Forces of Law?

Officers held for robbery

Eleven people, including two police officers were arrested for being involved in a spate of bank and business robberies in Ventersdorp, Orkney, Christiana and Wolmaransstad, the North West department of public safety said on Friday.

"Eleven suspects including two senior policemen stationed at Wolmaransstad Police Station were arrested by the North West Provincial Organised Crime Task team," spokesman Lesiba Moses Kgwele said.

"The captain and inspector are alleged to have escorted members of the syndicate to and from targeted banks and businesses.

Story continues

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Hijacking 'cops' take dad on hell-ride

Pretoria - Two men wearing police uniforms and driving a marked police vehicle hijacked a father of three on Thursday.

After driving around with Piet Erasmus for hours, he was forced onto his knees at the side of a road. He expected to be shot, but the hijackers fled when two teachers drove past.

"They saved my life. The hijackers would've shot me there and then if they hadn't driven past," said the 51-year-old

Continue reading

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Cops lose 3 000 guns

According to claims by the Democratic Alliance the police are "unwittingly fuelling the illegal arms trade" by ordering thousands of new pistols to replace those that have been lost or stolen.

A Democratic Alliance spokesperson Kohler Barnard claimed that the 4 000 new pistols ordered by the SA Police Service (SAPS) were not to boost firepower, but "mostly to replace lost and stolen firearms".

"The ordering of about 4 000 new Beretta pistols means that another R16-million is being spent by the police on procuring weapons," Barnard said.

"However, we understand this order is almost entirely as a consequence of the fact that nearly 3000 police firearms were lost or stolen over a period of just six months last year."

Full report

Official 'Does Nothing' for 7 years

A Free State department of education official who has been "doing nothing" for seven years, has written a letter to President Jacob Zuma to stop her forced loafing.

Maryna Jacobs, 37, a senior bookkeeper with 18 years of service, wrote to Zuma that she had been relieved of her duties. Every day she sat and read the newspaper as no manager spoke to her.

"It is fun to do nothing for a while. But this has been going on for seven years. It is unacceptable," she wrote to the president.

On one of the few occasions that she was given a task, she was ordered to move the furniture of a deputy director. She refused.

Jacobs said she was also asked on Wednesday to draw up the budget. This she had done two years ago.

Sometimes she played hand soccer in the office that did the purchasing of schoolbooks.

Sometimes she drove for an hour in her bakkie through the streets to get rid of her frustration.

She mentioned in the letter that she had a charge of assault against her but said this was due to frustration.

Continue reading here

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Hat tip: Dina

More news in brief

News links provided by Dina

Killer Cop's Chilling threat
Two days before he murdered her daughter a police sergeant phoned Mavis Sokutu to tell her: "You will hear about your daughter's death soon." Full Story...

After killing the daughter the policeman went on to hijack three cars, shot two other people, one of them a police officer, before he turned the gun on himself.

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Pupil Stabbed to Death

A 17-year-old pupil at the EE Monese Secondary School in Senekal was expected to appear in the local magistrate's court on Thursday for allegedly stabbing a schoolmate to death in class. News report

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Man Killed- wife injured during robbery

A businessman was killed and his wife wounded by armed robbers who opened fire on them during a robbery at their tuck shop in Palmridge, east of Johannesburg
News report

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R300 million ($39 million) missing from Social Development Department

An investigation commissioned by KwaZulu-Natal's Social Development Department had revealed corruption involving R300 million
News Report

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Trucker killed after hijacking

A 45-year-old truck driver was shot and killed after his truck was hijacked near Vosloorus
News report

Citizen Appeals McBride ruling

A person's criminal conduct remains a factor in determining suitability for becoming a police officer, despite having received amnesty, the Supreme Court of Appeal heard on Monday.

The court was hearing an appeal by The Citizen newspaper in its defamation case with Ekurhuleni metro police chief Robert McBride.

The South Gauteng High Court earlier ordered the newspaper to pay McBride R200 000 for defamation.

