Businesswoman Shauwn Mpisane has been arrested after she allegedly attempted to a bribe a witness in her fraud trial.

Durban - Wealthy businesswoman Shauwn Mpisane was arrested on Friday after she allegedly attempted to a bribe a witness in her forthcoming fraud trial.

Mpisane, accompanied by her husband, S’bu, handed herself over to the Hawks at the Malvern police station, at 10.30am.

A convoy of luxury vehicles, including a BMW, Audi and Range Rover, with several bodyguards were spotted outside the police station.

A source said she had been approached by Hawks investigators and members of the Anti-Corruption Task Team, at her La Lucia home early on Friday morning and informed of the charges against her.

An informer had tipped off police about the alleged bribe.

It was agreed she would not be taken into custody by police and that she would hand herself over in the presence of her attorney.

Hawks spokesman, McIntosh Polela, said Mpisane was warned to hand herself over at the Malvern police station by 11am.

She was expected to appear in the Pinetown Magistrate’s Court on charges of bribery and corruption and defeating the ends of Justice, Polela said.

“This is a very serious offence. Our members acted swiftly after they had received information about the alleged bribe.”

Her legal representative, advocate Jimmy Howse, said he could not divulge any information. He refused to confirm if Mpisane had been arrested or if she would be appearing in court.

Mpisane is facing 173 charges of fraud, forgery and uttering involving R4.7m.

Her trial on fraud and other charges is scheduled to start in the Durban Magistrate’s Court on Monday.

She owns the Zikhulise Cleaning Maintenance and Transport CC and Ukhozi Civil Cleaning and Construction.

The South African Revenue Services has laid criminal charges against Zikhulise Cleaning, Maintenance and Transport.

The State alleges she submitted false invoices to claim VAT.

She is out on R50 000 bail for alleged fraud and forgery.

The Daily News’s sister paper, The Mercury, reported this week that Mpisane is in line to rake in more millions from lucrative housing tenders from the eThekwini Municipality, despite facing multiple charges of tax fraud.

According to a report that was discussed at the city’s executive committee meeting this week, the municipality used section 36 of the supply chain management policy to award Mpisane’s company, Zikhulise Cleaning, Maintenance and Transport, the same contract – and more – that was suspended last November.

This was to build 2 825 houses and retaining walls in Umlazi. It has been reported that the value of the deal is at least R141 million.

Originally, the contract was suspended by the municipality after it found that the awarding of the tender was flawed because procurement processes had not been followed and contract documents might have been manipulated.

Mpisane and her husband, S’bu, a former metro policeman, have been described as super rich with a fleet of luxury cars and a R15m mansion.

During her previous court appearance, Mpisane denied the charges of fraud against her and blamed it on her former bookkeeper, Kishal Reddy.

In her plea explanation she said in spite of instructing Reddy to obtain “genuine” invoices, he went ahead and produced false ones, unbeknown to her.

Reddy, who is the State’s main witness, pleaded guilty last July to two charges of forgery and contravening the VAT Act, saying it was on Mpisane’s orders.

He was fined R30 000.

The State alleges that invoices were forged to falsely inflate purchases from suppliers to minimise the income tax owed.

Mpisane denied the allegations, saying that Zikhulise’s actual purchases far exceeded the values reflected on the invoices which are said to be fake.

Daily News

Charges against a Russian stripper of being in South Africa illegally were withdrawn in the Cape Town District Court.

Cape Town - Charges against a Russian stripper of being in South Africa illegally were withdrawn in the Cape Town District Court on Friday.

Olga Gretu, 33, appeared before Magistrate Nadia Banwari, who informed her that the charge was withdrawn, and that she was free to step out of the dock.

She has appeared in court 11 times since her arrest in November last year.

Gretu was charged in terms of the Immigration Act, and the charge sheet alleged that she was unlawfully still in the country on November 3 last year, after her application for the renewal of her temporary residence permit had been rejected in May.

A similar charge against 12 other strippers was withdrawn earlier this year, but no explanation was given for the decision by the Western Cape Directorate for Public Prosecutions (DPP) to proceed against Gretu.

According to the court record, written representations by defence counsel Peter Mihalik to the DPP, for the withdrawal of the charge, were rejected, with a directive that the trial commence in April.

This did not materialise, and Gretu then made seven further court appearances, before the charge was finally withdrawn.

Gretu had been employed by the Mavericks Revue Bar in Cape Town. - Sapa

The family of a Welsh man who died when a charter boat capsized in Hout Bay have thanked the City of Cape Town for its help after the accident.

Cape Town - The family of a Welsh man who died when a charter boat capsized in Hout Bay have thanked the City of Cape Town for its help after the accident.

“We would like to thank all of the teams at Hout Bay, who were involved in our rescue on Saturday, 1/8and 3/8 special thanks to the fisherman who pulled us from the water,” the Hyett family wrote in a letter following the death of 64-year-old Peter Hyett.

“We will always remember the relief we felt as you swam towards us and took control of the situation, thank you thank you. We would also like to thank the South African disaster team who have supported us throughout and still support us until we can return home.

“We will always remember your kindness. Thanks also go to a very special lady who owns the guest house we have stayed at, she has been amazing and a huge support,” the letter reads.

“We will always remember the South Africans for their kindness. We are devastated at the loss of Peter, a wonderful husband, father, brother and grandfather. All who knew him loved him.”

