The Women’s Legal Centre has raised concerns over the low conviction rate of finalised sexual offences.

Cape Town - The Women’s Legal Centre (WLC) has raised concerns over the low conviction rate of finalised sexual offences cases revealed by the National Prosecution Authority’s (NPA) 2011/12 annual report.

Director of the WLC, Jennifer Williams, pictured, said in a statement that the WLC has for a long time been alarmed by the low number of reported rapes and the low conviction rate in sexual offences. She attributed this to systemic failure in the justice system.

According to the statistics released by the police, 66 196 incidents of sexual offences were reported between 2010 and 2011, and only 4 501 of these cases resulted in convictions.

Williams said the difficulty is with the implementation of the law.

She said the failings in the criminal justice system result in women not reporting cases, unwarranted delays in the prosecution of trials and re-traumatisation of women survivors, which affects their ability to be good witnesses.

“This, in turn, puts women off reporting rape and where they do and reduces the chances of securing a conviction,” she said.

The WLC has handled 103 queries relating to sexual offences and gender-based violence between January and August.

Managing director of The Saartjie Baartman Centre, Synnov Skorge, echoed the WLC sentiments on Monday.

“There are a high proportion of sexual abuse cases that go unreported and those that are do not receive a positive response,” she said.

“Some women don’t report sexual abuse because they are scared they will become further victimised. Not only should there be a functioning criminal justice, there should also be a safety element in place for women and children to ensure that justice is done.”

A household survey by the Department of Health shows that only 15 percent of rape survivors between the ages of 15 and 49 years reported offences to police.

This means that the conviction rate has dropped to below 1 percent when calculated on the actual number of incidents of sexual offences. - The Argus

Further woman alibi witnesses emerged during the cross-examination of one of Anni Dewani's alleged killers.

Cape Town - Further woman alibi witnesses emerged during the cross-examination of one of Anni Dewani's alleged killers, in the Western Cape High Court on Tuesday.

The State had been asking Xolile Mngeni about his movements the weekend she was killed, between November 12 and November 14, 2010.

He revealed he was with his girlfriend, another girlfriend and “a woman on special”.

On that Friday evening, he left his Khayelitsha home and met a woman.

“I spoke with this child, agreed about everything and brought her home to my home. Yes, it's a girlfriend,” he testified.

He then left her in his shack to play street ball with his friends and returned later to sleep.

Prosecutor Shareen Riley asked what her name was.

“I don't know what her name is but it was just a special for that night,” he said.

He then remembered her name and told it to the court.

He said he would be able to show police where she stayed, if they wanted her to testify.

He could also get his grandmother and another family member to confirm he was at home the whole time.

On the Saturday evening Dewani was killed, he said, he was with his official girlfriend and another couple.

On Sunday morning, he left his girlfriend in the shack and went home. He met a third female friend, “a girlfriend”, that day.

The trial continues. - Sapa

Acting judge Patrick Maqubela was dead for four or five days before his body was found, a pathologist testified.

Cape Town - Acting judge Patrick Maqubela was dead for four or five days before his body was found, a pathologist told the Western Cape High Court on Tuesday.

State pathologist Dr Sipho Mfolozi was testifying in the murder trial of the judge's widow Thandi Maqubela and her business partner Vela Mabena.

They have pleaded not guilty before Judge John Murphy, and claim Maqubela died of natural causes.

Mfolozi told the court he noticed a “faint odour of decomposition” when he entered the bedroom of the judge's Bantry Bay apartment in the early evening of Sunday, June 7, 2009.

He had been called to the scene by the investigating officer, Captain Etienne van Ede. Mfolozi said the curtains in the bedroom were drawn, and the judge was lying on his left side on the bed. Mfolozi noticed the face was swollen, and there was blood near his mouth, nose, and left ear.

Mfolozi noticed early signs of decomposition, and estimated the body had been there four or five days.

He said the captain told him no foul play was suspected, and that nothing was missing from the apartment.

Van Ede wanted to know if the judge had died of natural causes.

Mfolozi said the blood on the judge's face could have been caused by diseases such as tuberculosis or cancer, but a post mortem had revealed that the judge had been in good health at the time of his death.