The case relates to mainly editorial comment and opinion in a column published in September and October 2003. The articles queried McBride's suitability for the position of metro police chief, referred to his criminal record that stemmed from the apartheid-era bombing of a bar in which 69 people were injured and three were killed. They also mentioned his having been detained for gun dealing in Mozambique, and that he had no experience or academic training as a traffic officer. 'snip'

Full report her

In how many other civilised nations would a convicted killer be apointed Chief of police, and a newspaper successfully sued for quiestioning that appointment?

Two More Farm Murders

Ficksburg, Free State, South Africa

‘you don’t have a husband any longer.’

A Fixburg Farmers wife Dorothy Gieseke was confronted by three men when alone in her home on Saturday. The men, one armed with a gun and another with a screwdriver threatened Mrs, Gieseke telling her ‘you don’t have a husband any longer’ and demanded cash and weapons, however, they then fled when she managed to hit a panic button.

Mrs Gieseke then went in search of her 69 year old husband who had gone out to feed animals earlier in the day. She found him lying dead Having been battered around the head and his throat cut with a sharp object.

A police search for the attackers started immediately and three men, between the age of 16 and 30, were found not far from the farm. Police are still looking for more suspects in the case.

Anton Kok, another local farmer said the death of Gieseke was a huge loss to the community. "He was an outstanding person and a great gentleman in the community." He said Gieseke farmed with lavender, extracted oils, cultivated berries which customers could come and harvest themselves on the farm and cattle.

It was reported that an electric fence at the farm had been cut a week earlier and had not been repaired when the attack took place.

News report

Farmer killed wife injured

Meanwhile Mpumalanga police are investigating the murder of a rose farmer who was shot dead by intruders who broke into his home in the early hours of Friday morning. His wife was injured in the same attack.

According to police the couple's son heard gunshots in the house at about 1.30am on Friday and his parents screaming. When he went to their bedroom to investigate he discovered his father had been shot in the head and was dead while his mother was shot and wounded in the arm

News report

UPDATE: Further details at the Afrikaner Genocide Archives - Warning Graphic Images

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Reports from Dina

New in Brief

McBride 'threatened to rape our wives'

The trial relating to ex-Johannesburg police Chief Robert McBride continues with testimony from a witness Patrick Johnson claiming he he signed a statement under oath in 2007, stating that McBride was sober when he crashed his car in December 2006. Johnson was giving evidence during the trial of Dr Joseph Moratioa, who is charged with fraud and defeating the ends of justice.

Moratioa, who has pleaded not guilty to the charges, is alleged to have given McBride - who attended yesterday's court proceedings - a false medical certificate after the crash.

Asked why he signed the statement stated that he was afraid of McBride who, he stated had made threats against himself and his family "He said he would rape our wives and kill our pets and our children," Johnson said, adding he had been forced to sign the statement.

Robert McBride is the former chief of the Metropolitan Police for Ekurhuleni Metropolitan Municipality. During the apartheid era he was a member of Umkhonto we Sizwe, the armed wing of the African National Congress, and was convicted for, amongst others, of the 1986 bombing of Magoo's Bar / “Why Not” Restaurant in Durban, which killed 3 and injured 69. He applied for and was granted amnesty for this and other militant actions taken during that time by the Truth and Reconciliation Commission.

When he was appointed Chief of police by the ANC one journalist questioned the suitability of the convicted killer of innocent people being appointed chief of police - as a result The Citizen newspaper for whom the journalist worked was sued. The trial continues - report here

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Murder 'makes mockery of police World Cup pledge'

Politicians expressed outrage over the killing of a Midrand man for a laptop and cellphones, saying the murder "scoffed" at attempts to crack down on criminals ahead of the World Cup.

"It is time that capital punishment is re-instated. It is the only real deterrent to murder and the only appropriate punishment that will rid our country of elements that infect society like a festering sore," Christian Democratic Party leader Theunis Botha said in a statement.

