A man was killed when a logging machine drove over him at his place of work in Wartburg, KwaZulu-Natal.
|||Wartburg - A man was killed on Tuesday when a logging machine drove over him at his place of work in Wartburg, KwaZulu-Natal, paramedics said.
The man died on the scene before the paramedics arrived, Netcare 911 spokesman Chris Botha said.
It was not immediately clear how the accident happened. - Sapa
A man and his two sons have been arrested for shooting dead seven members of the same family.
|||Durban - A man and his two sons have been arrested for shooting dead seven members of the same family, KwaZulu-Natal police said on Tuesday.
The 51-year old man and his sons, aged 28 and 30, were expected to appear soon in the Greytown Magistrates Court on seven counts of murder and two of attempted murder, said Colonel Vincent Mdunge.
Five armed men opened fire on the Mkhize family homestead, in Muden, near Greytown, in the early hours on March 9.
Six men - five of them brothers - died on the scene. A three-year old boy died of his wounds five days later.
Mdunge said a police task team investigating the shooting arrested the 51-year-old man in a raid in April, for possession of an unlicensed firearm.
When ballistics tests later revealed that the weapon was used in the shooting, the man was re-arrested with his sons.
Mdunge said further arrests were expected. - Sapa
Two school pupils were seriously injured and 10 others sustained minor injuries when a taxi they were travelling in overturned in Gillitts, paramedics said.
|||Durban - Two school pupils were seriously injured and 10 others sustained minor injuries when a taxi they were travelling in overturned on Wednesday morning in Gillitts, near Pinetown, paramedics said.
Netcare 911 spokesman Chris Botha said the accident happened on Stockville Road at about 7am.
The cause of the accident was not known. The pupils had been taken to various hospitals in Durban.
In another accident, a six-year-old pupil was in a critical condition at the Albert Luthuli Hospital after being hit by a vehicle.
Botha said the girl was hit while she was crossing Briardale Road in Newlands West, Durban, at around 7am.
When paramedics arrived on the scene they placed her on a ventilator, he said. - Sapa
It is alleged that then MEC for health Peggy Nkonyeni wanted to conclude a contract “quickly” so the ANC could score a donation.
|||Durban - Then MEC for health Peggy Nkonyeni wanted to conclude a contract “quickly” with Cape Town-based Uruguayan businessman Gaston Savoi’s company, Intaka, so the ANC could score a donation from it.
This was the testimony on Tuesday of suspended Department of Health legal services general manager Kantha Padayachee in her case before the Labour Court.
Padayachee has gone to court to fight her three-year suspension which she says occurred after she told the police and auditing firm PricewaterhouseCoopers (PWC) about Intaka’s irregular contracts with the department.
The department says Padayachee was suspended after misconduct charges were brought against her. It denies this was due to her being a whistle-blower
Padayachee said Nkonyeni, now Speaker in the KwaZulu-Natal legislature, had told her about the donation when she raised concerns about the contract for oxygen-generating plants.
“She told me she had just become the treasurer of the ANC in the province and was under pressure to conclude the contract (with Intaka) so the ANC could receive the donation,” Padayachee said.
“I advised her that while there was no law preventing donations to political parties, we had a duty to ensure that contracts we entered into benefited the department.”
Savoi and several senior KZN government employees have been charged with racketeering, fraud and money laundering.
The State alleges Savoi made a R1m donation to the ANC to secure the contract to supply water purification and oxygen-generating plants to the provincial Departments of Local Government and Health.
Nkonyeni was initially charged, but charges were withdrawn last October.
Padayachee said that despite her reservations about the contract, among them that Intaka did not want to supply back-up oxygen for the plants, it was awarded.
She said she had questioned why the water purification contract had not gone out to tender, but then-director-general of health Busisiwe Nyembezi had reprimanded her.
“She told me that civil servants were often bureaucratic and the procurement was an emergency.”
Padayachee said when she met Hawks detective Piet du Plooy, who was investigating the Intaka case, she gave him documents relating to the oxygen contract. She said Du Plooy had been “disappointed” about her impending suspension.
“He said he wanted to take the files related to the oxygen tender lest they disappear. He was disappointed that I was due to be suspended because he said I was his star witness.”
The case continues on Wednesday.
The Mercury
A former police station commander arranged jobs for an employee's brother and nephew for R15 000 and a cow, a court heard.
|||Durban - The former commander of the Mountain Rise police station, Hariram Badul, arranged jobs for an employee’s brother and nephew for R15 000 and a cow, the Pietermaritzburg High Court heard on Tuesday.
