CA_NWS_E1_040609_p06 C M Y K
6 THURSDAY JUNE 4 2009
Salary concerns could see social workers swell the ranks of striking civil servants
YUGENDREE NAIDOO
Special Correspondent
SOCIAL workers could swell
the ranks of a threatened civil
servants’ strike over delays in
the implementation of the
occupation specific dispensa-
tion (OSD) in respect of the
salaries of skilled staff.
The OSD was developed as
part of the 2007 wage negotia-
tions, and should have been
implemented in July last year.
Pain as families
identify bodies
of ‘zama zamas’
Industry ‘in denial over illegal miners’
ALEX ELISEEV
Staff Reporter
WEARING dusty gumboots
and guarded by police officers,
a young illegal miner waits for
his turn to enter the mortuary.
Around him, the painful
drama unfolds as relatives
emerge from the building tear-
ing off their surgical masks
and gasping for air.
One woman sobs under the
shade of a tree. Another sits on
the pavement, her head buried
in her hands.
The slow process of trying
to identify 63 bodies of illegal
gold miners who died in the
belly of Harmony Gold’s dis-
used Elands mineshaft in
Welkom, Free State, is grim.
The 21-year-old miner was
in the dark tunnels when the
fire broke out and began to
smoke out the zama-zamas
(chance-takers). He had been
underground for about two
weeks. He wasn’t mining for
gold but selling food to the
zama-zamas. Suddenly, he
heard someone shouting that
there was smoke.
“We tried to run. I don’t
remember but I must have col-
lapsed. Then I found myself at
the (Bongani) hospital.”
Yesterday the young man
from Lesotho was taken to
the state mortuary to help iden-
tify his friend, Moeketsi
Maseru, with whom he had
sneaked into the mine. He said
they had bribed security offi-
Taxi marshals force motorists to abandon cars
STAFF REPORTER
A MOB of taxi marshals
disrupted rush-hour traffic
when they forced motorists out
of their cars and told them to
use taxis along the R511 in
Diepsloot in Johannesburg.
Nonhlanhla Mavuso and
Thembi Mashazi were among
those travelling to work when
they were blocked by the mob
yesterday morning.
WEEKEND ARGUS
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Weekend Argus
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But in many instances the
government has, as yet, failed
to do so.
Although a final agreement
already exists between the gov-
ernment and social workers,
it has not yet been signed by
the representative unions due
to concerns over entry-level
salaries for the profession.
The Department of Social
Development and child rights
activists have raised concerns
that an extended strike could
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cers to enter, hidden in a group
of legal miners.
Nearby, Teboho Msaefana
walked out of the overcrowded
morgue having identified his
cousin, Thabiso Sekonyela.
Msaefana said his 25-year-old
cousin had left their village in
Lesotho to earn money in
South Africa. He left his wife
and their recently born child in
January. By March, Msaefana,
23, came to search for him.
Yesterday ended more than
two months of searching.
The mortuary’s Dr Yusuf
Vahed confirmed that of the 63
illegal miners who died, only
six had so far been identified.
The mortuary is holding
twice the normal number of
corpses it should and is hous-
ing at least 36 of the miners.
The other bodies are due to
arrive from another morgue
for identification.
Police said that in the early
hours of yesterday, six people
were detained in connection
with illegal mining. It is sus-
pected they are senior syndi-
cate members. Police Director
Jacob Tsumane, head of detec-
tives in the Free State, said
about 700 miners had been
arrested over the past two or
three months.
The two are part of a car
pool of four that travel from
Diepsloot to an office park in
Sandton.
“They demanded everyone
get out of their cars. It felt
unjustified. I have the right to
get to wherever I want however
I want,” said Mavuso.
She managed to get back
into the car when the driver
said she was his girlfriend.
Mashazi was not so lucky.
OM/07/6732595
20/21 June 2009
18 June 2009
19 June 2009
hamper the implementation of
the groundbreaking Children’s
Act, which finally came into
full effect last year after spend-
ing 12 years winding its way
through the parliamentary
process.
The implementation of the
act, which has new provisions
governing matters such as
child trafficking, adoption and
a child protection register, is
heavily reliant on the work
done by social workers.
According to sources at
G-Hostel, where illegal gold is
allegedly processed and sold, it
is clear that there is no short-
age of zama-zamas being
recruited and trafficked from
neighbouring countries such
as Lesotho and Mozambique.
“Bosses” run groups of 20 or
more illegal miners and man-
age their work underground,
which can last for months with-
out a single surfacing.
The zama-zamas worked in
dark, hot, humid tunnels filled
with toxic gases and were
under constant threat of
arrest, confrontation with legal
miners, or disasters. If they
died underground, their bodies
were brought to a working
shaft and, where possible, left
with a name and a contact
number for a relative.
Food and money is smug-
gled down, gold is smuggled up,
and R2 500 is paid as a bribe to
sneak in and out of the mine.
The zama-zamas have clashed
with the police, but exist in
peace with legal miners.
A senior security source at
one of the mines said the prob-
lem began and ended with
access control. But, he said, the
mines were in denial and paid
attention to the zama-zamas
only when disasters occurred.
He estimated that about 3 000
illegal miners worked in the
Welkom area.
“The zamas will never stop,”
he said. And massive job cuts
were only fuelling the problem.
“They said there can’t be too
many people in one car. They
just opened the doors and told
us to get out,” she said.
Mashazi said she gave in
when the marshals started
banging the car. “I thought they
were going to beat us up. I got
out when I realised they would
damage the car,” she said.
Police Captain Louise Reed
confirmed the incident, but
said no arrests had been made
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NEWS
Even without them going
on strike, the UCT Children’s
Institute calculates that South
Africa is short of 11 755 social
workers.
According to the SA Child
Gauge 2007/8, released by the
institute, the lowest level of
implementation of the Chil-
dren’s Act requires at least
16 504 social workers in 2010/11
for children’s social services.
The Gauge estimates that
66 329 social workers will be
IN SOLIDARITY: Dial-A-Ride passengers join their drivers during a protest against the wages the drivers receive. PICTURE: SAM CLARK
Disabled passengers back drivers in pay dispute
LULEKA DAMANE
Staff Reporter
IN AN ACT of solidarity dis-
abled passengers braved the
cold and rain to back up their
Dial-A-Ride drivers, who are
demanding wage increases.
Outside the Dial-A-Ride
offices in Woodstock yesterday
they attracted the attention of
passing motorists as they con-
tinued the strike, which began
last Monday.
The drivers are demanding a
45 percent increase, but WCL
Trading, the company which
holds the contract for the Dial-A-
Ride service, is not moving on its
12.67 percent offer.
The drivers have vowed to
continue with the strike until
their demands are met, which
has left their disabled passen-
because the marshals dispersed
when they saw the police.
“Taxi operators were upset
because people were standing
by the robot waiting for lifts,
instead of using the taxis,” she
said.
Reed urged those who had
been intimidated to open a case
of intimidation.
Officials from taxi associa-
tions in the area said they knew
nothing about the incident.
om/09/6819018
WONDERFUL
WORLD OF
LEATHER
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Weekend Argus
Aims to publish a special feature
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on 20/21 June 2009
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needed to implement the act at
its highest level.
Yet, according to the Depart-
ment of Social Development,
there are only 4 749 social work-
ers employed by the state.
Agnes Muller, the Depart-
ment of Social Development
manager of the Children’s Act,
said that although the shortage
of social workers was a prob-
lem, some organisations, like
the Children’s Court, were
already rendering services
gers without transport.
One driver, Mphakamisi
Dapo, said the drivers loved
their jobs, and their passengers.
“But the money we earn per
month is just not enough. We
need more; R3 500 is not
enough,” he said, adding that
most of his earnings went on
food to sustain his family.
Another driver accused the
company owner, Ibtisaam
Khan, of refusing to engage
with them.
Handy Mlombi and other
drivers taking part in yester-
day’s picket said they had orig-
inally demanded a monthly
salary of R6 500 each, which
Khan had refused.
“She does not want to strike a
deal with us. She does not want
to negotiate. She turns down
what we offer,” he said, indicat-
OM/18/06822397
20/21 June 2009
17 June 2009
18 June 2009
according to the act.
She said regulations of the
act were being finalised by the
department’s legal team after
a review by the state’s legal
advisers.
“We are pushing for it, and
hopefully it will be imple-
mented by this year, as the
proclamation is already pre-
pared.
“It’s about enhancing the
services that are already being
rendered, and making a start
ing they had dropped their
demand to R5 000 a month.
Khan confirmed that no
agreement had yet been
reached, even after a meeting
on Tuesday between drivers
and management.
“We have not agreed to any-
thing… the strike will continue
until they feel they have to stop,
I suppose,” she said.
Yesterday some of the
passengers pleaded with Khan
to give the drivers the increase
they had demanded.
“We are pleading that Mrs
Khan pay our drivers the
money they are requesting
because without the transport
we cannot go anywhere. We are
unable to use public trans-
port,” said Funeka Xanjana.
Another passenger, Zolani
Kweza, said this would be the
Unaccompanied Zim children flood into SA
FRANCIS HWESHE
Special Correspondent
THE NUMBER of unaccompa-
nied Zimbabwean children flee-
ing to South Africa has increased
sharply a respected international
humanitarian organisation has
warned.
In a startling report, Médecins
Sans Frontières (MSF) says that
while it had, during the past year,
witnessed “a steady increase in
the number of unaccompanied
children” crossing the border to
Musina, and ending up at the
Central Methodist Church in
Joburg, the numbers had jumped
sharply since the beginning of
this year.
“As of May 2009, there were 150
children between seven and 18
years staying at the church. These
children are extremely vulnera-
ble and exposed to many forms of
abuse,” the study said.
“Some have lost both parents
due to HIV/Aids or other causes.
before waiting to perfect it,”
Muller said.
But the protection of chil-
dren would be compromised if
social workers joined the pro-
posed civil servants’ strike, she
said, as children were already
at high risk of abuse and traf-
ficking.
Stuart Marshall, national
organising head of the
National Education Health and
Allied Workers Union, said the
union was trying to avert a
second week that he had not
gone to work.
“Last week I did not go to
work because there has been no
pick-up where I live in Cross-
roads,” he said.
On claims by passengers
that the service had been
stopped in the townships, since
the commencement of the
strike, Khan said this was done
because she was not prepared
to risk people’s lives.
“Yes, there is no service for
areas like Khayelitsha, Cross-
roads, Nyanga and Guguletu
because there have been
threats that vehicles would be
set alight,” she said.
The service has continued
in other areas.
The drivers denied making
the threat.
luleka.damane@inl.co.za
WINNER: Leneave Hansen,
23, of Rondebosch with the
new notebook he won in the
Cape Argus’s IOL Jobs
website competition. The
competition started on May
27, encouraging jobseekers
to sign up to the new site:
www.ioljobs.co.za.
Jobseekers who register on
the site before July 1 can win
an MSI Laptop, courtesy of IT
Business Campus.
PICTURE: HENK KRUGER
They were not going to school;
some were heading the family
themselves. One 12-year-old was
looking after his sisters who were
seven and five,” it said.
Reasons they had left Zim-
babwe included realising their
parents could no longer support
them, “so they just decided they
had to grow up overnight and say
this is what I’m going to do”.
“During their journeys some
have been exploited. Some have
been raped. A 12-year-old girl was
raped in Pretoria and she ended
up here. She got an infection and
her behaviour completely chang-
ed after that. Once something like
that happens to a child you fear
for more abuse,” the report said.
Sara Hjamarsson, an MSF
nurse and project co-ordinator in
Musina, said in the study that in
one incident a 16-year-old was
robbed and violently raped near
that town by one of the notorious
guma-gumas (gangs).
“Her genitalia were bruised.
strike via discussions with the
relevant ministers.
But, “unfortunately”, yes-
terday’s meeting with the nine
relevant ministers – including
those of finance and health –
had to be postponed to June 8
due to a cabinet lekgotla.
“Although we have been
mandated to sign the agree-
ment by eight provinces, we are
agitated as there has to be
100 percent consensus,” Mar-
shall said. – West Cape News
Travelgate
accused’s
case delayed
yet again
JADE WITTEN and
RICHIE DUCHON
Staff Reporters
A CAPE Town Regional Court
has granted a postponement in
the Mnyamezeli Booi fraud
case for the umpteenth time –
for his new defence to “ade-
quately prepare” for trial.
Yesterday, Booi arrived for
court with his new defence
attorney, Athol Gordon.
His previous counsel, Mario
Wilker, withdrew because Booi
could not pay his legal fees.
Gordon told the court he
was “simply not prepared” for
the trial to go ahead as he had
been briefed about the case
only minutes before the start of
proceedings.
Booi is one of the 29 MPs
charged with fraud relating to
the abuse of parliamentary
travel vouchers, to the tune of
R17 million, between January
2000 and September 2003. He
first appeared in court in 2005.
During yesterday’s proceed-
ings, Gordon requested a post-
ponement of at least 30 days for
him to effectively prepare to
defend his client.
He said defending Booi
without time to review the facts
of the case would be “ambi-
tious, unrealistic and frankly
irresponsible”.
The State is due to bring evi-
dence of a forensic auditor and
transcripts of conversations
with the accused.
But Gordon said Booi would
need time to consider whether
or not to hire independent ex-
perts to examine the evidence
of the State.
Magistrate Michelle Adams
questioned the defence on
whether Booi was able to fund
outside experts.
Prosecutor Jannie van
Vuuren entered the fray, ques-
tioning how it was possible that
Booi had this money, when his
former attorney withdrew on
Tuesday saying Booi could not
pay his legal fees.
Van Vuuren said that the
firing of one defence lawyer in
order to hire another and
secure a postponement, was
“the oldest trick in the book”.
He said Booi had gone out of
his way to avoid going to trial.
Van Vuuren added that
Wilker had a duty to inform the
court that he would no longer
be able to defend Booi, and sug-
gested he come in to court and
put his reasons on record.
Adams did not finalise a
date for the trial to start, but
postponed the matter to
tomorrow.
jade.witten@inl.co.za
richie.duchon@inl.co.za
She was infected with an STI. She
cannot sit up straight and can
hardly walk. She has missed her
period and could be pregnant
from the rape. She said she could
not go to hospital for fear of being
deported.”
The organisation has
expressed dismay at what it
believes is a poor response from
the Department of Social Devel-
opment here, and from Unicef.
“MSF has repeatedly expres-
sed concerns to the Department
of Social Development and Unicef
about the situation the children
face, providing a list of names
and relevant details about each
individual child,” the report said.
But in spite of the fact that key
organisations and agencies are
aware of the extreme vulnerabil-
ity of this group, “no viable solu-
tion has yet been proposed or
implemented”.
Unicef and the department
have yet to reply to queries.
francis.hweshe@inl.co.za

10 FRIDAY JUNE 5 2009
Future of Oudekraal site ‘a world concern’
New environmental investigation of property at centre of court appeal
JOHN YELD
Environment & Science Writer
THE OUDEKRAAL property
on the western slopes of Table
Mountain is one of the top
handful of undeveloped urban
land parcels anywhere in the
world, and its future is a matter
of international and not just
local concern.
This was the unequivocal
message from conservationists
during a briefing yesterday by
consultants managing a new
environmental investigation of
the property, on behalf of a pos-
sible developer.
But the consultants stressed
News
BRIEFING
Five children, adult
die in rondavel fire
SIX people were killed when
their rondavel in Pomeroy,
northern KwaZulu-Natal, was
set alight yesterday.
Police said five children
were among the dead.
The door was apparently
locked from the outside before
the rondavel was set alight.
The motive for the killing
was unknown. – Sapa
Man accused of
raping niece, 12
A 26-YEAR-OLD man has been
arrested in connection with the
rape of his 12-year-old niece in
Nelspruit, say police.
Superintendent Abie Khoa-
bane said the man was arrested
on Wednesday, after his niece
alleged that he had started rap-
ing her after her mother died in
October last year. – Sapa
Police reservist and
arms dealer shot
A PRETORIA arms dealer, who
also worked as a police
reservist, has been gunned
down in a suspected hit.
Ivan Monsieur, 56, a police
reservist at the Midrand police
station, was shot dead this
week while en route to his
office in Lyttelton. Anyone
with information can call
0860 010 111.
in return that no development
plans were on the table, that no
formal statutory application
process for development had
started, and that what would be
done on the property over the
next six months or so included
a range of specialist studies on
issues like flora, fauna, geology,
water and heritage.
These studies were aimed at
gathering sufficient baseline
material to see whether any of
the 370ha property between
Camps Bay and Llandudno was
suitable for possible develop-
ment, consultant Doug Jeffery
explained.
The developer, Property
Locals react to
Obama in Cairo
RICHIE DUCHON and
LIZZY ENCARNACAO
Staff Reporters
LEADERS of prominent Jew-
ish and Muslim organisations
in Cape Town have reacted
very differently to American
President Barack Obama’s
stance on the conflict between
Israel and Palestine, which he
outlined during a speech made
in Cairo, Egypt, yesterday.
In his speech, Obama was
unambiguous about his sup-
port for a two-state solution to
the Israeli-Palestinian conflict
and called for Hamas to recog-
nise Israel’s right to exist.
“The only resolution is for
the aspirations of both sides to
be met through two states,
where Israelis and Palestinians
each live in peace and secu-
rity,” he said.
David Jacobson, the execu-
tive director of the South
African Jewish Board of
Deputies, said: “Obama seems
to be forthright, honest, willing
to face hard truths, and willing
to expose people to hard
truths. We stand behind it.”
But Moulana Igsaan Hen-
dricks, the president of the
Muslim Judicial Council (MJC)
& Al Quds Foundation, was far
less supportive, saying that
although Obama’s willingness
to engage and understand the
Muslim world was a step in the
right direction, his policy
toward the Middle East
remained the same.
“The Muslim world and
Arab world can expect nothing
Promotions and Management
(Pty) Ltd, would then take a
decision on whether and how
to proceed, he said.
A limited number of inter-
ested parties were invited to
attend the briefing at a Century
City venue, to discuss the
process of the new environ-
mental investigation.
One of them, Richard
Timms of the Hout Bay & Llan-
dudno Environmental Conser-
vation Group, said he believed
there would be “massive oppo-
sition” to any development on
this site, even if the specialist
studies did indicate that some
was possible.
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new to come from Mr Obama.”
Hendricks was particularly
concerned that Obama had
described the bond between the
US and Israel “unbreakable.”
“He is reaffirming that
Israel is a Jewish state. This
must be challenged,” Hen-
dricks said.
Jacobson disagreed: “The
first thing you have to do in
order to become a partner for
peace is recognise Israel’s right
to exist. Obama called for that.”
Jacobson said he was
encouraged to hear Obama
speak with such clarity on that
issue.
“The Muslim and Jewish
populations in Cape Town have
strong connections to Israel
and Palestine,” he said.
He added that local commu-
nities of both faith groups were
emotional and passionate, and
said some of the tensions in the
Middle East have occasionally
spilled over into what he called
a cooling of relations between
the local Jewish and Muslim
communities.
Hendricks said South
Africa’s own history was the
reason he believed a two-state
solution would not work.
“We did not accept that in
South Africa. Why should it
work in the Middle East?”
richard.duchon@inl.co.za
NEWS
Jeffery agreed that the prop-
erty was “different to most
sites”.
“I’m fully aware of the sen-
sitivity of this site and that if
we don’t do it properly, we’re
going to run into a nightmare,”
he said.
Jeffery has been appointed
to manage what is being called
an “information-gathering
initiative”, which included yes-
terday’s briefing to “key stake-
holder groups”.
He explained that Property
Promotions and Management
(PP&M) had a formal agree-
ment with the owner of the
property, Oudekraal Estates –
Bare necessities
GIFTED: Scores of street children were showered with toys, clothes and snacks as part of the Chris Barnard Hospital’s
programme for International Children’s Week. Twenty-nine children of Winplay House, an NGO geared at getting street
children ready for school, participated. Patients and staff also donated items, including educational toys. PICTURE: SAM CLARK
Zim farmers demand Mugabe honours SADC judgment
PETA THORNYCROFT
Independent Foreign Service
ZIMBABWE’S 77 farmers
return to the SADC Tribunal in
Windhoek today to demand
that President Robert Mugabe
CA_NWS_E1_050609_p10 C M Y K
whose chief shareholder is
Kasper Wiehahn – giving it the
right to acquire the property.
“In terms thereof, PP&M
intends to investigate and
assess the possibility of sus-
tainable development of the
farm, Oudekraal,” said Jeffery.
This agreement was for all
the remaining privately owned
Oudekraal property – Portions
4, 5, 6 and 7 and the Remainder
– and not just the 44ha Por-
tion 7 closest to Camps Bay,
which has been the subject of
protracted litigation and which
is due to come before the
Supreme Court of Appeal later
this year.
honour its judgment last
November that they be left in
peace and thousands already
evicted be paid compensation.
The 77 farmers are now
seeking a SADC summit to con-
sider their allegations of con-
Mahmood Limbada, of the
Cape Mazaar (Kramat) Society,
said he wanted to confer with
the Muslim Judicial Council –
which was also invited but
which sent apologies because
its representative was ill –
before commenting.
“We have a very important
stake here, because we’re man-
dated with the upkeep of the
kramats (burial shrines),” he
said.
It was the presence of many
kramats and Muslim graves
on Portion 7 that was the
major reason for the Cape
High Court overturning
development rights here that
tempt of the regional court or
even Zimbabwe’s expulsion
from the organisation.
Mugabe’s deputy chief jus-
tice, Luke Malaba, aid in Janu-
ary that the regional court had
no jurisdiction in Zimbabwe.
had been granted in the 1950s.
Andy Gubb, of Wessa
(Wildlife & Environment Soci-
ety of SA) praised the would-be
developers for initiating the
environmental investigation
that went beyond the statutory
requirements for development
applications.
“Usually, it’s a rearguard
battle for us every time.
“This is a much better way –
this is how an EIA (environ-
mental impact assessment)
should start …
“It’s not just our mountain,
it’s become an icon for South
Africa world-wide. It’s a real
responsibility.”
More than 4 000 farmers and
tens of thousands of farm
workers’ families lost their
homes and incomes after
Mugabe ordered land invasions
when he lost a referendum in
February 2000.
But John Powell, of the
Camps Bay Ratepayers’ Associ-
ation, was unhappy that Jeffery
had declined to address one of
their meetings to explain the
process.
“I feel compromised, trap-
ped in this room with you.
What worries me is that we are
almost a captive audience here
to help you,” he said.
The City of Cape Town and
SA National Parks, which are
respondents in the Supreme
Court of Appeal case, were
invited to the briefing, but were
advised by their lawyers not to
attend.
john.yeld@inl.co.za
Exhibition
to highlight
Islam
FOUZIA VAN DER FORT
Staff Reporter
AN EXHIBITION profiling
Islamic institutions of learn-
ing, social welfare, finance and
business is to be held in the city
to address some misunder-
standings about Islam.
“We would like to promote
the correct understanding of
general Islamic belief and
practices, and a spirit of reli-
gious and cultural tolerance of
Muslims in South Africa,” said
Yusuf Mohamed, trustee of the
Muslim Students’ Association.
The association will host the
exhibition, titled Islam Expo SA
from Slavery to Citizenship at
the Cape Town International
Convention Centre. It will be the
association’s second exhibition.
Moulana Abdul Khaliq E
Allie, secretary-general of the
Muslim Judicial Council, said
Muslim slaves who were
brought to the Cape suffered at
the hands of their oppressors
from more than 300 years ago.
He said Muslims had been
involved in fighting apartheid
and were role models in
exercising tolerance.
Felicity Purchase, mayoral
committee member for econo-
mic development andtourism,
said the exhibit was necessary to
encourage cultural exchanges.
“The Muslim community is
an integral part of our city,
with a very rich and colourful
heritage,” she said.
Entry is R20. The exhibit
will run from next Thursday to
Sunday between 10am and 9pm.

