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- A Stuijt
- Retired South African medical journalist, ex-Sunday Times of Johannesburg.
Farm attack survivor Flip Nel is back in his Hartbeespoort shop
20:30 | 
Posted by
A Stuijt |
July 30 2009 Farm attack survivor Flip Nel of Flower Art of Hartbeespoort is back at work – in a wheelchair
HARTBEESPOORT. Wheelchair-bound farm attack survivor Flip Nel, who owns the Flower Art shop in Hartbeespoort, won’t let the cruel, gruesome attack on July 30 last year against him and his murdered life partner of 20 years, Christo Smit, destroy his fighting spirit, writes Cynthia Dreyer of Madibeng Pulse, the online newspaper for the Magalies/Brits region.
Smit was shot in the spine – the bullet is still lodged in it -- and he’s grieving for his murdered partner, who was fatally injured at their smallholding in Elandsfontein in July last year. Christo died in hospital the next day, and Flip has been in rehabilitation between July and November last year at the Academic hospital ‘s Pretoria Rehabilitation Centre. Cynthia Dreyer of Madibeng Pulse, who interviewed the popular florist, writes that Flip Nel’s strong spirit prevails despite all the pain and trauma he has endured – also thanks to all his many friends and well-wishers.
Picture left: Flip Nel, now wheelchair-bound, is picking up the threads of his life again and returned to work at Flower Art in Hartbeespoort.
He is deeply grateful for all the many messages of support he received from so many residents, said the popular florist, who has his shop in the Sediba Plaza of Hartbeespoort. “There are many angels in Hartbeespoort, he said.
Flip received rehabilitation until November in Pretoria, returned to his shop in a wheelchair and now is in control of Flower Art again. He said besides all the many messages of support from people he didn’t even know, his biggest support has been Kobus Marais of the Foto First shop – who ‘despite the fact that he owns three shops himself, still managed to find the time to manage my bank affairs, cancel all my stolen credit cards, organise my shop; and Mariet Harmse, who was at a funeral when she heard that I had been shot, and immediately showed up at the shop to start running it. Also my driver Isaac, who was also trained in flower-arranging, faithfully continued with his routine. And my doctor, Magriet Badenhorst, was an angel from heaven. She was continuously sending me SMS messages at hospital and when she heard six weeks ago that I could move my right leg, she left her patients right there and rushed to come and see. Whenever I need a shot against the pain, she comes to the shop to give me one,’ he said. He also wanted to thank Andre .André of MTN in Sediba Plaza, who gave him a new cellphone because his had been stolen in the attack, he said. het vir Flip ‘n nuwe selfoon geskenk wat hy in die hospitaal gebruik het nadat syne gedurende die rooftog gesteel is, sê hy. He’s determined to walk again one day, ‘even if it’s just on one leg and with crutches’, he said.
He said because it was too dangerous to remove the bullet from his spine, doctors have left it there. He spent months at the Pretoria Rehabiliation Centre of the Academic Hospital and has also undergone trauma councilling to learn to deal with the deep grief over the loss of Christo, he said. He no longer needs sleeping pills, he told Dreyer. “Now I only take one pill at night against the muscle-spasms which I get occasionally and I can sleep right through the night without nightmares. I will never go back to Elandsfontein, there’s too many memories,’ he said. He’s renting it out now. After the murderous attacks on Nel and Smit, criminals broke in again – twice, he said.
Friends helped him remove all his belongings from his homestead – arriving from far and wide, from as far away as Thabazimbi with bakkies and rented trailers to take his belongings to the storage rooms where they still remain.
What gave him the strength to continue, and pick up his life again? Dreyer asked. “it was all those visits to me in hospital with packs of get-well cards, prayers and good wishes which Kobus and Mariet kept bringing along on visits, he said. Flip now lives in Kobus’ house – who has built ramps for him everywhere so that he can move easily in his wheelchair – and outside ramps were also built for him by people from the church, he said. He travels to work in the morning with Kobus and Isaac takes him back home in the evenings. This was a summary - Read the entire story in Afrikaans: http://www.madibengpulse.co.za/?Task=system&CategoryID=29982&HeadingText=Mense+040210+flip+nel
Better rights needed for people vulnerable to HIV/AIDS
The Lancet Infectious Diseases journal has published a report calling for better access to HIV/AIDS programmes by ‘vulnerable people’ worldwide – as the epidemic touches most social groups in every country…
‘Since the identification of Pneumocystis (carinii) jirovecii pneumonia in five homosexual men in San Francisco in 1981, which led to the first description of what has become known as AIDS, our understanding of the syndrome has come a long way,” writes The Lancet journal of Infectious Diseases, Volume 10, Issue 2, Page 67, February 2010
“Although the disease briefly acquired the somewhat divisive monikers gay-related immune deficiency (GRID) and 4H (after the populations affected: Haitians, homosexuals, haemophiliacs, and heroin users), the story in the past three decades has been one of a pandemic that has touched most social groups in every country.