Msingaphansi Bhengu, an accomplice who has turned State witness, was testifying against Badul, former police captain Suresh Naraindath, former police superintendent Yunus Khan, police constable Patrick Nkabini and businessman Sigamoney Pillay.
They face 98 charges, ranging from fraud and racketeering to theft and corruption, all allegedly committed between 2007 and 2009.
Bhengu was employed as a labourer at the station.
He told the court that Badul wanted R10 000 each for hiring his brother and nephew, but had settled for R15 000 and a cow, which Bhengu delivered to Badul’s farm in Bishopstowe.
Bhengu told the court of various items, some from the station, that he took to Badul’s farm on different occasions. These included cleaning materials such as soap, air fresheners, steel wool, mops and brooms.
At one stage he took pots, light bulbs and boxes of shoes from the station, and later a battery charger, vacuum cleaner and high-pressure cleaner.
On another occasion, Stanley Naidoo, a policeman who has turned State witness, gave him an order form which he took to Natal Agri and collected five bags of 20kg fertiliser, three of which he dropped off at the farm.
Bhengu at one point also collected a lawnmower and grass cutters from a company and delivered that to Badul’s farm. Money was also deposited in his bank account for Badul.
Naidoo and Bhengu are to be granted indemnity from prosecution at the end of the trial, provided the court is satisfied with their testimony.
The Mercury
Shauwn Mpisane has agreed to pay R2.6m a month to a curator tasked with “restraining” R70m worth of assets pending the outcome of her trial.
|||Durban - Shauwn Mpisane has agreed to hand over R2.6 million in cash a month to curator Trevor White, the man tasked with “restraining” R70m worth of assets pending the outcome of a criminal fraud and corruption case against her.
And, White reveals in a report lodged in the Pietermaritzburg High Court, this cash comes from current contracts her company, Zikhulise Cleaning Maintenance and Transport, has with the eThekwini Municipality and KwaDukuza Municipality, which have already raked in more than R154m in just five months this year.
The personal and business finances of the wealthy businesswoman and her husband, former metro policeman S’bu Mpisane, have been laid bare through their agreement with White, which was tabled in the Pietermaritzburg High Court this week.
White took control of their money and their companies at the end of January this year in terms of an order granted on January 31 which saw the immediate seizure of their luxury fleet of cars from their showroom-styled garage at their plush La Lucia home.
The operation by the Asset Forfeiture Unit is linked to charges Shauwn Mpisane, as the sole member of Zikhulise, is facing in Durban’s commercial crime court that she submitted false documentation to the Construction Industry Development Board to boost gradings and obtain tenders from the Department of Public Works.
Should she be convicted, the restrained assets can be forfeited to the state.
While the couple are opposing the restraint order – to be argued before Judge Sharmain Balton next week – they have, in the interim, concluded the agreement with White so that they can continue running their personal and business affairs without his interference.
White said he had R48.6m under restraint, including the vehicles, valued at R22.7m; four properties, including the couple’s luxury La Lucia home; household contents; and the first two instalments of R2.6m each.
Still to be restrained were insurance policies valued at R2.3m, five properties in the Mkhimpi Family Trust and about R5m, the balance of the cash instalments.
White said the cash was coming from contracts Zikhulise had with the two municipalities and the Department of Public Works which were worth, in total, R520m.
l In a separate matter which came before the Durban High Court again yesterday, the South African Revenue Service has provisionally liquidated another Mpisane company, Ukhozi, involved in low-cost housing contracts, claiming it owes more than R9m in tax.
The only “asset” of the close corporation, Sars alleged, was an R8m loan it gave to Mpisane, after which she stopped trading to avoid her debts.
Sars obtained the provisional order in March this year.
In affidavits before the court, officials said bank accounts reflected payments to Ukhozi between 2006 and 2009 from the eThekwini Municipality of almost R47m.
But, they alleged, Mpisane did not comply with her tax obligations and, after numerous demands, only made limited payments of about R5.5m.
A cheque for R1m issued in May 2010 had bounced.
Opposing the liquidation order being made final, Mpisane said the court action was simply a ploy to force her into a tax inquiry to get evidence to be used against her in her tax fraud trial.
She said the application should be held over until that was finalised and until the asset forfeiture application was heard because, should she win, she would simply secure the claim and then litigate.
She denied any deliberate non-compliance, saying she believed she did not owe the tax, and new statements were being drawn up for assessment.