He was reacting to the "cold-blooded" murder of 42-year-old Kobus Snyman in his home during a robbery in which a laptop and cellphones were stolen.

The murder, he said, made a "mockery" of Police Minister Nathi Mthethwa's vow to track down two criminals who, during an interview with e.tv, threatened to rob foreigners during the soccer tournament

Full report here

Related Story:

ANC trying to silence media over World Cup threats

The ANC has been accused of a "full-scale assault" on eNews to force the channel to identify criminals interviewed on air was an attempt to muzzle the media.

The ruling party has urged e.tv to help the police arrest two masked men who told of plans to commit crimes during the 2010 Fifa World Cup in a recent programme

Continue reading here

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Reports from Dina
Well connected killer walks free seven years into 20 year sentence

The High Court in Pretoria has ordered the immediate release of double killer Pieter Groenewald, seven years after he was jailed for 20 years for a roadside attack on three men.

He was convicted in 2003 of the May 1990 execution-style murders of Simon Koba and Prince Makena on the road between Cullinan and Mamelodi and was also convicted of attempted murder in the same incident

Groenewald is the son of retired SA Defence Force general Tienie Groenewald.

Full report

For your convenience, Mr Zuma

"Vleispasty" (meat pie), my younger, far less attractive sister wants to know why Jacob Zuma hasn't asked for her hand in marriage yet.

With wife number six on the line and the South African tax payer no doubt footing the security, housing and other bills, and with my pudgy little sis notoriously lazy, I can see why she would not mind being the Sunday night chick...unless JZ also rests on that day.

It wouldn't surprise me if he did.

Continue reading here

Prison Break

Of the thirty one prisoners who escaped from Barberton prison in Mpumalanga at the end of last month police have recaptured four and shot dead a fifth who was found asleep in a house in Mooi Plaas. The dead man had been implicated in various crimes including rape.

The escape took place after the men cut an opening in the metal roof of their cell. The Barberton police station commander and her deputy were transferred pending an investigation into the escape.

A further five men escaped from a prison in Witbank on New Year's Eve, one of who has since been shot dead.

By my calculations that leaves 30 felons still on the run (will anyone notice?)

News story here

Education South African Style

South African Broadcasting Corp

Johannesburg - Eighteen schools, half of them in Limpopo, got a zero percent matric pass rate.

Four schools followed suit in KwaZulu-Natal, three in the Eastern Cape, one in the North West and one in Gauteng, according to figures by the basic education department following the release of the 2009 National Senior Certificate results. 'snip'

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Supplied by Dina

Abandoned, raped and murdered

A 62 year old woman was raped and killed when she and her partner were attacked while returning from Vereeniging on Monday. The man reports that he was hit from behind, knocking him to the ground, however, leaping to his feet he was then able to flee the scene.

Returning later in search the woman, he was unable to find her and reported her disappearance to the police, who, after a search found her partially nude body. The woman had apparently been raped and then strangled.

Source

Julius, Duduzane "enjoy the high life*

Julius Malema

Johannesburg - ANC Youth League leader Julius Malema and Duduzane Zuma, President Jacob Zuma's son,have reportedly have been enjoying the high life whilst spending time on luxury boats over the festive season.

Luxury Suite

According to reports while on the world's largest passenger ship, The Oasis of the Seas, young Zuma apparently stayed in a suite costing between R150 000 and R250 000 ($20,000 -$33,000) per week. However, when asked to comment on the reports he responded that he was "not prepared to talk about it,"

Zuma allegedly uses a two deck suite boasting panoramic views over the water, and even includes its own concierge. The master bedroom on the top deck is equipped with a shower for two, while the bar and private balcony are on the lower deck.

According to media sources, Duduzane was surrounded by Indian businessmen most of the time. "They partied in the bars until the early morning hours."

South African passengers flew to Florida in the US to board the ship at Fort Lauderdale for the cruise from 19 to 26 December.