Hyett was one of two people who died when the charter boat Maroshka capsized near Duiker Island around 3pm on Saturday, October 13.

Suzanne Linda Hyett was taken to Groote Schuur hospital for treatment and observation. Helen Hyett was taken to False Bay hospital and discharged on Saturday night.

The family had been on holiday in Cape Town since October 1 and were due to return home on Sunday, October 14.

Thirty-eight people were on the boat. Of those rescued, 24 were hospitalised. Twelve people were treated for hypothermia and released. - Sapa

Another police officer has been shot dead in Cape Town, a report said, the fourth to be killed since October 10.

Cape Town - Another police officer has been shot dead in Cape Town, SABC news reported on Friday.

He was shot in the chest in Philippi on the Cape Flats. He died on the scene.

This made him the fourth police officer to be killed in the Western Cape since October 10.

On that day metro police officer Mpumelelo Xakekile, 50, was shot and killed while issuing a fine to a minibus taxi driver in Khayelitsha.

Two days later police constables Phindiwe Nikani, 26, and Mandisi Nduku, 27, were shot and killed while on patrol in the Imizamo Yethu informal settlement in Hout Bay.

On Tuesday a police officer was shot and wounded in Belhar. - Sapa

Allegations that Judge John Hlophe attempted to influence Concourt judges in favour of Zuma will finally be investigated.

Cape Town - The ongoing controversy around whether Cape Judge President John Hlophe attempted to influence Constitutional Court judges in favour of President Jacob Zuma in 2008 will finally be officially investigated, by a Judicial Conduct Tribunal, which carries with it a threat of impeachment.

This was confirmed on Friday night by Judge Hlophe’s attorney, Barnabas Xulu, who said Chief Justice Mogoeng Mogoeng would formally appoint the tribunal – the first in SA involving a judge president – to investigate the allegations. Zuma was not SA’s president at the time.

According to Xulu, Judge Hlophe received a letter from the Judicial Service Commission (JSC) late yesterday informing him that the chief justice was to set up the tribunal. A date had yet to be set, but the letter indicated it would be done speedily.

The JSC has, however, not recommended that Judge Hlophe be suspended from his post, pending the tribunal, Xulu said.

It will mark the first time in SA that a judge president has faced such a tribunal. However, previously Judge Nkola Motata, accusd of making a racist remark to the owner of the Joburg house where his car crashed in 2007, faced such an inquiry.

Xulu explained that the tribunal worked like a commission of inquiry or court case: evidence was led and a decision made, based on the evidence presented.

He effectively welcomed the decision, saying that the establishment of a formal body to test the allegations was “going to be the easiest way of clearing my client”, and silence critics with their “own agendas”.

“That is the forum that needs to deal with it,” he added.

Xulu also said he hoped the process would be speedy and not drag on, saying that “justice delayed is justice denied”.

The allegations against Judge Hlophe relate to a 2008 complaint that he attempted to influence Constitutional Court judges in favour of Zuma. But, in August 2009, the JSC found there was insufficient evidence before it to justify gross misconduct on Judge Hlophe’s part.

Months later, NGO Freedom Under Law went to the North Gauteng High Court to challenge the JSC’s decision and later Western Cape Premier Helen Zille followed suit in the Western Cape High Court.

The Western Cape High Court set aside the JSC’s decision in 2010 and, while Freedom Under Law lost in North Gauteng, it appealed to the Supreme Court of Appeal (SCA), which eventually set aside the JSC’s decision.

The SCA also later upheld the Western Cape High Court’s ruling.

Earlier this year the Constitutional Court refused to grant Judge Hlophe leave to appeal, and in April the JSC considered the matter afresh, appointing a judicial conduct committee to investigate.

Last month the committee announced that it recommended that the JSC establish a Judicial Conduct Tribunal to investigate, and that if the complaint was valid, it would “indicate gross misconduct which may lead to impeachment”.

However, the decision on whether to establish such a tribunal rested with the JSC, which met late on Wednesday behind closed doors to decide on the matter.

By late yesterday afternoon, its decision that the Chief Justice appoint a tribunal was formally sent to Judge Hlophe.

Judge Hlophe is no stranger to controversy.

In 2004 he wrote a report alleging racism at the Cape Bar.

The following year he was at the receiving end of racism allegations, after a city attorney claimed he had made racist remarks towards him.

In 2006 it was also reported that Judge Hlophe gave the Oasis Asset Management Group permission to sue Justice Siraj Desai at a time he was moonlighting for the group.

The JSC considered the complaints and criticised his behaviour, but found there was insufficient evidence to proceed with a public inquiry into the allegations.

Weekend Argus

“There is a level of soul in music here that we have lost in the US. You have something a lot more special.”

Cape Town - Expect a bit of old school at today’s 12-hour Club Vibe party, as the city welcomes back the familiar party brand and its headline act DJ Jazzy Jeff.

Jazzy Jeff, real name Jeffrey Townes, shot to fame in the late 1980s as part of a duo with Will Smith, called Jazzy Jeff & Fresh Prince, scoring hits like Parents Just Don’t Understand, Girls Ain’t Nothing but Trouble and Boom! Shake the Room.

