Censorbugbear reports...

Jannie Fourie fights like a lion against armed attackers;   Nkateko Maheso, 14, dies for cellphone - but mob torches robber …

December 1 2009 By Hanti Otto, The Pretoria News - Shot nine times by two attackers, one bullet barely missing his heart, a Pretoria father who works at the National Intelligence Service, kept on fighting the men to protect his wife and two little boys, he testified in the Pretoria Regional Court this week.

Six of the nine bullets went right through Jannie Fourie's body during the armed attack on April 15 2008. About 20 shots were fired in the passage of his family house in Pretorius Park that night. But as Fourie realised he might die, he decided there was still enough blood left in his body to get up and make one more attempt to stop the attackers.

They were there to kill, not steal… they were children of Satan:

"I am a Christian. I believe the Lord Jesus Christ was there that night. If I had to die, I knew I'd go to heaven. These attackers are children of Satan. They were there to kill, not steal. So I attacked them, deciding that I had to at least land one blow," he told the Pretoria Regional Court.

He said while bullets flew past and through him in the narrow passage, he hit the attackers, "four to five quick shots at a time, until the one dropped". He then tackled another. "As I hit them, the cowards screamed like pigs. I heard their screams above the gunshots," this National Intelligence employee testified. His wounded wife hid in a wardrobe with their eldest son, who will be three years old in a month's time.

• Romeo Maota Nkwagatse, 24, and Jonas Masemola, 27, all South African citizens, pleaded not guilty to charges of attempted murder, robbery with aggravating circumstances, pointing of a firearm and the unlawful possession of firearms and ammunition. A third suspect absconded.

Shot his wife through the door:

Fourie testified that he was awoken by his wife's screaming at about 2am on April 15, 2008."It was a scream you don't want to wake up to," he said.His wife, Bernice, was in the eldest boy's room. Fourie saw two men trying to push the bedroom door open, while his wife was struggling to close it."They shot my wife through the door. I ran to the first, shorter figure, hitting him several times. As he went down, I turned to the other guy," Fourie recalled.

• He said one man had a semi-automatic pistol and the other a revolver. "They fired at me. I could feel when they shot my finger off. I chased the one as he ran down the passage in the direction of our one-year-old baby's room. I felt something was wrong with my knee, but I got hold of the man and hit him, while he was shooting at me," Fourie said.However, because of severe blood loss and the shot to the knee, he fell at the baby's doorway.

The baby was sitting upright in the bed, screaming. The attacker stood between Fourie's legs, shooting him just underneath the heart."The man returned to the room where my wife was. I knew I still had some blood in me, and I was willing to give it all for my family. I got up and chased him again. The coward ran out," Fourie said.Realising both attackers were gone, he collapsed on the floor. The attackers only took Fourie's cellphone and wallet with R90 ($9)  in it.

He spent two weeks in ICU. As soon as the tubes were removed, Fourie went home on crutches, saying his boys were having nightmares and he had to be home.
"I prayed for my family, for healing and forgiveness. I made peace, knowing that the Lord is the final judge. The attackers will be punished, and I am alive to testify about the miracle of our survival," he told the court.Bernice said she went to her eldest son's room that night when he called her. She heard a noise and went to the door and saw two men in the light from the room. Nkwagatse was one of them, she said. "I screamed and tried to close the door with all my might. They pushed back. The next moment I felt a burning sensation in my arm where they shot me," Bernice said.

She grabbed her crying son and hid in the wardrobe. "My family was being killed and I couldn't help as I was holding my one son. I prayed," she said. When all grew quiet, she heard Fourie asking if she was okay. "The passage was covered in blood, it looked like a butchery. Blood was pumping out of Jannie. I was terrified," she said. The trial continues in February next year. This article was originally published on page 1 of Pretoria News on December 01, 2009 Shot 9 times, but man fights back to protect family

Girl, 14, dies for phone – robber torched by angry mob, his mother and 16-year-old child saved by female cop

December 1 2009 By Lesego Masemola. Residents of Block W in Soshanguve took the law into their own hands at the weekend and meted out instant justice to a suspected cellphone thief who had just ended a young life. An angry mob of more than 80 people hunted down and assaulted a 22-year-old man before throwing him into his mother's burning shack. He burnt to death. His mother and 16-year-old brother were saved by the police.