Mfolozi said the post mortem revealed the blood was from his lungs.

Asked by prosecutors Bonnie Currie-Gamwo and Pedro van Wyk whether suffocation could have caused the bleeding, Mfolozi replied: “I think it can.”

Mfolozi explained that suffocation would have damaged the lungs, which could have caused the bleeding.

The State alleges the judge was suffocated with plastic cling-wrap placed over his face.

Mfolozi said the cause of death could not be established by the post mortem alone, and that other procedures were also introduced.

He told the court: “There was haemorrhaging in the lungs, which was the cause of the blood on the face, but there was no pathology in the lungs to explain the bleeding.”

The trial continues on Thursday. - Sapa

Two youths will appear in the Mossel Bay Magistrate's Court for killing a 19-year-old youth at a school in the area.

Mossel Bay - Two youths will appear in the Mossel Bay Magistrate's Court on Wednesday for killing a 19-year-old youth at a school in the area, said Western Cape police.

“It is alleged that the deceased was approached by the suspects during the morning break,” Captain Malcolm Pojie said on Tuesday.

“A confrontation ensued and a fight apparently broke out between them,” he said.

Thabani Mntini, 19, was stabbed in the face and chest. His assailants ran away.

Fellow pupils took Mntini to the school office. He died shortly after the police arrived.

The two youths were arrested in Kwanonqaba, Mossel Bay, on Monday. - Sapa

Monster energy drink, which is sold in most major retailers in Cape Town, has been linked to deaths in the US.

New York/Washington - The US Food and Drug Administration said it was investigating reports of five deaths that may be associated with Monster Beverage Corp’s namesake energy drink. The company’s shares fell more than 14 percent.

Monster is also being sued by the family of a 14-year-old girl, from Maryland in the US, with a heart condition who died after drinking two cans of its Monster energy drink in a 24-hour period.

Monster said it did not believe its drinks were in any way responsible for the girl’s death.

"Monster is unaware of any fatality anywhere that has been caused by its drinks," the company said in a statement, adding that it intended to vigorously defend itself against the lawsuit.

The heavily caffeinated drink is sold in most major retailers in Cape Town for less than R20, and it comes with a disclaimer on the can that reads: “Not recommended for people under the ages of 12 years old, pregnant women and people sensitive to caffeine, and it should not be used as a mixture with alcohol beverages.”

The family of Anais Fournier sued Monster on Friday for failing to warn about the product’s dangers.

The lawsuit, filed in California Superior Court in Riverside, said that after drinking two 340ml cans of Monster on consecutive days, Anais went into cardiac arrest. She was placed in an induced coma and died six days later on December 23, 2011.

The lawsuit said Anais died from “cardiac arrhythmia due to caffeine toxicity” that complicated an existing heart valve condition related to a disorder called Ehlers-Danlos syndrome.

The two drinks together contained 480 milligrams of caffeine, the equivalent of 14 cans of Coca-Cola (340ml), according to the lawsuit.

– Reuters

Anzunette du Plessis was murdered by being stabbed nine times in the back, the Wynberg Magistrate’s Court has heard.

Cape Town - Claremont mother Anzunette du Plessis was murdered by being stabbed nine times in the back, the Wynberg Magistrate’s Court has heard.

Detective-Constable Mteteleli Mlozana testified on Tuesday in the bail application of Warren van Rooyen and Dudley Boesak.

A third man, Moegamat Armien Salie, has been identified as the knifeman after he allegedly made a confession.

Mlozana told the court that the three men were charged with murder, aggravated robbery and the illegal possession of stolen property.

Cape Argus

A school principal is being seen as a spokesman for SA frustrations, after his open letter to President Zuma went viral.

Cape Town -

A Cape Town headmaster is being seen as a spokesman for SA frustrations, after his open letter to President Jacob Zuma went viral on news websites.

Stephen Price, principal of Bergvliet High School, says he has been inundated with letters and phone calls of support since the letter was published in the Cape Argus two weeks ago.