Mystery party

Meanwhile, also afloat. Julius Malema was spotted partying on the luxury yacht Foreplay early in December, however, the party is shrouded in mystery.

Mark Engledouw, manager of Foreplay, boasts of clients including celebrities such as Charlize Theron, Robert de Niro and Matt Damon. But he didn't want to say a word about the party at which Malema was spotted, and would not confirm or deny that Malema had been on the yacht.

"What happens on board, stays on board - it's an unwritten rule," he said when asked.

Despite eye-witness reports, Malema himself denied having been on the yacht. "No, no, no. If I had been at a party on a boat I would have known about it. I would have been in charge [of the boat]."

The average sun-downer cruise from the Waterfront to Bloubergstrand will cost you R15 000 per hour, while a whole day's cruise can cost up to R57 000 ($7,500).

Malema is well-known for this luxurious lifestyle, and has had quarrels with his neighbours in Sandton over loud and extravagant parties at his home.

In an earlier interview, Malema stated that his lifestyle serves as an example for the poor, proving "that the ANC can change a township man's life".

News source

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Supplied by Dina

Shaik medical reports: details revealed

The first of two articles regarding two colourful characters on the South African scene. First President Zuma's long term buddy and "benefactor" Schabir Shaik.

The South African media have released details of the medical reports which led to Schabir Shaik's controversial parole.

According to the report, a psychiatrist Dr Abubaker Gangat said Shaik's persistently high blood pressure had "potentially dire consequences for the eyes, kidneys, heart and brain" and that "organ damage to the eyes and kidneys is already present". Gangat also noted that Shaik had Severe Emotional Disorder combined with life-threatening physical disorders.

Shaik's private physician Dr Salim Gaffoor said Shaik had severe resistant hypertension with end organ damage. His blood pressure remained high and, according to Gaffoor, his blood pressure would not be controlled while in prison.

The report's author Dr Ngenisile Mbanjwa recommended that Shaik be granted parole "to die a consolatory and dignified death" in terms of Section 70 of the Correctional Services Act. "Based on all the medical reports from my colleagues all the investigations and medications the inmate-patient is on, the prognostic features and concurrently with end (final) stage multiple organ failure (terminating illness) due to uncontrolled or refactory hypertension despite multiple medications including psychiatric medications."

It was not clear whether Dr Mbanjwa had examined Shaik or that anyone other than his own doctor and psychiatrist had done so.

Shaik was released last March after being sentenced in 2005 to 15 years in prison for fraud and corruption in a trial which partially focused on whether he had facilitated a bribe for President Jacob Zuma from a French arms company. He was subsequently set a warning letter by the Department of correction sent his a warning letter regarding breaches of parole after he was filmed playing golf and visiting restaurants and theatres despite his alleged poor health.

Shaik's application for a full pardon remains among over 300 such applications which Zuma had been considering considering. It will be interesting to note what effect a pardon might have on his health

News sorce

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Hat Tip: Dina

More World Cup 2010 News

Police have vowed to track down and arrest two criminals who threatened to murder and rob foreigners during this year's World Cup in interviews broadcast on local television channel e.tv .

Lashing out at e.tv. which broadcast the interviews on Friday evening, Police Minister Nathi Mthethwa accused the station of "reckless harbouring of criminals".

But group news editor Ben Said claimed it was e.News' duty to inform the public, and Mthethwa was shooting the messenger.

Head of Crime Line Yusuf Abramjee said that as one of the government's partners in the fight against crime, they were equally disturbed."We are worried by the utter-ances made by these two self-confessed criminals on a national platform like e.tv.

"These two criminals have tormented police publicly and caused mayhem. They must therefore be brought to book and we appeal to anyone with information to help," he said.

South African National Editors Forum (Sanef) chairman Jovial Rantao said their leadership would only consider the matter today.