On Sunday evening 14-year-old Nkateko Maheso, a pupil at Kondelelani Secondary School, had gone out to meet friends just before 6pm when she was fatally stabbed over a cellphone valued at R150.

"She was my only child... and now she has left me. She is gone... and she was in so much pain, lying there on the floor. She was in a lot pain," cried Mavis Maheso.
It is alleged that when the suspect approached the group of friends, the others ran away, leaving Nkateko and another friend behind.

• The suspect, known to the two girls, apparently pulled out a sharp object, ordering Nkateko to hand over her phone. Witnesses told police that an argument ensued, resulting in the suspect stabbing Nkateko in the neck, while the other friend ran for help."The suspect left the girl bleeding near a stormwater drain, and fled the scene with the sharp object and the cellphone. But someone in the community witnessed the incident and started screaming," said police spokesman Sello Mangena.

Mangena said the suspect was wanted in connection with cases of armed robbery and housebreaking.Maheso said her trauma started when she received a call from one of her daughter's friends."She said Nkateko had died and that I must come quickly. Confused and in tears I ran to my neighbour for help so that we could rush to the scene together," she said, choking on emotion. Neighbour and ward councillor Maria Mudumaelo hurried to the scene with Maheso and found Nkateko lying in a pool of blood."She said she was burning, that she was in pain and that she was tired. She was really hurting badly, in so much pain, my one and only girl," she said.

• Nkateko was taken to clinic B3 where doctors tried in vain to save her life. "This young life had been lost. She was full of life and loved laughing," said Mudumaelo.

Meanwhile, angry residents baying for the blood of the suspect went looking for him at his mother's house. "Residents were very angry and nothing the police, the CPF or the councillor said was going to stop them. They wanted this young man because they were tired of his criminal activities," said community policing forum chairman Harry Mazibuko.The suspect's mother allegedly told residents she did not care what had happened and they could go looking for her son and kill him.

"Residents were very angry with the woman and accused her of not disciplining her son. They locked her in her home, broke a window and threw petrol and set the shack alight. The woman and her 16-year-son were saved by a female police constable who arrived and broke down the door. Police moved them to a place of safety," said Mangena.

Another part of the mob arrived at the home with the bleeding and badly bruised suspect who was apparently found hiding about 1km from his home.
"It seems when the mob found him he was badly assaulted. They brought him to the home where the shack was still burning and threw him there," he said. He died in the inferno.Nkateko will be buried on Saturday and her school is expected to hold a memorial service on Thursday.This article was originally published on page 1 of Pretoria News on December 01, 2009 http://www.iol.co.za/index.php?set_id=1&click_id=15&art_id=vn20091201041120515C240863

ANC official shoots man – but does not get arrested

1 December 2009 Frank Maponya - frankm@sowetan.co.za -ANC councillor Kenny Mamothethi  is being probed after he allegedly shot and wounded a patron during a drinking binge in Limpopo at the weekend. The Molemole municipality councillor, who also teaches outside Polokwane, allegedly shot and wounded Ranaija Rasekgala, a local man who now is fighting for his life in hospital.

The incident happened at a tavern on Saturday night in Mokomene village in the Botlokwa area. Paramedics had to be called in to help Rasekgala, who was later transferred to an undisclosed hospital for further treatment.The tavern is situated next to Mamothethi’s parent’s home. He fled the scene after the incident to avoid being attacked by angry villagers.