The letter draws attention to a disjuncture between the enthusiasm and potential of matric candidates – Price uses Bergvliet’s Grade 12 class as an example – and the failure of the country’s leaders to create a conducive space for them to flourish as young adults.

“It’s been absolutely unexpected and overwhelming. To me it’s an indication that I touched on a raw nerve in our society. Many people have indicated that they agree with my views and have thanked me for the contribution that my letter made to voicing these,” said Price.

One respondent wrote: “Even if [your letter] does not generate a response from that high office, please be assured that it is a confidence-building piece for those of us who support what it is that you and your band of dedicated teachers are doing.”

Price conceived the letter as he was drafting his speech for Bergvliet’s Grade12 valedictory service.

“I wanted to remind them of what we had taught them, but also to warn them about the uncertain future and tough realities that they were entering outside the school’s safe environment,” he says, referring to Marikana, strikes, political corruption and other problems.

“For me, it is the head of state who needs to be called to task and take responsibility for this sad state of affairs.”

Criticism directed at Price has argued that Bergvliet is a privileged school and for this reason cannot purport to comment on behalf of the rest of the country’s matric candidates and teachers.

“Just look at the subheadings of my letter – ‘respect, unity of purpose, spirit of participation’ – you don’t need money to nurture these principles,” Price said.

daneel.knoetze@inl.co.za

Cape Argus

A major road linking Ashton and Swellendam will be closed for at least two weeks after a large section collapsed.

Cape Town -

A major road linking Ashton and Swellendam will be closed for at least two weeks after a large section collapsed on Monday, the department of Transport and Public Works said on Tuesday.

The R60 between Ashton and Swellendam was closed after a section about 22km from Swellendam collapsed, the department’s Al-Ameen Kafaar said.

“The road will be closed until we have assessed the extent of the damage and determined what remedies will be needed to make it safe for travelling again,” Kafaar said.

She said heavy rains at the weekend and the high seasonal rains this year were to blame.

A complete assessment and remedial plan will be completed by Friday, Kafaar said.

Some Swellendam residents raised concerns about the safety of alternative routes that they would now have to use.

Dee Schutte, a resident and owner of vegetable store Seon Eco Centre in Swellendam, had to turn around and use a gravel road near Bruintjiesfontein as an alternative route.

“The alternative routes like this gravel one are dangerous to drive on and people have been robbed and assaulted,” she said. “This is a great inconvenience for me because I can’t get to my house nor my business like I normally do. It is terrible,” Schutte said.

Asked how the road closure would affect her business, she said: “I have a big market fair coming up at the end of this month and with the road now closed it means that my customers from other areas will have to use shoddy alternative routes, which could discourage them from attending the fair.

“The delivery of goods has also been halted because it is dangerous for trucks to travel on gravel roads, and it will cost me more to deliver goods if my trucks used tarred alternative routes.”

Another resident and owner of a corn farm right next to the collapsed section of the road, Andre Joubert, said it collapsed due to the heavy rains at the weekend.

“On Sunday afternoon I was driving here and I saw that a small part of the road had a big crack in it. The road was fine to drive on but you could feel that there was a slight dip,” he said.

He said his farming activities are not seriously affected because he has bakkies to make deliveries.

No injuries were reported.

Traffic to Swellendam was diverted to the Bonnievale Road in Bonnievale. Motorists were advised to take the R62 through Montagu to Barrydale and from Barrydale through the Tradouw Pass to the N2 freeway.

jason.felix@inl.co.za

Cape Times

The police and animal welfare groups rescued more than two dozen allegedly stolen dogs destined for Angola.

Cape Town -

The police and animal welfare groups rescued more than two dozen dogs destined for Angola and arrested two foreigners suspected of trying to smuggle the dogs across the border.

On Monday the animal welfare task team rescued the 26 allegedly stolen dogs from a journey that would have seen them lying, paralysed, in their own urine while they starved.

Operations began three weeks ago when the task team received a tip-off from the South African border – two Angolan nationals were asking what paperwork they would need to take their dogs out of the country.

“We had been watching them for weeks,” former military officer and Global Animal Welfare consultant Mariette Hopley told the Cape Argus.