The major gains in the past 30 years have been in both knowledge and care of HIV/AIDS: from the identification of the virus to development and refinement of diagnosis and treatment.
Global campaigns such as 3 by 5 and Universal Access might not have achieved their main goals but certainly have ensured that HIV/AIDS is high on the agendas of global, national, and local governments. The recent 2009 AIDS Epidemic Update reported that the number of new infections has fallen by 17% globally and AIDS-related deaths have fallen by 10% in the past 5 years, with 2·9 million lives saved since 1996. Further gains are being made in the targeting of particular groups. As emphasised in a news story in this issue, programmes aimed at Latin Americans in the USA target a specific group with needs that differ from those of the majority population of the country.
Despite these gains, prejudice, discrimination, and stigmatisation of people with HIV/AIDS, and key groups most affected by and at most risk of the disease, continue to hamper efforts to tackle the pandemic. The welcome news that the USA has at last lifted a 22 year travel restriction that prevented people with HIV/AIDS entering the country, and that South Korea has removed a similar ban, reminds us that almost 30 countries worldwide still block entry by and repatriate foreign nationals with HIV/AIDS.
Death sentence for homosexuals in Uganda
And in Uganda, the attempt to introduce the death penalty for people known to have engaged in homosexual acts and further criminalise individuals, including health workers, who support such people is a terrifying sign that addressing issues of vulnerability, discrimination, and human rights will be key to future gains in the battle against the pandemic.
About a third of people living with HIV/AIDS in countries without generalised epidemics are men who have sex with men, sex workers, and injecting drug users, and in countries with generalised epidemics people in these key groups have a higher prevalence of HIV/AIDS than do the general population.
- The WHO Towards Universal Access report, released last year, identified these as target populations in the fight against HIV, since infections in these groups are likely to drive epidemics in the future.
Despite the recognition that vulnerable groups are key to addressing the ongoing HIV/AIDS pandemic, tackling the problem in these people is hampered by their exclusion from access to prevention and treatment.
- In a study by the AIDS Alliance, key populations in Latin America were underrepresented in the allocation of grants from the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis, and Malaria. Only US $8 million of $170 million reached organisations specifically representing key vulnerable populations, and no grant was specifically awarded to organisations representing transgender people, despite the prevalence of HIV in this group reaching 45% in some cities.
But funding bodies can help to improve the situation of key populations, not only by providing funds directly, but also by putting conditions on donations to ensure that countries act to remove discrimination and improve the health of people in vulnerable groups.
- Over the past 5 years, the Ukraine has managed to turn the tide in a rapidly escalating HIV/AIDS crisis by opening needle exchanges and offering counselling for drug users with donations from the Global Fund given on the condition that the country legalised methodone replacement therapy.
People who are marginalised in many societies and health systems are now central to the fight against HIV/AIDS. Only by improving the rights of these people can they have better access to prevention, treatment, and management. Funding organisations can help to address these issues, by asking governments for legislation that removes barriers to accessing care and by encouraging local advocacy for these vulnerable groups. The fight against HIV/AIDS is no longer a battle against the virus, it is, and will increasingly be, a battle for human rights. http://www.thelancet.com/journals/laninf/issue/vol10no2/PIIS1473-3099(10)X7015-3
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WC2010 news updates
Mascot Zakumi subject of child labour inquiry
The factory staff manufacturing the World Cup mascot Zakumi reportedly work under harsh conditions and many of them are teenagers. The Global Brands Group (GBG) has launched an ethical and social compliance investigation into the Chinese company manufacturing the World Cup 2010 mascot, Zakumi, it said yesterday.
"GBG has taken appropriate steps to contract Intertek (the world's largest independent testing, inspection and certification organisation) to conduct an immediate ethical and social compliance audit and inspection of this facility," the company said in a statement.
It has been reported that the dreadlocked leopard, Zakumi, was being manufactured in China, where workers are reportedly paid only R23 a day. ANC member Shiaan-Bin Huang's company, Ascendo Industrial, in KwaZulu-Natal, apparently contracted the Chinese company to make the mascot.
The UK newspaper News of the World reported last week that factory staff worked under harsh conditions and that many of them were teenagers putting in 13-hour shifts. According to the report, football governing body Fifa had approved the deal with the factory.