• Eyewitnesses said yesterday they were still in the dark as what caused the fight since the firearm was drawn without provocation. “We know both victim and perpetrator very well and did not expect the perpetrator, especially in his capacity as a ward councillor, to behave the way he did,” said a disappointed witness who did not want to be identified.

Mamothethi is a member of the mayoral committee of the Molemole municipality and teaches at the Sefoloko High School in the area. Despite the attack on Rasekgala, Mamothethi was not arrested and he even reported for work as though nothing had happened. School principal Solomon Hamese told Sowetan he was waiting for a report about the incident before taking the matter up with the provincial department of education.

• Police Superintendent Mohale Ramatseba confirmed they were investigating a case of attempted murder against Mamothethi and a counter-charge of assault against Rasekgala. He said police had not arrested Mamothethi because ‘both cases had been forwarded to the director for public prosecutions for a decision. ‘

We are worried that what the police are doing is actually promoting lawlessness,” said a concerned resident. Mayor Mohale said yesterday she was still out of town and did not have full details on the matter. She said she was not in a position to comment.http://www.sowetan.co.za/News/Article.aspx?id=1093247

Submission to the SA Human Rights Commission:

HATE SPEECH BY THE DEPUTY PRESIDENT OF THE REPUBLIC OF SOUTH AFRICA

INTRODUCTION

The media quoted the Deputy President of the Republic of South Africa, Mr Kgalema Motlanthe on 27 – 30 November 2009 as follows:

"Some of the most brutal farm murders are committed by foreign nationals, who were brutally exploited and made to toil without any remuneration. The day when they demand remuneration, they are reported (by farmers) to the law enforcement units and are duly arrested and are sent back to their countries of origin. "Of course, they come back and they go back and commit the most horrendous murders. This is why we need to condemn those who take advantage of foreign nationals in this fashion," he said. (Sibusiso Ngalwa, journalist,  IOL 30 November 2009)

CHARGE

The Transvaal Agricultural Union of South Africa (TLU-SA) has lodged a charge with the SA Human Rights Commission, as the TLU says ‘it seriously doubts whether the deputy president had any factual proof at his disposal which could form the basis of his accusation. Based on the information in TAU SA’s data base (which includes a detailed list of farm attacks and farm murders), no such information reflects the accusation contained in the deputy president’s statement.

• As such, the unfounded accusation affects the vast majority of farmers (if not all) not guilty of malpractice but who may become the victims of senseless violent attack and / or murder.

This complies with the specification and prescription in Sec 184 of the South African Constitution, Act 108 of 1996, dealing with the functions of the South African Human Rights Commission and in particular with Sec 184 (2) (b) and (c).

It remains the belief of TAU SA that the deputy president’s statement could incite further violence in retribution for perceived maltreatment of employees, that it advocates hatred of a specific racial and economic group and that it constitutes incitement to do harm. As such it reflects insensitivity and bigotry and consequently implies that farmers are to be despised, scorned, denied respect and made subject to intimidation, ill-treatment and violent crime on the basis of group affiliation.

REQUEST

The Commission is requested to investigate the charge and to make a finding:

The president of TAU SA, Mr Ben Marais, said that the deputy presidents' statement was not based on the existing facts and that it creates a climate for increased attacks on farmers, their families and their employees.

• The data base available to TAU SA indicates that attackers are on the contrary, seldom known to the victims and that the latter are indeed being attacked by groups of unknown strangers.

Freedom Front Plus dismayed about statement:

The opposition Freedom Front Plus  party – whose leader Pieter Mulder is the deputy-agricultural minister in the Zuma-cabinet --  also expressed dismay about the ‘deputy-president’s ignorance’ in this regard. Their spokesman Walter Weber, former chairman for the Action Stop Farm Attacks, said:

• “Deputy President Kgalema Motlanthe is looking for a justification for farm murders. No murder can ever be justified.”

Mr. Weber said that “Motlanthe dares not make generalisations about a very serious issue such as this so easily and should rather mention specific examples.”