4 TUESDAY JUNE 9 2009
QUEST FOR JUSTICE: Gary Hartzenberg and other former clients
are taking their lawyer to court for allegedly embezzling their
money.
City team sets
sights on deal
with Barcelona
Network to support entrepreneurs
LINDSAY DENTLINGER
Metro Writer
THE CITY of Cape Town is to
lead a delegation of business
people to Barcelona, Spain,
next week to negotiate a deal to
set up an “entrepreneurship
ecosystem” in the city – a net-
work of institutions to support
and develop business
ideas.
The city’s executive direc-
tor of economic development,
Mansoor Mohamed, will lead
the delegation to hold bilateral
talks with the Barcelona City
Council on setting up an entre-
preneurial system similar to
the one employed by that coun-
cil.
Mohamed said Cape Town
lacked the necessary support
system for entrepreneurs
which would allow them to
either commercialise their
ideas or else provide develop-
ment for businesses with
growth potential and the neces-
sary funding required by
others to take their ideas
further.
The city will spend about
R50 000 in travel costs for its
delegation, which includes Pat
Hill, chairman of the council’s
economic development and
tourism committee, and its
director of economic develop-
ment, Thembinkosi Siganda.
Mohamed will travel at the
expense of the Global Entre-
preneurship Competition, for
City scores international recognition as downtown of the month Three short-term parking contracts to replace tender
CAPE TOWN scooped the
“downtown of the month”
award from the International
Downtown Association.
Andrew Boraine, CEO of the
PICTURE: TRACEY ADAMS
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which a Cape Town-based
rewards programme for the
poor – the Broccoli project –
has been selected as one of the
world’s 25 finalists.
The project encourages the
poor to attend skills training
workshops in exchange for
food vouchers and shelter, and
will be vying for prizes in
excess of €50 000 (R563 000).
The competition invites
entrepreneurs from around
the world to present their busi-
ness plans to major corpora-
tions and international
investors.
Mayco member for eco-
nomic development, Felicity
Purchase, said Cape Town was
experiencing similar chal-
lenges – a decline in the manu-
facturing sector and high
unemployment – to those faced
by Barcelona just before it
hosted the 1992 Olympics.
Today Barcelona was still
benefiting from hosting the
Games and had achieved “100
years of development within 10
years”, said Mohammed.
“We are looking forward to
making progress on entrepre-
neurship.
“Urban regeneration, direct
economic and higher educa-
Cape Town Partnership, said
the award was a great success
for the city.
“The IDA, established in
1954, is a system whereby cities
Saturday, 04 July 2009 (9:00 – 13:00)
7th Floor, Rosebank College House
44 Strand Street,
Cape Town
Magistrate reprimands ex-lawyer facing 51 fraud charges
LAVERN DE VRIES
Crime Writer
THE TRIAL of a former attor-
ney charged with defrauding
hundreds of Cape Flats families
of millions was due to get under
way today, five years after he
allegedly fled the country.
Carl John Botman appeared
in the Bellville Commercial
Crimes Court yesterday and
was reprimanded by magis-
trate Amrith Shabilall for
delaying the trial.
Yesterday’s postponement
was the third in the trial of Bot-
man, who appeared in court
without his lawyer.
Botman argued that it had
tion linkages and municipal
markets are also on the
agenda,” he said.
Representatives from the
Cape Town Partnership, Accel-
erate Cape Town and the Cape
Higher Education Consortium
will all travel at their own
expense.
Cape Town Partnership
chief executive Andrew
Boraine said Cape Town could
learn from Barcelona’s regen-
eration strategy, which had
proved successful in redevelop-
ing an obsolete inner-city
industrial area into an innova-
tive district.
From tomorrow, Cape Town
will host the World Economic
Forum.
The city was recently
ranked No 1 out of 34 countries
in a recent UCT Graduate
School of Business global
entrepreneurship study, which
also concluded that the city
was by far the “most entrepre-
neurial city in South Africa”.
It ranked 190 percent higher
than South Africa’s national
average.
As part of the Broccoli
Project members of the public
can donate or buy vouchers
that can be exchanged by the
needy for basic food staples at
major retailers.
The project encourages
people to give beggars food
vouchers and will track their
contribution online.
lindsay.dentlinger@inl.co.za
are recognised on a monthly
basis for the work they have
been doing.”
Jeremy Wiley, president of
the Cape Town Regional Cham-
SUBSCRIPTION HOTLINE
0800 220 770
www.bridge-brand.com
OM/08/6856398
NEWS
not been his intention to delay
the matter.
He said the trial could not
proceed without his attorney,
who was based in Malmesbury
and had not informed Botman
that he would not be in court
yesterday.
During a court appearance
in March, Botman said he
would represent himself if he
had no lawyer.
But yesterday he said that
although he had been an attor-
ney, he had no experience in
the realm of the Commercial
Crimes Court.
Magistrate Shabilall
rejected this, saying even peo-
ple without any legal back-
NO RETURN: Security guards watch over the so-called Blue Building in Junction Road to ensure ex-residents don’t try to move back
in. Demolition companies have been asked to submit quotes for tearing down the building.
Officials wait for nod on Blue Building
RICHIE DUCHON
Staff Reporter
THE CITY of Cape Town was
expected to make a decision
today on whether it had the
legal authority to demolish the
100-year-old Salt River building
that partly collapsed, displac-
ing close to 70 people.
Peter Henshall-Howard,
head of building development
management, confirmed that
if they got the go-ahead this
morning, demolition could
start virtually immediately.
Before building’s collapse in
the early hours of Saturday
morning, the city believed it
needed a court order to begin
demolition because the owner
of the property is no longer
alive and no apparent heirs
have come forward.
But since the building’s col-
lapse has made it a danger to
ber of Commerce and Industry,
said it was a tribute to the part-
nership and the role the private
sector plays in creating cleaner,
safer cities. – Staff Reporter
CA_NWS_E1_090609_p04 C M Y K
ground could represent them-
selves because the constitution
allowed for their rights to be
protected.
“A matter of this nature
(commercial crime) is no differ-
ent to any other matter, and you
do not have the ultimate right to
legal representation. You have
been dilatory up until now and
you must remember that your
rights do not precede the rights
of the witnesses and those of
the State,” he countered.
The magistrate said that
although the State thought
allowing Botman to represent
himself without having scruti-
nised any documents could be
seen as unfair, he felt it was in
the community, the emergency
aspect of the situation may give
the city the legal right to pro-
ceed without an order, Hen-
shall-Howard explained.
But he stressed that the city
was taking time to ensure it
made the correct legal deci-
sion, so as not to put rate-
payers’ money at risk unneces-
sarily by opening the way to a
lawsuit.
”We have a responsibility to
the public and ratepayers to
consider all the legal aspects,”
he said. But at the same time,
they could not wait too long.
“Drastic action needs to be
taken to render the building
safe. Not a band-aid solution. It
needs major surgery,” Hen-
shall-Howard said.
Junction Road, on which the
structure – known widely at the
Blue Building – stands has
been cordoned off and 24-hour
LINDSAY DENTLINGER
Metro Writer
THREE new short-term park-
ing contracts have been issued
by the City of Cape Town in the
wake of a legal impasse over
the award of a permanent
parking manager.
From next month the city
will revert to a cash-only
payment system for parking,
replacing the smart card that
NATIONAL
BLOOD DONOR
MONTH JUNE 2009
SMS “BLOOD” to 33507 to find a blood donor clinic near you.
the interests of justice to pro-
ceed and ordered Botman to be
ready for trial today.
Botman had one day to
peruse statements and prepare
to cross-examine witnesses
who are among the 364 people
who submitted claims that
amounted to R1 085 115.64 to the
Attorneys’ Fidelity Fund
against the trust money of
CJ Botman Attorneys.
The State alleges that the
trust account of Botman’s prac-
tice was R54 871 overdrawn in
May 2004 and that he had since
then issued 51 worthless
cheques drawn from the trust
account.
Botman faces 51 fraud
security is on hand to prevent
anyone going too close.
City officials said yesterday
they had been trying to take
action on the building for at
least 18 months.
Cape Town’s executive dir-
ector for strategy and planning,
Piet van Zyl, said the city’s
legal team had tried to contact
the estate of the deceased land-
lord on numerous occasions
but had received no response.
Complicating the city’s
efforts to take action on the
decrepit state of the Blue
Building is its protection under
the 1999 Heritage Resources
Act. This requires approval
from a heritage resources
authority for major action on
structures more than 60 years
old.
Cape Town disaster risk
management spokesman Wil-
fred Solomons said Heritage
could be pre-loaded with credit.
Last year the city was inter-
dicted from implementing a
R26 million, three-year tender
awarded to Street Parking
Solutions in July 2008 for the
management of more than
3 000 parking bays in the
central city, Claremont, Sea
Point and Bellville.
This was after a review
application by unsuccessful
bidder Advanced Parking Solu-
Tel: 021 507 6300 | Email: info@wpbts.org.za | www.wpblood.org.za
charges linked to those
cheques, and a theft charge.
In January 2000 the Cape
Town Community Housing
Company (CTCHC), in partner-
ship with the city, offered new
affordable low-cost houses.
Houses were built in New-
fields Village, Hanover Park,
Lyuoloville, Heideveld, Philippi,
Eastridge and Woodridge in
Mitchells Plain.
Disgruntled residents from
these areas refused to pay rent,
alleging their homes were
shoddily built. Instead they
entrusted their cash to
Botman, who is also accused of
stealing R883 752.20 from the
trust account.
PICTURE: SAM CLARK
Western Cape gave the city its
approval to demolish the Blue
Building yesterday morning.
The city yesterday approved
Ross Demolition to do the work
of tearing down the building
and removing the debris.
Ross and Bradis Demolition
and Earthmovers inspected the
building and provided compet-
ing cost estimates yesterday.
Ross Demolition project
manager Robert Ross said he
was contacted by the city late
yesterday and told he had been
selected.
The demolition had to be
signed off by the city manager.
Ross said his crews would be
ready to begin today. It would
take about two weeks to com-
plete the demolition and
remove all the debris.
It would pose no threat to
nearby buildings or residents.
richard.duchon@inl.co.za
tions, a sister company of
Numque 20, which manages
many of the city’s parking bays.
Three years ago the Cape
High Court ruled that Numque
20 had an illegal tender with the
city. A hearing is scheduled
only for November.
The city said it would cancel
all parking contracts at the end
of this month.
Motorists here and in the
Helderberg area have been
Last year the provincial gov-
ernment said it would pay
R46m for repairs to the low-cost
houses after an audit found
several structural defects.
But residents lobbied to see
the cash invested in the trust
account to pay off their rental
arrears, the alleged result of
misappropriation by Botman.
Botman appeared in court
after he was subpoenaed by
investigators from the commer-
cial crimes unit.
The court heard that his
mother had received the sum-
mons while he was in London.
He first appeared in court in
April last year.
lavern.devries@inl.co.za
City pushes
for inflation
limits for
Eskom hike
LINDSAY DENTLINGER
Metro Writer
THE City of Cape Town has
urged the National Energy Reg-
ulator (Nersa) to keep Eskom’s
34 percent tariff hike applica-
tion to within inflation limits.
Eskom’s shareholders and
not the public should be res-
ponsible for funding its capital
expansion programme, the city
told Nersa at public hearings in
Pretoria yesterday.
Delivering the city’s submis-
sion, Mayco member for utility
services Clive Justus pointed to
a number of legislative
requirements that Eskom had
not complied with in the late
submission for a tariff increase
for 2009/10. The power utility
had failed to submit its annual
budget by March 1, as required
of a state entity, and had not
offered reasons for why this
had not been done.
Justus also questioned the
lack of supporting informa-
tion, or a capital funding plan
to support Eskom’s application.
“Eskom’s submission lacks
transparency on the real cost of
generating electricity, and the
city believes Eskom should not
be relying on consumers to
bear further capital costs.
“There are numerous hid-
den costs such as road mainte-
nance and demand side man-
agement initiatives which are
non-core business to Eskom.”
Last month Eskom revealed
that it would apply for another
price rise later in the year to
cover the balance of its three-
year pricing model.
In the absence of clarity on
the Eskom price hike before
local authorities were required
to finalise their annual budg-
ets, the City of Cape Town last
month approved an electricity
tariff increase for ratepayers of
33 percent from the beginning
of next month.
lindsay.dentlinger@inl.co.za
asked to use up the credit on
their smart cards before then.
Service providers who will pro-
vide kerbside parking service
from July 1 are:
! ACE Parking Services in
the Helderberg (Somerset West,
Strand and Gordon’s Bay).
! Numque 20 in Bellville,
Claremont and Sea Point.
! Street Parking Solu-
tions in the Cape Town CBD.
lindsay.dentlinger@inl.co.za
R1.50 per SMS
 CA_NWS_E1_120609_p06 C M Y K

4 FRIDAY JUNE 12 2009 NEWS

Tutu centre to become world peace broker

R162m Foreshore building will play key role in overcoming post-Mandela ‘disillusionment’
ELLA SMOOK
Staff Reporter
A CENTRE dedicated to bro-
kering peace among South
Africans, and between warring
regions of the world, is set to
take shape amid the Foreshore
hotels and alongside the Inter-
national Convention Centre.
Construction of the Des-
mond Tutu Peace Centre is
planned to begin next month.
The construction would
mark the beginning of a devel-
opment likely to become a
global hub for mediation and
conciliation, with the challeng-
ing aim of restoring social jus-
tice to the marginalised, and
inspiring leaders to be respon-
sible and committed to those
they serve.
South Africa’s dismal rank-
ing on the 2009 Global Peace
Index – 123 out of 144 countries
– should be treated as “a red
warning light rather than an
amber one”, Nomfundo Wa-
laza, chief executive of the new
Peace Centre, told the Cape
Town Press Club yesterday.
“It should worry us because
we know that despite the Truth
and Reconciliation Commis-
sion and other efforts at build-
ing a sense of common nation-
hood, we remain divided in
many ways,” she warned.
The fact that political par-
ties were supported along
racial lines at the elections was
an obvious indication that all
was not yet well.
“The fact that we imprison
ourselves in our own homes
Centre’s numerous features
THE CENTRE is set to be a six-star
green building.The design includes
curved pathways moulded around the
structure, which find their way to the
central contemplative tower,
encapsulating the theme of
“pathways to peace”.
Its features will include:
! A revolving, themed Peace
Museum.
! A large exhibition area to
house the world’s largest
humanitarian exhibition.
! The Peace Room, which will
ARTIST’S IMPRESSION: The Desmond Tutu Peace Centre will be offer a trusted, neutral space for
built opposite the CTICC, and next to three major hotels.
while criminals run free means on true freedom,” Walaza said. which sets out three possible
that while we have achieved Drawing from the recently futures for the country,
democracy, we’re still working released Dinokeng Scenarios – recently outlined by a group of
brokering peace dialogues and post-
conflict negotiations among world
leaders.The room will host Africa’s
Nakashima Peace Table.
! A contemplative space where
visitors may reflect on experiences
and commit to fostering peace.
! The Peace Garden.
! A forecourt to serve as a venue
for social gatherings and public
occasions.
! A meditation room.
! Teaching and meeting facilities,
a resource centre, a café and a
museum shop.
35 South Africans including
businesswoman Mamphela
Ramphele, author Antjie Krog,
Archbishop Njongonkulu
Ndungane and the Elders
member Graça Machel – , she
said the so-called “mood pat-
tern” characterising countries
in transition should be noted.
“It always starts with
euphoria. (Former President
Nelson) Mandela represents
our euphoria.
“We still rely on the Man-
dela magic and the Arch-
bishop’s (Desmond Tutu)
notion of a Rainbow Nation,”
Walaza said.
But South Africans had not
taken responsibility at a sub-
conscious level, Walaza said.
“We expect from the world
that we have given them Man-
dela and they must give us the
cheque. We believe in the mira-
cle, and when we discover that’s
not the way the world works, we
move to disillusionment. That’s
where we are now.”
The Peace Centre would
work to remedy this position, to
ensure that all in the country
“walk together” towards a com-
mon national vision.
“The Peace Centre will do
this by gathering hard-earned
knowledge and expertise from
South Africa and around
the world, and use this,
together with our collective
skills and experience, to create
conducive circumstances for
peace.”
Walaza said the centre was
working hard to finalise the
funding of R162 million it
needed to build Cape Town’s
global indaba for peace.
ella.smook@inl.co.za

Workers Council launches Suspects

take
hammers
to Blue
Building
RICHIE DUCHON
Staff Reporter
DEMOLITION workers with
hammers, saws and crowbars
have begun the task of taking
down the Salt River building
that partly collapsed last week-
end, forcing 70 residents to
move to temporary city hous-
ing in Delft.
The Blue Building, as it is
commonly called, sat silently in
limbo for much of the week,
guarded by 24-hour security, as
the city debated whether or not
it had the legal right to demol-
ish the structure.
Peter Henshall-Howard,
director of the city’s planning
and building development
management, said the National
Building Regulations and Stan-
dards Act gave the city the
authority to demolish the
building.
To make sure the city was in
safe legal territory, it served a
final notice earlier this week on
Fayruz Investments, the com-
pany listed as the building’s
legal owner. The notice alerted
the company that demolition
would start yesterday.
Henshall-Howard said there
was no protest from the
company.
On Monday Cape Western
Heritage also gave the city per-
mission to demolish the build-
ing, which at 100 years old was
BEGINNING OF THE END: Workers start demolishing the building in Salt River that partly collapsed on Saturday. The first step isto
make the site safer and to start clearing away the rotten roof rafters.
protected by the 1999 Heritage
Resources Act. The act
requires approval from a her-
itage resources authority for
major action on structures
more than 60 years old.
“We followed due process.
I’m certain we did all the right
things,” said Henshall-Howard.
“I’m also a trained structural
engineer, and I’m certain the
building was dangerous and an
immediate danger to surround-
ing people and buildings.”
Once the demolition was
complete, the city would sell
the vacant property as part of a
sale in execution, a legal pro-
nabbed by
probe into sports police for
complex funds robbery
STAFF REPORTER
LINDSAY DENTLINGER
Metro Writer
use the facilities. They have
accused the sports council of
excluding some clubs and of
POLICE have arrested six sus-
pects for two separate cases of
THE CITY of Cape Town has illegally selling alcohol and armed robbery in Philippi.
launched an internal investiga- pocketing the money. In both cases police said
tion into claims of maladminis- Yesterday Ras would not gun-wielding suspects
tration of the Bonteheuwel comment on the information, allegedly robbed their victims
sports complex, and the misap- saying he was meeting Mayor and then fled to thick-set
propriation of public money Dan Plato on Monday to inform bushes.
intended for its management. him of the investigation. In the first incident four sus-
Under investigation is the The BSC receives about pects allegedly robbed three
validity of the agreement R2 500 a month from the City. women of their cellphones and
between the council, which Last week Ras, who repre- wallets at gunpoint in bushes
owns the facility, and the Bonte- sents the ID on Mayco, lashed opposite Portlands Road before
heuwel Sports Council (BSC), out at Plato at a Mayco meeting. fleeing.
the lawfulness of the sports He said he had been trying for Police, on foot patrol, pur-
council’s composition, and the the previous two weeks to set sued the suspects and arrested
exact sums of money the city up a meeting with the mayor to them.
council has paid to the sports discuss the matter, and alleged In the second incident two
body. that the DA was trying to sweep armed suspects allegedly
Preliminary findings of an the matter under the carpet. robbed a woman of a cellphone
impromptu investigation by Ras also found that no before fleeing. However, they
mayoral committee (Mayco) liquor licence was displayed, as were soon arrested.
member of community serv- required by law. The four suspects were
PICTURE: MATHIEU DASNOIS ices, Gerhard Ras, revealed that A sub-committee of the expected to appear in the
proper bookkeeping was lack- council’s portfolio committee Athlone Magistrate’s Court
ing. It could thus not be deter- on community services has today.
cess that allows the city to sell to get stability, to get a safe good people living here. mined whether funds were now been given two months to In a third incident, three
a private property in order to environment,” he said. Larger They’ve lost their community.” being misappropriated. further investigate the claims men allegedly robbed a Wood-
recoup unpaid property taxes excavator machinery would be But he hoped the building’s In a letter to the BSC, Ras and report back to Ras. stock business yesterday.
and other fees. brought on site soon. coming down would have a pos- said that in the absence of a Ras has instructed that the Police on routine patrol,
He said the owners of the Redelinghuys said about 25 itive effect on the community lease agreement being shown investigations include public spotted three men running out
Blue Building owed the city people would work on the dem- and its property values. to him, either by the city’s hearings, and that aggrieved carrying black bags.
between R100 000 and R400 000. olition, which could take up to “If people are more likely to sports department or the BSC, parties be invited to make sub- The men split into different
The sale might also help the two weeks. come down Junction Road to he had to conclude that none missions to the sub-committee. directions and police gave
city pay for the R100 000 cost of But it could take longer look at apartments, that could existed. Upon request, the BSC Chairman of the Bonte- chase, arresting two suspects.
demolition since his crew had to work have a positive effect on income could also not provide Ras with heuwel Sports Council, Lind- Officers searched the bags, and
Phillip Redelinghuys, pro- carefully to avoid damaging the potential, which determines financial statements for the say Davids, said he was “in the found chocolates, cigarettes
ject manager for Ross Demoli- adjacent Junction Hotel and commercial property values,” 2007/08 financial year. Neither dark” about the city council’s and cash to the value of
tion, said yesterday afternoon other buildings. Elton said. could audited financial state- investigation. He had some R15 000.
that his crew was preparing to David Elton, who owns a Residents watching yester- ments for the 2006/07 financial months ago handed requested The pair were set to appear
make the building safe. There residential building across the day’s start of the demolition year be traced. financial documents to Ras, he in the Cape Town Magistrate’s
was still the danger of another street from the Blue Building said they happy the building Ras’s investigation was said, claiming that Ras had not Court today.
collapse. in Junction Road, said: “It’s a was finally coming down. prompted by complaints from communicated with him again. The third suspect remains
“We are securing the place sad thing. There were a lot of richard.duchon@inl.co.za disgruntled sports clubs which lindsay.dentlinger@inl.co.za at large.

Commuters stranded after threats Steel skeletons the start of city’s new film studio
Remember

Ab4R
THOUSANDS of rail commuters Cape Town Central Police Station
were left stranded for at least two spokeswoman Carin Loock said the MURRAY WILLIAMS
hours yesterday afternoon as Cape 10 111 emergency line had received an Staff Writer
Town train station was evacuated anonymous call at 2.10pm yesterday.
because of a security threat. “The person said that three bombs CAPE Town’s newest film stu-
No trains were allowed to leave would explode within an hour,” she dios will be complete by the
and all incoming trains were stopped said. The dog and bomb-disposal time the first whistle is blown
at Woodstock station for nearly two units had swept all 24 platforms, at next year’s soccer World Cup.
hours while police checked the area. Loock said, but no explosives or sus- This was promised yester-
OM/14/6703152
Commuters were escorted from picious packages were found. day by Nico Dekker, chief exec-
stationary trains and out of the sta- Commuters were allowed back utive of Cape Town Film Stu-
tion, while businesses at the station into the station at 4pm. – Staff dios, formerly known as

Forthcoming Features
were shut and workers evacuated. Reporter Dreamworld.
At the studio site, on the cor-
ner of the N2 and Baden Powell
ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT ASSESSMENT Drive in the direction of Stel-

CAPE WHALE COAST

Hermanus, Gansbaai, Stanford, Kleinmond-Hangklip
The Weekend Argus aims to publish
a feature on the Cape Whale Coast in the
Travel Supplement on
20 June 2009
If you offer any of the following services
*accommodation * fun activities * restaurants
*specialty shops * nurseries * whale watching
* shark adventures
Why not advertise in this feature
The Weekend Argus has a readership of 437,000 (Amps 2008)
BOOKING DEADLINE:
COPY DEADLINE:
TO ADVERTISE CONTACT ARLETTE BOONZAAIER
Tel: 021 488 4168 Cell: 082 493 0289
e-mail: arlette.boonzaaier@inl.co.za
OM19/6846708
lenbosch, the two giant steel
PUBLIC PARTICIPATION PROCESS: BASIC ASSESSMENT
skeletons of Studio One and
PROPOSED “WELTEVREDEN VALLEY” RESIDENTIAL DEVELOPMENT Studio 3 are now complete.
Department of Environmental Affairs and Development Planning, Ref No.: No: E12/2/3/1-A1/550-0644/09. These measure 2 100m2 and
1 200m2 respectively, and stand Film studio 11 June 2009
Notice is hereby given of a public participation process in terms of the Environmental Impact Assessment (“EIA”) Regulations 2006
promulgated in terms of section 24(5) of the National Environmental Management Act, 1998 (Act No. 107 of 1998) (“NEMA”). 15m and 12m high, up to their Picture : Murray Williams
Location: The proposed development sites i.e. Erf 2178 (± 3291 m²), Erf 2170 (± 2773 m²) & Erf 8204 (± 612 m²) and Erf 2154 lighting gantries.
(± 2864 m²) & Erf 8068 (± 1587 m²) are located south of Weltevreden Road and west of Fulham Avenue in Weltevreden Valley. “You’ll see the enormous
Applicant: Rondevlei Trust strength of the buildings; at dio structures to be clad. R250 million. of Trade and Industry, which
Proposed Development: The rezoning, consolidation and subdivision of Erven 2178, 2170 & 8204 and 2154 & 8068, Weltevreden any point you can hang a “It’s an incredible process. Next to these are the produc- contributed R16m for the bulk
Valley, from Public Open Space to Residential area and Public Open Space area for the development of 9 single Residential erven on 1.8 ton load,” Dekker explained. They are clad with concrete tion offices. And planning is infrastructure.
Erf 2178, 9 single Residential erven and one Public Open Space erf on Erven 2170 & 8204, and 12 single Residential erven and one
Public Open Space erf on Erven 2154 & 8068.
The steel work was com-
pleted by manufacturers An-
slabs, 150mm each, weighing
five tons, which are built on site
under way for Studio Two and
Studio Four, as well as two
The investors – Video
Vision, the film production
Alternatives considered thus far are the type of activity to be undertaken on the above-mentioned erven.
chor Steel Projects, which be- because it would be too expen- large workshops each measur- company owned by Anant
In terms of the Environmental Impact Assessment Regulations 2006, the application for development is subjected to Basic gan winching the giant sive to transport them,” Dekker ing 2 800m2. Singh, and Sabido Investments,
Assessment.
structural steel framework into explained. “These will be used by pro- headed by Marcel Golding, the
Listed activities in terms of Government Notice No. R 386, requiring authorization are:
20. The transformation of an area zoned for use as public open space or for a conservation purpose to another use.
place on March 17. “It’s really exciting, because duction companies for the man- owners of e-tv and e-sat – have
The bulk infrastructure has the project is using a lot of local ufacture of sets, and also art funded the balance.
A copy of the Background Information Document / further information can be obtained from the under mentioned consultant.
also been laid – conduits for labour. departments, wardrobe and all The development also has a
To be registered as an interested and/ or affected party you must please send your name and address (postal, including facsimile and
12 JUNE 2009 E-mail), as well as any written comments regarding the proposed development, to the under mentioned consultant. Please indicate
electricity, sewerage and water. “Staff from a 15km radius manufacturing processes to be bond with Absa.
any direct business, financial, personal or other interests which you may have in the approval or refusal of the application. The Turning into the studios around the area are receiving used on site,” Dekker said. Dekker said productions in
15 JUNE 2009 closing date for registration / comments is Monday 13 July 2009. from Baden Powell Drive, the preferential treatment for The construction so far has Cape Town would be “30 to 50
OM/11/6863584
grand “access boulevard” is jobs,” he said. been funded by the City of percent cheaper” than in North
Consultant:
almost complete – which The cladding will be com- Cape Town, which contributed America and Western Europe.
ENVIRO LOGIC (Weltevreden Valley), P. O. Box 3731, Tyger Valley, 7536.
Dekker describes as “My beau- pleted by the end of the year, R30m, Wesgro, which bought a “Our first pencil bookings,
Fax: (021) 919 4048. Contact person: Gert Pretorius Cell: 082 458 9844 tiful Yellow Brick Road”. bringing the total investment 10 percent share in the studios which we can’t disclose yet, are
Date of notice: 12 June 2009
The next step is for the stu- for this first phase to about for R30m, and the Department for March next year.”

10 MONDAY JUNE 15 2009
Principal
goes out
on a ledge
for reading
LIZZY ENCARNACAO
Staff Reporter
ST GEORGE’S Grammar
School principal David Bester
was making good on a promise
when, clad in navy blue pyja-
mas and slippers, he sat on a
ledge over the school library
reading Grimm’s Fairy Tales.
Bester had promised his pri-
mary school pupils that if they
met the goal of reading a cer-
tain number of pages for Read-
athon 2009, he would don his
pyjamas and take to the roof
for a day.
Starting at 7am on Friday,
he found that the children were
taking pity on him. He lowered
a small basket on string, which
they filled with muffins.
“I’ll only eat one of them
because otherwise I’ll get fat,”
he insisted.
So what exactly did the chil-
dren have to do to get him
there?
Pupils between Grades 1
and 3 read a collective 63 000
pages, surpassing their goal by
55 000 pages.
Grades 4 to 6 also beat their
goal – by 36 000 pages – during
the two-week Readathon.
Bester is the first to admit
it’s a wacky gimmick – “but the
bottom line is it gets kids
reading”.
Bester is no stranger to chal-
lenging his students to read, or
providing the incentive.
Last year he dressed as a St
George’s schoolboy, and the
previous year he shaved his
head and painted the St
George’s emblem on to his
scalp.
Elsa Goncalves, the librar-
ian at St George’s, said that
once the children got a reason-
able excuse to read, they
couldn’t stop.
“Now they’re hooked,” she
said.
elizabeth.encarnacao@inl.co.za
CA_NWS_E1_150609_p10 C M Y K
NEWS
Shark numbers News
worldwide fall
to record low
Certain species face extinction
JOHN YELD
Environment & Science Writer
THE SLAUGHTER of sharks
worldwide has reached
unprecedented proportions
and is on a scale much greater
than even the infamous mas-
sacre on the North American
plains 200 years ago that drove
the buffalo to the brink of
extinction.
In some regions of the
oceans once-numerous shark
species have plummeted to just
1 percent of their original
populations and in the Mediter-
ranean Sea marine scientists
report a 97 to 99.5 percent
decline in shark numbers.
According to the recent
Global Shark Assessment, if
the current rates of decline
continue the most threatened
shark species will be extinct in
as little as 10 to 15 years.
This was revealed by the
Department of Water and Envi-
ronmental Affairs during a
recent function in Gansbaai to
mark World Oceans Day, and
to commemorate the Inter-
national Year of the Shark last
week .
Minister Buyelwa Sonjica
said South Africa had made
significant progress in under-
standing the importance of
sharks.
“For several years we’ve
been committed to studying
these animals, both for improv-
MAN OF HIS WORD: St George’s Grammar School principal Dave Bester gets breakfast from his ing our understanding of their
pupils to keep up his strength during a day spent on a ledge outside the school’s library. Bester, often secretive behaviour, and
wearing his pyjamas, was rewarding pupils for good reading habits. PICTURE: TRACEY ADAMS for understanding our marine
Times change but goal of Hajj remains
RICHIE DUCHON
Staff Reporter
GROWING up in Cape Town’s
District Six for more than 25
years, Mogamat Hoosain
Ebrahim can vividly recall the
impressive groups of men
wearing red fezzes with tassels
and women in miliyah (tradi-
tional formal dresses) walking
en masse to the harbour for the
annual departure of the Mus-
lim pilgrimage to Mecca.
Ebrahim says preparations
for the hujjaaj (pilgrims) used
to last up to several weeks and
involved visits, prayers and
good wishes from family,
friends and imams around the
Cape. The journey to and from
Saudi Arabia by steam ship
could last up to nine months.
But things have changed
dramatically over the past 60
years for Cape Town Muslims
making the annual trip to
Mecca.
Ebrahim, the senior lec-
turer at the newly established
International Peace University
South Africa (Ipsa), has chron-
icled those changes in a new
book to be released later this
month, The Cape Hajj Tradi-
tion Past and Present.
In an interview, Ebrahim
described an evolution of some
of the traditional preparations
for Hajj. Whereas pilgrims
Watchdog lobbies for policies to protect women against guns
STAFF REPORTER
AS ACTIVISTS in more than 80
countries prepared to mark the
Global Week of Action Against
Gun Violence, the South
African non-governmental or-
ganisation Ceasefire is set to
lobby for policies that will keep
women safe from gun violence.
Ceasefire said that in South
Africa, one in every three
women killed by her husband
was shot.
The campaign would spread
the message by talking to
women’s groups and gathering
data on access to guns and
domestic violence. They would
also push for the implementa-
tion of local firearm control
laws.
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ecosystems.”
The threats sharks faced in
the modern world were “daunt-
ing”, and included commercial
long-line fishing and its by-
catch, the “methodical mas-
sacre” for shark fin soup, habi-
tat loss and destruction –
particularly of nursery areas –
and pollution.
South Africa implemented a
formal conservation status for
the top shark, the Great White,
in 1991 and the department is
looking closely at both this
species and another top preda-
tor, the Tiger Shark, which is
found at the highly popular
Aliwal Shoals dive site off the
South Coast of KwaZulu-Natal.
In a presentation Mike
Meyer, of the department’s
Marine and Coastal Manage-
ment (MCM) branch, said there
were still gaps in knowledge
about sharks’ ecology and
behaviour.
He described the Great
White as “a majestic, beautiful
animal, but quite frightening
close up”. South Africa was a
centre of abundance for this
species and Gansbaai was
“right at the epicentre”.
“But no one has seen the
pupping of these animals –
that’s quite amazing, and we’re
quite unsure of where it’s
happening,” Meyer said.
REMINISCING: Mogamat Hoosain Ebrahim, who vividly recalls
men and women departing for Mecca from their homes in
District Six.
would once go door-to-door,
alerting the community of
their trip to Mecca and
Medina, many now alerted
their friends and family
through e-mail and SMSes.
“Change is inevitable,”
Ebrahim said. “And we just
have to be part of the change.”
However, he lamented some
of the traditions he found were
being eroded by technology
and modern development. Pre-
viously, he said, a pilgrim could
stay very close to the Masjdul
Haram, the main mosque that
pilgrims visit on their journey.
Ceasefire said the shocking
reality for women was that the
greatest risk of gun violence
was in their own homes.
Women were three times
more likely to die violently if
there was a gun in the house.
Usually, the perpetrator was a
spouse or partner, often with a
prior record of domestic abuse.
For every woman killed or
physically injured by firearms,
many more were threatened.
Laura Pollecutt, co-ordina-
tor of the Ceasefire Campaign,
said the group was a member
of the International Action
Network on Small Arms, which
was pressing for spouses and
partners to be consulted before
a gun licence was granted.
Although it was not perfect,
Some of the department’s
most important research objec-
tives were to determine how
many Tiger Sharks there were,
whether there were one or two
discrete populations of this
species and what its predation
patterns were.
The department was using a
variety of research techniques,
including a computer pro-
gramme that analysed photo-
graphs of the unique notches
on sharks’ dorsal fins, along
with other key features of the
animal, creating an automated
identification database for
individual sharks that was
available on the web.
“It’s quite a unique system,
and important because these
animals are moving globally.”
Charlene da Silva, respon-
sible for MCM’s in-shore shark
research, said the world shark
harvest had increased from
53 000 tons to 142 000 tons over
the past six decades.
“There’s been a deliberate
shift to targeting sharks,” she
said.
Local waters were particu-
larly important for shark
conservation because, of the
world’s 1 100 species, 260
occurred in sub-equatorial
Africa, and 30 percent were
endemic (occurring naturally
only here).
“South Africa has the
highest recorded numbers of
endemic shark species, and of
shark species overall,” Da Silva
said.
john.yeld@inl.co.za
PICTURE: SAM CLARK
But new high-rise hotels had
now made it cost-prohibitive
for many Cape Town Muslims
to stay near the mosque and to
have a “genuine experience”.
He said going on Hajj used
to give one status.
“It was expected of a pil-
grim (back from Hajj) to be
honourable. It was expected of
a pilgrim to be learned,” he
said. “If you came back from
Hajj and you wore your fez, it
was an achievement. It’s no
longer like that.”
Ebrahim said the huge
number of pilgrims from
she said the South African
Firearms Control Act did
require that an applicant for a
gun licence pass a competency
test. A person convicted of an
offence involving violence or
sexual abuse, or physical abuse
in a domestic relationship,
would not get a licence.
Neither could a person
convicted of breaching a pro-
tection order in terms of the
Domestic Violence Act, which
also allowed for the confisca-
tion of a firearm.
Disarming Domestic Vio-
lence was the first interna-
tional campaign aimed at
protecting women from gun
violence in the home. The main
goal was to ensure people with
a history of domestic abuse
BRIEFING
Fake cops steal
cigarette delivery
A MAN and a woman posing as
traffic officers stole boxes of
cigarettes from a delivery vehi-
cle east of Joburg, and locked
the delivery staff inside.
Two men had just delivered
cigarettes in Edenvale when
they were stopped by two “offi-
cers” who got in the van and
drove off, followed by a VW
Microbus with a female officer
and six other men. The group
off-loaded the stock, loading it
into a truck in Delmore. – Sapa
Woman held over
death of boyfriend
A WOMAN has been arrested
for allegedly killing her
boyfriend after catching him
with another woman in Prince
Albert, police say.
The woman, aged 28,
allegedly found her boyfriend,
Jack Willemse, 27, on a bench
with another woman, said Cap-
tain Malcolm Pojie. The sus-
pect allegedly stabbed
Willemse in the neck. Willemse
then to ran to the home of of a
friend nearby, where he died,
said Pojie.
The woman is expected to
appear in Prince Albert Magis-
trate’s Court tomorrow. – Sapa
Two more suspect
‘pirate’ miners held
TWO suspected illegal miners
have been arrested at Harmony
Gold’s Elands mineshaft, and
one of them has been admitted
to hospital with a head injury.
The Elands mine is where a
recent underground fire killed
at least 86 miners.
Harmony Gold spokes-
woman Marian van der Walt
said yesterday a total of 296
“zama-zamas” (pirates) had
been arrested since the begin-
ning of the month. – Staff
Reporter
around the world making the
trip each year had forced the
Saudi government to institute
quotas regulating the number
of pilgrims from each country.
The last several years,
South African Muslims had
had to ask for extensions of up
to several thousand people.
It had now become an issue
of class, he suggested, with
those having the most money
being those able to go.
Ipsa senior lecturer Sheik
Fakhruddin Owaisi, 30, came
from Medina to study Islam in
Cape Town in 1998.
He said while he had seen
what he called a de-spirituali-
sation of the Hajj preparations
it was still quite an event for
locals.
“Many still have imams say
a prayer before packing their
bags and after packing their
bags; before leaving their
rooms and before leaving their
houses. These traditions are
still there,” he said.
“Whether you follow the
original traditions, the goal is
to perform the compulsory pil-
lar, and that is pilgrimage,”
stressed Ebrahim. “When we
get there, we are all united, and
everyone is going through the
same rituals.”
The next Hajj opportunity
for Cape Town Muslims will be
in November.
were denied access to firearms
or had their licences revoked.
Of the about 900 million
small arms in the world today,
the group said more than
75 percent were in the hands of
private individuals – mostly
men. Given this, they said,
women were paying a dispro-
portionately heavy price for
the multibillion-dollar trade in
small arms.
Pollecutt said the govern-
ment should recognise that
family killings were the only
category of homicide in which
women outnumbered men as
victims, and pledge to protect
women in their homes.
The Global Week of Action
Against Gun Violence runs
from today until June 21.
 CA_NWS_E1_180609_p08 C M Y K