The footage had both self-confessed criminals' identities hidden - one with a stocking pulled over his head, the other filmed loading a firearm - and contained comments that they intended to commit armed robberies and murder during the football showpiece in June and July.

They justified their intentions by saying it was repayment for colonial wrongs.

Continue reading here

South Africa objects to World Cup stab vests

South Africa's authorities have condemned a London-based company which wants to sell stab-vests to visiting football fans during the World Cup.

The national police says the company was causing "unnecessary fear".

Continue reading here

BASIC RULES FOR DRIVING IN GAUTENG

1. Indicating will give away your next move. A real Gauteng driver never uses them.

2. Under no circumstance should you leave a safe distance between you and the car in front of you, or the space will be filled by at least 2 taxis, two Golfs, a BMW and an Uno, putting you in an even more dangerous situation.

3. The faster you drive through a red light, the smaller the chance you have of getting hit.

4. Never, ever come to a complete stop at a stop sign. No one expects it and it will only result in you being rear-ended.

5. Braking is to be done as hard and late as possible to ensure that your ABS kicks in, giving you a nice, relaxing foot massage as the brake pedal pulsates. For those of you without ABS, it's a chance to stretch your legs.

6. Never pass on the right when you can pass on the left. It's a good way to check if the people entering the highway are awake.

7. Speed limits are arbitrary figures, given only as a guideline. They are especially not applicable in Gauteng during rush hour. That's why it's called 'rush hour.....'

8. Just because you're in the right lane and have no room to speed up or move over doesn't mean that a Gauteng driver flashing his high beams behind you doesn't think he can go faster in your spot.

9. Always slow down and rubberneck when you see an accident or even someone changing a tyre. Never stop to help - you will be mugged.

10. Learn to swerve abruptly. Gauteng is the home of the high-speed driving thanks to the Metro Police Department, which puts holes in key locations to test drivers' reflexes and keeps them on their toes.

11. It is traditional in Gauteng to honk your horn at cars that don't move the instant the light turns green. This prevents storks from building nests on top of the traffic light and birds from making deposits on your car.

12. Remember that the goal of every Gauteng driver is to get there first, by whatever means necessary.

13. On average, at least three cars can still go through an intersection after the light has turned red. It's people not adhering to this basic principle that causes the big traffic jams during rush hour.

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Hat Tip: Dina

Gauteng at Wikipedia

Farm Couple attacked

Translated from Afrikaans by Dina

Hartswater - The agricultural community in Vaalharts district is shocked after the cruel attack last weekend on an elderly couple at their farm house, in the area of Magogong.

Seven attackers overwhelmed Mr Charles Engelbrecht (73) and his wife, Violet (71), owners of property nr 2K11 in Mago­gong, on Sunday around 21:00.

Mr Engelbrecht was severely injured by the attackers, while his wife was tied up and held hostage in the house for several hours.

Mr Engelbrecht was later taken to the Jane Keyser clinic in the nearest town with a cracked rib, a broken nose and serious injuries and bruising to his body & face.

Engelbrecht, who cultivates pecan nuts, grapes & citrus fruit, said he had found four dead cats on his property.

"It was strange that the Labrador dog refused to eat as well. It seems they were poisoned"

Englbrecht explained "My small dog started barking. I took a large flash light / torch to investigate. Suddenly a man attacked me. There were more men behind him. They forced me to the ground and started beating me. All were wearing balaclavas."

Engelbrecht managed two blows with the flash light before the attackers overwhelmed him. He was then beaten with hammers, pliers and farming tools (reference is made to a steel, hook shaped tool, used in cultivating lucerne)

and lost consciousness.

Two of the attackers guarded the unconscious man while the others headed for the house where Mrs Engelbrecht says the attackers overwhelmed her in the TV room. She was ordered to open the safe.

"They were very frustrated to find little money in the safe. They took me to the bedroom, convinced that there would be money."

"They said they would rape me, and one of them has AIDS"

"I decided that they could go fly a kite. I said I am 70 years old and won't live much longer anyway"

Mrs Engelbrecht says she was consistently calm, and spoke calmly to the robbers.