The two also appeared in the popular sitcom The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, where Jeff was regularly thrown out of the Banks mansion in Bel-Air, Los Angeles, by the character Uncle Phil.

A fuller and older looking Jeff spoke at a pre-event press conference at the Pepper Club penthouse on Thursday evening.

A decade after Club Vibe closed its doors, the brand is being resuscitated as an indoor annual event, with the possibility of a pop-up club.

Saturday’s party starts at 2pm and runs until Sunday morning.

It will feature American rapper Skillz with Jeff, and top locals like Mi Casa, Jack Parow, Crazy White Boy and AKA.

Owner Bart Goormans told Weekend Argus: “Nightclubs do not exist anymore. The trend in Europe is you stay open for three months and stop at the highest point, not 20 or 30 years later.”

He believes this event could become like the Cape Town Jazz Festival, for a different target market.

The show will feature hip hop, house and electronica.

Jeff said he listens to SA music.

“I have a folder on my computer of South African music. I am going to get a whole lot of music while I am down here.

“There is a level of soul in music here that we have lost in the US. You have something a lot more special,” he said.

Jeff said he and Smith are still friends. “We both now have families and he is the biggest movie star. It’s just that we have busy schedules.”

Jeff said he was happy to be in SA, the last stop on a long tour with Skillz.

* Tickets for the Club Vibe’s Once Upon a Time with GHFM and Trace Urban are R350 each, or R450 at www.quicket.co.za. Service fees apply. See www.clubvibe.co.za

Weekend Argus

Philip Dexter, whose own child is at the centre of an international custody battle, has started an organisation for parents in a similar situation.

Cape Town

- Politician Philip Dexter, whose own child is at the centre of an international custody battle, has started an organisation aimed at helping parents in a similar situation – with the father of the five-year-old girl ordered back to Belgium last week one of his first contacts.

The initial focus of People Against the Parental Abduction of Children (Papac), launched in July, is fund-raising to help parents involved in three specific cases other than his own.

“Initially, it was just as a support group, for people who were in the same position as myself. But as we were receiving legal advice from lawyers and experts, we started offering advice too,” he explained.

One of the other cases

involved a Zimbabwean family, while they had, through negotiations and arbitration, resolved a case involving a Congolese family.

Dexter’s daughter, now six, was taken to India in October last year by his ex-wife.

India is not a signatory to the Hague Convention, and Dexter said an Indian court had ordered that the matter be resolved in SA.

He had only spoken to his daughter twice in the past six months, and had not seen her since she was taken away, Dexter said this week.

His ex-wife had asked for a review of the Indian court order, which is expected to be heard later this month.

Dexter is hoping to travel to India soon, and said he had submitted a written request for access to his daughter.

“In my case, I have had no support from the government. And in cases like this, finance is a huge issue. I’ve had to sell my house and car.”

Weekend Argus

A sickly four-month-old baby girl has become the latest Western Cape child at the centre of an international custody battle.

Cape Town - A sickly four-month-old baby girl has become the latest Western Cape child at the centre of an international custody battle, with her US father claiming that she was removed by her SA mother in contravention of the terms of the Hague Convention.

The details are contained in papers filed with the Western Cape High Court. The child’s father is a professor at a US university, and his SA wife a former Fulbright scholar in the US.

The matter was due to be heard this week, but the case has been postponed until next month as Judge Siraj Desai was not available to hear it.

The couple, who are in the process of divorcing, were married in April 2011. Their daughter was born in the US in May this year.

She suffers from severe gastric reflux, which causes projectile vomiting and results in pain, constant crying and inability to breathe.

It also requires her to be fed small amounts frequently, and to be held upright for a period of about 30 minutes after each feed.

She requires constant attention to ensure that she does not choke, and cannot be laid flat on her back. She must also sleep at a 30-degree angle.

The father says in his court application that as he and the mother are still legally married, they have equal custody of the child, whose habitual residence is the US.

But the mother counters that she left the US with his consent and knowledge. He travelled with them to SA in June this year.

In responding court papers, the baby’s father said: “I did not consent to (child’s name) being out of the country for more than six months.”

The mother says she came to SA with the intention of applying for a new visa, which would allow her to take up a job offer at a US university, and so her mother could help her care for the baby.

She was due to return to the US to start her new job in January next year, but because of the visa application and her child’s needs, she had postponed her starting date to August next year. She says she has every intention of returning to the US.

However, the father responds that he was unaware that his wife had delayed the start date of her post, and that it appeared she was deliberately stalling her visa application process because she believed that “in the absence of a visa she would be unable to return to the USA for a substantial period, thus preventing a return order”.

The woman was initially in the US on a J-1 visa, which allowed her to stay there while completing her PhD.

She says in her papers that, according to US visa regulations, she is required to return to her home country for a period of two years after the expiry of her visa.

She had applied for this period to be waived so that she could apply for a job in the US after completing her studies, but this application had been denied.

She says she is in the process of applying for an O-1 visa, which is granted to people of “extraordinary ability”.

The mother claims that due to the father’s hectic work and travel schedule, he would not be able to adequately care for the child, who is still being breastfed.

She also claims that the father had not played a significant role in caring for their daughter following her birth.

“The applicant only infrequently assisted me with holding (the child) upright.

“In fact, he would become annoyed at night when he could not sleep because of (her) constant crying, and her inability to be consoled.”