8 THURSDAY JUNE 18 2009 NEWS

‘Opportunity to bridge social divide missed’

City, province have failed to use 2010 to tackle racism and the class gap, says prof
CLAYTON BARNES
2010 Writer
THE CITY of Cape Town and
the provincial government
have missed the opportunity to
advance social integration in
Cape Town ahead of the World
Cup, says Professor Edgar
Pieterse, director of UCT’s
Africa Centre for Cities.
Speaking at a 2010 lecture
series at the Green Point Sta-
dium visitors’ centre last night,
Pieterse told a packed audito-
rium that the government had
failed the citizens of Cape
Town by being more interested
in marketing the city as a
prime tourism destination
after 2010.
More focus should have
been put on uplifting the poor
and bridging the poverty
divide, he charged.
“The government should be
focusing on the social legacy of
the event,” Pieterse said. “The
opportunity to advance social
integration has been missed.
“Hosting the 2010 World Cup
was the perfect opportunity for
the city and province to change
the narrative of Cape Town.
“Racism remains a problem.
People are still split along class
and culture lines. The World
Cup presented a perfect oppor-
tunity to change all this, but
instead the city decided to
spend billions on infrastruc-
ture, stadiums and an 18-hole
golf course in Green Point.”
Pieterse said that after
doing extensive research on the
city’s 2010 policies and plans, While the city’s 2010 public The integrated bus rapid four would follow – the ones what will become of these
he came to the conclusion that transport plan was “fantastic” transit system was a big leap running through the poorest areas after the event? Nothing
social integration was severely if it was introduced, it was forward, but Pieterse said it areas of the city. really.”
marginalised in their strategy. over-emphasised. was a project that would not “There simply won’t be Citizens needed to fight for a
“The city failed to appreci- “The city has completely really get off the ground in enough money,” he said. better social legacy project, but
ate the hierarchical order of missed the point over what the time for the event if the city Neither was anything being ultimately “the opportunity
cultures, class and identities,” primary focus of the 2010 failed to recognise key role- done to improve community- has already been missed with
he said. “There was no real legacy should be,” he said. players like taxi drivers. based sports ahead of the under a year to go to the event”.
time to debate the issues of “They are more trying to “We can’t solve the problem World Cup. “Again, this was a ! The 2010 Lecture Series is
2010. Everything had to be done improve the inner city for by not treating them as equal perfect opportunity to get presented by experts involved
before certain deadlines, with- tourism and business, but the partners,” Pieterse warned. youth involved and to have set in the planning and implemen-
out really giving Capetonians a social legacy aspect has to be And if the new transport targets in place,” Pieterse said. tation of national projects crit-
say in whether or not we want bolder and bigger. Nothing is system was rolled out for the “Facilities are being up- ical to the successful hosting of
these megastructures in our really being done to benefit the World Cup, he predicted that it graded and the Grand Parade is the 2010 World Cup.
city,” said Pieterse. poor,” he said. was unlikely that phases two to undergoing a makeover, but clayton.barnes@inl.co.za

Hospital receives boost ahead of 2010

RICHIE DUCHON
Staff Reporter
CAPE TOWN’s oldest hospital,
which expects to be busy dur-
ing the 2010 World Cup because
of its proximity to the new
Green Point Stadium, has
inched a step closer to full
readiness.
Somerset Hospital yester-
day received a R1m donation
from gaming company Grand
Slots, which the hospital
will use to help buy its first
CT (computed tomography)
scanner.
Directly adjacent to the
70 000-capacity stadium which
will host eight matches next
year, Somerset’s trauma centre
will be a first stop for most
out-of-town visitors with health
problems.
Hospital superintendent Dr
Kurt Maart said the CT
scanner, used to create 3-D
images of the brain and other
parts of the body, was an essen-
358 DAYS TO GO
tial piece of equipment for
trauma care. CT scans needed
to be done quickly after head
trauma or strokes.
“The issue is not access, but
speed,” he said.
As it stands, the hospital
has to send patients that
require CT scans to Groote
Schuur and other nearby
hospitals.
“I think this scanner will be
lifesaving,” said Maart.
And while Somerset’s
chair of finance, Freda
Tucker, said the donation now
put the hospital at having
raised about half of the R6.5m
to R8.5m needed to purchase
the scanner, there was a dead-
line to meet.
Maart said the scanner
would have to be imported from
abroad, and needed to be pro-
cured by January for it to be
available during the World Cup
in June.
The effort to obtain new
medical equipment is part of a
larger upgrade and expansion
of the hospital’s trauma centre,
which began last week.
The upgrade will triple the
number of available beds at the
centre from seven to 22. The
hospital has also bought a new
R1.5m X-ray machine.
Maart said preparations for
the potential spike in intakes
were on track, and that he was
confident the hospital would be
ready for 2010.
Somerset Hospital had
been co-ordinating with Fifa,
and had already held major
incident training for doctors
and other support staff,
including practising how to
deal with a chemical or gas
leak, a bombing or mass food
poisoning.
Asked whether the hos-
pital would have enough
doctors on hand to deal with a
major incident, Maart said
Fifa had created a pool of
doctors that would be on call
throughout the World Cup to
complement the hospital’s
existing staff.
“Somerset is the oldest
hospital in the city, and it does
require capital support to
sustain itself,” said the direc-
tor of Grand Slots’ corporate
social investment, Amelia
Jones. “We know the govern-
ment can’t fulfil all the needs of OUR BAFANA: Bafana supporters gather at the Royal Bafokeng Stadium in Rustenburg last night to watch their team beat New
healthcare,” she added. Zealand in the Confederations Cup PICTURE: REUTERS

Court told of Visser’s unhappy childhood in sex trial

Makro reserves the right to control the quantity of any item offered for sale. Whilst utmost care has been taken to ensure that prices and illustrations are correct at the time of going to press, Makro cannot be held responsible for any changes, errors or omissions that may occur. Prices exclude accessories used for display purposes. All transactions are subject to Makro trading terms and conditions. While stocks last. 14% Vat included. Makro supports responsible drinking.

Only valid from Thursday 18 June to Sunday 21 June 2009.

STAFF REPORTER
THE SECRET album contain-
ing 300 explicit sexual pictures
of former advocate Cezanne
Visser and pictures of naked
women connected to fugitive
Dirk Prinsloo, was dusted off
again yesterday for a social
Hendrien Nortje, a social
worker at Weskoppies Hospital,
yesterday took the stand in the
Pretoria High Court to testify
on behalf of the defence in
Visser’s sex trial. Nortje
handed a report to court on
Visser’s background and what
influence it had on her conduct.
interviewing Visser, her
mother and her friends, she
also paged through the album.
Visser’s mother became
emotional as Nortje testified
about the accused’s unhappy
childhood and the fact that
Visser’s mother, who has
remarried, became pregnant
marry Visser’s father.
Visser believed she was not
wanted when she was born,
and she had spent her life try-
ing to please her parents,
Nortje said. This, Nortje said,
was projected on Prinsloo
when she met him later in life,
where she strived to please

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worker to look at. She testified that apart from out of wedlock and had to him. The trial continues

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CA_NWS_E1_190609_p08 C M Y K
8 FRIDAY JUNE 19 2009
SA needs to find
out why pupils
fail, experts say
Calls for more effective teaching
RICHIE DUCHON
Staff Reporter
ALMOST ALL South African
children attend school regularly,
yet underperform significantly
in literacy and numeracy, a new
national education report card
has revealed.
The fourth annual South
African Child Gauge, published
by UCT’s Children’s Institute and
released yesterday, found that
96.5 percent of school-aged chil-
dren attended an educational
institution in 2007. That was up
1.5 percent from 2002.
But Professor Shirley Pendle-
bury, the director of the institute
and editor of the report, said the
attendance numbers masked
other big problems – including
the 38 percent of 16- to 17-year-
olds who had not completed
Grade 9.
“What happens when (chil-
dren) get to school is a very dif-
ferent story,” she told the audi-
ence at the launch at the Cape
Town Holocaust Centre.
Of the report card, she said:
“We’re drawing a distinction
between physical access to edu-
cation, and meaningful access.
“The question is, what are the
factors that enable children to
learn? And what are the factors
that impede learning?”
The report card looked at
eight factors to determine qual-
Hijacking at school for deaf denounced
ESTHER LEWIS
Staff Reporter
EDUCATION MEC Donald
Grant has condemned a hijack-
ing that took place on the
premises of Noluthando School
for the Deaf in Khayelitsha, and
is working on a strategy to
improve safety at schools.
The incident occurred at
6.30am on Wednesday, according
to the school’s acting principal,
Thandeka Mavuka, when a
driver arrived to fetch the van so
that he could start collecting
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ity of education around the coun-
try, including the prevalence of
libraries, sanitation, accessibil-
ity to schools, and performance
on evaluations.
Paula Ensor, UCT Dean of
Humanities and a member of the
panel discussing the report and
what needs to be done to improve
“meaningful” access to educa-
tion, said teachers needed more
specific curricula.
“There is little evidence that
teachers have a deep understand-
ing of how young people learn
numbers,” said Ensor, an expert
in maths pedagogy.
“We do lots of testing. We
know they fail. There’s not
enough research on why they
fail.”
Doron Isaacs, co-ordinator of
Equal Education, a Khayelitsha-
based education advocacy group,
said he was concerned about the
lack of school libraries in the
country. The Child Gauge found
that only 7 percent of schools
nationwide had libraries that
were stocked with books.
“There is no national policy
on school libraries. It doesn’t
exist,” Isaacs said, adding that
teachers often tried to play the
27 autistic pupils who attend the
school.
The school gates were appar-
ently opened by security guards,
but when the driver tried to
leave, the gates were closed.
As he got out of the van, four
armed men held him at gun-
point. They took his keys,
boarded the van and drove off.
“He was trembling and so
traumatised. I had to take him to
the doctor,” said Mavuka.
As a result, the 27 autistic
children he was supposed to
transport did not attend school
For more information contact:
Susan Clarke - 021 938 5125 (Tygerberg Hospital)
role of librarians and spread
themselves too thin.
“Until we have a policy of
remunerating librarians, we
won’t have libraries.”
Other panellists expressed
disgust that 30 percent of schools
were funded through a fee
system.
“Not only do we want it abol-
ished, we want it outlawed,” said
Allen Liebenberg, speaking on
behalf of the National Associa-
tion of School Governing Bodies.
Liebenberg also said the coun-
try’s testing system was an
“abomination”. The heavy
emphasis on teaching for tests
distracted from actual learning,
he said.
“You can’t fatten a pig by
weighing it,” he said.
While school attendance was
high across the country, the insti-
tute’s report card found large
variations in performance
among the provinces.
In Limpopo, only 9 percent of
Grade 6 pupils achieved the
benchmark for literacy, com-
pared with 63 percent in the
Western Cape.
Pendlebury said she would be
watching the new education min-
istry closely. It was essential that
the government uphold chil-
dren’s rights to education as
mandated by the constitution
and the UN Convention on the
Rights of the Child.
that day.
Mavuka explained that the
autistic children had to be
transported apart from the rest
of the pupils.
They are now being picked up
by another of the school’s buses,
but this has meant that their
arrival at school is delayed.
Mavuka said what hurt the
most was that the school had
worked really hard to raise the
funds to buy the van, valued at
more than R200 000, late last year.
“Why would anyone want to
do this to us?” she asked.
OM\04\6852026

SABC executives agree to forfeit raises ‘to improve pay offer to unions’ No-show
CAIPHUS KGOSANA
Political Bureau
SABC executives will forfeit
pay increases this year in
favour of giving more money to
workers.
Spokesman Kaizer Kgan-
yago said it had been decided to
take the money earmarked for
executive pay increases and
redirect it to improving work-
ers’ salaries. He said this had
allowed the SABC to adjust its
pay increase offer to workers
from 7 percent to 8.5 percent.
“We felt that we were pre-
ANC plans its
way back into
power in Cape
Unity is non-negotiable: Skwatsha
ANDISIWE MAKINANA
Political Writer
TWO MONTHS after losing the
Western Cape to the DA, the
ANC is plotting its way back
into power and drafting a polit-
ical strategy to win back some
of the municipalities it lost to
the ruling DA in the province.
Among its plans are: dealing
with internal divisions and fac-
tions; rebuilding ANC bran-
ches, especially in coloured
communities; analysing the
DA’s policies and exposing its
“open opportunity society” sys-
tem as “a slogan for the protec-
tion of existing relations of
power and privilege”.
But at the ANC’s provincial
general council meeting in
Kraaifontein yesterday, the
party’s local leadership had its
hands full as it struggled to con-
trol the highly charged meet-
ing, which brought together all
branches of the ANC in the
Western Cape.
Members of the ANC Youth
Boss faces suspension over tender allegations
STAFF WRITER
THE WESTERN Cape’s public
works and transport boss is
fighting to stay in his position,
because of a looming investiga-
tion into alleged tender irregu-
larities in his department.
Thami Manyathi was told
by the provincial government
on June 12 to motivate why he
should not be suspended and
given until Friday to respond.
On Friday it was confirmed
that Manyathi’s response was
with Premier Helen Zille, who
would make a decision about
whether he should stay on in
his post while she concluded an
investigation.
Officials have not said
pared to take a zero-percent
increase as executives so that
we could fund the 1.5 percent
extra that we are giving to
them,” he said.
But unions representing
SABC workers have told Inde-
pendent Newspapers that the
revised offer is not adequate.
Gallant Roberts, secretary-
general of the Communica-
tions Workers Union, said the
organisation would not allow
the SABC to renege on the
multi-term agreement entered
into with unions.
Roberts said they were now
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League repeatedly disrupted
the meeting, first calling for the
media to be removed from the
venue and then demanding
that the meeting’s credentials
be presented before the day’s
programme could proceed.
The debate about whether it
was important that the meet-
ing’s credentials be presented
took nearly an hour to be com-
pleted.
The youth league’s provin-
cial chairman, Siyazi Tyatyam,
said later that the presentation
of credentials before the meet-
ing was not merely a procedur-
al issue but a fundamental one,
because yesterday’s meeting
was a decision-making forum.
“We can’t take a chance and
proceed with the meeting,
whereas there could be in at-
exactly why Manyathi faces
suspension, but his department
has been linked to several con-
troversies around multimil-
lion-rand tenders.
One of the biggest was the
awarding of a R91m 2010 trans-
port contract to American-
owned company Games Trans-
portation Systems Services
(GTSS).
It is alleged that few at-
tempts had been made to en-
sure that there were no local
companies that met the criteria
for the contract, which was not
put out to tender.
The R91m tender is one of
four being investigated by new
Transport and Public Works
MEC Robin Carlisle.
waiting for a Labour Court
decision on Thursday on
whether workers could go on a
legal strike. He said the union
had given the SABC a pro-
gramme of industrial action
that would proceed immedi-
ately if the court ruled in the
union’s favour.
“We know there is a finan-
cial crisis at the SABC, but
workers can’t be made to pay
the price,” he said.
Roberts said the union was
yet to decide whether SABC
workers should go on lunch-
time pickets, hold demonstra-
tendance people that are not
supposed to be here,” Tyatyam
said.
In his address, ANC provin-
cial chairman Mcebisi Skwat-
sha called for unity in the ANC,
saying this was non-negotiable.
“There is only one pressing
matter for us to discuss today,
one goal for us to achieve and
that is to rebuild and to plan
the demise of the DA in munic-
ipal elections in 2011.”
To achieve this, the ANC
would need to stop meeting in
divisive caucuses, stop label-
ling and blaming each other,
stop lobbying and jockeying for
positions and favour.
“We must bury factionalism
today and we can’t start this
difficult task without securing
an agreement on this matter.”
Skwatsha said the ANC
needed a political strategy, say-
ing the provincial executive
committee was finalising a doc-
ument on building a broad
front of opposition to the DA.
“At the centre of such a
Late last year, the provincial
Treasury was asked by then-
premier Lynne Brown to inves-
tigate contracts between Ma-
nyathi’s department and four
consulting companies: GTSS,
Saha International (Pty) Ltd
and local marketing companies
Hip-Hop Media Lounge and
BrandTalk.
Manyathi’s department has
also been grilled on other ten-
ders. Last year the provincial
standing committee on finance
and economic development
ordered himto disclose the
names of private trusts that
won a tender for the province’s
integrated smart card payment
system for trains, buses and
taxis.
NEWS
tions or withdraw their labour
completely.
Hannes du Buisson, of the
Broadcast, Electronic, Media
and Allied Workers Union, said
he did not believe that workers
would impose a blackout on
Confederations Cup matches.
He said if the court ruled in
their favour, unions would have
to give the SABC 48 hours’
notice of their intention to
strike.
“The final will have taken
place by that time,” he said.
Meanwhile, all members of
the SABC board, as well as
PROVINCIAL PLANS: ANC members from Western Cape branches gathered at the party’s provincial general council meeting in
Kraaifontein yesterday to plan their organisation’s way forward after losing the province to the DA. PICTURE: CINDY WAXA
political strategy must be our
unflinching commitment to
non-racialism and gender
equality.
“Ultimately, we must agree
that there has been a profound
failure of non-racialism in the
Western Cape.”
Skwatsha said while the
ANC retained its high propor-
tion of the African vote, its
share of the vote in the col-
oured communities, rural and
The province’s acting direc-
tor-general, Brent Gerber, said
he could not divulge Many-
athi’s motivation for staying on
in his post.
“It’s an internal process and
I don’t think it’s fair to make
that public,” he said.
“There’s no time-frame for
her (Zille) to make up her mind
on the issue.”
Zille would only say last
week that there was prima
facie evidence of “serious”
irregularities involving ten-
ders and consultants appointed
by Manyathi’s department.
She said those allegations
would still have to be tested.
Manyathi could not be
reached for comment.
CA_NWS_E1_220609_p05 C M Y K
those who have resigned, are
expected to appear before Par-
liament’s portfolio committee
on communications tomorrow
to give their account of the
crisis at the public broadcaster.
This comes as another
board member, Nadia Bulbulia,
tendered her resignation,
making her the ninth member
to quit the embattled board that
the ANC, its alliance partners
and the minister of communi-
cations want to see dissolved.
Former chairwoman
Khanyi Mkonza, business-
woman Gloria Serobe and
Cape Metro, had seriously
eroded, while the party had
attracted “precious few white
supporters”.
“The reasons for this sorry
state of affairs are many and
varied, and require substantial
unpacking and analysis.”
Some reasons which he
listed were factional divisions;
hostile perceptions of both
President Jacob Zuma and the
post-Polokwane leadership cre-
Probe ordered into R4.3m party for Zuma
CAIPHUS KGOSANA
Political Bureau
SOCIAL Development Minis-
ter Edna Molewa has asked the
Special Investigations Unit to
probe the release of R4.3 mil-
lion to a KwaZulu-Natal busi-
nessman who gave a lavish pre-
election party for President
Jacob Zuma.
It was reported a month ago
that the SASocial Security
Agency (Sassa) had approved
the release of the funds to Dur-
ban businessman Mabheleni
Ntuli, who sponsored the party.
Ntuli allegedly received
R2.5m from the agency for the
party and a further R1.8m to
buy food parcels for villagers in
Alison Gillwald – who appeared
before the portfolio committee
with Bulbulia on Thursday –
are the only remaining board
members.
Portfolio committee chair-
man Ismail Vadi said yesterday
that the committee wanted to
hear the views of board mem-
bers before deciding on the
next course of action – which
could include recommending
the dissolution of the board.
The Broadcast Amendment
Act gives members of the
National Assembly power to
dissolve the board, if they feel
ated, he said, by the media; and
the formation of Cope.
Skwatsha warned that in
developing a political strategy,
the ANC needed to understand
the DA and their “ideological
bedfellows the ID” and should
not underestimate the DA.
“We have to define what the
DA and its policies are.
“Its so-called ‘open opportu-
nity society’ is a slogan for the
protection of existing relations
KwaNxamalala, Zuma’s birth-
place in KwaZulu-Natal.
The DA spokeswoman on
social development, Patricia
Kopane, has asked the Public
Protector to investigate why
Sassa chief executive officer
Feziwe Makiwane ordered the
agency’s main service provider,
Cash Paymaster Services, to
release the money to a com-
pany owned by Ntuli.
Guests at the party were
entertained by gospel singer
Deborah Fraser.
Speaking to the Cape Argus
in Parliament, Molewa said she
had asked the Special Investi-
gations Unit to probe if there
was any wrongdoing by Sassa.
Molewa pointed out, how-
MONDAY JUNE 22 2009
that it is not able to carry out
its fiduciary responsibilities.
Tiyani Rikhotso, a spokes-
man for Communications Min-
ister Siphiwe Nyanda, said
that, as the board had only
three remaining members, it
did not have any legal standing.
“There are three board
members remaining, the chair-
person has stepped down and
the deputy chairperson has
resigned. From that position
alone, it (the board) cannot take
decisions and does not meet the
requirements to remain a
board,” he said.
of power and privilege and
sought to roll back the rights of
workers by supporting labour
brokers and Export Processing
Zones.
“We need to understand,
analyse and debate that (the
fact that) the DA’s messages do
find support in minority com-
munities – one of which, the
coloured community, is the
majority in this province.”
andisiwe.makinana@inl.co.za
ever, that the money was not
meant for poverty relief but
was disbursed by Cash Pay-
master Services from its corpo-
rate social responsibility fund.
Molewa said a departmental
preliminary investigation into
the matter had found ”nothing
quite unbecoming” in the
transaction.
The department has pointed
out that the corporate social
investment fund has supported
many projects in the past,
including Christmas functions
for senior citizens in Calvinia
in the Western Cape, KwaZulu-
Natal Council of Churches’
poverty alleviation projects and
HIV/Aids home-based care.
Molewa said rooting out cor-
5
ministry
slammed
by HRC
RICHIE DUCHON
Staff Reporter
THE Department of Social
Development should explain
why it failed to contribute to a
recent round of hearings into
the work it is doing to eradicate
poverty by 2015, says the SA
Human Rights Commission.
The HRC is expected to send
a letter this week to parliamen-
tary Speaker Max Sisulu ask-
ing him to act against the
department and every govern-
ment department in the Free
State because of their no-show
at hearings earlier this month.
HRC chief executive officer
Tseliso Thipanyane said the
commission had written to na-
tional and provincial depart-
ments late last year requesting
progress reports on the realisa-
tion of economic and social
rights. The reports are man-
dated by the country’s signing
in 2000 of the UN Millennium
Development Goals to eradi-
cate poverty by 2015.
So few departments re-
sponded that the HRC had to
postpone its first round of
hearings and sent a second
request for contributions to
hearings that took place
between June 8 and 12.
Neither the national Social
Development Department nor
the entire Free State provincial
government had responded,
Thipanyane said.
Social Development’s Zanele
Mngadi said his department
had a “proud history” of com-
plying with such requests.
“There is, from our side, no
indication of a request from
the HRC. If indeed there was,
then we humbly apologise and
will discuss with its commis-
sioners the way forward,”
Mngadi said.
Thipanyane called the res-
ponse “nonsense”, saying the
request for submissions had
been put on the HRC’s website.
“We’ve been doing this reg-
ularly for years. Everybody
knows that,” he said.
If the HRC was not satisfied
with the Speaker’s response,
Thipanyane said, he could rec-
ommend that the commission
pursue criminal charges, or
seek a declaratory order that
would establish a ruling
against negligent departments.
richard.duchon@inl.co.za
ruption in the departmentwas
her top priority.
She said there had been
much improvement since her
predecessor, Zola Skweyiya,
had brought in the Special
Investigations Unit to trace
civil servants illegally benefit-
ing from grants and to probe
social grant-related fraud.
“The picture has improved.
There were instances where
the child support grant was
received by those who have
(money), but many of them are
now paying back the money,”
she said.
Molewa said the investiga-
tions unit was working full-
time scrutinising all transac-
tions related to social grants.
 CA_NWS_E1_240609_p04 C M Y K