On the contrary, he pointed out that ‘research has proven that in the majority of cases of farm murders, the murderer(s) and victim(s) did not know each other at the time of a farm attack and that very little or nothing at all was stolen. Motlanthe’s comments creates the impression that he is indeed on the side of the farm murderers who perpetrate these criminal attacks and does not have any understanding for farmers.

• “Deputy President Motlanthe is cautioned to show more discretion in his public comments, especially concerning such a highly emotional issue such as farm murders”, Weber added – whose own family have also been deeply traumatised as victims of a farm attack..http://fto.co.za/news/freedom-front-plus-express-shock-kgalema-motlanthes-ignorance-2009113015918.html

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

sources:

View the great many details of these farm attacks at: http://censorbugbear-reports.blogspot.com/2009/11/genocidal-black-gangs-target-sa_30.html

http://cid-b6b44a5376348175.skydrive.live.com/albums.aspx

• Motlanthe’s statement: http://www.iol.co.za/index.php?set_id=1&click_id=594&art_id=vn20091128083148650C836158

Trauma-pictures of victims 2008/9: (also view the other farm-attack farm victims’ albums on this site)

“AIDS-policy inertia created by the SA National Aids Council’s endless deliberations” … warning

30 Nov 2009 – PRETORIA. “When one talks about democracy in the context of a deadly pandemic like HIV/AIDS, where urgent action is needed, the present stream of endless deliberations by the SA National Aids Council show a lack of strong leadership – policy decisions are needed now: however the endless deliberations at SANAC are sinking into ‘policy inertia’, warns Eusebius McKaiser , left, an associate at the Centre for the Study of Demoracy, and contributing editor at Business Day.

‘That, in a nutshell, is the state of the South African National Aids Council (SANAC)”, he writes. “This is the most important body that is meant to help President Zuma in his visible and justified quest to depart from years of Mbeki denialism. But in order to succeed he must think through how to avoid a democratic deficit that will haunt him at the polls (should he not consult widely) while, nonetheless, showcasing decisive leadership by making sure policy decisions get taken and implemented (by learning when to stop consulting).”

McKaiser writes: “The problem is this. Many policies get debated at a forum like SANAC. The (three-tiered) body, comprising various stakeholders including both government and civil society, is supposed to make recommendations that could eventually become policy.

‘ Unfortunately, SANAC's efficacy is increasingly being hampered, ’ he warns...

The bottleneck is a tough one to complain about - deliberative democracy. Or so it would seem,” he writes: continuing:

“First, it is important that all voices be heard in processes that can lead to policy outcomes. Civil society organisations have fought in our courts to reverse policy processes undertaken by government that failed to do so. It would be bizarre to suddenly moan that citizens are getting too much attention from government.Second, input from various organisations have substantive merit in designing policies. As a citizen of a country you have a legal and political entitlement to influencing policy to reflect your wishes. If that means lobbying government to prevent the legalisation of sex work then so be it. Furthermore, policy processes are not perfect. It is only through having tough, open debate and disagreement that we can maximise the chances of decisions being taken that are based both in fact and which reflects the ideological convictions of the population. A process that does not have these elements does not have full legitimacy.These qualifications about the need for deliberation are important to avert any misinterpretation of this article's contention that too much of a good thing can be bad.

---------------

Picture: President Zuma is advised on his AIDS-policies  by SANAC – but when must a president stop their endless deliberating and start making urgently-needed decisions himself regarding the deadly pandemic?  asks Eusebius McKaiser…

----------------

“The fact of the matter is that public deliberation is not an end in itself. It is a means to the various ends outlined:

“If, for example, deliberation results in policy inertia, then deliberation has become a pointless exercise. So it is important that we gauge deliberation's success relative to practical standards such as whether or not, in the case of an outfit like SANAC, practical goals and legal mandates are achieved. This, unfortunately, does not seem to be the case (at SANAC). .