Cosatu last week said it was "outraged" at the situation. As Fifa's exclusive worldwide master licensee, GBG said it would take the lead role in the review of the manufacturer. It said licensees and their third-party manufacturers had committed themselves to an international code of conduct and the principles of the International Labour Organisation. This included complying with national laws and international working-condition standards, the non-use of forced labour, standard working hours and the non-usage of child labour. "GBG take these matters very seriously and we have therefore launched a review audit as a matter of priority. "We wish to stress the fact that the Chinese manufacturer in question does not produce any of the other Zakumi plush toys, merchandise or products that are available in the marketplace." The company did not indicate when the probe would be completed. http://www.iol.co.za/index.php?set_id=6&click_id=4&art_id=vn20100204042427804C725665
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Guesthouses promise not to hike prices
Owners of hotels and B&Bs along the Garden Route, Fifa's Matchville, have pledged not to rip off tourists during the World Cup, saying they will their prices down. This follows a stern warning by tourism authorities not to hike prices, and the decision by Match, Fifa's official hospitality partner, to relinquish 65 000 room nights in this provincer alone. The room bookings were cancelled because of a lack of demand and fewer bookings than expected. Establishments in George and Knysna - "Matchville" locations - will now charge flat peak season rates for the event. ‘Matchvilles” are Fifa accommodation “nodes”, similar to fan camps, set up to ensure that supporters are able to follow their teams wherever they go during the event.Full Story...
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Anti-human-trafficking helpline launched ahead of WC2010 – Tollfree 08000-737283 (08000-RESCUE)
- Human trafficking is NOT illegal in South Africa…. and with the World Cup 2010 now only five months away, local parents are warned to look after their kids ‘as if they are gold’…
Jan 27, 2010 -- With the FIFA World Football Cup tournaments just under five months away, South Africa’s Salvation Army has stepped up its anti-human trafficking campaign. It launched a 24-hour toll free hotline number, 08000-RESCUE (08000-737283), where victims and the public can report all cases of human trafficking. Human trafficking is not illegal in South Africa, and Venter urged the government to pass the still pending draft-legislation to bring those criminals to book. The toll free number was launched at the South African Human Rights Commission in Johannesburg. "This toll free number allows people to call for help on all matters relating to human trafficking and serve as a platform for people to offer tip-off information on suspicious circumstances," said Major Marieke Venter. Their trained consultantswill report all human trafficking cases to the Salvation Army while all emergency cases will be referred directly to the South African Police Services. This is the only dedicated anti-human trafficking helpline in South Africa that will offer 24-hour assistance. Brian Adams, the founder of “BE HEARD”, said they are partnering with The Salvation Army in this venture. His organisation provides an anonymous tip-off service and will run The Salvation Army's toll free helpline. According to The Salvation Army, of the 2-million people trafficked each year, 450,000 are in Africa and are either used for exploitation as prostitutes, forced labour or for harvesting of their body organs.
- Media Contact: Khumbulani Mpofu, tel 011-487-0026, Cell: 083-695-2025 E-mail: khumbulani@quo-vadis.co.za
Client Contact: Captain Garth Niemand, Tel: 011-718-6745, Cell: 082-994-4351, E-mail: Garth_Niemand@saf.salvationarmy.org
South Africa is the African continent’s main destination, transit, and point of origin for the trafficking of persons, including children, from other countries in Africa, Asia, and Europe for prostitution and forced labour. And inside the country, children also are trafficked from poor rural areas to urban centers like Johannesburg, Cape Town, Durban, and Bloemfontein – both boys and girls are trafficked as sex-slaves and for domestic servitude; forced street vending, food service, begging, crime and “muti” (the removal of their organs for traditional medicine). The tradition of “ukuthewala,” - the forced marriage of girls as young as 12 to adult men - is still practiced in the tribal regions of the Eastern Cape. - U.S. State Dept Trafficking in Persons Report, June, 2009: full country report
“We rape them… we call it ‘washing the hands’…
The children usually are approached by people they know and trust, talked into leaving their homes. En route, they are usually raped, and their documents confiscated. Some are sold to illegal mine workers and put to work underground to hack gold and platinum ore from existing mines in SA, others are destined for brothels. One undercover investigation team making a video of this child-trafficking in South Africa, posing as prospective "clients," asked one trafficker: "How many women can you get us?" "Depends how many you need," was the response. When asked what a woman cost, he replied "R1 000, and maybe R150 for the border official." "How do you make sure the women don't run away when they find they aren't going to be waitressing, but doing sex work?" the interviewer asked. "Sometimes we rape them. We call it 'washing the hands'," the trafficker said. www.int.iol.co.za/index.php?set_id=1&click_id=15&art_id=vn20090219110210333C792118
also:
USA and UK monitor WC2010 as terror-target: http://censorbugbear-reports.blogspot.com/2010/01/usa-uk-monitor-south-africa-as-terror.html
Afrikaans parents warned: ‘guard your kids like gold during WC2010” - http://censorbugbear-reports.blogspot.com/2010/01/afrikaans-mom-wins-fierce-fight-against.html
Recycling waste can be a cash-earning enterprise
January 4 2010 – The Netherlands. All those tons of plastic, metal and even chemical waste which are polluting South African water-ways, acquifers and the entire landscape right now, could actually be gathered up, recycled and earn cash for local authorities and citizens – as Dutch municipalities have been doing for the past two decades. A small municipality with 15,000 residents brings in 70,000 Euros a year simply by sorting and selling on all their collected waste to recycling plants.