4 WEDNESDAY JUNE 24 2009 NEWS

ANC threatens city over tourism funding

Withdrawal from Cape Town Routes Unlimited breached the law, says Strachan
ANDISIWE MAKINANA
Political Writer
THE ANC has threatened to
refer the City of Cape Town to
the Public Protector after it
pulled its funding of Cape
Town Routes Unlimited.
The ANC’s spokesman on
economic development and
tourism, Garth Strachan, said
the decision and the appoint-
ment of a parallel body to mar-
ket the city went against a
provincial tourism law.
Strachan, who is the former
MEC for economic develop-
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ment and tourism, said legal
opinion he had received while
he was MEC was that the City
of Cape Town’s withdrawal
from the CTRU was in breach
of the Western Cape Tourism
Act.
“As we speak, the law is
being breached and I am going
to refer the matter to the public
protector and the public serv-
ice commission for investiga-
tion,” he said.
Strachan warned his DA
successor, MEC for Economic
Development and Tourism,
Alan Winde, that he had three
options.
“One is to seek a court
injunction to force the city to
abide by the tourism act, to
which it was party when this
act was formulated and
passed,” he said.
“Another is to begin a
process to amend the legisla-
tion, while taking measures to
ensure that the law is upheld.”
The third option was to
refer the matter to the Inter-
governmental Relations
Framework to ensure that the
city immediately reinstated its
funding to CTRU, “and nomi-
nates members to the board as
it is entitled to do under the
law”.
In May last year, the City of
Cape Town withdrew its
annual R24-million funding to
CTRU and withdrew its two
directors from the body.
The city’s contribution
accounted for almost half of
the organisation’s annual oper-
ating expenditure. The city
first gave notice of its intention
to withdraw the funding in
May 2007.
The then-Mayco member
for economic, social develop-
ment and tourism, Simon
Grindrod, said it was clear
from feedback from the city’s
two directors that the organisa-
tion was falling deeper into dis-
array.
The city then appointed
Cape Town Tourism to perform
the destination marketing and
visitor services for the city for
three years until 2010.
The ANC’s threats come as
the City of Cape Town and the
provincial government have
agreed to develop jointly a “sus-
tainable solution” to marketing
Cape Town and the Western
Cape as a globally competitive
tourism destination.
Winde said there was a
need for all spheres of govern-
ment to work together so that
an environment could be cre-
ated for business and residents
to work in partnership with
them.
“We have given the mandate
to the officials to jointly
develop a lasting solution for
tourism marketing. It is impor-
tant that the solution is able to
withstand changes in political
leadership.”
The councillor responsible
for economic development and
tourism, Felicity Purchase,
said the city would meanwhile
continue to use Cape Town
Tourism as an interim meas-
ure to provide destination mar-
keting and visitor services.
The time frame for develop-
ing the sustainable model was
nine months, and the key focus
was on how to best increase the
number of visitors to Cape
Town and the Western Cape,
she said.
“Ultimately, we would like to
see the government provide an
enabling environment for the
tourism sector to grow and cre-
ate more jobs in the economy,”
Purchase said.
“It is therefore important
for the proposed solution to
provide business and other
key stakeholders with an
opportunity to contribute
resources and participate in
the decision-making.”
andisiwe.makinana@inl.co.za

Parties face off in Hero could

Cape by-elections
LINDSAY DENTLINGER
Metro Writer
THE DA and the ANC are set to
go head-to-head in five of seven
by-elections to be held across
the province today, their first
contest at the ballot box since
the April 22 elections.
Five of the by-elections –
two of which are in the metro –
will be to replace former DA
councillors who have since
become members of the
National Assembly and provin-
cial legislature.
Ward 70 in Durbanville, left
vacant by the DA’s Cathlene
Labuschagne, who is now a
Member of Provincial Legisla-
ture (MPL), has automatically
been awarded to the DA’s
Andrea Crous, since no other
party registered a candidate to
contest a by-election.
In Bellville’s Ward 9, the
DA’s Mercia Kleinsmith vies to
replace her husband Glen.
Glen Kleinsmith, the city’s
leading drug buster, was found
hanged in his home at the end
of April.
The DA will be up against
independent candidate Mary
Carelse in this ward, and the
ANC’s Neil Daniels.
In Ward 14 in Kuils River,
the DA’s Bert van Dalen is hop-
ing to take over from his son
Pieter van Dalen, who started
the city’s Copperheads in an
attempt to clamp down on
metal theft, before becoming a
member of the National
Assembly.
The ANC will be repre-
sented by Sibongile Mthamo.
The DA is also hoping to
regain control over Ward 73,
comprising the Mead-
owridge/Bergvliet area, follow-
ing the departure of Debbie
Schaefer, now a DA parliamen-
tarian. The DA’s candidate will
be Carol Bew, competing
against independent candidate
John Fortuin.
The DA and the ANC will
also fight it out alone in a ward
each – in the Greater Her-
manus area to replace the DA’s
Mike Walters who is now an
MPL, and in Plettenberg Bay
(Bitou Municipality) to replace
Donald Grant, the new Educa-
tion MEC.
The DA will be fielding Rus-
sel Booysen against the ANC’s
Allan Berry.
In George, son of MPL
Eugene von Brandis, Eugene
von Brandis jr, is hoping to take
over from his father, vying
against independent candidate
Iona Kritzinger.
The DA and ANC will have
their toughest battle in Kanna-
land, where they will be up
against three independent can-
didates and the National Peo-
ple’s Party. The seat became
vacant after Kallie Baartman
was expelled from the NPP.
He will now be contesting
the ward for the DA, against
the ANC’s Daniel Esau,
Andries Windvogel of the NPP,
and other independent candi-
dates Petrus Roodtman,
who has represented both Icosa
and the NPP in the past, Kat-
rina Jacobs and Cornelius
Strydom.
lindsay.dentlinger@inl.co.za
SUBSCRIPTION
HOTLINE
0800
220 770
GRIEVING: Nadine Jantjies’s mother Francina and sister Nasneen take comfort from one another at the memorial service for the little girl.
Show of support at slain Nadine’s memorial service
ZIYANDA SIDUMO Among the dignitaries there
Staff Reporter to convey their condolences
were Premier Helen Zille and
WESTERN Cape dignitaries, Safety and Security MEC
family, friends and the commu- Lennit Max.
nity of Wesbank packed the The child was last seen at
local primary school hall for an her home last Monday at about
emotional memorial service for 11am.
little Nadine Jantjies, the She went out to play with
seven-year-old who was raped friends, but never returned.
and murdered in the area last Her sister was among those
Monday. who found her body the next
Last night, in the Hoofweg night, after a frantic search.
Primary School hall, Nadine’s The child was half naked and
mother Francina and her sis- lying behind the Wesbank High
ter, Nasneen, 11, shed more School. A post-mortem
tears for the young girl. revealed she had died as a
result of being strangled.
Tears flowed freely last
night as words of sympathy
were passed on to the devas-
tated family.
Zille embraced Nadine’s
mother, offering her comfort
and urging other community
members to look out for each
other’s children, and to stand
together to fight crime.
“We need each other to sur-
vive, and we have to fight crime
together,” said Zille, adding
that she was deeply saddened
at the tragedy.
“What has happened was
painful, and we felt we had to
be with you. No one deserves
this,” she said.
Pastor Ronald Ruiters, who
has counselled the family, said
he was urging them to be
strong.
“They need to survive after
all that has happened to them,
and we’re trying to help them
cope,” he said.
Max told the service that the
number of missing children in
the Western Cape was alarming,
and urged people to work with
police since the culprits were
often known to local residents.
PICTURE: AYANDA NDAMANE
“Our children go missing
and get murdered every day,
and we need people to work
closely with the police,” he said.
The funeral will be held
on Saturday at the Hoofweg
Primary School.
A family friend who lived in
the backyard of the Jantjies’s
home was arrested and
charged with the child’s rape
and murder. He is still in police
custody, and is due to make his
second appearance in Blue
Downs Magistrate’s Court this
week.
ziyanda.sidumo@inl.co.za
get city
award for
saving girl
ESTHER LEWIS
Staff Reporter
THE “ordinary hero” who
saved a young girl from an
alleged rapist has been nomi-
nated for Cape Town civic
honours.
Mayco member for safety
and security J P Smith yester-
day lauded Bernard Erasmus,
30, for his heroic act, and put
his name forward for the
award.
“When you hold up people
like Erasmus as an example to
the rest of the community, you
send the message that this is
what people should be like,”
said Smith.
Erasmus downplayed his
nomination.
“I’m just glad I could help
someone in need. I’m glad that
I was at the right place, at the
right time. I do feel good about
that, “ he said.
On Saturday, Erasmus, who
lives in Somerset West, was
on his way home from work
when he saw a commotion
beside a farm road on which he
was travelling.
A 13-year-old girl, whose
clothes had been ripped from
her body, was screaming and
trying to fight off an attacker.
Erasmus stopped his car
and went to assist her.
The attacker, armed with a
knife, ran away, but Erasmus
gave chase and wrestled away
the knife.
A 22-year-old man was later
arrested and charged with
rape.
Erasmus said he did not
consider himself a hero, and
did what any “ordinary per-
son” would have done.
He said he had acted with-
out thinking because he
wanted to help the girl.
Smith said such bravery
deserved recognition.
esther.lewis@inl.co.za

APOLOGY Desperately seeking

We apologise for the incorrect manta ray’s lost tag
price that appeared in the
RICHIE DUCHON
17th June Supplement. The Staff Reporter
correct price is shown below.
WANTED: Grey, missile-shaped object about the size
of your hand, with a bulb shape and a short antenna
on one end. Known to possess valuable information
on the whereabouts of one manta ray. Last spotted
SPRING / SUMMER in the ocean, 10km off the coast, south of Durban.
R5 000 reward.
That’s the message from the Save Our Seas Foun-

R29,00
NOW!
R28,50
SALE dation, a non-profit organisation aimed at research-
ing and protecting the planet’s marine environment.
And they’re serious about the reward.
The foundation is searching for the valuable
STARTS study tag that popped off a manta ray which
R55,00 R54,00 researchers had been tracking in the Indian Ocean
THURSDAY 25th JUNE along the coast of South Africa and Mozambique.
“It’s like a treasure hunt,” said spokeswoman
R110,00 R108,00 MONDAY  SATURDAY 09H00  21H00
Cheryl Samantha Owen, adding that the tag con-
SUNDAY 09h00  21h00 tained important data that had been accumulating
for several months about how the manta ray lived,
R275,00 R270,95 including where it swam, how deep it dived and the
water temperatures which it preferred.
Manta rays are listed as “near threatened” by the
Western Cape Discount Supermarkets International Union for Conservation of Nature and
little is known about their population ecology, use of
critical habitat, movements or reproduction, all of
Prices apply to Pıck n Pay which is vital to assess the state of the species and
Western Cape only*. www.pnp.co.za their protection.
Valid from 24 June to 5 July 2009. The tagged ray had produced some information,
*Excluding Beaufort West, George, Jeffreys Bay, Knysna,
Mossel Bay, Oudtshoorn, Plettenberg Bay, Pıck n Pay Express but most of it would only be accessible when the
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finding it should telephone 079 717 9070.
3009M/E
richard.duchon@inl.co.za
 CA_NWS_E1_260609_p06 C M Y K

6 FRIDAY JUNE 26 2009 NEWS

Official told not Waitresses

held in
probe into
to tout ‘report’ card fraud

in Marais trial STAFF REPORTER

TWO waitresses at a restaurant

in a Milnerton shopping centre
and a man have been arrested
on allegations of skimming
credit cards.

Offers ‘inside info’ in accused’s name The two women, aged 32 and
33, and a 40-year-old man, face
charges of fraud and of
contravening the Electronic
Communications and Func-
ELLA SMOOK In an e-mail yesterday, again tions Act.
Staff Reporter from the government mailbox They were arrested about
of Brian Lemmetjies, he said 3pm on Tuesday.
A DEPARTMENT of Labour he had received calls from They appeared in the Cape
official has been warned to “several newsagents”, and that Town Magistrate’s Court yes-
desist from flogging “inside he and Piedt had come to the terday and are to remain in cus-
information” on behalf of the conclusion that “if any of tody until their next court
man accused of stabbing and you guys are interested in buy- appearance.
killing Stilbaai businessman ing this information you The arrests came after the
Basie Marais. should sent (sic) me via e-mail police, accompanied by foren-
An e-mail from the govern- how much you are willing to NO QUEUES: The scene at the Nyanga Refugee Centre yesterday, where refugees arriving for documentation were surprised to find sic investigators from two
ment mailbox of Brian Lem- compensate him for this queues moving efficiently. The Cape High Court has ordered that the centre must be closed by September 30. PICTURE: SKYLER REID banks, went to the restaurant
metjies was sent out to various information”. after several problems had
media houses on Wednesday, However, it appears that nei- been reported.
offering “the full inside
report” in the murder case of
Marais, from “the main
accused Mr Ricardo Piedt who
WIDOW: Ruby Marais

August 11, when it is expected

ther will benefit financially as
a result of selling Piedt’s “true
version”, after Marais’s law-
yers yesterday sent Lemmetjies
Closure of refugee centre sparks concern Allegations were
customers’ card details had
been used for fraudulent
transactions.
that

are (sic) currently awaiting the Valkenberg report will be notice that he was sailing close At the time of their arrests,
trial at the Buffeljags Correc- presented to the Swellendam to another brush with the law. FRANCIS HWESHE and sleeping outside for several the centre yesterday with her Home Affairs spokesman the two women were found to
tional facility”. Circuit Court. Dreyer and Dreyer Attor- RICHIE DUCHON days to get a good spot in the boyfriend from the Democratic Ronnie Mamoepa said yester- be in possession of electronic
“This includes the physio- When the Cape Argus con- neys told Lemmetjies that if it Staff Reporters queue. Republic of Congo, who needed day that Dlamini-Zuma needed funds transfer slips.
logic (sic) report of Ms Marais tacted the number provided was found that he was in pos- Charles said rumours began to renew his papers. more time to consider the Police spokesman Inspector
and personal information from with the e-mail offer of the session of any of their client’s NEWS that the Cape High circling yesterday that the cen- “If the closure of the office judgment. “At this stage we November Filander said that
the main accused & inside “inside information”, the man confidential information he Court has ordered the Depart- tre would move to Khayelitsha. means people will get better respect the judgment of the the women had led police to
court information and photos”. who answered identified him- would face a theft charge. ment of Home Affairs to close He and other refugees said service, great,” Abrams said, court,” he said. an apartment in Parklands,
Ruby Marais, the wife of the self as Lemmetjies. At sentencing, it would also the Nyanga Refugee Centre by they feared residents would adding: “But if it means He declined to comment on where the man was then
deceased, is standing trial He said he had recently be brought to the attention of September 30 has left refugees become violent towards them if moving to Khayelitsha, I’m what would determine the new arrested.
alongside Piedt, her former spent three weeks incarcerated the presiding officer in the extremely concerned. that was the case. worried about their safety.” site for the refugee centre. The police found the man
domestic worker Hester Afrika, in the same cell as Piedt for case, Judge Daniel Dlodlo, that Already worried about “We don’t know what’s Nigerian Emmanuel Vin- But it remained the view of was in possession of a card-
and Afrika’s sister Elizabeth “attempted robbery”. Piedt was trying to profit from threats to their safety at the going to happen, but I don’t cent, 33, believed the move the minister that “we need cloning device, white plastic,
Lawerdien. He said he and Piedt were his involvement in it. Nyanga venue, they say that, if think this office will be safe would be a great relief to adja- expansion of the services being and numerous cloned credit
Her husband was stabbed to now offering Piedt’s “true ver- The attorneys further noted rumours that the centre will be until someone comes out to tell cent businesses, but that, if the offered (in Nyanga) to sites in cards.
death with a fishing knife in sion of the incident”, despite that they would inform the moved to Khayelitsha are true, us what to do,” he said. centre had been run more effi- the Northern Cape and Eastern The man was also in posses-
the early hours of October 7, the fact that he had already tes- Department of Labour of the they could be at greater risk. Charles conceded that the ciently, it would not have been Cape provinces”. sion of electronic funds trans-
2006, but Marais has denied tified in court. abuse of its property. Burundian Selemani centre had become more effi- a problem in the first place. Choosing a new site, he said, fer slips.
that she ordered the hit. Piedt told the court in Lemmetjies could not be Charles, 36, said he had fled cient since the Minister of “The problem has do to with would involve feasibility and Filander said that this inte-
She has maintained that she August that he was never asked reached for further comment. from violence in his home Home Affairs, Nkosozana official attitudes,” he said, other studies. grated operation by the police
only wanted him to be given “a to murder Marais, but rather to The department’s spokes- country eight years ago, and Dlamini-Zuma, had visited two adding that he was surprised at Asked about a time-frame, and bank investigators should
hiding” for the abuse she take the rap for the murder at a man, Page Boikanyo, confirm- had had a temporary visa since weeks ago. the efficiency of proceedings he said: “Soon.” serve as a strong warning to
allegedly suffered at his hands. price of R300 000, and that, on ed Lemmetjies was employed at 2001. But he added: “I don’t trust there yesterday. Richard Sikakane, Nyanga waiters and other staff who
Marais was sent for observa- the night of the murder, his their Swellendam office and The Bellville barber shop that it will last.” Citing security concerns for centre manager, said he had no intended carrying out similar
tion at Valkenberg psychiatric only contribution was to make said the department would owner said he visited the South African Charmine refugees, Vincent said the comment as he had only just schemes while working for
hospital earlier this year and the phone call that lured Basie investigate the allegations. Nyanga centre regularly to Abrams said she had waited centre should rather be moved heard about the court decision. restaurants.
the case is set to resume on Marais out of his home. ella.smook@inl.co.za renew his visa, sometimes more than eight hours outside to the city centre. francis.hweshe@inl.co.za ziyanda.sidumo@inl.co.za

FF+ urges clampdown on police brutality
LAVERN DE VRIES
Crime Writer
THE FREEDOM Front Plus
has raised concerns that police
brutality appears to be on the
increase, based on an as yet
unpublished Independent
Complaints Directorate (ICD)
report.
Spokesman Pieter Groe-
newald said the estimated
9 percent increase pointed to a
serious problem with the eval-
uation and training of police
members.
“These members are also
an embarrassment to other
trustworthy and hard-working
police members.
“The figures also confirm
why the faith the members of
the public have in the police is
declining,” he said in a media
statement.
AUCTION SALE
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ICD was auditing them for
SMS the Argus publication. Community
SMS your views to 32027 Safety MEC Lennit Max also
Each SMS costs R1 declined to comment on the
figures, saying that he would
reserve comment until the
Groenewald called on the final report was published.
police watchdog to be rein- Meanwhile, the SA No Tor-
forced, so it could properly ture Consortium has called on
investigate all claims against the government to finalise
police officers, and finalise out- the draft Bill to Combat
standing investigations. Torture.
According to him, the According to figures pre-
organisation had finalised only sented by the ICD and released
a little over half of its latest by the NGO, at least one third
complaints, while almost 2 000 of detainees who die in police
cases opened last year were custody die of injuries sus-
still outstanding. tained while in custody.
ICD spokesman Tiyani “They report that these
Sambo said the figures were could have been inflicted by
loosely based on a presentation either police or co-detainees.
given to a parliamentary port- “However, both constitute
folio committee. torture according to interna-
He would not confirm tional conventions,” the group
the statistics, saying that the said in a statement.
PROTEA PRESIDENT HOTEL
SEA POINT – CAPE TOWN AUCTION SALE
Remember
It added that the ICD had
received 20 complaints of
torture and 739 complaints
of assault with intent to cause
grievous bodily harm
between April, 2007, and
March, 2008.
“The ICD appears to have
had limited impact on the
investigation of abuses that
occur in police cells, seemingly
because the police appear to
conduct internal investiga-
tions of these incidents,
and because the ICD lacks
resources to investigate prop-
erly,” the group charged.
It said amendments made to
the draft Bill to Combat Torture
would clarify issues of the pro-
hibition of torture.
The ICD is expected to pub-
lish its annual report in early
August.
lavern.devries@inl.co.za
Yengeni’s blood sample diluted, court told
JADE WITTEN explained that the seal was
Court Reporter hanging, and not knotted.
“Inside the box, he (a lab
IT APPEARED former ANC official who was also present)
chief whip Tony Yengeni’s lifted the glass tube containing
blood-alcohol sample in his the blood, but couldn’t say it
drunk driving case was was blood, but a red fluid. It
diluted, State witness Thulani didn’t appear to be blood to
Ntobela, deputy provincial him,” Ntobela told the court.
commissioner for policing, has The sample was then taken
told the Parow Regional Court. to the Health Department for
Ntobela was testifying yes- further analysis.
terday in the trial of former “The test was done in my
Goodwood police station com- presence and the lady ex-
missioner Siphiwo Hewana, plained that the blood appeared
who is alleged to have ordered to be that of a very sick old per-
police officers to change the son, and she concluded that it
facts pertaining to Yengeni’s had been diluted,” he said.
November 26, 2007 arrest. Yengeni was arrested for
Ntobela told the court that drunk driving by Constable
on December 3 that year he Charles Japhta and colleague
called the laboratory where Jeremy Voskuil, who were
Yengeni’s blood sample was allegedly ordered to change the
due to be examined, and arresting time from after mid-
was told that the container night to 9pm.
had not yet been opened as Yengeni was subject to
it appeared to have been strict parole conditions at the
tampered with. time of his arrest, which pro-
Laboratory officials said hibited him from drinking
they needed a senior official to
be present to open it, he said.
He went to the lab the fol-
lowing day. At the time, Nto-
UNFAZED: Siphiwo Hewana, who is accused of tampering with
evidence. PICTURE: MATTHEW JORDAAN
alcohol and driving after 10pm.
He was acquitted of the
charges in December.
Hewana has pleaded not

Ab4R
MERCIER, EBEL, BULGARI, TAG HEUER & OMEGA WATCHES – SET OF VICTORIAN SILVER
SALTS SHEFFIELD 1897 – HEAVY SILVER LADLE CIRCA 1900 – GEORGIAN SILVER TEA SET bela was the Western Cape guilty to attempting to defeat
LONDON 1810 – SILVER SABBATH CANDLESTICKS LONDON 1904 – EARLY GEORGE II SILVER head of detectives. the ends of justice, incitement
Defence attorney Greg Dun- dence of a medical expert. medical experts to testify. to commit perjury and infrac-
TANKARD LONDON 1750 – MASSIVE GEORGE III SILVER TANKARD LONDON 1774 – SET OF
can objected to Ntobela’s evi- Prosecutor Barry van den Magistrate Elsa van Zyl tions of the Police Act.
ANTIQUE BRASS FIRE IRONS - RARE PURE GOLD (5OZ) MANDELA MEDALLION NO 43 OUT
dence, citing it as hearsay as he Berg argued that Ntobela allowed Ntobela to proceed. Cross-examination was to
OF 100 FROM THE S.A. MINT - BOER WAR WILKINSON SWORD was the final State witness, and should be allowed to testify as “They showed me the box continue today.
ACTING ON INSTRUCTIONS OF THE PRINCIPALS INVOLVED , MR KENNY FINBERG WILL OFFER THIS LARGE & VALUABLE
COLLECTION OF NEW, PRE OWNED, TRADE-IN, & UNREDEEMED JEWELLERY TO BE SOLD BY PUBLIC AUCTION AT THE the court had not heard evi- the State would call relevant containing the exhibit and jade.witten@inl.co.za
PROTEA PRESIDENT HOTEL – SEA POINT – CAPE TOWN
ON SUNDAY 28TH JUNE 2009 FROM 10AM ONWARDS
Police search for Nadine accused to stay in custody
REWARD
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SUBMARINER
R 20 000.00 last seen in city BRONWYNNE JOOSTE
Staff Reporter
Wesbank High School.
Jantjies’s family spokesman
J WATCH - SOUTH SEA PEARL NECKLACE – CERT ROUND 5CT DIA J/SI1
– CERT ROUND 3.05CT DIA K/VS2 – 10.7CT DIA BRACELET – 4.78CT DIA DROP EARRINGS – CERT 5.6CT POISONING OF LIONS Ronald Ruiters said they had
TANZANITE & DIA RING – 2.95CT DIA WEDDING RING – DESIGNER BRACELET WITH 9.1CT BLUE SAPPHIRES & STAFF REPORTER THE family of slain seven-year- been receiving support from the
1CT DIAS – OPERA CULTURED PEARLS – CERT 2.73CT DIA PENDANT L/SI3 – 18CT COCKTAIL RING SET WITH
5.3CT DIAS - STUNNING TANZANITE, RUBY, EMERALD & BLUE SAPPHIRE JEWELLERY
AT FAIRY GLEN GAME RESERVE old Nadine Jantjies was prepa- community, and encouraged
MITCHELLS Plain police are ring for her funeral as the man people to “please keep this family
ON VIEW: SUNDAY 28TH JUNE 2009 FROM 9AM ONWARDS After intensive studies, re-reports and symptoms, looking for a 14-year-old Strand- accused of murdering and raping in your prayers”.
CERTIFIED 1.51 CT CUSHION CUT BLUE WHITE DIAMOND – 5.3CT DIA it appears that all the lions at Fairy Glen Game Reserve fontein girl who failed to arrive her was transferred from Bell- Outside the court, Ruiters
COCKTAIL RING – 6.23CT DIA DRESS RING – CERT 13.1CT TANZANITE & home on Wednesday afternoon. ville police cells to Pollsmoor remained by the couple’s side,
DIA PENDANT – LADIES TAG HEUER DIA WATCH – 3.02CT DIA DRESS EARRINGS – were deliberately poisoned. Fazlin Robertson was last Prison. who both declined to speak
OMEGA SPEEDMASTER CHRONOGRAPH WATCH - CERT DIA STUD EARRINGS
4.04CT J/SI – PARCEL OF 5CT DIAS - 18CT GOLD DRESS RING WITH 5.12CT FANCY
A reward is available for first information and the seen about 4pm on Wednesday in The child’s mother Francina directly to the media.
DIAMOND – CERT 4.02CT RADIANT DIA J/SI2 – 18CT TEARDROP EARRINGS & conviction of the culprit who wishes to destroy the Reserve. the city centre. She is 1.6 metres Jantjies, and her father Petrus Protesters expressed anger
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BRACELETS – 3 FESTINA TOUR DE FRANCE & 6 GUESS WATCHES – 2.27CT DIA STUD EARRINGS – CERT 4.17CT ROUND scar on her forehead. She has the news later from a court been told.
DIA L/SI2 – TIFFANY STYLE EARRINGS WITH 5.36CT YELLOW DIAS – CERT 5.48CT NATURAL VIVID YELLOW DIA SI3 – 3.68CT of natural beauty for game viewing nearest to Cape Town shoulder-length dark brown hair, orderly. Nadine went missing last
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on 073 804 2000 or 021 370 1706 is scheduled for tomorrow at the bronwynne.jooste@inl.co.za