They pulled her around with a lusernhak (steel, hook shaped tool, used in cultivating lucerne).

"I gave them the credit cards and PIN numbers. They subsequently tied me to a chair in the TV room."

Later when she realised the robbers were gone, she crawled to the front door to lock it. She also locked the bedroom door and held down the alarm.

News Source

Update - Kgomo murder: 'suspect was a sangoma'

Five suspects, including a 14-year-old boy,appeared in the Soshanguve Magistrate's Court near Pretoria (Gauteng province) on Tuesday in connection with the murder of 10-year-old Masego Kgomo. who's mutilated body was found hidden in a dense clump of bushes near her Soshanguve home on Friday night.

Pathologists on Monday conducted an autopsy on Masego to establish how and when she was killed. It is believed that tests were also conducted to determine whether she had been sexually assaulted and mutilated.

Reports said at least one of the five suspects was a sangoma, apparently involved in the use of body parts for muti.

News source

The rape capital

67 year old woman raped in her own home

A 67-year-old woman was raped and severely assaulted after two men broke into her home in Nemato, Port Alfred, Eastern Cape

According to Police the woman was asleep at her home, when two men broke in on Monday.

"The intruders allegedly raped the victim, beat her with a spade and a slasher and made off with her DVD player and television set as well as the garden tools that they assaulted her with."

She suffered injuries to her head and her upper body.

News source

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Gang of Boys held for rape

A severely injured Malmesbury,(west of Cape Town) woman is in hospital after being gang-raped, the Malmesbury woman, in her 30s, regained consciousness in Swartland Hospital on Monday after being attacked in Lingelethu on Sunday.

According to reports the woman was sleeping at home on Sunday when she heard noises outside, and phoned her husband who was working a night shift.

The husband arrived with a police patrol and saw a group of young men running out of a Wendy house on the premises. The officers arrested one of them.

"Inside we saw a naked, unconscious lady. Her clothes were (strewn) around..."

The ambulance crew were shocked by the signs of violence at the rape scene, Du Rand added.

Two hours later, police caught the five other suspects, aged 15 to 20. They all had bloodstains on their clothing.

Meanwhile, in the same hospital, a 10 year old girl is receiving trauma counselling after her mother's boyfriend allegedly raped her.

The 47-year-old Nyanga man was arrested at the weekend on suspicion of repeatedly raping his girlfriend's daughter.

News source

Another (white Afrikaans) pensioner meets brutal death at home

A second Pretoria pensioner in less than a week has met a violent death at the hands of thugs.

Katrina Hendrika van den Berg, 65, was found murdered in her Daspoort home, apparently killed by a man who was carrying out maintenance work on her property.

Her death comes days after Kitty Botha, 83, was slain in her Lyttelton home, which was set alight by robbers who killed her without taking anything.

Van den Berg's badly bruised and battered body was discovered in her lounge yesterday by her husband, Jan, 56, after neighbours were unable to raise her on the phone or by calling her name outside her Herman Street property.

Unable to reach his wife on her cellphone, Van den Berg phoned neighbours and asked them to go and see if they could see his frail wife in the garden.

When they called him back and said they could not see her, he raced home.

Unable to unlock the gate and seeing the kitchen security door standing open, Van den Berg scaled the garden wall.

He walked through his ransacked home and found his wife's body sprawled in the lounge, a kitchen dishcloth clasped tightly in her hand.

It is believed she was washing the morning dishes when she was attacked, apparently by a man assigned to do repairs to the roof of their home.

As police searched the house for clues, visibly distraught family members gathered at a neighbour's home.

"I can't believe it, I can't believe they have killed her," said a family friend.

The woman, who broke down in tears and had to be led away by a trauma counsellor, said Van den Berg had been extremely kind and caring.

"She never said a bad word about anyone. She had so much time for people and was very loving towards everyone."