Dutch householders are given three municipal waste containers for this reason: a grey wheelie for plastics- and metals waste, a green one for kitchen- and garden waste; and a blue one for chemical waste such as batteries, paints etc. The green waste is turned into very fertile garden soil at local municipal compost heaps filled with worms and useful bacteria; the plastics, metals and chemical waste are sold to recycling firms. Usually, local ratepayers can collect the composted soil for free from the municipality, while the rest is sold to commercial outlets.
Plastics are collected seperately and after cleaning, are sold to recycling plants by municipalities. Picture and story from Nederlands Dagblad.nl
Dutch residents have also been recycling their paper waste for many years: the local sports- and youth clubs collect waste paper at pre-arranged times and thus fund most of their club-activities by selling the paper on to recycling plants. Glass and fabrics are also recycled: shoppers can deposit their used glass and discarded fabrics in containers outside most supermarkets.
From January this year, all municipalities in the Netherlands are also required to seperate the plastics from the rest of the ‘grey’ rubbish themselves before selling them on to recycling plants – but can select whether they want this recycling done by the residents in special plastic bags provided for this -- or by municipalities doing this themselves.
The seperating of household waste for recycling is still being refined after it was introduced several decades ago. For instance recent tests by sixteen Limburg municipalities discovered that seperating the plastic is much more financially viable when it’s done by the municipal waste-processor itself. The 16 munipalities teamed up and purchased a plastics-seperator which washes and dries the plastic while it’s being sorted mechanically – and this method is so efficient that it has already saved them 6-million Euros, said councillor (‘wethouder’) Jan Bormans of the Gulpen-Wittem municipality.
In their testing-year, when they had citizens seperating the waste themselves, 6,3 kilos per resident was collected – while the plastics-recycler collected 19 to 21 kilos of plastic per resident. ,Our tests prove that seperating plastics is better for the environment but also for the wallet. For instance our municipality of Gulpen-Wittem, with 15,000 residents, brings in 70,000 Euros a year from recycling. So work out the savings for the large cities. And this procedure can be optimalised even more,’ said Bormans. http://www.nd.nl/artikelen/2010/februari/04/nascheiding-plasticafval-levert-meer-op
Good news
Summary: a young Free State farmer rescues a woman from raging flood-waters; windpower group SARGE measures excellent wind-speeds at East Cape and Karoo farms; and night courts for World Cup 2010 thugs will be set up in the Western Cape.
Marquard farmer Bruwer Conradie rescues woman from raging flood-waters
Marquard, Free State. While six cops stood huddled together on the shore, waiting for the Welkom dog-unit to arrive to rescue a woman from raging flood-waters Wednesday-morning, young Marquard farmer Bruwer Conradie didn’t hesitate for a minute: he drove past when he saw her clinging desperately to a barbed-wire fence in the raging stream. He drove his Toyoto Land cruiser into the fast-running spruit, tied a rope around his body, cut the fence to free her, and pulled 32-year-old Rebecco Sello from the swollen stream, reports Volksblad journalist Charles Smith. Ms Sello, now fully recovered from her ordeal, told Volksblad that she was ‘happy and grateful” towards the young man who saved her. “I was very scared’, she said.
Ms Sello was caught by the flash-flood – probably caused by the 50mm rainfall last week -- when she tried to cross the low-water bridge just out Marquard.
Conradie is not only a farmer but also the owner of Korannaberg adventures which hosts adventure-seeking guests at his farm. He and his wife Heleen were enroute to town at 07:45 when neighbours gestured to them to slow down – and they noticed the woman fighting for her life, clinging to the fence in the middle of the flood. The police were huddled together on the shore, waiting for a dog-unit from Welkom and a helicopter. “Well then I thought nee it’s going to take too long. I knew I had to try something, I am a bit of a daredevil,’ he said.
He parked his Land Cruiser nose-first into the stream, climbed out and attached a ski-rope to the bakkie, tied the other end around his body and started walking to the woman, with a pair of plyers in his left hand. He had injured his right hand over the weekend and was unable to use it. His wife Heleen was also on hand, watching his rescue from the cabin of the cruiser. He cut Ms Sello lose from the fence, handed her the end of the rope, walked back to the bakkie and pulled her from the stream. She was handed over into the care of the police onshore and an ambulance took her to hospital.