8 WEDNESDAY JULY 1 2009
N2 Gateway and Joe Slovo residents march
Zille urged to mediate between residents and developer
RICHIE DUCHON, ANNA CLAIRE
EDDINGTON and NINA JOUBERT
Staff Reporters
NEARLY 200 residents of the
N2 Gateway flats and Joe Slovo
informal settlement near
Langa have marched on the
provincial parliament, calling
on Premier Helen Zille to medi-
ate between the Gateway ten-
ants and housing company
Thubelisha Homes.
Thubelisha managed the
flats from 2006 until earlier this
year when the newly created
Housing Development Agency
(HDA) took over.
The residents chanted ”We
want houses” and “Long live
the spirit of the poor!” as they
marched through the city
yesterday, waving palm leaves
and holding aloft placards that
read “No rent at N2 Gateway
flats” and “If I die, my children
will never have their home,
why rent for life?”
The leader of the N2 Gate-
way tenant committee, Lutha-
ndo Ndadandi, delivered the
memorandum to Zille.
The N2 Gateway project has
long been a source of contro-
versy, with a damning report by
the Auditor-General, intro-
duced in Parliament in April, de-
tailing economic mismanage-
ment and other inefficiencies.
The government has also
been criticised for its housing
allocation process.
Yesterday’s march came
against the backdrop of the
Western Cape’s enormous
housing deficit. Cape Town
mayor Dan Plato recently
acknowledged that the city had
400 000 families on a waiting
list for housing, with another
16 000 being added each year.
All this while only 8 000 homes
were being built annually.
Yesterday Ndadandi com-
plained of “remote-control”
management of the N2 Gate-
way flats by Thubelisha.
“We want local government
to control this,” he said, giving
the thumbs-down to manage-
ment “from Joburg”.
Protesters, many of whom
have refused to pay rent over
the past two years, argued that
Thubelisha had not addressed
their problems.
“We pay more than the qual-
ity of our houses,” said Sin-
clair Mbashae, an original res-
ident of the N2 Gateway flats.
The personal trainer and
father of two said he was sup-
NEWS
posed to pay R1 500 a month but
had paid nothing for two years.
He said his flat had water
damage and mould, exacer-
bated by a lack of ventilation.
Another resident, Elijah
Congwana, said his flat had
cracks and was falling apart.
But Prince Xhanti Sigcawu,
Thubelisha’s general manager
and head of the N2 Gateway
pilot project, said the marchers
were “completely unfair” and
that the march was politically
motivated and timed to coin-
cide with Human Settlements
Minister Tokyo Sexwale’s
budget speech yesterday.
“On the rental issue, it’s a lie
to say it’s exorbitant,” said Sig-
cawu, adding that each tenant
went through an interview
process to make sure rents
were commensurate with fam-
CA_NWS_E1_010709_p08 C M Y K
ily size and income. “They
signed contracts wherein they
agreed to the rentals,” he said.
Asked about criticism that
Thubelisha had been unrespon-
sive to complaints and did not
have an office at the Langa
flats, he said: “As we speak, all
defects have been attended to.”
After signing the memoran-
dum, Zille said she and West-
ern Cape Housing MEC Bongi-
nkosi Madikizela would see
what they could do to sort out
the problems, even though the
N2 Gateway was “not our pro-
ject”. “As you know,” she said,
“we were kicked off.”
The City of Cape Town was
denied acreditation to roll out
N2 Gateway houses by the
national government while
Zille was still mayor.
richard.duchon@inl.co.za
‘GIVE US HOUSES’: Residents from the N2 Gateway flats and Joe Slovo informal settlement
protest over what they say are high rents and bad living conditions. PICTURE: HENK KRUGER
Warning over nuclear
power station report
JOHN YELD
Environment & Science Writer
ANY ATTEMPT by Eskom to expand
the current environmental impact
assessment (EIA) of its proposed new
nuclear power station at Bantamsklip,
to take in three new nuclear facilities
along the South African coastline,
will constitute a “critical flaw” in the
process, a consultant for an associa-
tion opposing the project has warned.
And Paul Slabbert also says it is of
“great concern” that, because of the
scale of the proposed nuclear facility
at Bantamsklip near Pearly Beach,
the national environment department
has allowed Eskom to do separate
EIAs for this project, without request-
ing an overall strategic study for the
region.
Another EIA is under way for
required powerlines for this facility.
Slabbert pointed to an admission
by the department in a television pro-
gramme that it had made a similar
mistake at Saldanha Bay, where
it allowed Transnet to apply for ad
hoc assessments relating to port devel-
opments, without properly consider-
ing the overall cumulative environ-
mental impact, or the parastatal’s
long-term strategic objectives for the
region.
“It is imperative that cumulative
impact that involves both the (pro-
posed nuclear power station) site and
transmission (lines at Bantamsklip)
be assessed, and presented to the
public in a combined or strategic
assessment application,” Slabbert
told his client, the Strandveld
Tourism and Conservation Associa-
tion, in a letter last week.
The association is an organisation
formed recently to oppose construc-
tion of a new nuclear power station at
Bantamsklip, a near-pristine piece of
coastline east of Danger Point. It has
Small businesses face
eviction over rent arrears
SANDISO PHALISO
Special Correspondent
ABOUT 50 small businesses at
Philippi’s Eisleben Business Park
(EBP)are facing eviction for failing to
pay rent.
The business park was set up to
assist disadvantaged entrepreneurs
but has been plagued by management
problems and owes the city about
R1.6 million in arrears.
Tenants, organised under the
Kuyasa Eisleben Business Park Com-
mittee, say they have not been paying
rent because they are unhappy at
rent hikes and working conditions at
the park.
Tenant representative Lulama
Hlaphezulu said about 50 tenants
received eviction letters from the City
of Cape Town last month.
Hlaphezulu, who runs an uphol-
stery business from the park, said ten-
ants were refusing to move and had
not been paying rent because of com-
plaints about the size of their stalls,
leaking roofs and unreliable electric-
ity supply. She said “bogus manage-
ment” had also doubled monthly rents
from R340 to R700, which tenants
could not afford.
Tenant Bantu Kwelilanga, who
runs a sewing business, said he had
a family to feed. With the rental
increase and the threat of eviction,
he may no longer be able to put food
on the table.
“We have the right to open busi-
nesses and generate income for our
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about 250 members who are landown-
ers, residents or members of local
organisations.
In a 19-page response to Eskom’s
application for a revised plan of study
for the EIA of the proposed nuclear
power station and associated infra-
structure, the association states:
“We are responsible citizens, not
necessarily anti-nuclear or anti-devel-
opment, but are of the opinion that to
consider Bantamsklip as a potential
site for a nuclear power station is ill-
conceived from an environmental,
ecological and socio-economic per-
spective.”
Slabbert was commissioned to pro-
vide technical input for the associa-
tion’s submission.
In another development around
the contested nuclear project, a
motion by ACDP MP Cheryllyn
Dudley was placed on the order paper
in the National Assembly yesterday,
but did not come up for debate.
The motion calls on the govern-
ment to “seriously consider the con-
cerns of people, the impact of the
nuclear proposal on tourism in the
area, and the impact on the region in
general”.
It notes that the proposed nuclear
station site is “in the magnificent
Whale Coast area and southernmost
tip of Africa where there is a delicate
and harmonious balance between
human settlement, tourism and
natural environment”.
It “acknowledges that if plans pro-
ceed as proposed, concerned residents
and environmentalists believe it
would be disastrous for the region”.
john.yeld@inl.co.za
families, and the responsibility to pay
rent, but the stalls need to be taken
care of,” he said.
The park is owned by the Philippi
East Development Initiative (PEDI),
a Section 21 nonprofit company estab-
lished in 1998, which acquired the
park through grant funding from the
provincial government. The city is a
member of the initiative.
In April, the city’s portfolio com-
mittee on economic, social develop-
ment and tourism dealt with a report
that recommended an additional
R300 000 in funding for the PEDI to pay
for a turnaround strategy manager for
the business park. This was in addi-
tion to R150 000 already provided.
Referring to the “dire financial sit-
uation” of both the park and the ini-
tiative, the report said that during the
preceding 24 months, the facility had
not been well managed, prompting
the appointment of a manager in
May 2007 to get it back onto a sustain-
able footing.
“Due to lack of expertise and mis-
management, a very desperate situa-
tion developed over the past few years
at EBP. Many tenants were (and still
are) not paying their monthly rentals,
and subsequently the EBP is more
than R1 600 000 in arrears.”
The city’s executive director for
economic, social development and
tourism, Mansoor Mohamed, said
the R300 000 for the turnaround man-
agement had been approved. New
management had been appointed
about a month ago. – West Cape News
 CA_NWS_E1_030709_p06 C M Y K

6 FRIDAY JULY 3 2009 NEWS

New Robben Gender equity lacking

in key posts in W Cape
Island boss BRONWYNNE JOOSTE
Staff Reporter

WOMEN have no key represen-

cases going on, most times men
are the culprits. This worries
me, it makes me ashamed to be
a man.”

faces rocky ride

tation in most of the Western
Cape’s government and social
structures, according to a nat-
ional gender equity network.
Sonke Gender Justice Net-
work said gender equity was
virtually absent in many insti-
tutions in the Western Cape,
Another concerning trend
was the one, common in the
townships, of lesbian women
being raped to “show them how
to be real women”, Godana
said. The network called on the
authorities to address the
issue.

Minister yet to brief Bredekamp painting a bleak picture in a

BRONWYNNE JOOSTE
Staff Reporter
ROBBEN Island’s new interim
boss claims he has no knowl-
edge of what led to the mass
resignations at the institution,
and has disclosed no concrete
plans on how he plans to rescue
the embattled heritage site.
At a press conference yester-
day, Professor Henry Brede-
kamp said he not received a
brief from Arts and Culture
Minister Lulu Xingwana on the
events leading to the resigna-
tion of former interim chief
executive officer Seelan Naidoo,
along with the entire Robben
Island Museum Council in May.
Bredekamp said he “didn’t
have a picture” of the island’s
financial situation, adding that
he only knew “there was an
audit going on”.
When asked about the key
areas of concern on the island,
he said the media had por-
trayed the heritage site as
“problematic”.
Bredekamp, who will
remain the chief executive of
Iziko Museums, started at the
island last Friday. He is
expected to hold his position
there for three months, spend-
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ing at least two days a week on
the island.
Xingwana has tasked him
with ensuring service delivery
and stabilising operations.
“Where there’s smoke…
there may be something. You
could also try to blow up that
whole thing. It is unwise to
start off on a negative note,”
Bredekamp said.
He had not been in contact
with any of the former council
members, but said he would
ask for a report on what led to
the mass resignations.
“I haven’t had access to a
report and it would be prepos-
terous for me to assume what
happened. I was not here at that
time.”
Although his brief from
the ministry was to “stabilise
operations”, Bredekamp did
not identify problem areas
yesterday.
He said he had noted no
“serious problems” during the
past few days. “There are
normal operational problems
but not of such a nature that I
should be concerned,” he said.
But Bredekamp did say he
had been employed to ensure
there “won’t be a repetition of
the unstable situation”.
Although he admitted to
accepting the job “with trepida-
tion”, Bredekamp, who lives in
Glenhaven with his wife and
daughter, said he would “not
get bogged down in the nega-
tive”, but would instead opt for
a “solution-driven” approach.
“I am still in the honeymoon
period, and I want to see how
long I can extend this. If I start
with low morale, how can I
expect staff to be inspired?”
He will be supported by an
interim council, including
three senior arts and culture
officials, one of whom is for-
mer acting chief executive
Vusithemba Ndima.
Ndima acted for just three
weeks, but Bredekamp said
this only happened because he
was out of the country.
Next week Bredekamp trav-
els to Australia for the Inclu-
sive Museum Conference, an
arrangement made before he
took on his new job.
On restructuring plans for
‘HONEYMOON’: Robben Island’s new acting boss, Professor Henry Bredekamp, who has been
tasked with stabilising the situation on the island.
Robben Island, he said he was
not aware of the exact details.
He would have discussions
with the National Education
Health and Allied Workers
Union on his return.
Nehawu spokeswoman
Suraya Jawoodeen said the
union did not doubt Bre-
dekamp’s abilities. “We’re keen
PICTURE: MATHIEU DASNOIS
to know what he is going to do “He is new. We can’t raise
in the next few months. We these issues with him. We will
want the site to be preserved, to be seeking these answers from
be functional and to have proper the ministry,” said Jawoodeen.
working conditions there.” The union’s main concern
The union had been urging with the department was when
the department for reasons for the permanent council would
the resignations, but said it did be in place. It was appealing to
not hold Bredekamp account- the department to co-opt a
able for these explanations. labour member to the council.
province with such high rates
of violence against women and
children. It said the situation
played to attitudes of dis-
respect towards women.
Provincial network head
Patrick Godana said most men
initially viewed gender equity
as women’s rights issues.
There was also an entren-
ched belief that men were sole
heads of the household, as fig-
ures of authority and financial
providers, he said.
In a bid to change these per-
ceptions, the network is host-
ing awareness programmes
across the country.
Godana said apart from the
all-male provincial cabinet in
the Western Cape, most power
structures in the province were
also male-dominated.
“Leaders should try to lead
by example. They must show
they mean business about gen-
der equality. This isn’t happen-
ing in government, our
churches and the judiciary.
Women cannot just be window-
dressing.
“A lot must be done in the
Western Cape,” he urged.
The situation was particu-
larly alarming in light of the
growing number of child mur-
ders, and an increase in sexual
assaults and rapes.
“When we see the high rates
of rape and missing children
Network staff and volun-
teers visit the Khayelitsha
Magistrate’s Court each time
such a case appears, calling for
“justice to be expedited”.
Another imbalance the net-
work noted in its research was
the gender imbalance at local
clinics.
“The majority of the people
there are women. There is the
belief that sexual health is a
woman’s responsibility,” Godana
said, adding that this led men to
see going to a clinic as a sign of
weakness.
“In this day and age of HIV/
Aids, this cannot be happening.”
The network has head
offices in Gauteng and Cape
Town, with member organisa-
tions across the country. It’s
One Man Can campaign
involves men across the coun-
try discussing issues like
domestic violence, women’s
rights and reducing the spread
and impact of HIV/Aids.
Staff interact with individu-
als, then with focus groups,
with the goal of establishing
community action teams. This
is happening in Nyanga,
Khayelitsha, Gugulethu and
Mandalay.
Godana said the network
also researched laws relating to
issues such as domestic vio-
lence, and measured how effec-
tively they were being enforced.
bronwynne.jooste@inl.co.za

NGOs applauded at July 4 party Accused tried to slit wife’s throat,investigator tells court
RICHIE DUCHON
Staff Reporter
SOUTH African community
organisations were lauded for
the work they do among the
country’s poor, as young South
Africans of the Amy Biehl
Foundation danced and sang at
a celebration of US Indepen-
dence Day.
The main hall of the US
Consulate in Cape Town was
decked out with red, white and
blue balloons and banners cov-
ered with stars and stripes last
night to celebrate the day
commemorated tomorrow.
In recognition of South
Africa as a host country of the
consulate, youth of the Amy
Biehl Foundation performed
traditional African songs and
dance to open the event.
About 50 members of the
Christel House Choir sang the
South African and American
national anthems at the com-
memoration of America’s dec-
laration of independence from
the British in 1776.
The celebration last night
was meant to be a “salute to
those who care”, said US Con-
sul General Alberta Mayberry.
Mayberry thanked several
US-founded and -funded NGOs
for exhibiting their work at the
event and recognised their con-
tributions to health and educa-
tion in South Africa.
“To whom much is given,
much is required,” Mayberry
said.
She talked about her “sin-
cerest appreciation” for South
African-based community
organisations.
“(Their work) is so much
more than our little bit of (US)
money can match,” she said,
adding in an interview after
her speech, “these community-
based organisations didn’t wait
for America to come to town to
help children in need”.
Western Cape Premier
Helen Zille was on hand to
celebrate America’s proud her-
itage.
“The US pioneered the
multi-party democracy,” she
said.
“I’ve read a lot about the
founding fathers and I find
them inspirational.”
Several Americans attend-
ing the event said they were
relieved to be celebrating the
Fourth of a July under a new
US president.
“I’ve been in South Africa
for the entire eight years of the
Bush administration… I don’t
have to pretend I’m a Canadian
anymore,” joked Ben Williams,
who has lived in South Africa
since the mid-1990s.
JADE WITTEN
Court Reporter
AN INVESTIGATING officer
has told the Goodwood Magis-
trate’s Court how an Athlone
man walked into his wife’s
place of work and slit her
throat before attempting to set
her alight.
It is alleged that Abdul
Rudolph slit the throat of his
wife, Firdous Fortune-Rudolph,
and doused her with petrol in
the kitchen of Morkels furni-
ture store at N1 City Mall,
where she worked.
Inspector Anton Abraham,
testifying in Rudolph’s bail
application yesterday, relayed
the events that unfolded at
around 2pm on April 29.
He said Rudolph, 30, entered
the store to speak to his 25-year-
old wife. The couple then went
to the kitchen where he asked
her “if she didn’t love or want
him anymore”.
Minutes later, Abrahams
told the court, a knife was pro-
duced and he slit her throat.
He then poured petrol from
a five-litre bottle over his wife,
before attempting to set her
alight with his lighter.
But, as this took place, two
of Fortune-Rudolph’s colleag-
ues stormed into the kitchen
and shoved him aside.
They rescued her and
rushed her to hospital.
Abrahams testified that
Rudolph then knelt on the
kitchen floor and slit his own
throat. Later he drove off.
Mall security guards gave
chase and found him uncon-
scious at the wheel of his car. He
was admitted to hospital.
Both Rudolph and his wife
were reportedly in a critical
condition, taking at least three
SUPPORT: Fatima Fortune, mother of Firdous Fortune-Rudolph,
at the Goodwood Magistrate’s Court
weeks to recover. Fortune-
Rudolph sustained injuries to
her face, neck and hands.
The accused, who yesterday
sat in court wrapped in a blan-
ket in a wheelchair, with a
nurse at his side, has since the
PICTURE: AYANDA NDAMANE
alleged incident suffered two
heart attacks and one stroke, a
doctor’s report confirmed.
The court also heard
Rudolph had a separate case of
attempted murder and rape of
a former wife pending in the
Wynberg Regional Court.
He had allegedly choked and
then raped the woman in 2005
and was later released on
R2 000 bail.
Abrahams also testified to
an interim protection order Fo-
rtune-Rudolph had secured ag-
ainst the accused in the month
before the attempted murder.
Abrahams said Rudolph
should not be granted bail as he
had violated the conditions of
the order which prohibited him
from physically, emotionally
and verbally abusing his wife,
harassing her or entering her
place of work.
Abrahams also referred in
court to a petition, signed by
close to 10 000 community
members, which opposed bail.
He said his safety could not be
guaranteed if he was released.
The bail hearing continues.
jade.witten@inl.co.za

Naas try for maintenance

FORMER Springbok Naas Botha yesterday faced
his own son in the Pretoria Maintenance Court,
when Francois Jooste, 21, applied for maintenance.
Jooste is Botha’s son from a relationship with a
woman he did not marry. He paid maintenance
until he turned 18.
After school the son went with his mother to the
US as she married an American, but later returned
to South Africa. As Jooste was no longer a minor,
the first-year computer engineering student could
bring his own application for maintenance.
His lawyer, Nikki Mitchell, said Jooste, although
not a minor, was eligible for maintenance until he
was self-efficient and independent, but, as he was a
student, he needed maintenance for his studies and
to contribute to his living costs.. – Staff reporter
 CA_NWS_E1_080709_p05 C M Y K

NEWS WEDNESDAY JULY 8 2009 5

Scopa condemns officials’testimony on Gateway housing project News

RICHIE DUCHON
and NATASHA PRINCE
Staff Reporters
THE STANDING Committee
on Public Accounts (Scopa)
abruptly adjourned a hearing
regarding a damning report
on the N2 Gateway housing
project, calling testimony by
government representatives
“completely unsatisfactory”.
Chairman Themba Godi
ordered the officials from the
national and provincial depart-
ments of Human Settlement
and the City of Cape Town to
“go back and do their home-
work”.
“I think the report needs to
be re-read by officials and they
need to come to a joint
response…We cannot and
should not continue this hear-
ing,” Godi said. He added that
there had been no depth and
consistency to the responses
given. The hearing yesterday
was called after an auditor-gen-
eral’s report found the N2 Gate-
way Project was “not managed
economically, efficiently and
effectively”.
The project was launched in
2004 as part of then President
Thabo Mbeki’s “Breaking New
Ground: A Comprehensive
Plan for the Development of
Sustainable Human Settle-
ments”. The N2 Gateway was
intended to create permanent
affordable housing for the
about 20 000 residents living in
shacks at Joe Slovo off the N2
and other informal settlements
in Cape Town.
The report found that the
national and provincial Depart-
ments of Human Settlements,
with city officials, had not
secured enough funding or
land for the project before start-
ing construction. In addition,
the report found that the rele-
vant spheres of government
had not properly identified
recipients for the new houses
and that a comprehensive busi-
ness plan had not been devel-
oped before the project began.
It cited discrepancies
regarding whose job it was to
create the business plan in the
initial memorandum of under-
standing (MoU), which speci-
fied the roles and responsibili-
ties of the local, provincial and
national government. The busi-
ness plan was finally approved
in April 2008.
Scopa member Roy Ainsley
said the MoU was “very badly
drafted” and asked who was
responsible for drafting it.
Department of Human Set-
tlements director-general
Itumeleng Kotsoane said:
“There is work that has been
done to rework the memoran-
dum of understanding. ”
Godi asked why the parties
were still discussing a reworked
MoU 12 months after the report
was released and asked when it
would be completed.
Kotsoane said it would be
completed in two months.
Scopa members were not
pleased with responses from
government and called for a
recess. Godi returned to close
the hearing. He said the deci-
sion to adjourn was “not taken
lightly” but that government’s
responses were “contradictory
and evasive”.
richie.ducho@inl.co.za
natasha.prince@inl.co.za
BRIEFING
Battle-readiness
hearings in secret
THE DEFENCE force will
finally brief Parliament on its
troops’ combat readiness
behind closed doors, after ANC
MPs rejected an open debate.
The ANC and DA fought
during a parliamentary com-
mittee debate over whether
MPs had the right to question
the military operations pub-
licly, with the ANC MPs citing

Printers take Give a little for Madiba national security considera-

tions.
The committee had earlier
written to the SA National
Defence Force saying Parlia-
ment demanded a full briefing

Cope to court
on the state of the troops.
Defence secretary Tshepe
Motumi wrote back to the com-
mittee warning that an open
briefing could compromise
national security.

over unpaid bill ANC olive branch on

new SABC board

THE ANC has promised to

Claims follow key resignations appease its furious alliance

STAFF REPORTERS
A LOCAL printing business is
suing Cope for R226 166 which
it claims failed to pay them for
work done ahead of the April
22 elections.
This Cape High Court
action comes after yesterday’s
news that one of its leaders,
deputy president, Lynda Oden-
daal had resigned from the
party, and elections head
Simon Grindrod had resigned
from his post.
According to the summons
served on Cope at its Braam-
fontein offices in Johannes-
burg last month, the business,
Print-Active CC, owned by well-
known Cape Town guitarist
Sedick Khan, did printing work
for the party from February 13
to March 12.
Print-Active CC said sent an
invoice to Cope in March in
which it detailed the amounts
owed to it. But after Cope failed
to respond, Print-Active’s
lawyers, Swartz Hess Attor-
neys and Conveyancers, sent
Cope a letter advising it that
the party could refer the matter
to a debt counsellor, the con-
sumer court or an ombud.
The summons was served
and received by a receptionist
on June 25. The party has until
Friday to dispute the claim,
and defend the action by filing
responding papers.
Cope’s national spokesman,
Phillip Dexter said he was
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unaware of the summons.
Meanwhile, Cope’s general
secretary, Charlotte Lobe, said
it regretted Odendaal’s deci-
sion to resign from the party
and as parliamentary MP.
Grindrod last night told the
Cape Argus that Cope’s choice
of Allan Boesak as its premier
candidate for the Western Cape
in the elections was one of a
litany of reasons he had
decided to resign.
Grindrod, a former city
councillor and mayoral com-
mittee member representing
the ID, had resigned from that
party to join Cope.
He blamed the party for
ignoring democratic processes
in electing its leadership, say-
ing he no longer wanted to be
part of such an executive.
Grindrod said members had
not endorsed Boesak’s appoint-
ment as the party’s premier
candidate and that the decision
had been taken by the execu-
tive without consultation with
members.
“I believe it is widely
accepted that the appointment
of Boesak as Western Cape
provincial premier candidate
cost Cope dearly. The point is
that no democratic
consultation with party mem-
bers occurred on these impor-
tant matters. Despite his signif-
icant contribution to the
struggle, he was clearly not the
choice of potential Cope voters
or donors,” said Grindrod.
Similarly, the appointment
of Reverend Mvume Dandala
as the party’s presidential can-
didate, also without consulta-
tion with Cope’s members, was
a “’monumental error”.
This after a party congress
in Bloemfontein in December
had chosen Mosiua Lekota as
its president.
After Grindrod tendered his
resignation from the national
working committee and
national executive committee
yesterday, he said he would
remain an ordinary Cope mem-
ber in the hope that it would, in
future, follow democratic
processes in the election of its
leadership. He would now be
“job hunting like many other
South Africans”.
Grindrod also blamed Cope
first deputy president Mbhaz-
ima Shilowa of causing “insta-
bility and confusion” in the
party, and accused him of pro-
moting infighting in the party.
Shilowa replied by SMS last
night that he would only be
able to comment once he heard
what Grindrod had said after
the meeting of Congress
National Committee – the
party’s highest decision-mak-
ing structure– on Friday.
partners by consulting them
“thoroughly” when a perma-
nent SABC board is selected.
The ruling party’s chief
whip, Mathole Motshekga,
admitted that the process to
appoint the interim board was
defective. However, Cosatu was
still sulking last night, demand-
ing to know why the ANC had
ignored its preferred candidates.
The National Assembly
approved the interim board
yesterday following weeks of
intense debate, confrontations,
infighting and accusations that
resulted in the dissolution of
the previous board.
UBUNTU: Nelson Mandela’s grandson, Inkosi Zwelivelile Mandela, speaks at the launch of the first Nelson Mandela Day which
will be celebrated on July 18 – the elder Mandela’s birthday. Inkosi Mandela urged South Africans to dedicate 67 minutes – equal
to the number of years Nelson Mandela fought apartheid – on that day to helping the less fortunate. PICTURE: MATTHEW JORDAN
‘Children sent to have sex with illegal miners’
FOUZIA VAN DER FORT mining, told the Cape Argus sex workers. “We (have) come messages left by alleged illegal
Staff Reporter this was the first the committee to know that children are miners warning the company
had heard of underground sex involved in this process,” she to limit security underground.
CHILDREN are being smug- work involving children. said. The portfolio committee
gled underground to have sex Last month 86 bodies were Van der Walt could not elab- was also shown photographs of
with illegal miners who live recovered after an under- orate on how often and how food being strapped to miners
and work in disused mine ground fire broke out in Har- many sex workers were being about to descend shafts.
shafts, says the director-gen- mony Gold’s disused Eland smuggled underground, but Apparently a loaf of bread
eral for the Department of Min- Shaft at Welkom in the Free said police were dealing with can cost up to R200 under-
eral Resources, Advocate State. and more than 300 illegal the situation. ground.
Sandile Nogxina. miners were arrested. In recent months more peo- The public hearings come
Nogxina was presenting a Harmony Gold spokes- ple had been arrested and disci- after mineral resources minis-
departmental report to a public woman Marian van der Walt plinary action had been taken ter Susan Shabangu had vowed
hearing on illegal mining at told the portfolio committee because of the vigilance of to crack down on illicit mining.
parliament yesterday. that illegal miners lived under- police and security officials. Labourers and mining
Johnny Ramrock, secretary ground for many months and The Harmony Gold presen- unions were due to have their
for the portfolio committee of many employed the services of tation included graphics of say today.

The Department of Trade & Industry (the dti) has

initiated a review of Bilateral Investment Treaties (a.k.a
Reciprocal Promotion and Protection of Investment
Agreements) entered into by the Republic of South
Africa since 1994 to date.

The objective of the review is to make recommendations

to Cabinet in respect of the policy and legal considerations
which will impact on any future decisions taken by the
executive in respect of the protection and promotion of
investments, both from an inward and outward foreign
direct investment perspective.

After extensive consultation with governmental

stakeholders, the dti has developed a draft policy review
document which it is now seeks comment on from the
general public.

In order to access the document and comment thereon,

please refer to the dti website at www.thedti.gov.za.
For further enquiries and/or hard copies of the
document, please contact the official mentioned below.