Endless discussions – but still no policies on male circumcision or legalisation of sex workers:

“Two examples are illustrative. Male circumcision can reduce a man's chances of contracting HIV by about 60%. It also slightly reduces the chances of infecting another person. These are established medical facts. They are the basis for why other countries in the region such as Botswana, Zimbabwe and Swaziland are promoting circumcision.

In SA, no policy on circumcisions exists.

• One objection (to it)  is located within initiatives to fight the pandemic. It is the fear that more irresponsible behaviour, such as abandoning condom use, will follow.

Cultural practices:

• Another objection is delivered through a wider socio-cultural prism: traditional circumcision is important on the cultural landscape of SA and publically promoted medical circumcision will simply subvert rights to cultural practise. If, for example, a Xhosa boy were circumcised when very young, in the name of fighting the AIDS pandemic, that would make it impossible for him to also undergo traditional circumcision later in life.

The objections to publically promoting medical circumcisions are not sound. However, it is less interesting to rehearse the weaknesses of these objections than it is to ask the question at the heart of this analysis.

How much deliberation should a leader preside over?

• The answer, as challenging as it might be for someone who enjoys coming across as ‘giving a hearing' to all who want to listen to him or her, is that in the context of a pandemic, your context practically demands of you to take urgent action - any action.

This means that an organisation like SANAC, and its ultimate political head, president Zuma, must get on with deciding whether or not it will go with a fact-based intervention to help reduce the HIV transmissions rate or whether it will consider the surrounding socio-cultural sensitivities as overriding. Whatever the decision, inaction is symptomatic of crippling leadership.

Controlling the health and legality of sex-workers:

“ The second example is that of sex work. The SA law reform commission has long ago made available a very comprehensive report into different possible responses to sex work ranging from retaining the status quo to having controlled areas within which sex work can legally take place.

“In terms of the AIDS pandemic, there is unquestionable evidence that the criminalisation of sex work exacerbates the AIDS pandemic. This logically implies that one of the many tools needed to reduce the transmission of HIV is to bring sex workers into the legal fold so that the state can empower them and their industry to be better equipped to practise their work while taking the best possible precautions to minimise the contraction and spreading of the virus.

“Obviously it is not politically easy to endorse this policy. If the success criterion is only the reduction of HIV transmission then it would be a no-brainer. Politicians are right, however, to take into account moral and social sensitivities.

“The debate on sex work is as much about HIV/AIDS as it is about whether or not sex work is morally acceptable and whether or not the SA government should take account of the views of the majority.

“Again, however, the critical issue is not what position is ultimately taken on these substantive areas of disagreement. Some of us would lobby for a liberal attitude based in part on medical fact and in part on liberal ideologies. Others are entitled to lobby for more conservative decisions. As with circumcision, however, leadership inertia with respect to taking a position - any position - is unacceptable.

“A body such as SANAC needs a political head that can pull together the strands of different viewpoints that have been debated, lay them on the table, and propose a solid policy position that can then be developed. Failure to do will reduce SANAC to a high school debate chamber: fun, but with no impact.

“Deliberative processes are crucial for developing our democracy. We should continue to hear all views on major policy issues. But when facing a pandemic, sensible political leadership requires someone - call him Jacob Zuma or Kgalema Mothlanthe? - to demonstrate an understanding of the need to balance deliberation with urgent action. Time is not on our side.” Eusebius McKaiser blogs at www.safferpolitics.co.za/

The following government ministries and -sectors are represented on the three-tiered Aids councilstructure”:

• Mrs Barbara Hogan, minister of health
• Ms N Pandor, minister of education
• Mr J Radebe, minister of transport
• Ms B P Sonjica, minister of minerals and energy
• Dr J Swanson-Jacobs, minister of social development
• Mr R Baloyi, minister of public service and administration
• Ms L Jacobus, minister of correctional services (prisons)