Conradie said the 50mm of rain last week had caused the flash-flooding of the spruit. He was trained as a rescue-diver and knew what to do, he said.The Marquard police station commander said the police were waiting for the dog-unit in Welkom to arrive when Conradie jumped in and pulled her out.
Contact Korannaberg Adventures: korannaberg@vodamail.co.za, Heleen Conradie - +27 (0)82 706 0058 http://www.volksblad.com/Content/Suid-Afrika/Nuus/2114/29ff77f4629846bbbb9f4cec3b6e9629/02-02-2010-05-47/Boer_skroom_nie_om_vrou_uit_vloedwater_te_red
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Windpower-group SARGE looks at East Cape, Karoo farms to harvest the wind
2010/02/04 SA Renewable Green Energy (Sarge), the clean-energy company which recently told its windfarm-portfolio of 300 MW to the British group RES, has options on a further 200MW – and is planning another 500MW’s worth of projects still in the making, said its director Francois Roux.
Roux said most of the projects are located in the East Cape and the Karoo. The former owner of the Karoo mineral water bottling company – which he sold to a German company – said 30-year land-lease contracts have already been concluded with the farmers on whose land the wind-farms can be developed.
The company also brokers other sources of renewable energy: solar energy, bio-gas and landfill power generation. The wind-farm sites are chosen after research into the best wind-strengths combined with the closest vicinity to ESKOM’s grid and substations and farmers signed up with 30-year contracts, he said.
- 7 m – to 8 meter winds per second… at 15 metre height:
- Sarge took wind-measurements at the most favourable sites at 15-metre heights and RES is expected to carry out the wind-strengths at a height of 80 meters, he said. His average wind-speeds at 15-metre heights were recorded at travelling at 7 meters to 8 meters per second.
Wind-farms become profitable once they generate at least 100MW of electricity, he said. “This makes it more attractive for the large windturbine-distributors to become involved, and to assure that they can provide better maintenance support,’ he said.
‘ESKOM far less negative about independent power companies than believed’
He also feels that ‘people in the renewable energy business are unnecessarity negative about ESKOM’, and said that it has been his experience that Eskom-officials at ground level are knowledgeable and positive towards involving renewable energy projects from independent power producers linking to the ESKOM-network. He said for instance a recent study showed that up to 2,800 MW of wind-power can be easily linked to the ESKOM grid in the Western Cape without any large-scale adjustments. http://www.sake24.com/articles/default/display_article.aspx?ArticleId=6-2468_2570382 http://www.res-group.com/ http://censorbugbear-reports.blogspot.com/2010/02/sa-electricity-system-at-risk.html
Anglo American thinking about buying shares in Kusile power station near Delmas.
Meanwhile, the multinational mining giant Anglo American has indicated that the company would be interested in investing in the nearly ready coalfired Kusile-power station near Delmas. Anglo is looking for ways to generate their own electricity for their mines and believes that the Kusile station – right next to the Delmas station, could be suitable for this purppose. Eskom had already earlier this year submitted proposals to the SA energy regulator NERSA to sell 39% to 49% of the Kusile power-station shares to investors. This was also one of the main reasons why Eskom decided to change its proposed tariff rates increases from 45% to 39 % reports Solidarity Trade Union ‘s weekly newsletter: http://www.solidaritysa.co.za/Tuis/wmview.php?ArtID=2991
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Night courts for World Cup thugs
Four special night courts will operate in Cape Town during the World Cup to deal with crimes related to the soccer extravaganza.http://www.capeargus.co.za/?fArticleId=5337597News reports Feb 4 2010
Summary: A top Afrikaans heart-surgeon is murdered with a single shot to the head in a Newlands retirement village; a Schweizer-Reneke farmer, his blind son and guests survive a farm attack; an Afrikaans girl’s gutsy testimony gets her vicious rapist convicted in Lydenburg; a bullied Afrikaans high school youth is suing the Gauteng Education Department for advancement to Grade 12; and a falling-down drunk taxi-driver in KwaZulu was arrested for transporting 49 Zulu pupils on a jampacked 30km trip to their Escourt schools…and the East Cape health department is R1,8-billion in the red :small wonder: they unquestioningly paid their suppliers R25 for a plastic ballpoint pen; R100 for a bag of potatoes…
Bullied, bright youth sues Education Department, demands advancement to Grade 12
2010-02-04 Edwin Botha, 18, left, is determined to matriculate from the Afrikaans Noordheuwel High School in Krugersdorp despite the fact that he underwent a merciless initiation procedure there which had caused a mental breakdown in October last year and landed him in ‘social isolation’ amongst his classmates.