Van den Berg's stepson, who asked not to be named, said the family were devastated.

"We are heartsore. We don't know what to do. It is like a bad dream. I keep on thinking we are going to wake up, but in the end we are not," he said.

According to the police only Mrs. Van den Berg's cellphone had been stolen in the attack.*

Continue reading here

* Note: The theft of cellphones, which frequently occurs with these killings is used by the authorities to claim that the killings are motivated by robbery even though far more valuable items, such as jewelry and computer equipment are often left untouched. A more likely suggestion is that the phones are taken to prevent victims or those who find them calling for help or alerting the police before the assailants have got away.

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Contributed by Dina

(IFP opposition party) Pardons neglected: 384 approach top court

A group of 384 prisoners have told the Constitutional Court that the various presidents have neglected their duty by making them wait more than six years to find out whether they may receive pardons.

Lawyers for the 384 prisoners, who all claim membership of the IFP and are supported by the party in their claim, told the Concourt there was "no doubt" that the president had neglected to fulfil a constitutional obligation.

The lawyers filed their argument in the prisoners' case against President Jacob Zuma on Friday.

They said the delay in processing the pardons meant that "on the facts of the matter, the Office of the President has failed to fulfil the applicable constitutional duties diligently and without delay".

The prisoners want the Concourt to give Zuma, who inherited the problem, one month to consider and decide on their applications for pardon.

They also want the Concourt to find that the president failed to fulfil his constitutional duty to decide on their applications within a reasonable time, or that he failed to ensure that the Ministry of Justice and Constitutional Development processed the applications properly.

The prisoners filed their requests for pardons between March and October 2003, when Thabo Mbeki was president.

They sent them to the Department of Justice, as agreed with that department.

"All applicants alleged that their respective applications for pardon were based on the fact of them having been convicted for crimes performed with a political objective or political motive," the prisoners' lawyers said in their argument.

"In that sense, the 384 applications were similar to those of 33 ANC and PAC members who were granted presidential pardons in the course of 2002."

News source

Elderly white woman killed - nothing stolen

The murder of an elderly Centurion, Pretoria woman who was tied up, gagged and strangled and left in her burning house has left a community reeling.

The gang who invaded her house fled empty-handed after setting her home alight, in an apparent attempt to conceal the crime or destroy evidence.

Catherina "Kitty" Botha, 83, who lived alone for the past 27 years, was found dead in the passage of her Lyttelton home late on Friday night by police, who had been called to the scene by hysterical neighbours.

'No arrests have been made and the motive for the attack is unknown'

Neighbours were alerted to the fire when the windows of Botha's Selborne Avenue home began exploding in the heat of the fire.

Trying desperately to douse the flames with hosepipes, neighbours watched in horror and despair as the flames engulfed a bedroom before spreading rapidly through the roof.

Attempts by several to rescue Botha, who many thought was trapped by the flames, proved fruitless when they were forced back by the heat of the fire.

Botha's body was discovered tied up, her hands bound behind her back, close to her daschund, Moo-Moo, when a Lyttelton policeman, who was on patrol, spotted the fire and ran into the house when he heard that she was still inside the building.

The heat from the flames and smoke, however, forced the officer to retreat. Family and neighbours on Saturday gathered outside the blackened house, which was cordoned off by yellow police crime scene tape.

'At this stage no one is sure of what happened or why the woman was killed'

Botha's grandson, Ryan Dekenah, who described his grandmother as an "incredibly" strong woman who loved her community, said the family was devastated.

"We cannot understand it. These guys did not take anything. They left jewellery, money and all her electrical appliances, including the TV and the CD player. It does not make any sense," he said.

Dekenah, whose grandmother helped raise him after his mother died when he was young, said they had received numerous messages of support and condemnation from the community. He described his grandmother as the most interesting person he had ever met.