The two suspects were nabbed in Diep River by police and SPCA officials while transporting purebred dogs and puppies, including German shepherds, huskies and Rottweilers.

Hopley said the dogs were set to be smuggled across the Angolan border by the end of the week, where they would have been used by security firms or in breeding pens or fighting pits, or even eaten. While the dogs were found in good condition, it would have been a different story a week down the line, she said.

“[The smugglers] feed them and keep them healthy so they can get all the proper paperwork,” said Hopley. “As soon as they have that, they don’t care – they stop feeding them.”

Hopley described how the dogs would be loaded on to the back of bakkies, where they would be forced to sleep in their faeces and urine and without even an open window to give them relief from the heat.

Milan Cronje, who works with the non-profit organisation Watershed, described how in previous cases dogs and puppies were tied down with chicken wire. The dogs are now being housed in a safe shelter where they will be fed and assessed by medical staff.

The Angolans, who were arrested on the scene, are being investigated and a case has been lodged against them. Hopley confirmed one of the suspects had been positively identified in connection with a large smuggling syndicate responsible for trafficking more than 120 000 dogs from South Africa.

Task team member Captain William Dreyer said dog smuggling was incredibly lucrative, with purebred dogs pulling in R10 000 each. He said “runners” or “smugglers” were just the “tip of the tip of the iceberg”.

* The task team is urging anyone whose dog has been stolen recently to call Hopley at 083 254 5523 or Captain Dreyer at 082 469 2549.

kieran.legg@inl.co.za

Cape Argus

Xolile Mngeni, who is on trial for the murder of Anni Dewani, seemed to change his story when quizzed about his cellphone number.

Cape Town - A man on trial for the murder of tourist Anni Dewani seemed to change his story when quizzed about his cellphone number, in the Western Cape High Court on Wednesday.

Xolile Mngeni, 25, first said he was using his SIM card in his ex-girlfriend's phone at the time of his arrest on November 16, 2010.

When the State asked him why the arresting police did not find this phone, he said it had been lost.

“That's not what you said earlier on,” Judge Robert Henney said.

Mngeni said the court must have misunderstood him, or that he must have made a mistake.

Mngeni has pleaded not guilty to hijacking, robbing and killing Dewani in Gugulethu on November 13, 2010.

He explained during cross-examination that the phone was lost before his arrest, and that he then made a SIM swap. He did not have a phone after that.

Prosecutor Shareen Riley asked how long before the arrest the phone was lost.

He said it was a month or two months beforehand.

Riley said this did not make sense and referred to the court record, to read out Mngeni's previous answer to what phone he was using during November 2010.

Mngeni had said at the time: “I was using a J700”, but on Wednesday he repeated that the phone had been lost by then.

“Why didn't you tell your counsel that?” Riley asked.

Mngeni replied: “I made a mistake.”

The trial continues. - Sapa

A matric pupil who dreamed of becoming a lawyer has died a week after he was stabbed with a screwdriver.

Cape Town - A matric pupil who dreamed of becoming a lawyer has died a week after he was stabbed with a screwdriver. No one has been arrested yet.

Luzuko Ndongeni, 18, from Boston Private School, was stabbed while walking with friends in Goodwood near GrandWest Casino two weeks ago. He had apparently been attacked for his cellphone and was stabbed in the head and chest with a screwdriver.

He was treated at Cape Gate MediClinic but succumbed to his injuries last week.

This past weekend, his mother took his body to the Eastern Cape to be buried.

Boston Private School principal Barry Meyer said the incident had stunned the school.

“It was dreadful. He spent a week in intensive care and just about all of his classmates took some time to see him. He did not look good and I think doctors knew there wasn’t much more they could do for him, so everyone went to say their goodbyes,” Meyer said.

Luzuko had been at the school for the past two years and Meyer described him as a “hardworking and above average student”.

“His ambition was to become a lawyer, his subjects were geared that way and he was always talking to me and his grade head about what grades and points he needed to get into university for law. He was very focused,” he said.

Meyer added that his friends spoke very well of him with many saying he was “the life of the party”.

“He was also a good hockey player and just a genuinely sweet guy. This is an awful tragedy…” Meyer said.