The bright youth, who gained five distinctions in Grade 11 before he took his exam, has now sued the Gauteng education department, demanding reinstatement as head-boy and promotion to Grade 12 at the school, writes Beeld journalist Susan Cilliers. The shy youth said he is determined to matriculate with seven distinctions this year -- and wants to start university next year. He has taken his case all the way to the Johannesburg High Court, suing the Gauteng Education Department over their refusal to advance him to Grade 12.
Edwin was forced to leave the school in October last year after the youth was subjected to ‘extremely harrowing initiation experiences’ after he was chosen as deputy-head boy. He was deeply humiliated and deeply hurt emotionally by the abusive experience and had been forced to leave the school before he could do his Grade 11 exams – he suffered a mental breakdown, according to the documents before the court.
On his Facebook page, Edwin Botha then spouted his anger about what had happened, accusing his teachers and school management of having left him in the lurch - specifically accusing the deputy-head Ms Renette Viljoen of ‘merely looking on’ during his violent initiation – and not intervening. He also noted that the head of the school had apparently merely shrugged and said it was ‘tradition’.
Apparently before the initiation took place, his parents had refused to sign a release form with the school and said they wouldn’t allow it, informing the school authorities that the youth was already suffering from fear-syndrome and required regular medication to combat it. Even so, the school management still allowed the ‘very harrowing initiation’ to continue.
While Edwin was forced to leave the school because of the trauma he’d suffered from this, before he could take his grade-eleven exams – the headmaster Dr J A C Fourie stated according to the court documents that he would advance the youth to Grade 12 because at that stage, he had five distinctions and two Bs in all his subjects. The Gauteng Education Department however refused to allow this, saying that the headmaster did not have the authority to advance the youth to Grade 12. In January, the parents also took out a successful court interdict to force the school to admit him to Grade 12 pending the results of the Johannesburg High Court case. And that’s where he is now, although socially isolated and ostracised at the school, he said - ‘while some of the children and the teachers support me, others now refuse to talk to me since the court case,’ Edwin told Beeld newspaper. http://www.beeld.com/Content/Suid-Afrika/Nuus/1928/99eab097d4764a3baf8dc2ce92b47eab/04-02-2010-02-46/Hofstryd_om_in_gr_12_te_kom_isoleer_seun_
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‘Coal of Africa’ mine approved in sensitive wetlands area by Mining minister Susan Shabangu
2010-02-04 “It is shocking. Mapungubwe is going to lose its world heritage status before long,’ warned Mrs Yolan Friedman of Endangered Wildlife Trust. She was responding to Beeld newspaper’s investigation into the legal coal-mining being carried out in the sensitive Mapungubwe Wetlands area – and was shocked about the fact that the Minister for Mining, Susan Shabangu, had actually given permission to carry out the invasive coal-mining. To write this story, Beeld investigative journalist Elize Tempelhoff was illegally held captive for hours by the mining company security officer and her camera was confiscated when she was allowed by the company’s security guards into the mining area to investigate personally – and to get pictures. http://www.beeld.com/Content/Suid-Afrika/Nuus/1928/f2b4ff617ef14a2ead5ef08f8aa85f7c/04-02-2010-02-46/Myn_naby_Mapungubwe_ondanks_besware_goedgekeurGerman hotelier Franz Richter murder suspect: ‘I was tortured’
JOHANNESBURG HIGH COURT -- The man co-accused of murdering Franz Richter, a major German investor owning the Heia Safari Ranch at the Cradle of Humankind tourist resort near Muldersdrift/Magalies, claimed in court yesterday that a top cop had ‘tortured him and forced him to implicate his co-accused, Ms Celiwe Mbokazi,’ - Richter's widow.
The claim was made by co-accused Dumisani Sibusiso Xulu, 39, who told the Johannesburg High Court yesterday that he had ‘ lied to save his life.’
Ms Mbokazi was only linked to the gruesome murder on December 9 2008, when Xulu made a confession to Director Piet Byleveld alleging that a woman, "Thobila", had hired him to kill Richter.
Xulu claimed Byleveld and his officers ‘beat and tortured him’ when he denied the woman was involved. He claimed that Byleveld ‘shoved a loaded gun into his mouth and that he was suffocated several times’.