"Granny Kitty, who was born in Oudtshoorn, gave a lot of love to the people in the community and was always reaching out to help and had her community at heart," he said, adding that his grandmother's close companion, Moo-Moo, was found dead under a couch where he had suffocated.

Police Sergeant Lynnette Erasmus confirmed the murder and said Botha was found tied up, face-down in a passage next to a bedroom where the fire was believed to have been started.

"At this stage no one is sure of what happened or why the woman was killed," she said, adding that initial investigations showed that although the house had been ransacked, nothing had been stolen in the attack.

Continue reading here

Ryan Dekenah shows Bible verses and messages of love adorning the wall of his grandmother's house

A further news artile regarding this killing can be read here

Muti Murder

A forensics team at the crime scene where Masego Kgomo's body was found.

The killers of 11-year-old Masego Kgomo, whose badly decomposed and apparently mutilated body was found hidden in a dense clump of bushes near her Soshanguve home, are believed to behind the murder of three other young Pretoria girls.

Masego's body, which was identified by her parents and grandfather, was discovered on Friday night after one of the suspects took police from a provincial task team, assigned to investigate the case, to where she had been dumped.

The body, which was covered in a thick grey blanket, was found with her legs spread open in the centre of the clump of bushes in a field near the Soshanguve train station and the Soshanguve Hotel.

According to sources, police are investigating whether the little girl, who disappeared from her home on New Year's Eve, was raped before her genitals were removed. Officers also want to determine at exactly which point she was killed.

While police are remaining tight-lipped and refusing to comment on any of the latest information, including whether more arrests had been made, sources say at least one of the suspects has told police about similar murders of three other girls in areas around Soshanguve last month.

Continue reading here

Wife of State Security Minister, alleged involved in drug smuggling

Sheryl Cwele

The Swanepoel family are likely to be among those happy at the impending arrests of more suspects in the drug case linked to Sheryl Cwele, the wife of State Security Minister Siyabonga Cwele.

Since Tessa Beetge, 31, was arrested in Brazil with R3 million worth of raw cocaine, her parents, Swannie and Marie Swanepoel, of KwaZulu-Natal's South Coast, have maintained she didn't act alone.

Other members of Beetge's family have also spoken out, including a cousin, Richard Olsen, based in Cape Town.

According to reports in March last year, Olsen called Sheryl Cwele and sent her numerous emails and SMSes.

Cwele and Beetge were apparently neighbours in St Michael's on Sea.

Olsen emailed Cwele's boss, S'bu Mkhize, the manager of the Hibiscus municipality.

And in correspondence with Cwele he demanded answers, apparently saying: "Please outline all dealings and responsibilities in this matter as discussed with you earlier today, regarding your involvement in securing work as the evidence shows SMS and calls and correspondence to Tessa. I will be in contact with you every day until you decide to pick up the phone, alternatively please phone me back."

Olsen said: "I didn't think for one second that Tessa was guilty, because she has two daughters and she has been a churchgoing, non-drug-taking girl all her life."

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"Carnage" - An elderly couple become the latest victims of the South African genocide

In a scene paramedics described as "carnage", two, as yet unnamed elderly people, a man of 65 and his 60 year old wife, were found murdered on their farm in the Free State on Wednesday morning.

Paramedics were called to the farm at 8am and were faced with what was described as a scene of "absolute carnage" The attack appeared to have occurred on Tuesday evening, and the couple had succumbed to their terrible injuries during the night.

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Death with the New Decade

It is sad and symbolic that the first post to South of Zimbabwe sould be to report further genocide within the first hour of the new decade

As the New Year dawned another white farmer died violently in South Africa. Censor Bugbear is reporting that an, as yet unnamed, 83-year old man was shot dead and his son injured after an unknown ‘person’ shot them on their smallholding south of Johannesburg at 1 am, on January 1st 2010. You can read Adriana Stuijt's report here.

The latest death was just one hour into the new decade, and the symbolism of the tragedy should not be lost on any of us.

I will report forther on this case when more news is available.