Please note that all comments must be received in

writing by no later than 24 July 2009 and must be
submitted to:

Sureiya Adam
Email: sadam@thedti.gov.za
Fax: 012 394 2744
Tel: 012 394 1744

OM19/6926966

SUBSCRIPTIONS • 0800 220 770


‘Opportunists wanted Lekota gone’
Former Cope deputy president hints that Mbeki may have been behind ANC split flop cases
SIBUSISO NGALWA
Political Bureau
FORMER Cope second deputy
president Lynda Odendaal
today accused the party’s first
deputy president, Mbhazima
Shilowa, of being part of an
“opportunistic” faction set on
removing party leader
Mosiuoa Lekota.
Odendaal made the com-
ments to Cape Talk’s John
Robbie.
She said the party lacked
Illegal
miners
‘trafficked
into SA’
FOUZIA VAN DER FORT
Staff Reporter
A PARLIAMENTARY portfolio
committee has heard how men
are trafficked from Zimbabwe,
Lesotho and Mozambique to
work as illegal miners in South
Africa.
Representatives from the
National Union of Mineworkers
(NUM), the South African
National Civic Organisation and
trade union Solidarity attended
a second day of public hearings
in parliament’s portfolio com-
mittee on mining yesterday.
Illegal mining grabbed the
headlines last month when 86
bodies of illegal miners were
recovered after an underground
fire broke out in Harmony
Gold’s disused Eland Shaft at
Welkom in the Free State.
NUM’s secretary for health
and safety Eric Gcilitshana
said the majority of the men
killed in last month’s fire were
from Zimbabwe, Lesotho and
Mozambique.
”The escalating gold price
and the high rate of unemploy-
ment has led to many risking
their lives to works as illegal
miners,” Gcilitshana said.
More than 50 000 people
have lost their jobs in the min-
ing industry since the end of
the third quarter last year.
According to the union’s
report, illegal mining was esti-
mated to cost the country some
R5.6 billion in lost revenue last
year.
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Each SMS costs R1
vision and, apart from Lekota,
the leadership was weak.
Odendaal, who quit the
party and her parliamentary
position on Tuesday, also insin-
uated that former president
Thabo Mbeki may have been an
“architect” of Cope.
Commission
slams ‘the abuse
of market power’
GERSHWIN WANNEBURG
Business Writer
THE COMPETITION Commis-
sion wants to root out anti-
competitive practices among
the country’s biggest super-
markets before it completes an
investigation into the industry,
the watchdog body’s deputy
commissioner says.
Tembinkosi Bonakele said
the behaviour of retailers
formed part of a bigger
national crisis.
“We must start perhaps by
making this bold statement:
there is a crisis in our agricul-
tural markets,” he told parlia-
ment’s portfolio committee on
agriculture, fisheries and
forestry yesterday.
“There is a big crisis of
price-fixing and abuse of mar-
ket power,” Bonakele said.
Bonakele fielded questions
in Parliament yesterday on
how authorities can play a big-
ger role in addressing the fac-
tors behind inflation.
One criticism was that a
Food Price Monitoring Com-
mittee set up at the height of
run-away inflation had done
little to stem prices.
Another was that fines that
the commission levelled
against companies went to the
National Treasury and not
toward measures to contain
inflation.
Bonakele said that the
source of price-fixing was
partly a result of the deregula-
tion of the domestic agricul-
Judge
lambastes
cops over
Giving her reasons for leav-
ing, Odendaal pointed to a
memo written by former Cope
head of elections Simon
Grindrod.
She said the memo, detail-
ing the party’s weaknesses, had
“hit the nail on the head”.
She also said the issues
raised by Grindrod’s predeces-
sor Mlungisi Hlongwane – who
claimed that the party was
being led from outside by a
“Xhosa cabal” – were true.
Hlongwane returned to the
tural industry, which had
allowed a few dominant players
to emerge.
He said the commission
hoped to wrap up the probe into
supermarkets by the end of
next year and counted on sub-
missions from the public, sup-
pliers and supermarkets.
Bonakele listed other inves-
tigations that had uncovered
price collusion in the dairy,
bread, poultry and fertiliser
industries.
The commission announced
last week that it would add
leading supermarket chains to
that list.
The investigation follows an
outcry over the fact that con-
sumer prices have not fallen in
line with lower petrol and other
commodity prices.
Between January 2000 and
May this year, the price of a
700g loaf of brown bread had
increased by about 133 percent
from just less than R3 to more
than R7, according to figures
presented by Bonakele.
However, the price of wheat,
used in the production of
bread, had increased by about
100 percent on the SA Futures
Exchange.
Retailers have denied any
wrongdoing and welcomed the
investigation.
But the commission has
said it found evidence that
rebates and other measures
imposed on suppliers may have
forced many out of business
and pushed up prices.
gershwin.wanneburg@inl.co.za
NEWS
ANC just before the elections.
“I haven’t heard anybody
coming out in support of
Simon Grindrod’s report.
Sadly, Simon has hit the nail on
the head. Sadly, when Mlungisi
Hlongwane resigned, the issues
that were in the press at that
point in time were quite true.”
Odendaal said she had
stayed with the party in the
hope of helping to build it.
She also claimed that there
was a plot, involving Shilowa,
to remove Lekota. Cope leaders,
WINDING DOWN: Thubelisha representatives Prince Xhanti Sigcawu and Mano Pillay face parliamentary portfolio committee
members yesterday regarding the closure of the housing group in charge of the N2 Gateway project. PICTURE: BRENTON GEACH
Thubelisha ‘not solely to blame for housing mess’
RICHIE DUCHON and
NATASHA PRINCE
Staff Reporters
PROJECT managers Thubel-
isha Homes should not be held
solely responsible for massive
problems with the N2 Gateway
Project, says Nemhle Dambuza,
chairwoman of parliament’s
standing committee on human
settlements.
Thubelisha Homes is the
government-appointed housing
authority that has been in
charge of the project for the
past three years. The unfin-
ished housing scheme was
CA_NWS_E1_090709_p05 C M Y K
including Lekota, have repeat-
edly denied this.
“I was quite shocked after
the conference in December,
when I was approached by indi-
viduals who were saying: ‘we
must remove this old man
(Lekota)’. Terror is one the
greatest of leaders, he is the
most visionary individual.
“But, sadly, there were other
opportunistic individuals…
(who) changed his vision.”
Pressed to say whether
Shilowa was one of those,
meant to provide permanent,
affordable housing to thou-
sands of residents of Cape
Town’s informal settlements. It
has been bogged down in red
tape and misunderstandings
between the three spheres of
government involved.
Since Thubelisha ran out of
money last year, a new national
housing agency has been
preparing to take over.
The portfolio committee
heard that Thubelisha had yet
to place at least 40 remaining
employees before its planned
shut-down on July 31..
It also emerged that Thubel-
Odendaal replied: “Unfortu-
nately, as much as he denies it,
he is part of that faction.”
Grindrod’s memo had also
cautioned against Cope leaders
worshipping Mbeki.
When asked about this,
Odendaal said: “There are
architects in the backing of
this thing… it’s like in the com-
puter industry: you always see
the sales guy, but you never
really see the architects.”
Robbie asked: “Are you
saying that Thabo Mbeki is an
isha had not completed negoti-
ations to transfer ongoing
housing projects to provincial
authorities. The company also
needed to finalise the transfer
of Thubelisha management of
the N2 Gateway Project to the
Housing Development Agency. .
Questions were raised about
the cabinet’s refusal to approve
mandates that resulted in the
treasury’s refusal to fund
Thubelisha’s management of
the project.
Dambuza said Thubelisha
should not be “demonised”.
“Thubelisha has not been
the only contributor to this
THURSDAY JULY 9 2009
architect of Cope?”
Odendaal replied: “I…would
not go as far as to say that he
is… but one has to look at what
happened in Polokwane. If you
are a bright and intellectual
bunch of people you would…
have a back-up plan.”
Odendaal, a former busi-
nesswoman, said she would
stay in politics, but it was too
early to say where she was
going.
Shilowa was not available
for comment.
mess,”she said. “It is clear that
environmental assessments
were not done. There (are) a lot
of inconsistencies.”
Some committee members
raised concerns that politics
was getting in the way of the
Gateway project.
Another issue was sub-let-
ting and high rentals concern-
ing Phase One of Joe Slovo.
Prince Xhanti Sigcawu,
Thubelisha general manager
for the Western and Eastern
Cape, assured the committee
that they were addressing the
problem.
richie.duchon@inl.co.za
5
SIYABONGA MKHWANAZI
and CARIEN DU PLESSIS
Political Bureau
GIVEN the high rate of await-
ing trial suspects, it seems pol-
ice measure their performance
on the number of arrests, and
not convictions, says a prisons
inspecting judge.
Judge Deon Van Zyl of the
Judicial Inspectorate for Cor-
rectional Services was briefing
a parliamentary portfolio com-
mittee yesterday.
He painted an ugly picture
of the state of the awaiting
trial prisoners and the police’s
inability to crack cases, thus
prolonging the detention of in-
mates – some facing minor
charges.
He questioned the way mag-
istrates allowed unnecessary
postponements. Judge Van Zyl
told the multiparty committee
that he was certain that out of
the 50 000 awaiting trial prison-
ers, 40 000 would be released be-
cause of lack of evidence.
The judge said that out of
the prison population of 165 000
inmates, 50 000 of those were
awaiting-trial detainees.
He said there was no need to
keep so many detainees in cus-
tody awaiting trial.
He accused the police of not
properly investigating cases
and postponing matters in the
courts for months and even
years, resulting in some in-
mates succumbing to illnesses.
“You don’t postpone the
matter until you know there is
a bona fide investigation going
on. Why are our magistrates
allowing matters to be post-
poned?” asked Judge Van Zyl.
He said he would like to see
the number of prisoners who
had not yet been sentenced
halved as soon as possible to re-
duce overcrowding in prisons.
This could be done through
releasing detainees who posed
no threat to society, he said,
adding that a number of indi-
viduals had been kept in jail for
long periods and at the end of
the day, charges go withdrawn.
Responding to Judge Van
Zyl’s rebuke, Police Depart-
ment spokesman Hangwani
Mulaudzi acknowledged that
there were many awaiting-trial
detainees who should not be in
custody.
He said there were moves to
ensure that those “who have
committed petty offences are
taken out (of the system)”.
He added that the police
were not operating in a vac-
uum and the blame must not
only lie with them.

WORKING ON IT: Western Cape Education MEC Donald Grant unveils plans to improve results in the
province.
Holiday training
for teachers key
to MEC’s plan
Many work outside subject areas
RICHIE DUCHON
Staff Reporter
TEACHERS in the Western Cape
will go on training courses dur-
ing school holidays and more
money will be invested in founda-
tion level education to improve
pupils’ numeracy levels.
Education MEC Donald Grant
said during a media briefing yes-
terday that these actions were
necessary if the province was to
address poor numeracy levels.
Western Cape pupils have
improved significantly in literacy
tests during the past four years,
but performed much worse in
numeracy.
The Western Cape Education
Department has released a new
round of literacy and numeracy
results for Grades 3 and 6.
These show that literacy pass
rates improved from 2004 to last
year by close to 20 percent for
Grade 3 pupils and by 10 percent
for Grade 6.
But numeracy pass rates
decreased significantly, with only
14 percent of Grade 6 pupils scor-
ing higher than the required
50 percent to pass the numeracy
assessment test in 2007.
A report released by the
department to the Cape Argus
last week indicated that many
teachers were having to teach
outside the subject areas and
grade levels in which they had
been trained.
They included about 40 per-
cent of Grade R teachers who did
not have the appropriate training
or specialist skills to teach that
grade.
During the media briefing at
the department’s offices yester-
CapeNature reports rise in flora
and fauna smuggling by mail
STAFF REPORTER
SMUGGLING of plant and animal
species through the post and trad-
ing these items illegally through
the internet is on the increase,
says CapeNature.
During the past year, the West-
ern Cape’s conservation author-
ity has seized hunting trophies,
wild animal skins, live inverte-
brates (insects), wild animal teeth
and various other plant and ani-
mal species – both dead and alive
– at various post offices around
the province.
All of these items were
imported without the required
permits, said Paul Gildenhuys,
programme manager of Cape
Nature’s biodiversity crime unit.
Suspects – both South African
citizens and international tour-
ists – who were caught red-
handed often claimed that they
were not aware that they required
permits, he added.
“Because of the volume of
packages going through the mail
NEWS WEDNESDAY JULY 15 2009
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Each SMS costs R1
day, Grant and the acting head of
the department, Brian Schreuder,
emphasised that more responsi-
bility for education needed to be
placed on the shoulders of teach-
ers and parents.
“A child’s learning opportuni-
ties are not five hours at school.
It’s the whole day,” Schreuder
said.
Grant said the department
would consider moving targeted
schools into community centres
that would stay open from 8am to
10pm and offer sports and other
activities to keep children out of
trouble.
“We need to start thinking out
of the box,” Grant said.
To improve teacher perform-
ance, the department had set
aside about R14 million to con-
tinue the Cape Teaching and
Leadership Institute (CTLI) holi-
day programme for the next five
to seven years.
This programme invites teach-
ers to devote a week of their hol-
iday to training.
The Western Cape secretary of
the South African Democratic
Teachers’ Union (Sadtu), Jonavon
Rustin, said the union was in
favour of teacher development
programmes but these “should
not only be (in) a teacher’s own
time, but part of the regular work
day”.
The union favoured the CTLI
programme that allowed teachers
to take three weeks off teaching
for enhanced training and pro-
CONTRABAND: An increasing
number of species and naturally
derived products, like these ivory
chopsticks, are being illegally
smuggled through the post.
depots, it’s not surprising that
people merely send packages via
the mail. The nature of the indus-
try makes it difficult to check
each and every parcel, and the
ones that are found are the tip of
the postal iceberg,” he said.
Gildenhuys said that partner-
ships that his unit had built up
over the years had enabled them
to extend their reach and to help
CA_NWS_E1_150709_p09 C M Y K
9
PICTURE: HENK KRUGER
vided substitute teachers during
that period.
Grant said the department
was also exploring a partnership
with private companies and the
CSIR (previously known as the
Council for Scientific and Indus-
trial Research) to evaluate teach-
ers’ performances, including how
much time they spend teaching.
“Our feeling is that 85 to
90 percent of teachers are very
dedicated,” he said.
We just want to make sure we
get that above the 90 percent
mark.”
Rustin said Sadtu was open to
discussions about monitoring.
He added, however: “We urge
the MEC not to introduce any-
thing new outside collective bar-
gaining, because it may violate
regulations.”
Grant said he had requested
more money for foundation phase
education and 81 percent of it
would go towards increasing pay
for teachers in Grade R to
Grade 3.
The department also planned
to put much of its energy into
improving management at the
school level, including creating
more school management certifi-
cation programmes.
It supported more testing for
pupils, including a new assess-
ment test for those in Grade 9,
Grant said.
The province devotes about
35 percent of its budget to educa-
tion but Grant said it needed to
invest more money.
“We talk a lot about the cost of
education, but have we ever con-
sidered the cost of ignorance? It’s
huge,” he said.
richie.duchon@inl.co.za
make staff of other organisations
aware of the problem.
SA Revenue Services’ customs
officials played a key role in
finding and tracking illegal
shipments, but these shipments
formed only a small percentage of
the overall postal picture.
“We wish to inform the public
that permits are required for the
import of fauna and flora speci-
mens from places outside South
Africa. CapeNature is the issuing
authority for all biodiversity
related import permits in the
Western Cape.
“South Africa is also a signa-
tory to the Convention on the
International Trade in Endan-
gered Species of Fauna and Flora
and we therefore have a responsi-
bility to the international com-
munity to regulate such trade.”
People failing to obtain import
permits could be arrested, Gild-
enhuys warned.
! Any queries can be directed
to CapeNature’s Law Adminis-
tration section, call 021 659-3400.

Newspaper article was ‘a blatant personal attack’, says Plato
LINDSAY DENTLINGER
Metro Writer
MAYOR Dan Plato intends to
pursue a defamation claim
against a local tabloid newspa-
per, having already hired pri-
vate investigators and sought
legal advice at his own cost, to
challenge an article that insin-
uated that he was having im-
proper relations with his
female staffers.
Plato said he had already
spent in excess of R10 000 to
Cyclists
warned of
mountain
knifemen
ESTHER LEWIS,
THANDANANI MHLANGA
and KOWTHAR SOLOMONS
Staff Reporters
THE Mountain Club of South
Africa has warned walkers and
cyclists to be wary of two
“knife-wielding men” operat-
ing in the area of Rhodes
Memorial.
The club’s warning comes
after a cyclist was robbed while
making his way up a section of
Rhodes Memorial called Plum
Pudding Hill on Saturday.
In a statement sent to its
members, the mountain club
said that while the cyclist had
been riding up the hill on Sat-
urday morning, a man had
emerged from bushes along-
side the path and sat down on a
rock. As the cyclist neared, the
man produced a knife.
The rider got off his bicycle,
telling the suspect to take it. He
then realised that another man,
also armed with a knife, was
standing behind him. The rob-
bers took the cyclist’s cell-
phone, slashed the back tyres of
his bike and left.
The club also warned that a
car had been broken into at the
parking area for Peers Cave at
the end of June. The petrol flap
was broken open, the cap
removed, and petrol siphoned
“in full view of oncoming cars
from the Sun Valley side”.
The matter was reported to
police and a letter was written
to the Silvermine manger of
the Table Mountain National
Park (TMNP).
Greg Moseley, vice chair-
man of the park’s forum, said
that mountain safety had
improved over the years.
He said nearly all of the
attacks had happened on the
lower slopes, and not on the
mountain itself.
Moseley said the park and
the police had been doing quite
well recently in catching sus-
pects. He added, though, that
mountain attacks were nearly
impossible to stop completely,
as not everyone could be
searched.
Moseley conceded there
were many more muggings in
some city suburbs, daily, than
there were in the park.
“But the difference is, the
mountain is a tourist attrac-
tion,” he said.
Smoke kills guards
TWO SECURITY guards were
found dead at a warehouse in
Joburg this morning, emer-
gency services say.
“They died of smoke inhala-
tion,” said spokesman Percy
Morokane. “It seems they were
overcome by smoke from a
makeshift heater.” – Sapa
Blitz aims to take deathtrap buses off road
ANDISIWE MAKINANA
Political Writer
IN A bid to tackle road deaths
in the Western Cape, the
provincial government is intro-
ducing a new plan which will
see unroadworthy buses being
impounded when they fail on-
the-spot tests.
The “intensive blitz” is
being launched in response to
the bus accident which killed
seven people on the N1 near
Beaufort West last week.
The transport and commu-
seek redress and was consider-
ing an offer from a private law
firm to pursue the matter pro
bono, since they believed he
had a case.
This comes after a finding
from the Press Ombudsman,
Joe Thloloe, that although
Plato had not been defamed, he
had been the “victim of an
unfair attack”.
In an interview with the
Cape Argus, Plato said he
would continue to pursue the
matter, since, in his view, it had
WATCH IT: Cyclists, hikers and joggers have been urged to be on the lookout for knife-wielding
thugs near Rhodes Memorial.
Phumeza Mgxashe, TMNP
spokeswoman, said that in the
last year about 30 incidents of
crime had been reported. She
said the figure had peaked at 35
in 2007.
The park spent R5 million
each year on security, Mgxashe
said, and employed 52 rangers
specifically for visitor safety.
Rescue crew dispatched to Marion Island after researcher falls into icy water
RICHARD DUCHON
Staff Writer
A SOUTH African man who fell
into icy waters near Marion
Island while on a research trip
is in a stable condition.
nity safety departments are
working together to launch the
new plan, which will see long-
distance buses being tested on
the spot for roadworthiness,
the verification of operating
licences and drivers’ public
driving licences and the assess-
ment of drivers’ recent work
schedules and alertness.
The blitz will be conducted
in Beaufort West, where the
traffic department has a
regional office.
Announcing the plan,
Transport and Public Works
been a “blatant personal
attack”.
The article, he said, had
insinuated that he was “flirting
around” and that he had lied
about doing community work.
Plato said the article had
“victimised” his female staff.
In May, he obtained city
council approval to use city
funds to consult lawyers to pur-
sue legal action against Die
Son newspaper.
However, Plato said yester-
day that to date, he had not
Police spokesman Superin-
tendent Andre Traut said
police patrolled the park 24
hours a day.
But, he added, it was hard to
stop every crime in a secluded
area such as the park.
Park management recom-
mended taking the following
precautions while travelling
Nentaag Zishume, 24, from
Limpopo, slipped and fell into
the water on Tuesday after-
noon while taking pictures for
scientific research on seals. He
suffered from hypothermia,
according to Department of
MEC Robin Carlisle said the
exercise was just one element
of the province’s commitment
to reducing road deaths.
He said the project would be
launched next Monday and for
a period of two weeks, on a 24-
hour basis, buses leaving and
entering the province using the
N1 would be subjected to on-
the-spot roadworthiness tests.
Carlisle said the City of
Cape Town had agreed to part-
ner the province by inspecting
long-distance buses at the depot
before they leave the city.
NEWS
spent a “single cent of ratepay-
ers’ money” in seeking legal
advice on the matter.
“Personally, I’m unmoved by
this. My head is held high. I can
look people right in the eye
because my community and
my staff know the truth.
“I will overcome this. It will
not detract me from doing my
work. My eye is firmly on the
ball and I will continue to do
my work,” he said.
Plato said he believed the
article was based on a mali-
PICTURE: TRACEY ADAMS
through the park.
! Walk in groups
! Carry as few valuables as
possible
! If an attack does happen,
do not resist
! Carry a fully-charged cell-
phone in case an emergency
occurs.
esther.lewis@inl.co.za
Environmental Affairs spokes-
woman Chuma Phamoli.
The SA Agulhas, the coun-
try’s only polar vessel, was dis-
patched to the island yesterday
afternoon with a Titan Avia-
tion rescue crew and doctor on
Compliant buses will be
issued with a sticker to indicate
their compliance and to avoid
unnecessary law enforcement
duplication in Beaufort West.
“After the two-week opera-
tion, the results will be analysed
and if serious trends emerge, a
more permanent response will
be mounted,” he said.
Carlisle said that over the
coming months the province
would announce more plans to
halve road deaths in the next
five years.
andisiwe.makinana@inl.co.za
CA_NWS_E1_160709_p03 C M Y K
cious hoax SMS which had cre-
ated the impression that it was
wrong for him to be travelling
in a vehicle with women.
“Why is it wrong for me to
be driving with women in my
car? Why can’t I travel with my
secretaries? The best workers
in my ward are women and
they don’t have transport, so I
take them home and fetch food
or whatever from them.”
“It is so disturbing for me
looking at the connection Die
Son has made. It is uncalled for
Concourt
milestone for
Muslim widow
Law to recognise inheritance rights
ELLA SMOOK
Staff Reporter
WOMEN in polygynous Mus-
lim marriages will in future be
considered equal in terms of
inheriting and claiming from
estates when their husband
dies without leaving a will.
Yesterday’s Constitutional
Court confirmation of the Cape
High Court judgment of Judge
Dennis van Reenen means that
women will no longer be left
destitute, as Fatima Hassam,
62, was when her husband died.
At a press conference in
Cape Town following her vic-
tory yesterday, an emotional
Hassam recounted her devasta-
tion when she arrived back
from her Hajj pilgrimage to
Mecca nine years ago to be told
by her husband that he had
married their shop assistant
while she was away.
“I was devastated that he
was married, it was a big blow
to me. From then, I couldn’t
handle things. I went to Valken-
berg (Psychiatric Hospital).
“It was an uphill battle with
depression and worry. What
would happen to me?” said an
emotional Hassam.
Unable to face her hus-
band’s new situation, Hassam
asked him to move out of their
home.
But after a year, her night-
mare of going into her old age
without a roof over her head
was realised.
Ebrahim Hassam died in
August 2001 and because he did
not leave a will, his widow
stood to lose everything they
had worked for and accumu-
lated throughout their lives
together.
She unsuccessfully lodged
claims with the executor of the
his estate, but he refused her
claims on the basis that polyg-
ynous Muslim marriages are
not legally recognised.
Her husband’s estate was
awarded to his second wife.
However, Hassam took her
board.
The ship, which is still
about five days from the island,
plans to return Zishume to
Cape Town late next week,
weather permitting.
Zishume had been on
TOUGH TALK: Mayco safety and security member JP Smith,
community safety MEC Lennit Max and transport MEC Robin
Carlisle announce the bus blitz yesterday. PICTURE: TRACEY ADAMS
and wrong,” he said.
Plato said that according to
affidavits obtained by the pri-
vate investigators from people
quoted in the article and sub-
mitted to the Press Ombuds-
man, it was clear that allega-
tions were untrue.
He said it could not be ruled
out that the hoax SMS might
have been politically moti-
vated.
The legal adviser in the
mayor’s office, Keith Nicol, said
that in the wake of the Om-
SAVOURING VICTORY: Fatima Hassam with her lawyer Igshaan
Higgins after the Constitutional Court ruled yesterday that
women in polygynous Muslim marriages be considered equal in
terms of rights to an estate.
fight to the courts and yester-
day justice prevailed because of
the determined efforts of her
lawyer Igshaan Higgins, advo-
cate Wim Trengrove SC, who
argued the matter in the Con-
stitutional Court, the Women’s
Legal Centre Trust, the Human
Rights Foundation and the
Legal Aid Board.
In the unanimous judgment
of the Constitutional Court,
penned by Justice Bess Nka-
binde, the vulnerability of
women in polygynous mar-
riages was highlighted.
The court said the Intestate
Succession Act differentiated
between widows married in
terms of the Marriage Act and
those married in terms of Mus-
lim rites; between widows in
monogamous Muslim mar-
riages and those in polygynous
Muslim marriages; and be-
tween widows in polygynous
customary marriages and
those in polygynous Muslim
marriages.
The Act also worked to the
detriment of Muslim women
and not Muslim men.
“The effect of the failure to
afford the benefits of the Act to
widows of polygynous Muslim
Marion Island since April.
Phamoli said he was not in
the water long before he was
rescued, but a medical orderly
on the island said his injuries
were serious enough to war-
rant an evacuation. His family
THURSDAY JULY 16 2009
budsman’s finding, Plato’s
legal team was looking at ave-
nues to pursue the matter.
According to the Press Code,
a complainant to the Press
Ombudsman waives the right
to civil action. Plato would not
be appealing against the
Ombudsman’s ruling.
“Instead of the mayor doing
good, it is twisted to look as if
it’s something sordid. It’s pan-
dering to mischief makers,”
said Nicol.
lindsay.dentlinger@inl.co.za
PICTURE: TRACEY ADAMS
marriages will generally cause
widows significant and mate-
rial disadvantage of the sort
which it is the express purpose
of our equality provision to
avoid,” the court said.
“Moreover, because the
denial of benefits affects only
widows in polygynous mar-
riages concluded pursuant to
Muslim rites and not widowers
(because Muslim personal law
does not permit women to have
more than one husband), the
discrimination also has a gen-
dered aspect.”
It said its conclusion did not
foreshadow “any answer on the
question as to whether polygy-
nous marriages are themselves
consistent with the constitu-
tion”.
“Whatever the answer to
that question may be, one we
leave strictly open for now, it
could not result in refusing ap-
propriate protection to those
women who are parties to such
marriages.”
Polygyny is having more
than one wife at the same time,
while polygamy is having more
than one husband or wife at the
same time.
ella.smook@inl.co.za
had been notified of his condi-
tion, the department said.
Richard Skinner, a deputy
director in the department,
could not confirm what the
weather was like when
Zishume fell into the water, but
Two men held for robbery
STAFF REPORTER
ATHLONE police nabbed two
suspects soon after they
allegedly robbed a store in that
area of goods valued at R31 000.
Police spokesman inspector
Ian Bennett said police con-
ducting routine patrols were
alerted to an emergency call
yesterday afternoon and
tracked two of three suspects
as they were leaving the SK
Superette in Belgravia Road.
Three men entered the shop
at around 2.30pm yesterday pre-
tending to buy cigarettes. The
3
‘UNMOVED’: Dan Plato
Jeyes Bloo
loo blocks
ordered
off shelves
BRONWYNNE JOOSTE
Staff Reporter
TIGER Brands has been
ordered to immediately remove
its toilet disinfectant, Jeyes
Bloo, from shelves or face crim-
inal charges.
The National Regulator for
Compulsory Specifications has
found that the block is not effec-
tive, and that it poses serious
health risks for consumers.
The regulator has appealed
to consumers to stop using the
product, and urged stores
across the country to return
the cistern blocks to Tiger
Brands.
But Tiger Brands said the
move had surprised them, and
their understanding was that
the regulator had an issue with
the product’s claims to kill
germs and not that it posed
health risks.
Thomas Madzivhe, from the
regulator, said the product was
not killing germs effectively,
and was having an adverse
effect instead.
“Tiger Brands indicated
that this kills 99% of germs,
but they cannot prove this. It
actually kills 45% of germs,
and that is not a disinfectant.”
Madzivhe said the product,
which is sold in stores nation-
ally, only killed half of the
germs, and caused the remain-
ing germs to build a resistance
to disinfectants.
“If they are not off the
shelves immediately, they can
face criminal charges or a fine.”
He said all disinfectants had
to be registered with the regu-
lator, and that the onus was on
the manufacturer to prove
their efficacy.
Tiger Brands spokeswoman
Bongiwe Njobe said they would
dispute the regulator’s public
health warning.
“Their gripe was the pack-
aging and the claim that it kills
germs. New regulatory stan-
dards say a product must kill
99% of germs to make that
claim. We were talking about
retraction to work on the pack-
aging, and how we could do this
without damaging the brand.
Unfortunately we did not have
a… constructive dialogue.”
Njobe said it was difficult to
measure the exact proportion
of germs a product could kill.
bronwynne.jooste@inl.co.za
said the area around Marion
Island was known for adverse
conditions.
“The environment you’re
working in can be dangerous.
It’s cold and windy,” he said.
richard.duchon@inl.co.za
shop owner became wary of
their movements and tried to
shut the gate that separates the
till area. However, one of the
men blocked his hand, pushed
the gate open and whipped out
a gun.
The men made off with a
bag of money valued at R28 000,
boxes of cigarettes, airtime and
cash from the till, all of which
amounted to R31 000.
Two suspects, aged 26 and 33
were taken into custody. A
third escaped with the goods
and the guns.
natasha.prince@inl.co.za