He, however, says he will cut back on his travel schedule, and can afford day care and nanny services for the times he is working or travelling. He disputes that the mother is the primary care-giver, despite the fact that the child is still being breastfed.

The matter will be heard by the Western Cape High Court on November 15.

Weekend Argus

Hout Bay constable Phindiwe Nikani was pregnant when she was shot, national police commissioner Riah Phiyega revealed.

Cape Town -

Slain Hout Bay constable Phindiwe Nikani was pregnant when she was shot during a routine patrol in Imizamo Yethu last Friday, national police commissioner Riah Phiyega revealed during a memorial service for Nikani and the colleague with whom she died, Mandisi Nduku.

“

So not only was her life taken, but also the life she was carrying,” said Phiyega during the event on Friday in the multipurpose hall in Hangberg, which was packed to capacity with family members, police and other mourners.

Nikani, 26, was in the process of lobola negotiations with fiancé Nkosana Mkuoni, who has been admitted to hospital as a result of the trauma.

Weekend Argus reported last weekend how Hout Bay resident Xoliswa Mayipheli said she was speaking to Nikani and Nduku, 27, when she heard a “huge exploding sound”, then saw the two lying “head-to-head”.

Nduku died later in hospital.

Consumed with grief on Friday, Nikani’s father, Phambukile Nikani, who was expected to deliver her eulogy, stood in silence.

“I am out of power to speak to you today, but I will ask God to give me the words and strength so that I may speak next time,” he said.

Then the devastated man stumbled from the stage, and his daughter’s friends and family wept. Hout Bay police station spokeswoman Tanya Lesch said the suspect arrested in connection with the murders of the two would not be charged with the murder of Nikani’s unborn baby “for now”.

The 28-year-old was arrested on Sunday and will appear in court again on Thursday.

Nduku was described by his brother and colleagues as a good person.

“I will never forget his smile,” Hout Bay station commissioner Captain Rian Bester said.

Former station commander Colonel Dorothy Xosha described both police officers as her own children.

“Phindiwe was very disciplined, committed, respectful, intelligent and trustworthy. She was always open and honest with me,” she said.

A third officer, Mphumelelo Xakekile, 50, was shot a few days before the Hout Bay incident while ticketing a taxi near Khayelitsha on Wednesday last week.

Yesterday, Western Cape Premier Helen Zille, who was also at the service, offered her condolences to the families before addressing the issue of rising police deaths in SA.

“

The Western Cape is in mourning, with four police officers shot and three dead. I was shocked to hear that there have been more than 150 attacks on police officers this year.”

The premier presented a bouquet of proteas to the mourning family members, as a symbol of “hope, life and beauty in despair”.

“There should be no parole for the killers of police,” she said.

Provincial police commissioner Lieutenant-General Arno Lamoer said the police force would not stop until justice was done.

“We will never give up; we will stay focused on our task to protect the nation. Nothing will deter us,” he said in an impassioned address.

The scripture reading and sermon were conducted by members of the Hout Bay police, with the Polmusca choir leading hymns and worship. The sombre affair was concluded with a tearful recollection by Hout Bay Constable Neville Wentzel of the last moments spent with the fallen officers.

“When the call came into the station to confirm they had been shot, I was all alone. My colleagues were gone,” he said.

Nduku is survived by his mother, four siblings and his three children. Nikani is survived by her daughter, her father, six siblings, her grandfather and her fiancé.

Weekend Argus

She may not consider herself a heroine, but two truck drivers say Carolynne Franklin saved them from harm.

Cape Town -

She may not consider herself a heroine, but the truck drivers who Carolynne Franklin saved from harm during the recent transport strike violence say it was her brave intervention which caused their attackers to flee.

On Friday truck driver Elmaco Fabian described how he and his assistant Boesak Booysen were being kicked by their attackers on Thursday last week, when Franklin pulled up and began shouting.

The three were reunited on Friday afternoon at the Pick n Pay head office in Kenilworth, when Franklin was honoured with a bravery award, and an award from LeadSA.

The two men, who escaped serious injury, are employees of Lieben Logistics, Pick n Pay’s trucking company.

Fabian said he and Booysen had tried to run from the scene, but their attackers caught them and started kicking them.

“Then I just heard this lady shout and then the guys ran away. We then got in the lady’s car and she gave us water and we waited for the police,” he said.

Franklin, a curtain designer from Kirstenhof, said she was driving on Baden Powell Drive when she saw the two being chased by three men.

“

I was shocked when I saw the three men catch up to them, and then they started beating them up. I then saw the Pick n Pay truck on the side of the road, and that the truck’s cab was on fire.

“That’s when I knew the incident was connected to the truck strike,” she said.

Franklin admits that she nearly joined the many other cars that just drove away from the scene.

But she knew she had to stop.

“

I honestly thought to myself that I cannot just drive away from this, and that I had to do something to stop people from getting hurt. So I pulled my car over, grabbed my cellphone and ran out in the road towards them.

“While I was running I remember thinking that I was going to use my phone to hit the guys on their heads or something, but I just ran and shouted.”

When the attackers saw her, they ran to another car and sped off.

Fabian said the attack began after a tyre on their truck burst, leaving them stranded for about 20 minutes.

Suzanne Ackerman-Berman, Pick n Pay’s transformation director, said she hoped people would read the story and be inspired “if they find themselves in a similar position”.