He then implicated the woman to save his life, he said. Byleveld has denied the accusations in his testimony during the ongoing trial.
http://www.capeargus.co.za/?fSectionId=3571&fArticleId=vn20100204042107262C425929 picture on: http://cid-b6b44a5376348175.skydrive.live.com/self.aspx/Kill%20the%20Boer%20kill%20the%20farmer%202009%20victims%20P%20-%20R/Richter%5E_Franz%5E_GermanOwnerHeiaKalahariSafariRanchMuldersdrftMurderedDec2008.jpg?wa=wsignin1.0&sa=945941528
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Dr Francois Steenkamp, 72, murdered in Newlands retirement village, Pretoria
Retired cardiologist Dr Francois Steenkamp, 71, was found murdered with a shot to the head in his retired home at a Newlands retirement village in Pretoria.
He was discovered by his domestic servant Mrs Willemina Habile, 60. Dr Steenkamp was gruesomely assaulted, his head was bushed in, his hands were tied behind his back, writes Beeld. Dr Steenkamp was a long-time heart-specialist at the Heart Hospital in Pretoria.
Left is Mrs Willemina Habile (60), who came across his lifeless body in his home at the Newlands Park retirement complex in Pretoria. Pictures Theana Calitz
Virginia Keppler quotes Captain Collette Weilbach as saying that it looked as if Steemkamp had fought back against his attackers. The entire house was in a shambles, with drawers and cupboards’ contents strewn across the floor. The murderers fled with Steenkamp’s white Toyota Tazz, said the police. Habile said normally she worked on Mondays for Mr Steenkamp, she opened the door, walked in and called for him – and when she got to his room she saw feet sticking out from beneath the bed.
Habile rushed to alert the nurses at the retirement centre and they called Steenkamp’s children and the police. The murder occurred shortly after the previous security company had been fired because of its ‘weak’ security controls, writes Beeld.
A neighbour, John Corbitt, 72, said ‘this man was one of the best heart specialists in Pretoria, and now he’s dead’. He had seen something unusual two weeks earlier, he told Beeld: he noticed two unknown men simply strolling past the security guards at the gate and steal a woman’s handbag, cellphone and jewellery from her home. “We then decided to get rid of this security company because they weren’t doing their jobs. The company will only remain until the end of this month and then somebody else will take over,’ said Corbitt.
Steenkamp lived in the gated community for the past five years. His grieving two sons and daughter didn’t want to speak to the news media yesterday. http://www.beeld.com/Content/Suid-Afrika/Nuus/1928/955a5ed56cd64263bcb478e962fb4eb5/04-02-2010-02-02/Hartdokter_vermoor
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2010-02-01 Mannetjie Pieterse, 69, Schweizer-Reneke, blind son Johan and guests survive farm attack
2010-02-04 Linda de Beer - 69-year-old Schweizer-Reneke farmer Mannetjie Pieterse, his blind son Johan, 27, and their guests were attacked on Monday-night just after they had been outside, having a braai on their farm Houtvolop. Two attackers had first confronted Johan, in the bathroom – and the blind man was pistol-whipped three times over the head before the attackers stormed down the hall to confront the rest of the family. Mr Pieterse senior said they must have been watching the family while they were having their barbeque with their guests in the (fenced in) backyard. “The backdoor was open at one stage and they must have entered there,’ he said. A ‘rifle was fired’. And what happened after that is unclear from this report -- however two suspects were arrested the following night, said inspector Wimarie van der Merwe. The two suspects will appear in the local magistrate’s court on Thursday. http://www.beeld.com/Content/Suid-Afrika/Nuus/1928/9f8b451da08e47b7911c2f91e26c2280/04-02-2010-02-46/Boer_dink_eers_plaasaanval_is_%E2%80%99n_flou_grappie
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Raped Afrikaans girl ‘s gutsy testimony gets guilty verdict for rapist Patric Sibiya in Lydenburg
2010-02-03 – LYDENBURG. Two years after 24-year-old Mariska Louw was raped in Lydenburg, she heard her rapist, Patric Sibiya, 21, pronounced guilty of the brutal rape, during which he also badly assaulted her and had tied her up, telling her to ‘shut up or I will kill you.’
Magistrate André Lampbrecht found Sibiya guilty of raping her. He was also found guilty of theft of her cellphone and watch, and of attempted theft of her car. He totally denied everything and said he was never there. However the rape victim was determined to go through the ordeal of testifying – and also has attended the court sessions dealing with Sibiya’s case, reports Beeld newspaper.