Luzuko’s mother has just returned from the Eastern Cape after burying him on Saturday and said she was still too traumatised to speak to the Cape Times.

zara.nicholson@inl.co.za

Cape Times

Helen Zille says the irregular expenditure flagged by the AG is a fraction of the “corrupt” dealings of Ebrahim Rasool’s administration.

Cape Town - Western Cape Premier Helen Zille says the R22.8 million in irregular expenditure which the auditor-general’s office flagged in her department’s 2011/12 annual report is a fraction of what her DA government found in the “corrupt” dealings of former premier Ebrahim Rasool’s administration.

The R22.8m, from a 2007 contract, was part of a total package of R52.3m awarded to Hip Hop Media by the ANC provincial government between 2004 to 2009.

Zille was responding to a report in the Cape Argus on Tuesday, which stated that the auditor-general had only found out about the contract last year when problems with it were raised after the DA took office in 2009.

Asked why it took so long for the auditor-general to find out about the irregular spending, Zille’s spokesman, Zak Mbhele, accused the former ANC administration of keeping the information under wraps.

“The ANC administration managed to keep the Hip Hop contract under wraps and when the DA came to power in 2009, one of its first priorities was to strengthen the internal Forensic Investigation Unit (FIU) to identify corruption and other irregularities in the administration,” Mbhele said.

“The Hip Hop tender was then referred to the FIU that began its investigation in 2011 and duly reported the irregular expenditure which appeared in the financial statements of 2012.

“The irregularities had not been picked up at the time and were only found and uncovered by the DA administration, through the revamped FIU, at the DA administration’s insistence.”

Mbhele said disciplinary action had been taken against implicated officials.

“Some of these have been concluded already – one dismissal and several written warnings issued – and some are still in process at an advanced stage,” he said.

“The department is busy pursuing options for possible recovery of the money.”

Of the R22.8m communications tender awarded to Hip Hop Media, R3m comprised invoices that were not supported by the required quotations. Provincial government communications contracts worth R80m had been paid to three companies over four years during the Rasool administration.

The investigation into the media contracts revealed that former Cape Argus journalist Ashley Smith had been paid to write stories favourable to Rasool, creating the so-called “brown envelope” scandal.

Smith in turn alleged that one of his colleagues had also received money.

Smith, his former fiancée Joy van der Heyde, and former Cape Argus political editor Joseph Aranes had links with Hip Hop Media.

Rasool and his ANC colleagues have all denied irregularities in awarding the contracts as well as the illegal payments made to journalists.

Smith submitted his affidavit to the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) in July 2010. In exchange, he requested indemnity against any possible criminal charges.

His admission came five years after the allegations were first made to the Cape Argus by members of the Western Cape ANC – specifically that two Cape Argus staffers were secretly being paid to write news articles favourable to Rasool.

An internal disciplinary hearing hauled Smith up on charges, but he resigned before the newspaper’s investigation was complete.

On the available evidence, Aranes was stripped of his political editor position when the allegations first surfaced in 2005. He resigned in 2009.

In 2010, the provincial government handed a forensic report to the Commercial Crimes Unit to investigate the contracts. Zille said there has been no movement on the case from the police’s side since.

Questions were sent to Hawks spokesman Captain Paul Ramaloko on Tuesday, but he had not replied at the time of going to print.

Responding to questions from the Cape Argus, Hip Hop Media’s former head Zain Orrie said: “Why don’t you ask Gasant Abarder [Cape Argus executive editor] or [Chris] Whitfield [Independent Newspapers Cape’s editor-in-chief]? They know better about Hip Hop. Don’t ask me.”

The Cape Argus was unable to get hold of Rasool, currently SA ambassador to the US.

Timeline

Paymenst to Hip Hop Media by the ANC provincial government amounted to R52 359 681.88:

* Department of the Premier – R23 847 913.20 between July 9, 2004, and July 23, 2009.

* Department of Transport and Public Works – R25 697 282.36; July 20, 2006, to May 11, 2009.

* Department of Community Safety – R2 532 545.24; December 29, 2005, to September 19, 2008.