Franklin remained humble, saying she saw herself not as a heroine, but simply as someone who helped two people in need.

Weekend Argus

Cape Town’s Grand Parade and station deck in the CBD have become drug havens for school children, say taxi drivers, shopkeepers and security guards working in the area.

Cape Town’s Grand Parade and station deck in the CBD have become drug havens for school children, say taxi drivers, shopkeepers and security guards working in the area.

While pupils at city schools commute daily, they weave their way between drug dealers who openly offer and sell them drugs. And the youngsters freely admit that whatever their drug of choice, they’ll get it there.

They arrive in numbers after 2pm, according to security guards working in the area, who describe the pupils as “a real headache”.

And the trade is continuing unabated, even though police spokesman Warrant Officer November Filander said the Cape Town central police arrest about 180 suspects every month for possession of and dealing in drugs.

In addition, he said, regular integrated and clandestine operations were held on the station deck and the Grand Parade, “with good success”.

Amanda, a 17-year-old pupil at a city high school, told Weekend Argus this week that tik and unga were “very easy” to get in the area.

“You just know who to go to, and there’s no way that they will not have it. It all happens here at the Parade. Sometimes it’s a matter of sitting down at the bus terminus, as if you’re waiting for a bus, and the dealer will come and you do the exchange.”

She arrived by bus about 9am, smoked for about an hour, then went on to school.

“If you tell them [at school] the bus was late there’s no way they won’t let you in,” she said, explaining that she and seven friends clubbed together to buy cocktails, a mixture of unga and dagga, which they smoked daily.

“My grandmother gives me R50 for the week. My friends and I club together and one of the boys goes to buy for us. We either smoke and go to school, or we just roam around town trying to get more money to buy more,” Amanda said, adding that she began smoking unga when she was in Grade 8.

Another city school pupil, 18-year-old Keagan, said he became hooked after being given a “special cigarette”

by a dealer.

“It’s very addictive. They just call school children and say ‘come look’. The next thing you know you’re the one calling them.

“It’s quick to buy, and you don’t feel like the dealers want to hurt you because it all happens in public,” he said.

Taxi drivers said they often tried to get police to intervene, but claimed they were told to chase the drug dealers away from the station deck themselves.

“Look at them. They’re selling tik right now, in front of us. We chased them away and now there is a new group of foreigners selling tik to everyone. These children buy from them and smoke here near the taxi lines,” one driver said.

“The few times that dealers do get caught they swallow the tik, because they keep it in their mouths, or they pay the police or law enforcement to let them go,” he said.

Asked whether the police were aware of allegations of pay-offs in exchange for leaving dealers to trade freely, Filander said they were not. He added that any allegations of misconduct or corruption against police officers would be investigated, with disciplinary action and suspension to follow where relevant.

One Grand Parade shopkeeper said some school children used a nearby payphone to contact dealers in the vicinity.

“They call their dealers and find out where to meet them. School starts at 8am but around 9.30 there are children here walking around aimlessly. You can see what’s going on, I don’t know why the police can’t pick it up,” she said.

The security guards added that sometimes when they tried to chase children away, they sat with the homeless people who frequented the area.

“It would be easier to solve this if we were working with police,” one security guard said.

Filander said that while they took the allegations “very seriously”, they could do little without statements and sufficient evidence.

“Our railway stations are being monitored and patrolled by railway police and other law enforcement personnel on a daily basis, and we do make a lot of drug arrests.

“Metrorail security guards are also being sensitised to be on the lookout for any illegal activities that might occur on trains and on the railway platforms,” he added.

Asked to comment, Community Safety MEC

Dan Plato said he would raise the issue as “a matter of urgency” with provincial police commissioner Lieutenant General Arno Lamoer.

“The City Improvement District, together with SAPS and the metro police, have been extremely effective in curbing drug-related crime across the city over the past 10 years.

“I will be asking the SAPS, City Improvement District and metro police to join me on a walkabout of the area, so that we can talk to the informal traders and gather more information on this situation,” Plato said. - Weekend Argus

Ten people were injured - three of them critically - when a light delivery van hit a bus on the N2 near Knysna.

Ten people were injured - three of them critically - when a light delivery van hit a bus on the N2 near Knysna on Sunday morning, said Western Cape emergency management services.

Spokeswoman Keri Davids said the van hit a City-to-City bus travelling towards Port Elizabeth with 58 people on board at 2.23am.

Rescuers had to extricate a Knysna couple from the van. They were critically injured, as was the bus driver.

Four women and a man in the bus were seriously injured and two passengers - a man and a child - sustained minor injuries.

The injured were taken to the Knysna provincial hospital and to a private medical facility in Knysna, said Davids. - Sapa

Rescuers saved people clinging to the roofs of their cars from a river after they were swept off bridges due to heavy rains.

Cape Town - Rescuers saved people clinging to the roofs of their cars from a flooded river in Napier after they were swept off bridges due to heavy downpours at the weekend.

Heavy rains across the country caused havoc. Eight people have reportedly died in floods across the Eastern Cape. In Gauteng, a hailstorm damaged cars and broke windows.

On Saturday morning, a man drove over a bridge and his car was washed into the river, Overberg fire chief Reinard Geldenhuys said on Sunday.