Ms Louw testified that on 26 January 2008, she had returned to her apartment from a gathering with her colleagues and when she walked into the bathroom, the naked Sibiya was waiting for her. Her grabbed her throat, assaulted her, tied her up with clothing to her bed and raped her. He then locked her up, tied up inside her bedroom before fleeing. However Ms Louw was able to get free of her bonds and saw Sibiya climbing from her Toyoto Yaris: he had tried to steal it but was unable to do so. He’d also stolen her cellphone and watch, she testified. Mariska was visually relieved when Sibiya heard the guilty verdict pronounced against him “Now we close this horrible chapter in our lives and close the book on it, ‘ said her mom Theresa. However it’s not over yet: he still has to hear his prison sentence on Monday. http://www.beeld.com/Content/Suid-Afrika/Nuus/1928/73d58335370a43559d510bef10c99bd6/03-02-2010-11-32/Verkragte_duidelik_verlig_oor_uitspraak
Drunken minibus taxi-driver transports 49 children…
2010-02-04 Stephanie Saville writes from Durban. – 49 pupils were bundled into a taxi built for 16 – and then taken on a long route of 30km to be dropped off at their various schools – by a drunken taxi driver who was registered at seven times the allowable alcohol limit.
The children, aged 3 to 13, were supposed to be taken to several schools in Estcourt, said provincial traffic spokesman Colin Govender. He said when the overloaded taxi was stopped at the Mooirivier tollgate on the N3, they saw that the children were squeezed together like sardines and seated on top of one another. And they would have had to travel for 30km like this. The taxi-driver ‘s breath-test revealed a reading of 0,67mg alkohol per 1F per exporation, while the allowed maximum is 0,1mg/F.
The upset children were taken to the traffic inspectorate’s station, where their schools were informed that they would be late while better transport was being arranged for them. The driver has been arrested and is scheduled to appear in Mooirivier magistrate’s court. Govender says parents use minibus-taxis for transport to schools because they are affordable – but ‘sometimes the cheapest option is a high price to pay for safety.’ He said a taxi-driver tries to take as many passengers as he can early in the day – they work according to passenger-targets and if he can get his target early in the morning, he can go home for the rest of the day…’
He said the overload of 49 children in one taxi is a record for KwaZulu, but in the Western Cape they set the record when more than 60 people were discovered travelling in one taxi containing only 16 seats.. http://www.beeld.com/Content/Suid-Afrika/Nuus/1928/abe87644c65043ab8f3f2f540732257d/04-02-2010-02-46/Dronk_taximan_vervoer_49_kinders
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North Gate - Honeydew post office attacked by six-member armed gang
3 February 2010, The North Gate post office in Honeydew, Randburg was robbed of an undisclosed amount of money on Wednesday afternoon, Honeydew police said. Six men stormed into post office at 2.30pm and demanded money from staff at gunpoint, Inspector Kym Cloete said. "They held a 43-year-old employee at gunpoint, forced her to open the safe and fled the scene with an undisclosed amount of money." No one was injured and no arrests had been made. – Sapa http://www.pretorianews.co.za/?fSectionId=&fArticleId=nw20100203174326972C779719
2010-02-03 22:14 -- The Eastern Cape health department says it is R1.8bn in the red, and has suspended all outstanding occupation specific dispensation payments until the start of the new financial year in April. It has also put a hold on all payments to creditors. "The reason why we cannot effect payment now is that we are currently facing a deficit of about R1.8bn," spokesperson Sizwe Kupelo said on Wednesday – adding that its new superintendent general Dr Siva Pillay has applied ‘for an overdraft in terms of section 139 of the Public Finance management act.’ However he emphasised that “ existing salaries” would be paid out as normal. He said the outstanding OSD payments affected mainly nurses. Most doctors, pharmacists and emergency services personnel had already received their OSD packages. "The department regrets the fact that it has not been fully able to implement the OSD, which was intended to bring smiles to the faces of our employees.""We apologise for the problems that have arisen, and we also acknowledge and accept responsibility for the fact that we did not earlier communicate this important message about the delay in payments.""We assure staff that the department is committed to paying the OSD money as soon as it is available."
Department paid R25 for a plastic ballpoint pen; R100 for a bag of potatoes…
The department was also seeking an outstanding amount of more than R212m from the national treasury which was earmarked as "unfunded mandate" cash to cover unplanned-for OSD expenses. He said among the reasons for the department's massive deficit were the pressures of OSD payments, and payments to staff relating to backlogs. Kupelo said as part of a general cleanup of its finances, the department would disband its existing bid evaluation committees and come up with an alternative, transparent, procurement system. Until then, all delegations and mandates for spending in the department had been withdrawn.
It was hoped the new system would be in place by April 1. He said “some suppliers had been grossly overcharging” the department, billing R25 for a plastic ballpoint pen, or R100 for a bag of potatoes...
- Kupelo said the province's suspended head of emergency services, Shanks Maharaj, had resigned. He was suspended last year over the alleged abuse of an air ambulance. Kupelo said Maharaj had not yet faced a disciplinary hearing. http://www.news24.com/Content/SouthAfrica/Politics/1057/4b96f87533fc4013895e8959917e46d1/03-02-2010-10-14/E_Cape_stops_OSD_payments