* Department of Environmental Affairs and Development Planning – R264 738.48; March 30, 2007, to August 7, 2008.

* Department of Cultural Affairs and Sport, R17 202,60; January 15, 2007, to February 9, 2007.

sibusiso.nkomo@inl.co.za

Cape Argus

The skipper of the Miroshga was not qualified to command a small passenger boat, according to a preliminary report.

Cape Town - The skipper of the sightseeing boat Miroshga which capsized earlier this month near Hout Bay in an incident in which two passengers drowned, was not qualified to command a small passenger boat, a preliminary report says.

This, coupled with an underqualified crew, bad decision-making, infrastructural shortcomings, technical failures and weather conditions all contributed to the disaster, according to the report released on Wednesday.

Of major concern is the revelation that a number of modifications to the vessel’s original configuration resulted in a number of technical shortcomings.

These were cited as the main catalysts in precipitating the events which rendered the vessel unsafe, in spite of it having a permit to take tourists on dolphin and whaling watching excursions in 2011.

Of the eight “causes” listed in the conclusion of the report, seven were the direct result of negligence or inexperience, and thus avoidable.

The South African Maritime Safety Authority (Samsa) is still completing its investigation, but its initial report revealed the main causes of the incident.

Welsh tourist Peter Hyett and Hangberg resident and crew member John Roberts died in the incident.

Dave Colly, regional manager for Samsa in the Western Cape, said: “The final report will only be complete in the next month or so. It will be sent to the investigating officer of the case and to the Samsa head office.”

Causes for the accident listed by the initial report include:

* The skipper’s competency certificate was not endorsed to allow him to command a small passenger ship. The endorsement is the only assurance that a skipper holds specific training in life raft use, radio procedures, first aid and fire fighting.

* The vessel was fitted with a 50-man life raft. This raft drifted away without inflating after passengers cut the canister retaining straps. A member of the crew dived in and attempted to retrieve the raft, but the wind swept the crew member and the raft away from the vessel.

* The flood points of the vessel were too low, allowing substantial amounts of water to enter the non-watertight aft compartment while at sea. The problem was known to the owners and crew, who managed the water ingress by using bilge pumps to remove water during voyages. The problem was not reported to Samsa.

* Bilge pumps were not correctly wired.

* Alarms that were intended to alert crew to bilge pump failures were disconnected. The skipper and crew were thus not aware of the of the flooded aft compartments.

* When inboard engines were replaced by outboard engines (in a 2010 modification), the watertight subdivisions arrangements in the hull were compromised, allowing sea water to come into the compartment. This resulted in the cross-flooding of adjacent compartments, including the battery compartment for the engine. Also, the the starboard engine out-mount was not watertight and needed to be drained daily.

* An electrical failure and flooding resulted in the vessel’s two engines cutting out.

* With propulsion lost, the vessel drifted closer to inshore shallow waters. The skipper did not appreciate the danger of this, and when the danger was identified there was a delay in deploying the anchor. Steep breaking waves in this shallow water resulted in the boat being capsized.

Cape Argus

Sibusiso Nteta and J Bosman have appeared in court in connection with the murder of Cape Town businessman Alexander Otten.

Veredenburg -

The case against two men accused of killing an investment business owner was postponed by the Vredenburg Magistrate's Court on Wednesday, the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) said.

The case against Sibusiso Nteta and J Bosman was postponed until Monday when they were expected to bring a bail application, said NPA spokesman Jacques van Zyl. They remained in custody, he said.

Alexander Otten, 53, the owner of Northstar Asset Management, was found dead at his ransacked holiday home near Velddrif on Saturday.

He had sustained a head wound, his hands and feet were tied and a plastic bag had been placed over his head.

Nteta and Bosman were arrested in St Helena Bay on Monday. - Sapa

Taxi bosses have slammed the Cape’s “integrated” transport plans, saying they were leaving several operators out in the cold.

Cape Town - Cape Town taxi bosses have slammed the city’s “integrated” transport plans, saying they were leaving several operators out in the cold.

However, the city said it has had informal talks with the taxi industry, adding that it would not proceed with any plans without consulting with the sector.