Geldenhuys said Byron Lombard had been on his way to retrieve a vehicle that had been washed away earlier when his breakdown vehicle was also washed away around 2am. When rescuers found him, Lombard had been on top of his vehicle for four hours. He was treated for hypothermia.

In a separate incident, a man, his wife and child were also swept into the river while driving over a different bridge, Geldenhuys said.

“The family were rescued by a farmer. They were also found clinging to the roof of their vehicle. In an incident later in the afternoon, a man was swept away by the river after running away from the police. He disappeared and has not been found.”

In the Eastern Cape, a section of the N2 between Grahamstown and Port Elizabeth collapsed on Saturday night, the provincial government said.

The road has been closed and traffic is being diverted from Port Elizabeth to the N10 through Cookhouse.

Before the road collapsed, a truck caught in the floods overturned. Police, divers and a rescue team were called to save the passengers.

Also in the Eastern Cape early on Sunday, National Sea Rescue Institute (NSRI) volunteeers rescued a group of 76 people and a dog near the Swartskop River in Port Elizabeth. They had been cut off from the mainland by the swollen river.

NSRI spokesman Craig Lambinon said: “Once the group had, one by one, commenced crossing the river, our volunteers aided the elderly and assisted where necessary to get everyone, and the dog, safely across the river.” Lambinon said no one was injured.

Gauteng was hit by a severe hailstorm on Saturday afternoon, resulting in a number of road accidents, including three separate crashes on the N1 highway in Midrand that left two people injured.

The hailstorm, which hit Midrand and some eastern suburbs of Joburg, damaged cars and broke windows at homes and businesses.

On Thursday, 32 hikers were rescued after being trapped on the Whale Trail near Bredasdorp because of heavy rain. The hikers were airlifted by an Airforce helicopter, called in by the Disaster Management Unit of the municipality, after CapeNature officials could not reach them on land. None of the hikers was injured

The SA Weather Service has warned that heavy rains are expected to continue in the southern parts of the Western and Eastern Cape.

On Monday the weather will be partly cloudy in the southwest and south with isolated showers.

The minimum temperature will be 14°C with a maximum of 20°C.

sibusiso.nkomo@inl.co.za

Cape Argus

Steenberg residents have accused cops of wanton abduction and torture, including beating them with baseball bats.

Cape Town - Members of the Steenberg police are being investigated for a string of damning allegations, including officers using baseball bats and hockey sticks to beat suspects – some of whom have claimed they had been stripped naked and smothered with plastic bags over their faces.

Eleven residents have accused members of SAPS at Steenberg police station of unlawful and “brutal” assault similar to that practiced during apartheid. The police have “again and again” allegedly abducted, tortured, beaten and destroyed the complainants’ property.

The Cape Argus is in possession of a list of names of all 11 complainants, represented by law firm Mathewson Gess Attorneys.

Last Thursday, the complainants – accompanied by lawyer Bruce Hendricks – filed a case of assault against the Steenberg police station.

Hendricks told the Cape Argus that they had filed another complaint with the Independent Police Investigative Directorate (Ipid), and also a request to have police interdicted from unlawfully assaulting members of the public at the Western Cape High Court.

They are due to appear in court on November 20.

Police spokesman Lieutenant- Colonel Andrè Traut said police were aware of the allegations made against some members of the Steenberg police station.

“Complaints against our members are deemed as serious, and we will not hesitate to investigate every allegation of misconduct or brutality,” Traut said.

One complainant, Morris – who asked that his full name not be used – told the Cape Argus that the police had raided his house many times.

“They hit everyone they find in the house… even children, and break things without producing a search or arrest warrant,” he said.

Morris said he had been “abducted” last Friday without any explanation and taken to a holding cell at Steenberg police station, where he was beaten with a hockey stick.

“Sometimes they put a plastic bag over my face until I can’t breathe, or stripped me naked and beat me until I bleed,” he said.

He said the beatings and questioning could last for up to two days. He said the police questioned him about gang-related crimes in the area such as murders and drug smuggling.

“I am not a gangster. I am a taxpayer. I deserve to be treated with dignity. By targeting us they [police] are using us as cover-ups for their corruption.”

Another complainant showed the Cape Argus three of his fingers, allegedly broken by police.

“Police are traumatising the community. They don’t want peace, they steal our stuff and give our children sleepless nights,” he said.

There is also a claim that police shot a pregnant dog which was chained to a pole and it died in its owner’s arms.

Steenberg Community Police Forum chairman Kevin Southgate said residents were encouraged to report incidents of police brutality, but none had been reported.

Southgate said: “Nothing has been brought to our attention. Instead, there have been allegations flying around in the community that gangsters are bringing cases of police brutality to try and throw the police off their investigations.”

He said that since more police had been sent to the area, there had been more arrests of gang members and drug dealers. “I have had comments from the community indicating their satisfaction with the police. They are very visible and we are seeing more arrests,” he said.

However, this is not the first time the Steenberg police have been accused of police brutality.

Two months ago, Basil Fortune, 36, laid a complaint with the Ipid against the police after he and 15-year-old Brandon Festus were allegedly attacked by a group of police officers while driving in Steenberg.

Fortune said about six policemen stopped and searched their car before punching both of them in the stomach and chest.