Where were the signs – family
Driver says there was no warning of flooded river where three drowned
NATASHA PRINCE
Staff Reporter
RELATIVES of the three peo-
ple who died when their car
plunged into the Breede River
in Bonnievale, have lashed out
at the lack of traffic signs that
could have warned them that
the road ahead was flooded or
that the river had burst its
banks.
Police divers yesterday
recovered the final two missing
bodies and the sunken BMW
they had been searching for
since Wednesday. The angry
relatives of the victims said
they were surprised to see the
road signs in place yesterday
morning and said the signs
were not there in the early
hours of Wednesday morning
when the incident occurred.
Owen Prince, the driver of
the car that was lost in the
Breede River said he did not see
Film companies
scoff at SABC’s
payments hotline
RICHIE DUCHON
Staff Reporter
PRODUCTION companies that
make movies and television
programmes for the SABC have
accused the broadcaster of yet
again slapping them in the face.
The SABC e-mailed some of
its “vendors” earlier this week,
offering a phone number to
reach a vendor help desk for
“all queries and problems with
payments”.
“If the operator cannot help
you immediately you will be
referred to the Financial Direc-
tor of the division who will
assist you,” the e-mail said.
As the SABC struggles to
make it through a financial
meltdown, political turmoil
and the threat of strikes by its
employees, some vendors have
not received closing payments
for work completed over the
past several years.
“Why have they got a help
desk? Surely they know who
they owe and how much they
owe them?” said Rehad Desai, a
steering committee member of
the TV Industry Emergency
Coalition.
“The question is, when is it
going to get paid?”
Desai said payment options
and scheduling had been a sys-
tematic problem with SABC
and its contractors. “Most peo-
ple have learned how and who
they need to speak to,” he said.
Sharon Farr, a director and
producer with Shoot the Breeze
Productions, said her company
was owed production closing
costs dating back two years.
She said though it was “a
small amount,” receiving the
money could help her company
stay open a few more months.
She said most independent
producers were feeling the pain
of the situation at the SABC
BRIDGE UNDER TROUBLED WATERS: Police divers and rescuers
retrieved the bodies of Danielle Kannemeyer and her mother
Desireè, from Breede River, Bonnievale. PICTURE: MATTHEW JORDAAN
the signs that yesterday
blocked both entrances to the
low water bridge engulfed in
river water.
“Why would I drive through
SMS the Argus
SMS your views to 32027
Each SMS costs R1
and were in regular contact
with the relevant financial con-
trollers to find out when they
could expect their payments.
“So I found the e-mail
announcing a ‘vendors hotline’
to be a late-in-the-day, rather
unsophisticated PR gesture,”
said Farr. “I’m glad they sent it
– I had a good laugh.”
Meanwhile, the Cape Argus
tried to call the hotline at least
10 times throughout the day
yesterday. After leaving a mes-
sage early in the day and finally
getting through to a live person
around 2pm, we were told we
would be called back by the end
of the day, but never were. The
line went to voicemail a couple
times and rang indefinitely the
other times we called.
“Nobody’s got any faith in
the ability (of the SABC) to live
up to their stated promises any-
more. It’s a continuous night-
mare to work your way through
the various departments,” said
Desai.
! Meanwhile, a hotline for
citizen concerns – as promised
by President Jacob Zuma in his
State of the Nation address –
remains a work in progress.
Presidential spokesman
Vincent Magwenya said in an
e-mailed response to questions
from the Cape Argus that the
president had started a dedi-
cated service of responding to
postal and e-mailed inquiries
and those brought in in person
to the Union Buildings.
Zuma has set a deadline of
September 1 to report back on
progress made.
richard.duchon@inl.co.za
Teen uncovers coffin right next to RDP home
ESTHER LEWIS
Staff Reporter
THE DISCOVERY of human
remains by a teenager in Mbek-
weni in Paarl has roused fear
and superstition in some, but
brought excitement to others.
On Wednesday, Lonwabo
Vuka, 17, started digging
around his family’s RDP house
to build a fence.
The house stands on very
rocky, uneven ground.
As he dug up the rocks, he
saw coffin handles. As he dug
further, he saw bones.
“I thought it could be
human and I got very scared, so
I called my father,” the teen
said yesterday.
His father, Mncedisi Vuka,
went outside to see for himself
whether the remains were
human. “There were two thigh
bones, two arms and a spine.
We didn’t see the skull,” said
Vuka.
He said the grave must have
NEWS
View picture gallery at:
http://gallery.iol.co.za
Workers on local farms in
the area and some residents
said the municipality were
usually diligent in putting up
the signs, but agreed that the
signs were not out on Wednes-
day.
Prince, Dianne Ruiters and
her three-year-old son, Giovani
Ruiters, were the only sur-
vivors who managed to escape
the ordeal. They held on to
river bank for several hours
while their relatives called for
help and were later taken to
Robertson hospital where they
were treated for minor injuries.
Yesterday, Prince was speak-
a river in the middle of the ing shortly after the body of
night? If I saw the sign, I would four-year-old Danielle Kan-
never have gone across the nemeyer was recovered from
bridge. Why would I endanger the gushing water that pressed
my family?” he asked. her little body against the
To the limit
PADDLING PAIR: Pieter-Willem Basson, front, and Hank McGregor leave the start at Zonquasdrift for the second stage of the Berg River Canoe marathon
yesterday. McGregor won the 45.7km stage to Bridgetown.
My rescuers were wonderful, says injured hiker
NIKITA SYLVESTER Hout Bay with a group of
Staff Reporter friends yesterday afternoon
when she slipped and fell.
A TOKAI woman has lavished The Metro Wilderness
praise on Wilderness Search Search and Rescue was contact-
and Rescue volunteers after she ed and an Air Mercy Services
was rescued from a city hiking helicopter was dispatched to
path after a fall that left her the scene.
with a broken ankle. The rescue helicopter was
Sue Frew was hiking up My- unable to land because of the
burgh’s Waterfall ravine near difficult terrain where Frew
GRIM FIND: Mncedisi Vuka explains how his son Lonwabo, 17,
found a coffin with human remains inside it on the family’s
property in Mbekweni in Paarl. PICTURE: DAVID RITCHIE
been very old, as the wood of Vuka moved into the house
the coffin had mostly rotted with his wife and four children
away. in December last year.
The only things intact were “I could never sleep prop-
the metal handles on the coffin. erly here. And before we found
CA_NWS_E1_170709_p03 C M Y K
banks of the river.
Kannemeyer’s father Win-
ston, said he was relieved after
his daughter’s body was found.
“I feel like I can almost put
it behind me,” he said.
He saidhe felt heartbroken,
but that he had to be strong for
his two other children.
The body of his wife Desireè
Kannemeyer, 34, was retrieved
at around 5.30pm yesterday
shortly after the vehicle was
located, said police spokes-
woman, Inspector Lizl Viljoen.
Kannemeyer’s body was
trapped in the car. The body of
Dianne Ruiter’s son, Adrian
Ruiters, 16, surfaced on
Wednesday evening. Police
divers spent several hours
combing the river on boats and
jet skis for any further traces of
the car.
The BMW was one of three
cars travelling in convoy from
Port Elizabeth to Cape Town.
was injured, but it got close
enough to hoist Frew on to a
stretcher.
She was airlifted to safety,
accompanied by two rescuers.
The helicopter landed in the
nearby Orangekloof field,
where paramedics were await-
ing Frew’s arrival.
While being examined,
Frew could not thank her res-
the bones, I didn’t understand
why,” he said.
The police were called to the
house yesterday, and removed
the bones and handles.
Police spokeswoman Inspec-
tor Jonie Solomon, said they
were not investigating the case,
but merely overseeing the pro-
cess. “This could be a heritage
grave and is not a police mat-
ter,” said Solomons.
The National Heritage
Council was alerted and are
expected to send an archeolo-
gist to inspect the site.
Lunga Mangena claims to
have been born in a house here
in 1952, before being moved to
another area. He said the area
in which the RDP houses were
built had been home to a settle-
ment more than half a century
ago.
“I remember how they used
to bury people here. All of
these houses are sitting on a
graveyard,” said Mangena.
esther.lewis@inl.co.za
Prince said a traffic officer had
told him he could not continue
along the N2 as a truck had
overturned up ahead. They
were diverted along Bonnievale
– a road unfamiliar to them.
Prince drove ahead of the
convoy. The relatives who were
following, were shocked to see
the BMW stuck in the river
when they caught up. They
watched as the car glided along
the river and began to sink.
Desireè Kannemeyer sent
out a distress call from her cell-
phone. Her relatives said she
asked them to “pray for us, we
are not going to make it”.
Kannemeyer was encour-
aged by her relatives to push
down the electric windows
with her hands, but the win-
dows were jammed.
Inspector Viljoen said the
BMW was expected to be recov-
ered from the river later today.
natasha.prince@inl.co.za
PICTURE: MOUTON VAN ZYL
cuers enough for their efforts
and quick response.
“I’m so happy. Thank you so
much, everyone is just wonder-
ful,” Frew said as she was lifted
into an ambulance.
She was taken to the Con-
stantiaberg Medi-Clinic for fur-
ther examination and treat-
ment.
nikita.sylvester@inl.co.za
Woman walled in by neighbour
SLINDILE MALULEKA
Staff Reporter
A WOMAN in Scottburgh on
the KwaZulu-Natal South Coast
has appealed to her municipal-
ity for help after a neighbour
built a wall right in front of her
driveway.
Brenda Hayle, 64, had been
content in her Clansthal home
for 25 years.
But now a feud has erupted
with her neighbour – 55-year-
old Avlon Clopper – after the
wall was built last Tuesday.
Hayle said she and Clopper
were “almost best friends” at
one stage.
Clopper, who bought the
adjoining property 15 years
ago, said the two-metre high
fence went up for security rea-
sons.
Asked if she realised that
her neighbour was trapped
behind the fence, she replied: “I
believe I have not done any-
thing wrong.”
FRIDAY JULY 17 2009
Stay away from stagnant
water, warns city health chief
NIÉMAH DAVIDS
Staff Reporter
CITY health officials have
warned Capetonians, espe-
cially those living in informal
settlements, to stay clear of
stagnant water after flooding
this week.
About 20 000 people have
been displaced after the torren-
tial rains flooded roads and
swamped informal settlements
in the Cape Peninsula.
The Cape Argus reported
yesterday that relief organisa-
tions had been spending about
R1 million a day on food and
blankets for those worst
affected by the storms.
City health director Dr Ivan
Bromfield told the Cape Argus
last night that the city had
issued a warning to people liv-
ing in informal settlements to
avoid contact with stagnant
water, which posed a potential
health risk.
Bromfield said children
should not play in stagnant
water and emphasised that
water for human consumption
should only come from a tap.
“Under no circumstances
Swine flu toll at 114
ELEVEN new cases of swine
flu have been reported, raising
South Africa’s toll to 114, the
SABC reported today.
The World Health Organisa-
tion said yesterday that swine
flu, officially known as the
H1N1 virus, was the fastest-
moving pandemic ever and that
it was now pointless to count
every case, the SABC reported.
– Sapa
This morning Hayle said
her lawyer had sent a letter to
Clopper asking that the wall be
removed so that Hayle could
use the driveway.
“It seems like this will be
done today…
“I’m more upset with the
municipality now because they
have not even come back to
me,” she said.
Hayle, a radiographer at the
Scottburgh G H Crookes state
hospital said she did not know
what she would do next week if
the wall was still standing,
because she was on standby
duty at night.
Her only access now is a
small makeshift gate that
her other neighbour put up for
her to get in and out of her gar-
den.
Hayle also said that she had
made several requests in the
past for the municipality to
provide her with her own
driveway but that these had
fallen on deaf ears.
3
should people use that water
for drinking,” he said.
Bromfield told the Cape
Argus that, while the stagnant
water had not yet become con-
taminated, the chances were
“highly likely” that it would do
so, and therefore it needed to be
pumped out “rather quickly”.
“All staff members at clinics
are prepared to deal with
patients who may suffer from
any illnesses as a result of com-
ing into contact with this water.
“But this is also a very busy
time for us, because it’s the flu
season.”
Bromfield said diarrhoea
was a clear indication that
someone was suffering from a
water-borne disease.
“Once people start present-
ing with diarrhoea and they
know they’ve come into contact
with potentially contaminated
water, they need to consult a
doctor,” he said.
He said the city’s roads and
stormwater department was
working hard to get rid of the
stagnant water “which now
poses a health risk to our com-
munities”.
niemah.davids@inl.co.za
Students
bust after
‘F1 race’
in streets
GRAEME HOSKEN
Crime Reporter
TWO students who fancied
themselves as Formula 1 driv-
ers were caught after a three-
hour game of cat and mouse
with police.
The two, studying at
Tshwane University of Tech-
nology and Varsity College in
Pretoria, were caught after
police blocked off several roads
in a bid to stop their escape
early yesterday.
The chase began when the
two, driving a black Aston Mar-
tin Vantage and a silver Mer-
cedes-Benz ML63 AMG, were
spotted racing each other along
Atterbury Road. The cars are
valued at nearly R4 million.
The students, aged 21 and 22,
are the sons of wealthy Con-
golese business families living
and working in South Africa.
Police said they were spot-
ted racing towards Brooklyn at
more than 160km/h.
A policeman said an alert
was put out after the cars,
which were “dicing each
other”, skipped several red traf-
fic lights and raced past a
police patrol van.
Police, suspecting that the
cars had been stolen, began
looking for the vehicles.
The drivers dodged their
pursuers for nearly three
hours, but were caught when
members of the Pretoria Fly-
ing Squad spotted them. Call-
ing for back-up, the police
blocked off the road and forced
the youths to stop.
Brooklyn police station
spokeswoman Captain Colette
Weilbach said they were
charged with reckless and neg-
ligent driving. They were
granted R1 000 bail each and
were to appear in court today.
Clopper said her plan to
build the fence was passed by
the eThekwini Municipality
and that her title deed did not
mention a servitude on her
property.
“I am not doing anything
wrong and Brenda was aware
that the fence was going up,”he
said.
“We did it for security rea-
sons because on several occa-
sions, unknown people have
entered my premises… and I
own the piece of land that I
have fenced,” she said.
Area Councillor Mduduzi
Bayeni, who was informed of
the matter last Friday, said he
had been in contact with the
municipality in an attempt to
solve Hayle’s problem.
Deputy Head of eThekwini
Town Planning and Develop-
ment Unit Lihle Phewa would
only confirm they were investi-
gating “to determine the extent
to which it is a planning
matter”.
 CA_NWS_E1_170709_p04 C M Y K

4 FRIDAY JULY 17 2009 NEWS

City has failed Ruling on

Muslim
on housing and marriages
welcomed
health – survey RICHIE DUCHON
Staff Reporter

THE MUSLIM Judicial Council

(MJC) has welcomed the Con-
stitutional Court’s ruling that

Outrage over poor service delivery Muslim women in polygynous

LINDSAY DENTLINGER
Metro Writer
HEALTH and housing are the
worst-performing of the City of
Cape Town’s departments, say
residents polled in the city’s
annual community satisfaction
survey.
Overall, the city has margin-
ally increased its performance
to 54 percent community satis-
faction from only 50 percent
last year.
Releasing the findings of
the survey – the second of its
kind – yesterday, the city said
this survey more accurately
reflected the feelings of dis-
gruntled communities who
have been engaging in service
delivery protests in recent
months.
In particular, the city scored
worse than last year in two key
areas that have sparked the out-
rage: the provision of basic
services in informal settle-
ments and the availability of
land for affordable housing
developments.
Health, law enforcement
and housing also all scored
poorly in the survey.
Mayoral committee member
for planning and environment
Marian Nieuwoudt said yester-
day that the city had scored the
worst in areas which were not
its sole responsibility.
SMS the Argus
SMS your views to 32027
Each SMS costs R1
“I’m convinced that 54 per-
cent is a real improvement,”
said Nieuwoudt.
While 54 percent of resi-
dents rated the city’s services
as either good, very good or
excellent, 32 percent rated them
as fair and 13 percent described
them as poor.
The city conducted 3 000
face-to-face interviews, split
among the city’s eight health
districts. Data was weighted to
race and gender within each
district.
While the city had
improved in fulfilling its role
as a public service provider
and of being trustworthy, res-
idents have raised concerns
about fighting crime and pro-
viding jobs, rating these as
even more important than
they did last year.
The Khayelitsha and Klip-
fontein health districts were
rated has having shown a
decline in overall service provi-
sion, while improvements were
noted in the southern, north-
ern and eastern districts, as
well as Mitchells Plain and
Tygerberg.
Waiting times at municipal
clinics were viewed as a partic-
ular weakness.
Overall, the city’s law
enforcement department scor-
ed worse than it did last year,
with residents complaining
about the lack of bylaw
enforcement, the lack of reac-
tion to noise and other distur-
bances and the lack of action
against illegal land settlement
and illegal dumping.
Overall, the provision of
essential services such as
refuse removal, water and san-
itation services scored well.
The city scored highest in
providing access to clean water
at 3.6 on a scale of one to five,
and ensuring minimal disrup-
tion to the supply of electricity.
The city’s fire and emer-
gency services were highly
rated, as were its community
facilities such as libraries, com-
munity centres and civic halls.
Parks were identified as an
area for improvement.
Scores for the city’s housing
department dropped from an
average of 2.3 last year to 2.1
this year.
The city said it faced signifi-
cant obstacles in bringing serv-
ice levels in line with first-
world standards because of
poverty and unemployment,
crime, vandalism and the lack
of community involvement.
lindsay.dentlinger@inl.co.za
DRYING OUT: Funeka Mkwambi, a resident of the flood-prone QQ informal settlement in Khayelitsha known as the ‘’Waterfront”,
makes the most of a sunny respite to do her washing.
Mayor pleads for patience on relocation
FRANCIS HWESHE
Special Correspondent
SOME of the residents of the
flooded QQ informal settlement
in Khayelitsha who staged
fierce service delivery protests
earlier this week will only be
relocated to dry land next year,
says Mayor Dan Plato.
Plato said yesterday that
about 300 families from the QQ
and RR sections in Site B would
be moved to the Bardale tem-
porary relocation area next
October.
Residents of Burundi in
Mfuleni, who had been
worst affected by the recent
“dramatically worse and inhu-
mane conditions”.
“We are relocating people
from the pond onto dry land.
We cannot relocate everyone at
the same time.
“Communities need to trust
us. They need to work with us.
We won’t allow people to invade
land,” he said.
On the Bardale site, resi-
dents would have access to elec-
tricity and other services while
waiting for proper housing
units from the government,
Plato added.
The QQ settlement, which
was rocked by violent protests
on Tuesday and Wednesday,
dering barricades that had
been erected during the
protest.
A group of residents,
mainly children, occasionally
tried unsuccessfully to block
the flow of traffic by pushing
tyres on to the road.
Mzonke Poni, chairman of
housing lobby group Abahlali
baseMjondolo (“Shack Dwell-
ers”), which had mastermind-
ed the protest, said it was over
“for now”.
Resident Funeka Mkwambi,
57, whose makeshift house is
built on a seasonal wetland
commonly referred to as the
“Waterfront”, said the protest
PICTURE: SAM CLARK
water”.
And after this week’s floods,
she was forced to wear gum-
boots to get access to their
home.
“It’s not right. You only take
them (gumboots) off when you
are climbing on to a bed to
sleep,” she said, wading
through her flooded forecourt
to check on her laundry drying
on a line outside.
“It’s hard to live here. My
three children and I suffer from
asthma.
“Last night I couldn’t sleep,
but we don’t have anywhere
else to go,” she said, struggling
for breath.
marriages have equal status in
claiming from the estate of
their deceased spouses has
been welcomed by.
However, it says more action
is needed to ensure equality for
Muslim women.
The court ruled on Wednes-
day that Fatima Gabie Hassam
had a right to a portion of her
husband’s estate and that the
Intestate Succession Act
regarding the matter needed to
be changed to accommodate
Muslim women in polygynous
marriages. Hassam was
denied the right to any portion
of her husband’s inheritance
after he died, and his estate was
awarded to his other wife.
Abdul Khaliq, secretary-
general of the MJC, which
rules on matters regarding
Islamic marriage and divorce,
said the council had never
opposed Hassam’s claim to part
of her husband’s estate, as had
been reported, and was pleased
with the court’s decision.
“The Hassam case is an
individual case, but in reality
we want to have a Muslim Mar-
riage Act recognised by govern-
ment institutions.”
Hoodah Abrahams-Fayker,
an attorney at the Women’s
Legal Centre, which acted as a
friend of the court in support
of Hassam’s case, said the case
would hopefully be an “eye-
opener” for Parliament and the
executive that they needed to
create a secular framework for
recognising Islamic marriages.
But advocate Sheikh Faaik
Gamieldien said: “The Consti-

Businesses give city a thumbs up floods, were in the process of

METRO WRITER
LOCAL businesses have given
the City of Cape Town the
thumbs-up for providing them
with services required to carry
on their business, with 77 per-
cent of those surveyed rating
the city’s performance as good,
very good or excellent.
This is an improvement
over the 2007/08 community
satisfaction survey, when busi-
ness rated the council’s per-
formance at 69 percent.
At least 75 percent of busi-
nesses surveyed this year said
the city was fulfilling its role as
a municipal service provider.
The City of Cape Town
EXTREME FREESTYLE FIGHTING
interviewed 500 businesses
between November and Janu-
ary. Seventy-eight percent of
business rated their level of
trust in the city as fairly strong,
very strong or extremely
strong, up from 72 percent.
But the performance of the
city’s town planning and build-
ing development is perceived to
be less than good and shows lit-
tle change from the last survey.
The city had not improved
in speeding up building devel-
opment and planning applica-
tions, neither in enforcing plan-
ning and building regulations,
said businesses.
The city scored poorly in its
ability to provide safe and
affordable public transport and
adequate law enforcement to
businesses. There was, how-
ever, a visible presence of law
enforcement on the roads, a sit-
uation that had improved since
last year.
While scoring the city 3.8 for
provision of essential services
on a scale of 1 to 5, businesses
criticised the city for electricity
and water tariffs.
The state of roads in the
vicinity of businesses was
raised as a concern while the
lack of public toilets nearby
remained an area of perceived
low performance and showed
the largest decline.
lindsay.dentlinger@inl.co.za
CALL THE
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HOTLINE
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being relocated there, he
explained.
In that community, resi-
dents had been living under
Joyriders leave trail of destruction on golf course
KOWTHAR SOLOMONS
Staff Reporter
THE STRAND Golf Club has
had to shut down parts of the
course after vandals broke in
and caused an estimated
R250 000 worth of damage.
The vandals “hot-wired”
three golf carts which they
then used during a drunken
joyride of destruction.
The club believes that three
unknown individuals broke
into the golf cart store, hot-
wired the carts and began their
demolition of the golf course
in the early hours of last
Friday.
Most of the damage appears
to have been done after a con-
crete bench was knocked down
and used as a plough, ripping
up the turf and knocking down
was relatively quiet yesterday
afternoon.
But Landsdowne Road,
which runs through the area,
was still littered with smoul-
anything in its path.
The vandals damaged the
turf, benches, signposts and
bunkers, wiping out 30 small
yellowwood trees in the
process. All three carts were
destroyed.
Strand Golf Club spokes-
man Johan Mostert said he was
disgusted with the vandals’
actions.
“Yellowwood trees are noto-
riously difficult to grow and
they’d been planted over 10
years ago.
“And there’s the cost of the
carts, one of which was brand
new. We’ve been forced to close
down parts of the course until
the damage can be repaired,”
Mostert said.
Empty beer and liquor bot-
tles littered across the course
were evidence of the culprits’
had been justified.
Mkwambi, who lives with
seven other realtives, said that
Poni said that because of
the “harsh living conditions”,
tuberculosis was rife in the
tutional Court served both as
court and legislature. What the
Muslim community wants is
each time the area became community. the government to recognise
flooded, “we have to live in francis.hweshe@inl.co.za Muslim marriages in law.”
drunken night out. Two names,
“Richard” and “Claudette”,
were found written in a bunker.
While there was no obvious
connection to staff or members
of the club at present, Mostert
said they were not ruling this
out. The vandals responsible
had seemed to know exactly
where to find the carts and
other equipment, and how to
use them.
The golf club is offering a
R3 000 reward for any informa-
tion leading to an arrest.
Somerset West police con-
firmed that cases of burglary
and malicious damage to prop-
erty had been opened.
! Anyone with information
should contact Constable
Phillip Seekoei of the Somerset
West police station at RUINED: Some of the damage to the Strand Golf Course caused
021 850 1340. by joyriding vandals last week.

OM/03/6914969

Epping traders in talks

Forthcoming Features to join indoor market
Sat 1st August 2009 Bellville Velodrome
om/19/06947886

EXTREME FREESTYLE FIGHTING

TICKETS ONLY AVAILABLE AT
! 083 915 8000 " www.computicket.com

OM/17/6917580
PHYSICALLY & BRONWYNNE JOOSTE

g Fe a t u r e s MENTALLY CHALLENGED Staff Reporter

Forthcom i n The Cape Argus

TRADERS at the outdoor Epping fresh produce
market are negotiating to move into the formal,
privatised indoor Cape Town Market.
aims to publish the feature on Yesterday, the City of Cape Town’s law enforce-
ment staff confiscated truckloads of fresh produce

RAMADAAN 31 July 2009 at the outdoor market because they said traders
were contravening several municipal bylaws.
The fresh produce market area has become a tar-
Do you offer the following:
get for law enforcement in recent months following
* Special programme * special events many complaints. Several people are living on the
stretch of land, with no sanitation facilities or
* Special aids * Medical services or access to electricity and clean water.
special facilities * Support Groups
The Cape Argus aims *Opportunities for employment.
Residents of Thornton have complained that it
is a hotbed of crime and an eyesore.
The Epping Central Improvement District (CID)
BOOKING DEADLINE: 24 July 2009 launched a pilot project in conjunction with the city
to publish the feature on COPY DEADLINE: 28 July 2009 in March. CID head Tony Bartram said they had
made several drug-related arrests at the market
TO ADVERTISE CONTACT ARLETTE BOONZAAIER since then.
The city terminated its 20-year lease with the
20 AUGUST 2009 Tel: 021 488 4168 Cell: 082 493 0289
e-mail: arlette.boonzaaier@inl.co.za
traders in 2001, after which it unsuccessfully sought
an eviction order in the Goodwood Magistrate’s
Court. It has now lodged an application with the
BOOKING DEADLINE: 17 AUGUST 2009 Cape High Court to evict the outdoor traders.
The Epping Market Traders Association has
COPY DEADLINE: 18 AUGUST 2009 CALL THE CAPE ARGUS confirmed it is in talks with the Cape Town Market
to move operations inside the privatised market.
TO ADVERTISE CONTACT IRMA DEBIQUE SUBSCRIPTION HOTLINE Omar Allie, the buyer care manager for the Cape
Tel: 021 488 4158 Cell: 083 946 0428 Town Market, confirmed they had been meeting
e-mail: irma.debique@inl.co.za 0800 220 770 association representatives
bronwynne.jooste@inl.co.za