The city on Tuesday hosted a workshop on the future of integrated transport in Cape Town. Transport planners, commuters and representatives from the bus, taxi and rail sector attended. It was billed as an opportunity to start discussions around how different forms of transport would be linked over the next few years.

Representatives of the taxi industry voiced their unhappiness with the way the plan was unfolding.

Basil Nagel, from the taxi industry in Retreat, said the city was “trying to destroy” the minibus industry. He said the taxi industry had a large share of the commuter market, but was often sidelined.

“For 37 years I’ve doing this without a [government] subsidy. When are you coming to the party for the mini-bus industry?” he said.

“The city doesn’t listen to the minibus taxi industry. We have made several attempts to do a presentation, but we’re not saying we have all the solutions.”

An official informed Nagel that the Taxi Summit would be taking place next month and this would be the platform to raise issues.

Nagel said he was aware of the summit as he had requested it.

Achmat Dyason, the chairperson of the Park-City taxi association, said the city was “communicating with the wrong people”.

Dyason said coming up with solutions was not as easy as “putting a few questions on a board”.

Theresa Thompson, DA councillor, said some of people at the workshop were the “wrong people” to be speaking to. Instead, she believed the conversation should be taking place outside with commuters.

The city is planning to survey 25 000 people on the plan.

ANC chief whip Xolani Sotashe, speaking outside the meeting, said he had been working to start talks between some taxi associations and the city: “We shouldn’t treat these stake-holders as ‘by the way’. They must be taken seriously.”

Brett Herron, mayoral committee member for transport, roads and stormwater said the city’s Integrated Rapid Transit team had been having informal talks with taxi operators. And a meeting with SA National Taxi Council (Santaco) was planned for next month.

He said the city would not proceed with any plans without consulting those involved.

bronwynne.jooste@inl.co.za

Cape Argus

The police must have been clairvoyant to know the exact details of tourist Anni Dewani's murder, the Western Cape High Court heard.

Cape Town - The police must have been clairvoyant to know the exact details of tourist Anni Dewani's murder, the Western Cape High Court heard on Wednesday.

The State put it to Xolile Mngeni, 25, that it was unbelievable the police could have told him what to say about the murder when he was the first to be arrested on November 16, 2010.

At that stage, they knew very little and could not have picked up details from convicted killers Zola Tongo and Mziwamadoda Qwabe, as their arrests only followed later.

Mngeni had claimed he was assaulted by police and told what to say to implicate him.

“Either they can see into the future or something,” prosecutor Shareen Riley said.

Mngeni has pleaded not guilty to hijacking, robbing and killing Dewani in Gugulethu on November 13, 2010.

Riley said there were very specific details the police could not have known in “making up” Mngeni's confession.

The first was that Mngeni had apparently been sitting in the back of Tongo's shuttle van, a VW Sharan, a few hours before the murder.

It was only later that two witnesses corroborated this sighting and testified as such.

“But they (the police) told me to say that,” Mngeni insisted.

The police could not have had any knowledge about a meeting between Dewani's killers on Saturday, nor that the killers were given a lift to the murder site.

Only later did various witnesses cement this knowledge, Riley said.

Mngeni denied ever getting a lift that night with Qwabe.

Riley said it was a mystery as to how the police could have known Qwabe was wearing yellow kitchen gloves while driving off with the hijacked vehicle.

Qwabe only revealed this later on and it was confirmed by forensics.

“They told me they had plastic gloves,” Mngeni said.

Judge Robert Henney summarised what the State was alleging.

“What the prosecutor is saying is that you put yourself in trouble. You left your fingerprint there, the police caught you... and you spilled the beans,” the judge said.

The accused said police made these “stories” up.

Riley said it would be the State's case that Mngeni was lying when he said he was not at the scene of the crime.

“The State has several witnesses, including Qwabe, who said you were in fact with him on November 13 and you were the one who, in fact, pulled the trigger.”

The trial continues. - Sapa

Inmates at Cape Town's Pollsmoor prison are eating from dirty pots, an independent prisons visitor told Parliament.