At the time, Ipid spokesman Moses Dlamini confirmed that Fortune’s case was the fourth incident reported against Steenberg police this year.

neo.maditla@inl.co.za

nontando.mposo@inl.co.za

Cape Argus

Cape Town’s first batch of “auxiliary” law enforcement officers will start patrolling the city’s beaches this festive season.

Cape Town - Cape Town’s first batch of “auxiliary” law enforcement officers will start patrolling the city’s beaches and popular recreational hotspots this festive season, in a move that sees Cape Town as one of the first cities in the country to use reserve law enforcement officers.

The first intake of the officers will be ready for the busy festive season.

JP Smith, the city’s mayoral committee member for safety and security, said the officers would be ready to start work in the peak period between Christmas and New Year’s Day.

He said the officers would patrol beaches, focusing on dealing with alcohol on beaches. This was key, he said, because alcohol was a factor in many drownings.

They would also help to prevent drownings, assisting beachgoers in trouble.

“We’re quite excited that after the delays, it’s finally happening,” Smith said.

The policy would now go to a full council for approval.

The city council first decided to have law enforcement “reservists” two years ago. However the move was delayed, most recently because the SA Police Service did not agree with the wording “reservist”. It said the word could create confusion with its own reservist officers.

The police also wanted the city to remove any reference to compensation in its policy to not create expectations of salary for other reservists.

In response, the city changed the term to auxiliary officers.

Some of the volunteer officers will work in the areas in which they live. But because these residents are employed elsewhere, they will not have completed the full training by the festive season. Part-time training can take about three months. Once trained, the volunteers will lead after-hours patrols with neighbourhood watches.

Some of the officers will be in full uniform and Smith said this was the group which would play a critical role in bolstering law enforcement over the festive season.

However, potential officers must meet a strict set of standards to make the cut. All officers must pass a check to ensure they do not have criminal records.

Other criteria include that officers must be older than 21 and have a senior certificate. There will also be a physical check to make sure the officers are in good health.

bronwynne.jooste@inl.co.za

Cape Argus

Cosatu in the Western Cape has called on its members to stay out of work for one day in protest over the closure of 20 schools.

Cape Town - Cosatu in the Western Cape has called on all its members to stay out of work for one day next week in protest over the closure of 20 “disadvantaged” schools.

Making the announcement at an event planned by the Save Our Schools (SOS) campaign in Bishop Lavis on Sunday, Cosatu provincial secretary Tony Ehrenreich said: “Cosatu has about 150 000 members in the metropolitan area and about another 100 000 in the region and they are all expected to stay away from work for one day.”

“We have filed for a legal application against the Western Cape Education Department and we will be announcing the date of the strike sometime next week,” he said.

Ehrenreich said members of the SA Democratic Teachers’ Union (Sadtu) and all other Cosatu-affiliated unions would join the strike.

“We are concerned what will happen to the learners of the affected schools - all we want is for learners to have adequate facilities and we believe if we fix these schools we can save money,” he said.

ANC provincial chairman and deputy International Relations Minister Marius Fransman said this was a fight they had to fight for their children.

“Even though it is in [Education MEC Donald] Grant’s right to close schools, that does not mean we can’t take it up. Seven schools were saved through this campaign and that is a bitter-sweet victory,” Fransman said.

The campaign, started earlier this year, has received a strong following and SOS co-chairperson Matilda Vantura said the closures brought back terrible memories.

“I used to be a teacher back in the 60s and many schools were closed then for apartheid reasons and for me to be experiencing this again is just horrifying,” Vantura said.

Vantura said they had been meeting and signing petitions to keep the remaining 20 schools open.

Fransman said: “So far we have 43 000 signatures; we want to escalate that number to 100 000 signatures by mid November.”

At Sunday’s meeting, parent Christine Caesar asked what would become of the poor people who could not afford to take their children to other schools: “There are parents that live here and they have absolutely nothing… I refuse that the schools must be closed.”

Grant has assured parents that schools in neighbouring areas would be able to accommodate their children.

yolisa.tswanya@inl.co.za

Cape Argus

A mom has opted to launch her own probe into her son's death, citing police inaction in the weeks after the assault.

Cape Town - A Stellenberg mother has opted to launch her own investigation into her son’s death, citing police inaction in the weeks after the assault that she believes led to the teenager’s death.

On the evening of September 8, Jethro van Schalkwyk, 19, was punched in a scuffle outside a pub in Table View. He fell to the pavement, hitting his head on the concrete.

A friend who was with Jethro at the time, said they had been walking to a pub to look for the friend’s hoodie which had been misplaced when a man shoved Jethro from behind.

“Jethro said: ‘No need to be kind’, at which stage the man turned around and decked him with a solid right hook,” said the friend.

“He hit his head on the sidewalk and was quite dazed so I helped him to lean up against a nearby window.”

The friend said that at that stage the man who had thrown the punch approached the two, with the apparent intention of attacking Jethro again.

The friend and the man got into a fight, and Van Schalkwyk stumbled away. When Jethro’s friend saw him again, the teenager was lying unconscious on a nearby pavement, and his shoes had been stolen.

Jethro was taken by his friends to Netcare Blaauwberg Hospital, and later transferred to Groote Schuur where doctors performed emergency surgery to remove a blood clot and relieve pressure on his brain.