6 MONDAY JULY 20 2009
SA goal to end
mom-to-child
Aids infection
Focus on TB too, Motlanthe says
SAPA and ANSO THOM
SOUTH Africa must eliminate
mother-to-child transmission
of Aids, says Deputy President
Kgalema Motlanthe.
“South Africa must ensure
that we dramatically decrease
the number of infants that are
infected so we can indeed have
a generation free of Aids,”
Motlanthe said at the 5th Inter-
national Aids Society confer-
ence in Cape Town yesterday.
“The importance of the vir-
tual elimination of mother-to-
child transmission of HIV was
reinforced to me in my meeting
with the executive director of
Unaids, Dr Michael Sedibe,” he
said.
“We have begun work on
strengthening our PMTCT
(Prevention of Mother To Child
Transmission) programme and
the Minister of Health will
soon officially launch our ac-
celerated plan to ensure that
we meet the targets set in the
National Strategic Plan for HIV
and STIs (sexually transferred
infefctions).”
That plan, drafted under the
leadership of the SA National
Aids Council (Sanac), sets tar-
gets for halving the HIV inci-
dence by 2011 as well as provid-
ing care, treatment and support
to 80 percent of people living
with HIV, Motlanthe said.
He also called for greater
attention to be given to tubercu-
losis (TB). “We wish to stress
that TB is curable even in the
Stigma driving African HIV rate
PARIS: Rates of HIV infection
among gays in some African
countries are 10 times those in
the general male population,
researchers said today.
They said stigma and poor
access to treatment or testing
are to blame.
A wall of silence, repression
and discrimination are ampli-
fying dangers for men who
have sex with men in sub-Saha-
ran Africa, the doctors said in
a paper published online by
The Lancet.
Researchers from Oxford
University looked at published
studies for HIV prevalence
from 2003 to 2009.
Prevalence among gays in
some parts of West Africa is 10
times that for the general male
CAPE Argus
WOMEN'S DAY
CAPE Argus
aims to publish a special feature
NATIONAL WOMEN'S DAY
on 5 August 2009
PUBLISHING DATE: 5 August 2009
BOOKING DEADLINE: 31 July 2009
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context of co-infection with
HIV, but additional measures to
ensure that HIV patients are
tested for TB and TB patients
are tested for HIV must become
the norm.”
Motlanthe said he would
propose that Sanac also focus
its attention on TB.
He said a World Health
Organisation/Stop TB Partner-
ship review of the national TB
programme had found that the
scheme had been strengthened
since the last external review
in 2005, with improved cure
rates and decreased defaulter
rates. However, there were still
problems with the programme.
“These include the need for
a more coherent strategy for
TB/HIV integration; strength-
ened infection control; and
strengthening TB control in the
mining industry as well as in
the correctional services.”
Motlanthe also drew atten-
tion to the relationship bet-
ween poverty and TB. He said
the country needed “strong
social and equitable economic
systems to underpin our health
systems”. “It is clear that
health conditions and out-
comes are related to a range of
social determinants,” he said.
Motlanthe also mentioned
other areas of concern.
population, they found.
Political, religious and
social hostility towards homo-
sexuality is entrenched in
many countries, and this
breeds isolation, harassment
and prejudice, enabling risky
sex practices to multiply.
“Unprotected anal sex is
commonplace, knowledge and
access to inappropriate risk
prevention measure are inade-
quate and… in some contexts,
many men who have sex with
men engage in transactional
sex,” the paper said.
The paper said secrecy was
so entrenched that data about
gay sex behaviour in Africa
was often sketchy or absent.
“There’s surprisingly little
known,” said lead investigator
The
“Challenges, however, re-
main. These include: getting
more of our people tested;
starting treatment as early as
possible; improving adherence;
decreasing loss to follow-up;
improving laboratory turn-
around-times; and strengthen-
ing drug-supply management.”
However, he said, each of
these areas was “receiving the
necessary attention”.
Meanwhile, Unaids’s Sedibe
said it was critical to ensure
that the programme to prevent
the transmission of HIV/Aids
from mother to child was im-
plemented widely as it pre-
sented the best chance of elim-
inating paediatric HIV.
“It is virtually eliminated in
the rest of the world, and there
is no reason why we cannot
achieve it in Africa.”
Sedibe said he had met
members of the South African
government to “follow up on
the ambitious and inspiring
goals” of treating 80 percent of
those needing antiretrovirals
and halving new infections by
2011”. He said Minister of
Health Dr Aaron Motsoaledi
had indicated that the govern-
ment was committed to “pick-
ing up the pace of action”.
“Political commitment is
key to achieving anything. You
cannot break the silence with-
out political leadership and
political leadership determines
the space afforded to civil soci-
ety input, which brings about
the social change needed.”
Adrian Smith. “What little evi-
dence we do have suggests that
men who have sex with men
are a vulnerable group…
across sub-Saharan Africa.”
The paper said: “In the early
1980s, silence equals death
became a rallying cry” for gays
in the US.
“Nearly three decades later
in sub-Saharan African the
silence remains, driven by cul-
tural, religious and political
unwillingness to accept men
who have sex with men as
equal members of society.”
Around 33 million people
have HIV, according to figures
issued last year by the UN
agency Unaids. Two-thirds of
them live south of the Sahara.
– Sapa-AFP
OM/14/6917583
CALL THE CAPE ARGUS SUBSCRIPTION HOTLINE 0800 220 770
NEWS
Blood donors with flu symptoms told to wait two weeks
STAFF REPORTERS
THE GROWING number of
swine flu cases in South Africa
has led the Western Province
Blood Transfusion Service to
extend its deferral period for
donors showing flu symptoms
to two weeks.
Spokeswoman Leandi le
Roux said any donor with signs
of normal flu would usually
have to wait a week before
donating blood.
“But now with the outbreak
of swine flu, we have prolonged
EXIT LEFT: Renowned Baxter Theatre director and chief executive Mannie Manim is bowing out, and will leave the theatre in the hands of his long-time friend,
playwright and director Lara Foot Newton, from November.
Curtain falls on Manim’s tenure as director of Baxter
RICHIE DUCHON
Staff Writer
SOUTH African theatre lumi-
nary Mannie Manim says the
real beginning of his long and
distinguished career as a pro-
ducer and artistic director was
when he saw Athol Fugard’s No
Good Friday in his early teens.
“It was totally different from
the cucumber sandwich, gin-
and-tonic kind of fare that I’d
been involved in,” he recalls.
“This was ‘people in accents
from the streets where I lived’
kind of thing … it busted my
head open and made me realise
that theatre can be accessible to
anyone.”
Manim says that play
started his journey as a pro-
ducer, director and lighting
designer for some of the coun-
try’s most important political
protest theatre of the past 30
years.
CA_NWS_E1_200709_p06 C M Y K
our deferral period to two been expected, with blood units
weeks. Donors are aware of the of 475ml increasing by close to
criteria and we try to explain 1 500 last month.
the process to them.” Last year, during national
Some 70 893 cases of the new blood donor month in June,
H1N1 swine flu have been con- 10 426 units were collected, and
firmed worldwide, with South this increased to 11 837 units
Africa having 119, including 14 last month.
in the Western Cape. “We are working very hard
The illness presents itself to gain new donors and to edu-
with cold- or flu-like symptoms, cate them about various blood
such as a fever, sore throat, products,” Le Roux said.
runny nose, nasal congestion, However, even though
coughing or muscular aches. stocks were good, the position
Le Roux said blood stocks could change “at any minute”
were much better than had and attendance at mobile clin-
November she will become the
Rondebosch theatre’s fourth
director in its 32-year history
and the first woman director.
Foot Newton has been work-
ing for and alongside Manim
for more than 20 years.
She even remembers experi-
encing her own “lightbulb”
theatre moment at Manim’s
Market Theatre, which he co-
founded with playwright
Barney Simon in Johannes-
burg in the 1970s .
“That night changed my life
ENTERING: Lara Foot Newton in the same way as when Man-
nie saw (Fugard’s play). I said
whatever those guys are doing
Now he is stepping down as on stage, I want to do that,”
head of the Baxter Theatre, Foot Newton recalls.
where he has served as director Manim is well known for
and chief executive since 2000. having diversified the Baxter’s
Manim will leave the the- offerings during his tenure as
atre in the hands of his long- head of the theatre.
time friend, playwright and He remembers the first
director Lara Foot Newton. director of the Baxter, John
When she takes over in Slemon, inviting Manim’s
Communities to march for service delivery
THE MACASSAR backyarders, prop-
ped up by a host of communities from
Khayelitsha and Gugulethu, were
expected to march to Mayor Dan
Plato’s office this morning to demand
delivery on services.
The backyarders, who recently
unsuccessfully attempted to invade
i n g Fe a t u r e s
Forthcom
RAMADAAN
The Cape Argus aims
to publish the feature on
20 AUGUST 2009
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ics was usually low during win-
ter, she said. The non-profit
organisation aims to collect 700
units each day.
The WP Blood Transfusion
Service gained more than 200
new donors last month, but Le
Roux said the number of
donations had dropped in the
first half of this month.
Provincial health authori-
ties said there was no reason to
panic over swine flu as schools
re-open. Western Cape health
department spokeswoman
Faiza Steyn said national and
PICTURE: BRENTON GEACH
Market Theatre company to
bring its shows to Cape Town
in the 1980s.
“There was a big commer-
cial segment of the (Baxter’s)
programme (then), and we
came with a more gritty, cur-
rent, what we used to call
‘newspaper theatre’ – the kind
of stuff that was going on in
the townships, where people
couldn’t get to in those days,”
Manim says.
His goal as director of the
Baxter was to incorporate
those kind of shows into the
theatre’s programme.
“What I was wanting to do
when I came to Cape Town was
hear what the feeling was on
the ground of the theatre-
makers in the city and to try to
give them a platform to pro-
duce their work.
“I think we’ve begun doing
that,” he chuckles in a modest,
self-deprecating way.
city land, said the march was in sup-
port of their demand for land where
they could put their shacks, among
other things.
Housing activist Mzonke Poni said
yesterday that the communities
planned to engage in “militant action”
ahead of the march. – Staff Reporter
OM/17/6917580
17 AUGUST 2009
18 AUGUST 2009
provincial medical teams
would monitor schools in the
event of any cluster outbreaks
of the flu.
She urged pupils with flu-
like symptoms to stay at home
for a number of days “to speed
the recovery process”.
! Anyone willing to donate
blood can do so at one of the
transfusion service’s perma-
nent centres, at N1 City and 22
Long Street, Cape Town. Alter-
natively, phone 021 507 6300 or
SMS 33507 to find the nearest
blood donor clinic.
Manim says one of the high-
lights of his tenure at the Bax-
ter was bringing Foot Newton
on as a resident director for
three years.
“Lara brought a direct link
with the creative world of
South Africa. She’s talking to
the new creative forces … and
starting to let them know that
hopefully there’ll be a home for
their work in the Baxter in the
future,” he said.
Manim says he hopes the
Baxter Theatre will remain a
place where artists can experi-
ment and where the calibre of
the theatre is not judged only
by results at the box office.
“We really like to see minds
challenged as well as seats
filled.
“And I think if I’ve achieved
anything in the nine years, it’s
to spread the sense of owner-
ship of the Baxter to all the
communities in this region.”
Boy, 6,
killed in
scooter
crash
STAFF REPORTER
A SIX-year-old boy, who
was riding on his
mother’s motor scooter,
was killed in a horrific
accident in Durban yes-
terday afternoon.
David Williams, who
was wearing a helmet
and was on the back
of his mother Sandra’s
scooter died instantly
when the scooter
collided with a
16-wheeler truck near
the Rossburgh station in
South Coast Road.
“The child
crushed by the truck…
was
the wheels went over
him and the helmet,”
said Netcare
spokesman Chris Botha.
911
The boy’s traumatised
mother was admitted to
Wentworth Hospital.
The truck driver has
been charged with culpa-
ble homicide.
Clairwood residents
are planning to protest
against high volumes of
truck traffic on the roads
in the neighbourhood.
 CA_NWS_E1_210709_p03 C M Y K

NEWS TUESDAY JULY 21 2009 3

Leah’s body found in sewer Ruling on

Family dreads having to identify little girl cut up by blades
NIÉMAH DAVIDS
Staff Reporter
POLICE have recovered the
body of two-year-old Leah
Arends, who had fallen into a
drain while playing with her
cousins in Pelican Park at the
weekend.
Police spokesman Inspector
Ian Liebowitz confirmed last
night that officials recovered
Leah’s body in the drainage
system at about 3pm yesterday.
The search for Leah, from
Grassy Park, started on Friday
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afternoon after she disap-
peared after jumping into a
drain while playing.
Late that day police moved
the search to Zeekoevlei sewer-
age works in the hope that the
little girl had been swept
through the system.
Remote-controlled cameras
were also put down manholes
to check for any sign of Leah or
her personal belongings.
According to Liebowitz, res-
cue workers recovered Leah’s
mutilated body in the drain
system.
“Parts of her body were
rather badly churned up… as a
result of the blades (which
crushes solid items) in the
system,” he said.
Speaking to the Cape Argus
last night, Leah’s grandmother
Charmaine Arends said her
family were trying to cope.
“We are holding up. Or we
are trying to hold up. It is not
easy; it’s very difficult,” she
said.
Arends said the family were
dreading having to identify
Leah’s body. They were
expected to do so today.
“We don’t know how we are
going to deal with seeing her
like that.
It’s something we can’t
really prepare for. No one can.”
Arends said she and the rest
of her family were tired after
spending the past few days at
the Zeekoevlei sewerage works,
where officials had hoped to
find Leah’s body.
“We’ve hardly slept since
(she went missing).”
Leah disappeared while
playing with her cousins, three-
year-old Wade and six-year-old
Jenino Scheepers.
The only witness, young
Wade, told his mother, Saman-
tha Scheepers, that Leah had
shifted the thin piece of metal
covering the manhole and
jumped into the drain.
Apparently Leah thought it
was a swimming pool, Wade
told his mother.
On Saturday, several resi-
dents said they were angry
about the time it had taken for
the search to get under way, as
“precious” hours were wasted
on Friday.
But Liebowitz said they had
sourced cameras from a private
company and these had arrived
only on Saturday.
Liebowitz said an autopsy
would be conducted to deter-
mine the exact cause of death.
niemah.davids@inl.co.za
Muslim
marriages
expected
RICHIE DUCHON
Staff Reporter
A NEARLY 10-year process to
pass a national law that would
recognise Muslim marriages
and account for their dissolu-
tion could soon be an impor-
tant step closer to an ending.
The Constitutional Court is
expected to hand down a judg-
ment tomorrow answering an
important procedural question:
whether or not it has the juris-
diction to compel the president,
FOUND: Leah Arends his ministers and Parliament
to take action on passing a
Muslim marriages bill.
The Women’s Legal Centre
Trust (WLCT), a non-profit

Thefts at organisation that provides

legal assistance to women in

schools are
the areas of housing, health,
violence and religion, filed an
application last November ask-

on the rise ing the Constitutional Court to

ILSE FREDERICKS
Education Writer
FURTHER reports of vandal-
ism and theft at schools have
flooded in since they reopened
after the July holidays yester-
day.
The number of reports have
swelled from 17 to 33 as teach-
ing staff and pupils arrived at
school, but it is still lower than
the same time last year.
By Friday, 17 vandalism
cases had been reported, but
after schools re-opened for the
third term yesterday, more
reports were received by the
Western Cape Education
Department.
According to the Safe
Schools Division, eight cases of
damage to property and 25 theft
cases were reported.
The number of cases
reported was lower than last
year’s when 43 cases were
reported over the same period.
Education MEC Donald
Grant said it seemed measures
to safeguard schools during the
holidays had worked.
Grant, Community Safety
MEC Lennit Max and Social
Development MEC Ivan Meyer
will be visiting two schools
today.
ilse.fredericks@inl.co.za
force the executive and Parlia-
ment to take action on such a
law within 18 months.
Lawyers for the WLCT
argued that the president and
Parliament had violated the
constitution by failing to enact
laws that recognise “all Muslim
marriages as valid marriages”.
The application argued that
the issue was of “such impor-
tant political consequences as
to require (the Constitutional)
Court to intrude into the
domain” of other branches of
government.
The Concourt could rule in
favour of the WLCT and allow
the group’s lawyers to argue
their case; or it could force the
organisation to re-file its
motion in the High Court,
which would amount to a time
setback for supporters of codi-
fying Muslim personal law in
South African national law.
A Muslim Marriages Bill
was drafted by the South
African Law Reform Commis-
sion and submitted in 2003 to
then Minister of Justice and
Constitutional Development
Penuell Maduna.
WLCT attorney Hoodah
Abrahams-Fayker speculated
that the bill had been stalled
because of a minority in the
Muslim community that
LOOK OUT: Shark spotter Patrick ‘Rasta’ Davids keeps watch while a shark swims close by. PICTURES: BRENTON GEACH opposes the bill.
“There is some concern that
the law would question the

Spotters get up close supremacy of sharia (law),”

she said.
Advocate Sheikh Faaik

and personal with sharks

Local production
industry growth is
‘thanks to SABC’
PEOPLE should focus on the
positive work the SABC has
done, particularly in growing
the local production industry,
the corporation has said.
SABC spokesman Kaizer
Kganyago said that a few years
ago, there were about 20
“mostly white-owned” produc-
tion houses. Now there were
about 400.
Kganyago said the SABC
was working on reducing pay-
ments it owed to production
houses month-by-month.
Yesterday the Television
Industry Emergency Coalition
said the SABC was demanding
fines of up to R100 000 from
independent producers for
alleged “lost assets” – items
such as sets, props and
wardrobes – tallied when a pro-
duction was signed off. This
was causing delays of months,
even years, and was “clearly a
ruse to alleviate the SABC’s
cashflow crisis at the cost of
the independent production
sector,” the TVIEC said. – Sapa
THANDANANI MHLANGA
Staff Reporter
THE SEA is quiet and still and
it is almost hard to believe that
great whites inhabit these calm
waters.
On an unusually hot win-
ter’s day in the peninsula, and
even more so in Simon’s Town,
a group of 10 shark spotters
will get their first up-close
encounter with the predator
they’ve observed for so long.
Their excitement is palpable
as the cage descends into the
water.
At first, there are no sharks,
but within minutes the boat to
which the cage is attached is
encircled by at least half a
dozen.
After about 40 minutes,
shark spotters Monwabisi Si-
kweyiya and Patrick “Rasta”
Davids are lifted out of the
shark-diving cage.
“It was that close! Did you
see it?” shouted Sikweyiya.
Davids responded: “Do you
BACK FROM THE DEEP: Shark spotters Patrick ‘Rasta’ Davids and Monwabisi Sikweyiya emerge believe me now? There’s noth-
from their first shark cage dive yesterday. ing to be afraid of ?”
The group was invited by
African Shark Eco-Charters to
get a close-up view of the
sharks they keep a lookout for.
“There are more dangerous
two-legged sharks on land,”
said Davids, a veteran of the
shark spotting trade.
Davids started out as a car
guard at a Muizenerg beach
until a 16-year-old teenager lost
a leg to a great white. His liveli-
hood was subsequently threat-
ened as the beach saw fewer
visitors.
This led him to train as a
shark spotter.
“The local trek fishermen
taught me how to look for
weather conditions, wind pat-
ters, visibility in the water. I
was the first shark spotter in
Muizenberg.”
That was seven years ago,
and shark spotting has since
grown to encompass this group
of youngsters from all walks of
life who were given the oppor-
tunity yesterday to encounter
the great whites.
Rob Lawrence, owner and
host of African Shark Eco-
Gamieldien, who helped draft
the Muslim Marriages Bill for
the law commission, said it that
it had gone through all the
required public participation
processes at the time, but said
Charters, sponsored the group. the bill was still sitting at the
“These guys do such a good Justice Department.
job but only get to see the
sharks from the mountains,”
said Lawrence.
Alison Kock, a shark re-
searcher with the Save our
Seas Foundation, said they
were grateful to Lawrence for
sponsoring the trip as the expe-
rience had lifted the shark spot-
ters’ spirits.
“Getting to see sharks in
their natural environment, up
closer than they ever have
before, can teach them more in
a few hours than years of
studying sharks from books or
films,” said Kock.
Also in the shark spotter
group are four women.
Ethel Thsandu said that, as
a shark spotter, she had learned
how to connect with nature.
“You get to learn about
nature, how to become con-
nected to nature,” she said.
The other women said the
best part of their job was meet-
ing tourists from all over the
world.
thandanani.mhlanga@inl.co.za

‘BASELESS’: Mbuyiselo Botha
Gender activist slams Malema for playing race card
KARYN MAUGHAN
GENDER activist Mbuyiselo
Botha – whom Julius Malema
branded as a puppet of white
racists – has slammed the ANC
Youth League president’s accu-
sations as “pathetic”.
Botha, who was left partly
disabled after being shot in the
head by police during the
apartheid era, yesterday urged
Malema to deal with the Equal-
ity Court complaint made
against him by the Sonke Gen-
der Justice NGO instead of
playing “the over-used race
card”.
“No one in this country is
untouchable or above the law,
and that includes you, Mr
Malema,” he said.
Botha, Sonke’s advocacy
head, was responding to
Malema’s claims that the hate
speech complaint against him –
which centres on his comments
that President Jacob Zuma’s
rape accuser enjoyed herself
with him – was driven by
“whites opposed to black rule”.
Moments after he backed
out of testifying in the Equality
Court on the complaint
brought against him by Sonke,
and in apparent reference to
Botha, Malema told his sup-
porters: “The black faces you
see in front are not really
black… they represent whites
who are opposed to black rule.’
He added that if Sonke had
been a “real African” organisa-
tion it would have resolved its
issues without going to court.
In an open letter to Malema,
Botha yesterday described the
accusations as “unwarranted,
baseless and misinformed”.
“We can only say (the com-
ments) are pathetic…
“For the record, everyone
should be held accountable for
his or her words… All of us
need to know that we can’t get
away with statements that are
misogynistic, demeaning and
disrespectful in nature.”
Botha said he had served as
the secretary-general of the
Sharpeville Civic Association,
which spearheaded the 1980s
rent boycotts, while Sonke
director Reverend Bafana Khu-
malo was a former anti-
apartheid student leader, and
Western Cape Sonke head
Patrick Godana was “shot and
imprisoned for standing up
against apartheid”.
“I wonder how it is possible
that these blacks can be Uncle
Toms at the disposal of their
‘white masters’?” he said.
ANCYL spokeswoman Mag-
dalene Moonsamy said Botha’s
response to Malema’s com-
ments was aimed at “inciting
the youth league president”.
Describing Malema as being
at the forefront of the fight for
women’s rights, she stressed
that he had not “tried to run
away” from the complaint laid
against him by Sonke.
She said Malema’s “white
puppet” remarks were “not
intended to castigate race”.
Malema will return to the
Equality Court on August 31.
‘PATHETIC’: Julius Malema
Woman gets
3 years for false
rape claim
A WOMAN has been sentenced
to three years in prison after
she falsely accused a man of
rape.
The woman, 25, accused a 42-
year-old man of rape after she
apparently had consensual sex
with him in October last year.
Police said the man spent eight
months in custody after bail
was denied.
Magistrate Pierre Laurens
told the woman she had caused
the man shame through her
false accusation.
The Atteridgeville woman
pleaded guilty to perjury. – Sapa

DATA DRIVE: Nine-year-old Felisite Kimanuka of Burundi has her photograph taken for United Nations official records yesterday. She was among about 300
refugees escorted by officials working for the UN refugee agency from their Blue Waters camp to a community hall in Samora Machel, where their personal
information was collated.
Foreign nationals in about-turn on UN survey
FRANCIS HWESHE
Staff reporter
AFTER initial resistance, all the
foreign nationals at the Blue Waters
camp near Strandfontein have agreed
to participate in a protection assess-
ment programme by the UN High
Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR).
On Tuesday morning, the agency
sent buses to the camp in the hope of
ferrying residents to a community
hall in Samora Machel, Philippi, for
one-on-one interviews.
But they were met with scepticism
and only 45 of the 300 residents agreed
to board the buses. The others refused,
citing concern for their safety in the
townships.
But the UN officials were not dis-
couraged and yesterday returned to
Communities asked to help nab copper thieves
STAFF REPORTER
THE CITY’s Copperheads unit has
vowed to crack down on copper thieves
by strengthening their relationships
with communities to ensure crimes
are reported promptly.
Among their recent successes are
the arrest of a 67-year-old man with
23m of copper cable following a tip-off;
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the camp, and following discussions,
those who had initially declined to
participate agreed to co-operate.
During the afternoon, the officials
could be seen interviewing the camp’s
residents at the Samora Machel hall.
Police maintained a presence at the
hall to ensure the safety of the foreign
nationals.
On Tuesday, the UN agency said it
had not been possible to conduct the
interviews at the Blue Waters camp
because, according to the government,
the site had officially been closed.
The new programme, which aims
to assess about 5 000 foreign nationals
across the city by the end of the
month, is intended, among other
things, to update the agency’s
database, confirm its beneficiaries
and identify those refugees and
the arrest of three men who were dig-
ging up cabling in the Edith Stephens
Wetland Park along Vanguard Drive,
also after a tip-off; and the arrest of a
man at a scrapyard in Brackenfell for
attempting to sell a 60m section of
street lighting cable marked “City of
Cape Town”.
According to Rudolf Wiltshire,
chief for specialised services, copper
Gordons Bay
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NEWS
that its student profile had
changed significantly over the
oblems, the past decade. While some white
SRC would like to hear from students felt that their space
them, she said. “I have said was being encroached on, black
that we must go out to these students felt that they were
students if they don’t want to seen as guests “in a space they
come to us,” she said. feel they legitimately occupy”.
Moses Masitha,from the “I venture to say that the
University of the Free State day the black student is
(UFS), said some of those in the granted ownership of the UFS,
university community ignored and not merely treated as a
with “reasonable ease” the fact guest, he will contribute posi-
PICTURE: HENK KRUGER
asylum-seekers with special needs. As long we are in the hands of the
Yesterday one of the leaders at the UN,” one of the Blue Waters residents
camp, Dennis Romazani, explained said as he waited to be interviewed.
their initial decision to remain at Monique Ekoko, senior regional
Blue Waters. protection officer for the UNHCR,
“We didn’t refuse (to go to the inter- conceded that the exercise had not
views). We had received wrong infor- been communicated very well to the
mation, people panicked and thought
they were being forcibly moved to the
residents.
“It was a matter of explaining the
townships,” he said. intentions,” she said.
Romazani said the residents ini- Ekoko said that about six families
tially had been made to believe that from the Blue Waters community,
they would have to pay for their own with others at the Youngsfield base in
transport and had not been sure of Wynberg, were due to be interviewed
their destination. today.
But most had changed their minds She said a temporary UNHCR
after a report-back by the small group office, which will allow for the assess-
that had gone to Samora Machel, ment of foreign nationals living out-
because these people had assured side the camp, would be opened in
them it was a safe exercise. Bellville this week.
“We were scared, but now it’s fine. francis.hweshe@inl.co.za
Irish fair loses its goat
DUBLIN: The annual crowning of a
cable thieves are “constantly” adopt- goat as king of Ireland at one of the
ing new approaches to stay ahead of country’s oldest fairs is in doubt after
the law. organisers said the heir to the throne
He appealed to residents of Khaye- may be stopped from travelling to the
litsha, Atlantis, Melkbosstrand and festival. Traditionally a male goat is
Mamre, in particular, to be vigilant caught in the mountains of Kerry and
and report “suspicious activities”, paraded through Killorglin where he
because thefts affected communities. reigns for the three days of Puck Fair,
● Report offences to the Copper- a centuries-old festival of drinking,
heads’ toll free number, 0800 225 669. music and dancing. – Reuters
90per bottle
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Paul Hugo
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Van Loveren
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THURSDAY JULY 23 2009
tively,” Masitha said. by Stellenbosch University’s
He also said academic pro- Department of Psychology, the
grammes needed to start speak- Division of Student Affairs and
ing to prevalent social needs. the Office for Employment
“Once we all can conceive a Equity and the Promotion of
space of shared ideals and com- Diversity.
mon humanness, my univer- It was attended by staff and
sity will go back to focusing on students from several universi-
its core business – that of ties and was organised in
teaching and learning in an response to a recently released
environment conducive for all report on transformation at
who inhabit it.” higher education institutions.
The symposium was hosted The report, compiled by a
Concourt rejects plea on marriages
RICHIE DUCHON bill, the president and Parliament
Staff Reporter were in violation of the Bill of
Rights, they said.
AN APPEAL to the Constitu- They cited a section of the
tional Court to force the presi- constitution that says “only” the
dent, Parliament and others in Constitutional Court can decide
government to take action when the other branches of gov-
towards legalising Muslim mar- ernment had failed to fulfil a con-
riages through a special law has stitutional obligation.
been dismissed. But Justice Edwin Cameron,
In a unanimous decision yes- who wrote the judgment, said
terday, the Constitutional Court other parties, including minis-
ruled that it did not have jurisdic- ters and the Law Reform Com-
tion to consider an appeal by the mission, were necessarily
Women’s Legal Centre Trust and involved in passing a Muslim
said the High Court was the marriages bill.
proper place to file the motion. “The obligations invoked (by
Lawyers for the trust had the trust’s lawyers) must … focus
argued that the Concourt was the on the president and Parliament
right place in which to appeal. In alone. That is not the case here,”
not passing a Muslim marriages he wrote.
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13
committee appointed by for-
mer education minister Naledi
Pandor, indicated that discrim-
ination, in particular with
regard to racism and sexism,
was pervasive at higher educa-
tion institutions.
Following the release of the
report, Minister of Higher
Education and Training Blade
Nzimande asked university
councils to respond.
ilse.fredericks@inl.co.za
The court declined to rule on
whether Parliament, the presi-
dent or cabinet members might
be obligated by the Bill of Rights
to make Muslim marriages legal.
Trust director Jennifer
Williams said the ruling would
delay matters but was not a set-
back for the organisation’s
agenda.
Had it been a favourable rul-
ing it would have meant “our
matter would have been before
(the Constitutional Court) sooner
and we would have had a remedy
sooner”.
Justice Department spokes-
man Tlali Tlali said the bill had
been submitted to the cabinet for
approval by former justice minis-
ter Enver Surty.
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rt.
Dr Caryn Collins, an emer-
gency room doctor at Life
Vincent Pallotti Hospital in
Pinelands, was one of three
doctors who saw Wilson after he
returned to Cape Town and tried
to find information about his
swine flu test results.
“Everyone I spoke to (at the
Gauteng Department of Health
and NICD) was so nonchalant,”
Collins said.
“There was complete apathy.
Scientists in dark over HIV and H1N1
MICHELLE PIETERSEN
Staff Reporter
THERE is a “tremendous amount
of mystery” surrounding the
swine flu pandemic, and scien-
tists are still unsure of how the
H1N1 virus responsible for this
flu will react in individuals with
HIV/Aids, says a distinguished
South African medical scientist.
Professor Barry Schoub, exe-
cutive director for the National
Institute for Communicable Dis-
eases, was speaking at a Charles
Darwin lecture series event at the
University of Cape Town’s New
Learning Centre in Observatory
last night.
Schoub said he could not
elaborate on how the H1N1 and
HIV viruses would react if
combined.
“We really can’t comment. We
NEWS
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This person could have died and
no one did anything about it.
“He had apparently had swabs
taken, (but) they obviously took
no care of the swabs. We don’t
know how many others’ cases
have gone missing.”
Yasmin Isaacs, a receptionist
at Pinelands Medicross, who also
tried to find out Wilson’s swine
flu results, agreed that the NICD
was unreceptive.
After his condition improved
close to a week after returning to
South Africa and he was released
from the hospital, Wilson
received an SMS from Terry Mar-
shall at the NICD.
The SMS read: “Hi Mr Wilson.
We are unable to track your spec-
imen for influenza testing. It has
not reached the NICD.”
The NICD’s director of virol-
ogy, Dr Adrian Puren, said proto-
cols were in place to ensure spec-
imens could be traced. He said he
could not comment on what had
gone wrong in Wilson’s case as no
tests had been delivered by the
Gauteng Department of Health
and no official complaint had
been filed.
He said he hoped forms had
been completed when the swabs
were taken at O R Tambo Air-
port, to make sure the specimens
could be traced.
It was important that doctors
file complaints in cases such as
this, he said.
“If there was a problem, we
need to know – were the appropri-
don’t know how it (the H1N1
virus) will behave in HIV/Aids
individuals.
“Research is being collected,
and detailed characteristics are
being assembled.”
Schoub said that although a
significant amount of informa-
tion about the H1N1 virus had
been collected during a short
period, there were still many
questions that needed to be
answered.
“This is a public health prob-
lem, and all we know is that the
virus has the power to adapt to its
host, and its changes.”
He also said that there were a
number of possibilities as to how
the pandemic would pan out.
At best, it would “most likely”
replace the seasonal flu virus.
“The most likely view is that
what we are seeing now is that
FRIDAY JULY 24 2009 9
ate channels utilised to ensure
the patient was adequately cared
for? From our perspective, that’s
very, very key,” he said.
A Gauteng Department of
Health spokesman referred the
Cape Argus to the national
Department of Health, which he
said would know about opera-
tions at O R Tambo.
Health Department spokes-
man Fidel Hadebe was given the
information about Wilson’s case
and said he would look into the
matter.
Asked why Wilson would not
have been quarantined at O R
Tambo, Hadebe said this was not
required under World Health
Organisation (WHO) guidelines
on preventing the virus’s spread.
Hadebe said the health offi-
FRESH
cials at the airport were “trained
and highly qualified”.
“They make a decision on the
info that they have: whether to
keep the person or send them to
the nearest hospital.
“We don’t want to create a sit-
uation where people’s lives are
unreasonably disrupted.”
Wilson said his being noticed
by the thermal scanners at O R
Tambo had been encouraging.
“Everything seemed to have
been in place and done correctly.
And then it all fell apart.”
Collins said she was upset
with the system’s failure in
Wilson’s case, regardless of
whether he had swine flu.
As of Wednesday, when the
WHO’s Regional Office for Africa
released its latest statistics, there
had been 119 reported cases of
swine flu and no deaths in South
Africa.
richie.duchon@inl.co.za
FAIR
COUNTY HICKEN
the H1N1 will replace the sea-
FRESH C per kg
BREASTS
sonal flu. Or maybe that’s what
we want it to.
“Because this is a new virus
and the first pandemic in 40
years, there is a certain amount
of unpredictability surrounding
it,” he said.
In a worst-case scenario, the
current outbreak of influenza
could possibly be the calm before
the storm, he warned.
The first outbreak of H1N1
virus had lasted for 10 to 12 weeks
– similar to the 1918 pandemic.
Then, six months after the first
outbreak, a second extremely
virulent “wave” of the flu had
killed between 50 and 100 million
people world-wide.
“At this stage the jury is still
out – it’s early days. We have to
keep a watchful eye,” said
Schoub.
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