Western Cape ANC adjourned its nomination conference without endorsing preferred candidates for the ruling party's top six positions.

Cape Town -

The ANC in the Western Cape adjourned its Provincial General Council (PGC) early on Saturday morning without endorsing preferred candidates for the ruling party's top six positions ahead of Mangaung.

Logistical delays, which included the verification of branch delegates by external auditors, saw the province unable to meet the Friday midnight deadline of consolidating the positions of branches on who should lead the ANC.

A visibly exhausted ANC provincial secretary Songezo Mjongile said they had not anticipated the verification process would take more than 16 hours.

He said: “We would not want to conduct a process that tomorrow people will contest and question...We will rather have a process that is above board.”

Mjongile said while it was unfortunate they had missed the deadline to decide on their intended nominees, it was likely provincial branch delegates would make their nominations from the floor at Mangaung.

The ANC constitution makes provision for this, provided the nominee enjoyed the support of 25 percent of all voting delegates at the December national elective conference.

“That is the only option, unless the national office or NEC decides to give us a special dispensation to reconvene the PGC, but I'm very doubtful given (that) the time frames are tight,” Mjongile said.

The Mangaung conference would take place in less than 16 days.

The Western Cape is allowed 178 delegates at Mangaung, which includes those from the province's 170 branches and selected members of the Provincial Executive Committee.

It was however not clear whether the entire contingent would be allowed at the conference, as the verification of delegates was not complete.

Mixed signals came from delegates who sang and danced as the verification took place.

A big contingent appeared to favour Kgalema Motlanthe to replace Jacob Zuma as ANC President.

However, another group wearing attire with the words “100 percent Zumantashe” also sang their praises for Msholozi, an affectionate term to describe Zuma. - Sapa

13 people in the Western Cape have died in car accidents over the past two weeks despite an early safety campaign being launched.

Cape Town - Thirteen people have died on the Western Cape’s roads in the past two weeks, with schools only set to break up next week and raising fears for the safety of road users, as thousands of people prepare for the festive season holidays.

There have been scores of injuries already, according to Metro EMS spokeswoman Keri Davids, who said 210 car accidents and 170 accidents involving pedestrians were reported between November 18 and Wednesday this week.

Three collisions between buses and cars were reported in just a single week during that period. Following the crash last weekend in which three matriculants died when their car collided with a bus in Strandfontein, on Thursday night four matriculants allegedly ploughed into a bus while test-driving a car in Pelican Park.

According to Golden Arrow spokeswoman Bronwen Dyke, the driver lost control of the vehicle and skidded for 50m, before colliding with the bus.

Yesterday morning a car rammed into the back of a bus on Vanguard Drive. The car’s driver had allegedly come from a nightshift and was half-asleep when he hit the parked bus. No deaths were reported in either of the incidents, but at least six people were injured in the collisions.

Provincial traffic chief Kenny Africa said it was time to acknowledge that the festive season had arrived, along with the dangers that came with it.

“Tragedies and accidents such as these have become an all-too-familiar part of the carnage of the festive season,” he said, adding that while they were headed into the season “in full force”, motorists had to play their part. “Each year we witness senseless deaths and accidents on our roads, especially around the festive season. We urge all motorists to take care and stay alert to make sure we keep the number of deaths as low as possible.”

Transport and Public Works MEC Robin Carlisle said another major concern was the increase in the number of motorcyclist deaths. While the death toll for road accidents had dropped by 28 percent over the past three years, the number of motorcycle-related deaths had risen by 11 percent.

“Over 200 motorcyclists have died on our roads in the past three years.

“In part this is due to the number of motorcycles, but too many motorists are not sufficiently alert to both cyclists and motorcyclists,” Carlisle said, cautioning that motorcyclists often travelled at excessive speeds.

Last year more than 1 556 people died on the country’s roads between December 1 and January 5. The Western Cape accounted for just over 10 percent of the deaths, with 163 people killed.

Richard Bosman, the city’s executive director of safety and security, said their festive season safety campaign had started on October 1 and would run until May 2 next year.

It would run in conjunction with the provincial traffic department’s campaign, which will begin on December 6, the day before provincial schools close for the year.

“The plan takes into account the closing of schools in the coming days, as well as the fact that the Western Cape, especially Cape Town, will be frequented by a significant number of visitors in the coming months.

“It also takes into account the large number of residents who travel by long-distance buses and minibus taxis to visit their families in other provinces, and the members of the Zionist Church who embark on their annual pilgrimage to Limpopo between December 22 and 24,” he said.

The focus would be on drunk drivers, speeders and fatigue management.

Africa said fatigue was a killer, and motorists needed to exercise caution.

Weekend Argus

A memorial service will be held for Professor Jakes Gerwel on Saturday afternoon.

Cape Town -

A memorial service will be held for Professor Jakes Gerwel on Saturday afternoon, it was reported.

The service will be held at the University of the Western Cape, reported the SABC.

Gerwel, 66, died in the Kuils River Hospital, in the Western Cape on Wednesday.

He has been described as an outstanding academic, respected politician and businessman who was passionate about education.

Gerwel became the rector and vice chancellor of the university in 1987.

“He was an inspiring teacher, pioneering new approaches to his discipline of literary studies. At the same time, he was fully engaged in intellectual and practical ways with the struggle for freedom,” said university spokesman Luthando Tyhalibongo. - Sapa

The Western Cape Provincial Road Traffic Act has been passed by the provincial legislature.

Cape Town -

The Western Cape Provincial Road Traffic Act has been passed by the provincial legislature, the provincial transport department said on Saturday.