Doctors could not bring him out of an induced coma. Ten days after the assault, Prout-Jones took the decision to switch off her son’s life support.

“I’m not blaming the investigating officer, or even an individual police station. I understand that everything works according to a system, but that system seems to me to be coming up short. For instance, I heard from my source at Groote Schuur that the medical report was requested only [last] week,” she said. The report is needed as proof in a murder case.

“Important information I uncovered in the days after the assault was only recently followed up by police.”

Prout-Jones asked that details of the probe be withheld, saying the evidence was confidential and being passed on to police.

According to the Table View police, names, addresses and contact details of the alleged suspects were received from witnesses and video footage was viewed.

The police said the video footage was not clear enough so it would be sent for photo clarity enhancement.

Investigators were also awaiting the results of the post-mortem.

Any witnesses are asked to contact Detective Warrant Officer Stephen Maarman at 021 521 3300.

daneel.knoetze@inl.co.za

Cape Argus

The Mitchells Plain Community Police Forum has appealed for information to help find 5-year-old Kauthar Bobbs.

Cape Town - The Mitchells Plain Community Police Forum has appealed for information to help find 5-year-old Kauthar Bobbs from Tafelsig who went missing 10 days ago.

“Almost two weeks and still there is nothing. The search will continue and we appeal to anyone with information to please come forward,” CPF chairman Abie Isaacs said on Sunday night.

Kauthar was last seen on October 11 when she went to play in a park near her Freedom Park home. At the time she was wearing a pink to, blue pyjama pants and dark-blue Crocs.

“The family is very worried as the search has been going on for so long and still there is no sign of her,” the girl’s grandmother Nazley Bobbs said.

Anyone with information can call investigating officer Faizal Meyer on 082 522 1066, CrimeStop anonymously on 086 001 0111 or SMS Crimeline at 32211. Police may offer a reward.

Cape Times

A Western Cape policeman shot himself after shooting four other people in Da Gamaskop, Mossel Bay, police have said.

 Mossel Bay  - A Western Cape policeman shot himself after shooting four other people in Da Gamaskop, Mossel Bay, police said on Monday.

 Sergeant Annesh Bootram, 36, reported for duty at Kwanonqaba police station at 6pm on Sunday. Shortly after the parade he went to Constable Evelyn Peinaar's flat where the argument ensued, Captain Malcolm Pojie said.

 Pojie said Pienaar was shot and wounded together with her six-year-old daughter, her mother and the visiting friend.

 He said Bootram shot himself in the head as he was leaving the flat. He died at the scene.

 Pienaar and wounded victims were taken to Bay View Hospital for treatment.

 "It is believed that the child as well as the other two females are in a stable condition," Pojie said.

Pienaar was in a critical condition as she sustained several bullet wounds to her upper body and legs.

Police were investigating an inquest docket and four charges of attempted murder. - Sapa

The outgoing chairman of Two Oceans Marathon Association has accused the body of being resistant to transformation.

Cape Town -

The outgoing chairman of the association managing the world-famous Two Oceans Marathon, has accused the body of being white-male dominated and resistant to transformation.

In a report to the Two Oceans Marathon Association’s (Toma) annual general meeting, Solly Moeng, who had chaired the board for a year, also warned that management issues and wasteful expenditure were damaging the association’s functioning. This was despite the fact that the annual marathon – now in its 42nd year – was a huge success, said Moeng.

In the report, he said changes that were needed included transformation of the board and people management practices at the association’s office.

“The [outgoing] board is too white-male dominated – it can therefore not demonstrate the right levels of empathy when handling issues of race,” Moeng read from the report at last week’s meeting.

The 14-member board has only four black members, one of whom is the only female on the board.

Moeng claimed that staff grievances had been ignored and allowed to fester under the association’s general manager, Rowyn James, who has held the position for five years.

He said R165 000 paid to consultants to resolve internal issues and R42 000 spent on a professional coach for James had delivered few results.

Moeng said in the report about R15 million a year was being spent on procurement.

“Toma spends millions of rands per annum; a large part of these amounts come from sponsors. Where either board members or staff have relatives benefiting from Toma business, this has to be properly disclosed.

“Board members whose spouses render paid services have to disclose these relationships and ensure they do not influence their decision-making,” he said.

Moeng said staff needed to be treated with respect and that “the shining example Toma gave the outside world” needed to be shown internally.

At the meeting, representatives from WP Athletics, WP running clubs and Celtic Harriers forwarded the names of people to serve on a new board which will have its first meeting on Monday.

James said an official statement from the board had been prepared and would be sent as soon as members had signed it.

The association’s vice-chairman, Mike Scott, said board members had not seen Moeng’s report beforehand.

“The board had not had sight of it. It will be declared null and void at the first board meeting. A lot of people were very shocked. It is his personal views.

“There are certain aspects that are all valid, but the personal attack on the general manager, and saying board members are protecting him are absolute nonsense,” Scott said.

Asked about transformation at the association, he said: “We attempt as best as we can to recruit people who have skills and are available to sit on the board. It is no use to have people who have no skills to sit on the board.”

Moeng said the marathon had grown from 29 359 runners last year to 32 721 this year. The association has an annual budget of about R50m.

The first Two Oceans race was run in 1970 and had 26 runners. Over the years the event grew and it is now SA’s second biggest marathon, after the Comrades Marathon.

Cape Times