Parliament, Cape Town -

Inmates at Cape Town's Pollsmoor prison are eating from dirty pots, an independent prisons visitor told Parliament's correctional services portfolio committee on Wednesday.

Briefing MPs on conditions at the jail, Thamie Mlenzana said the kitchens remained filthy despite several complaints over the past two months.

The kitchen is run by the Bosasa group of companies, which had its contract to provide food and maintain kitchens at several South African prisons extended earlier this year.

“It's dirty, even the Bosasa side is also dirty, and you'll see flies inside the kitchen... that is inhumane,” Mlenzana told the committee.

The Bosasa tender has been tainted by allegations of a corrupt relationship between the company and former senior officials.

Mlenzana said because she did not have any significant powers, she was compelled to complain to the head of the correctional centre and the area commissioner, both of whom had done nothing to change the situation.

Mlenzana also complained about the Medium B section being 100 percent overcrowded.

“The place is very old and... when it's raining the place is wet.”

The other major obstacle Mlenzana found was the presence of gangsters.

“Gangsterism is... worse in Medium B, where members (warders) are attacked by gangsters and even we don't feel safe,” said Mlenzana.

ANC MP Vuselo Magagula said conditions at Pollsmoor and the prevalence of gangsters, which had been shown on television screens globally, embarrassed the country.

MPs resolved to consider strengthening the hand of independent prison visitors to ensure they could compel prison managers to improve conditions. - Sapa

Cape Town - A commission of inquiry into allegations of police inefficiency in Khayelitsha starts on Monday.

Cape Town - A commission of inquiry into allegations of police inefficiency in Khayelitsha starts on Monday.

“The commission is looking for statements from residents of Khayelitsha concerning their experience of policing in Khayelitsha,” commission secretary Amanda Dissel said on Wednesday.

“The primary purpose of the commission is to ensure that the community of Khayelitsha has trust in the SA Police Service, and to find ways to foster that trust.”

The inquiry would be held at Lookout Hill, in Khayelitsha, and would examine the breakdown in relations between the community and the Khayelitsha police. At its first sitting, procedural issues would be considered.

Public hearings would be held at OR Tambo Hall, in Khayelitsha, in November and December. - Sapa

A girlfriend of one of the alleged killers of tourist Anni Dewani may testify in his defence, the Western Cape High Court heard.

Cape Town - A girlfriend of one of the alleged killers of tourist Anni Dewani may testify in his defence, the Western Cape High Court heard on Wednesday.

“We seemingly have to make means for her to come from the Eastern Cape. I think that's the one that was mentioned to be in Johannesburg,” lawyer Qalisile Dayimani, for Xolile Mngeni, told the court.

He said it might take time for the witness to get to Cape Town and that a long postponement might be needed.

Mngeni has pleaded not guilty to robbing, hijacking and killing Dewani in Gugulethu, on November 13, 2010.

He testified this week that he was with his girlfriend that night. He said she could be called as an alibi witness, but later revealed it would be difficult to locate her as she had since moved to Johannesburg and he had lost contact with her.

Judge Robert Henney asked if he would be able to show the police where her family stayed in Khayelitsha, to get her phone number and her new address. Mngeni said that would not be a problem.

On Wednesday, Dayimani spoke of other possible witnesses.

“I am contemplating three alibi witnesses. I'm not sure of a fourth one.”

He previously mentioned that a doctor would take the stand to provide “clinical notes on the injury sustained by Mngeni during 2009”.

Mngeni apparently hurt his left hand and was hospitalised for a lengthy period.

The lawyer argued at the time that, without the full use of his hand, it would have been impossible for Mngeni to fire a gun. - Sapa

The case against two Mossel Bay teenagers accused of killing a pupil at a school has been postponed.

Mossel Bay - The case against two teenagers accused of killing a pupil at a school was postponed by the Mossel Bay Magistrate's Court on Wednesday, the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) said.

“Xolisani Thomas and Siyabulela Mbalula, both aged 18, will appear in court again next month for a bail application,” NPA spokesman Eric Ntabazalila said.

Thabani Mntini, 19, was fatally stabbed in the face and chest during an altercation at a Mossel Bay school during the morning break, on Monday. - Sapa