“I can now carry out investigations at any vehicle or drivers licence testing station without requiring permission from the national department of transport,” said Western Cape MEC for transport Robin Carlisle in a statement.

“This will greatly assist in dealing with corruption and jailing the offenders.”

He said by January next year, the department will have published conditions for the use of blue lights in the province.

Carlisle said blue lights would only be used in emergency situations.

“I will also issue a regulation requiring all vehicles overtaking cyclists to ensure that there is a safe distance of at least 1.5 meters between them before passing.”

The act was passed on Thursday. - Sapa

Gale-force winds, which continue to wreak havoc across the Peninsula, have claimed their first victim.

Gale-force winds, which wreaked havoc across the Peninsula, claimed their first victim after an eight-year-old girl suffered a fractured leg after being struck by a falling tree at Weltevrede Primary School in Rawsonville.

EMS spokeswoman Keri Davids said paramedics freed the child yesterday morning, then transported her to Worcester Hospital. She was in a stable condition after undergoing surgery, Health Department spokeswoman Jo-Anne Otto said. Yesterday the south-easter was pumping at speeds between 37km/h and 46km/h and was today expected to abate slightly to between 26 and 37km/h.

Damage has been widespread, including power outages and roofs being blown off homes. Last night roof sheets were blown off a backyard dwelling in Nomzamo, in Strand.

Disaster Risk Management spokesman Wilfred Solomons-Johannes said a wood and iron backyard dwelling in Macassar also had its roof damaged yesterday, while five shacks in the Vlakteplaas informal settlement in Strand also suffered serious damage.

The city responded to 58 incidents of overhead power supply damage, and 103 trees were blown over.

The city confirmed several power outages after a Pinelands man said he had been without power for 24 hours. The city’s Kylie Hatton said outages also occurred in Kensington, Sea Point, Bonteheuwel, Kraaifontein, Philippi, Factreton and Maitland.

“There is no single cause. In some areas it is due to poles having been knocked down and in others it is due to area faults,” she said, adding that the electricity services department was working hard to bring people back on line as quickly as possible.

The wind has kept several ships trapped in Cape Town harbour, according to

port spokesman Coen Birkenstock, who said one tanker, two container ships and two break bulk carriers were affected.

“Certain ships are affected, depending on vessel type and characteristics.”

The MSC Sinfonia cruise ship has also been stuck in the harbour since Thursday.

Allan Foggitt, Mediterranean Shipping Company marketing and sales director, said once they could leave, it would be for a “nowhere cruise”, returning to Cape Town on Monday before leaving for Walvis Bay next Wednesday.

MSC operations manager Rob McEwan said:

“The wind speed is 65 knots (120km/h). It’s been between 50 and 70 knots (93 to 130km/h) since Wednesday, which is absolutely gale-force.” Some passengers had decided to get their passports stamped and leave the cruise, but regulations prevented them from reboarding.

Metrorail reported that a tree had been blown over and on to the track at Dal Josafat on the Kraaifontein-Muldersvlei-Wellington line. A mechanical linkage atop a train near Muldersvlei also became entangled in overhead power lines, while signal power failure affected trains in Eerste River.

The city has put contingency plans in place for tomorrow’s switching on of the Christmas lights ceremony, set for the Grand Parade from 3pm.

Solomons-Johannes said sufficient personnel would be on site to ensure safety, but urged everyone to exercise caution.

Weekend Argus

Serb assassin Dobrosav Gavric, sentenced for a triple murder in Serbia, has been denied refugee status for a second time.

Cape Town - Serbian assassin Dobrosav Gavric, sentenced for a triple murder he committed in Serbia, has been denied refugee status in South Africa for a second time.

Gavric’s first application was refused in February. On November 19 a review committee upheld the original decision and found Gavric, 38, an alleged hitman for a Serbian mafia group, was not a “suitable candidate” for refugee status, the Cape Town Magistrate’s Court heard on Thursday. Although Gavric’s hair and beard have grown a lot longer, he walked up from the holding cells in his trademark gear – spectacles, a checked shirt, dark blue jeans and the black cane he uses to help him walk. He limps as a result of a spinal injury he suffered in 2000, when a bodyguard of one of the three men he killed fired back at him.

Gavric, who has been in jail since December, stared straight ahead throughout the proceedings.

Dave Damerell, the State advocate trying to extradite Gavric to Serbia, told the court that since Gavric’s refugee application had again been refused, his criminal case, in which he is charged with falsifying his identity documents to enter South Africa illegally in 2007, as well as his extradition hearing, should go ahead immediately. But Juan Smuts, Gavric’s attorney, asked for a postponement so he could appeal against the latest refusal.

The case was postponed to January 15 for the defence to give the court an update on its appeal efforts.

Gavric also appeared in the Khayelitsha Magistrate’s Court yesterday for allegedly being in possession of several grams of cocaine, found in a bag in his BMW X5. The cocaine case was postponed to April.

Gavric used his vehicle to drive murdered underworld boss Cyril Beeka to visit the alleged leader of the Sexy Boys, Jerome Booysen, at about 5pm on March 21 last year in Belhar, just before Beeka was killed. Gavric was injured during the attack. Booysen was named in the Cape Town magistrate’s court in January as a suspect in the killing.

On Thursday Smuts also told the court the State was playing a pro-active role in having Gavric deported, even though it knew he was a witness to Beeka’s murder. He suggested Gavric needed to stay in South Africa in case his testimony was needed.

Several months after the Beeka killing it emerged that Gavric, who entered South Africa under the name Sasa Kovacevic, was in fact a fugitive from Serbia, where he was sentenced in 2006 for a triple murder committed in 2000.

henriette.geldenhuys@inl.co.za

Weekend Argus