“The winding down of the business was a consequence of the structure of the industry… there were no available tenders which it sought to obtain,” she said.
The matter was adjourned.
Mpisane will be back in the Durban Regional Court facing tax fraud charges relating to Zikhulise later this month.
tania.broughton@inl.co.za
The Mercury
A woman says if it weren’t for her research, her baby may not have survived a KZN hospital’s labour ward.
|||Durban - A 19-year-old Umbilo woman, who gave birth with the help of an inexperienced student midwife at King Edward VIII Hospital in Durban, says that if it were not for her internet research on childbirth, her baby may not have survived.
Daniella Engelbrecht and her 33-year-old husband, Ben, said they were furious at the way hospital staff treated them during the birth of their son, Domenic, three weeks ago. They described the conditions in the labour ward as filthy.
Engelbrecht said her experience had put her off having another baby. She said she was refused painkillers, while patients around her received them. She was left with a student nurse who she said told her to push the baby out when there were no contractions, and slapped her when she didn’t comply. Engelbrecht was also left alone to clean up the afterbirth.
“When I had to give birth, I told them that the baby’s head was going to come out any moment and they said ‘impossible because you are only 2cm dilated’,” Daniella said. She said the midwife had then examined her and told a student midwife to help her give birth.
“She didn’t even look at the baby. She just stood by my head and told me to push. I learnt on the internet that you don’t push when you don’t have contractions, but if I didn’t push she slapped me on my leg.
“When his head came out, I checked for the cord to make sure it wasn’t wrapped around his neck and then his shoulders came out and I took him and put him on my chest,” Daniella said.
“All (the student nurse) did was cut the cord and clamp it. They took the baby away and left in the afterbirth. They didn’t clean it up. I used the plastic sheets and folded it up and threw it away.”
Daniella said the student nurse had returned after what seemed like an hour and given her “about 17 stitches”, because she had torn severely during the birth. However, a doctor later ordered the student to remove the stitches, which had not been done correctly.
Daniella said her internet research on her cellphone during pregnancy had “helped me a lot because if I hadn’t done that, I don’t know how I would have delivered that baby”.
Daniella added that she had been shocked by the conditions in the showers, which were dirty and so bloodied that the grouting between the white tiles was red.
She said nurses had refused to give her food or a glass of water during her overnight stay, telling her: “This is not a hotel, it’s a hospital.”
Ben, who had been desperately trying to get access to his wife and newborn baby during the early hours of the morning, said he didn’t know whether they were dead or alive because he could not get hold of her on her cellphone and security guards would not let him into the hospital.
He said Daniella had called him at 12.04am to tell him the baby was about to arrive, but when he called the ward three hours later, he was told she was “still in theatre”.
Distressed, not knowing what had happened, he arrived at the hospital at 5am only to be turned away by security.
“When I phoned the ward and I asked: ‘Is she alive?’ they told me to come during visiting hours. And do you know who told me my baby was born? The security guard,” Ben said. The guard sent someone into the ward with a slip of paper with his wife’s name to find out if the baby had been born.
Ben said he was also angry that the paediatrician had discharged the baby in his presence, allegedly without examining the child.
Ben said it was unacceptable that the hospital would not allow fathers to be with their wives during labour.
“They don’t want witnesses to see how they are treating the patients because a lot of the people who go to King Edward don’t have money and they know, what’s the chances of them going to see a lawyer? We are lucky my child is alive. Maybe someone else won’t be so lucky. How long must this go on?”
The couple are considering suing the hospital. They have also raised the question of why the hospital does not allow expectant mothers to have the baby’s father present during the birth.
King Edward VIII Hospital spokeswoman, Nontobeko Ndlela, said in response to questions from the Daily News last week that the hospital had asked the UKZN School of Nursing and Public Health to launch an investigation into the complaint.
The Engelbrechts said they could not lodge a complaint with the SA Nursing Council because the nurses were apparently not wearing name badges.
Ndlela said the hospital had called upon the university to investigate the complaint because it wanted “a neutral body” to probe the matter. She added that hospital management would also set up a meeting with the Engelbrechts to hear their complaint and explain what action would be taken.
lyse.comins@inl.co.za
Daily News
An investigation into a KZN housing scam has led to the recovery of more than R10.6m in fraudulent subsidies.
|||Durban - An investigation into a housing scam has led to the recovery of more than R10.6 million in subsidies, which unscrupulous government employees defrauded from the provincial government through their illegal occupation of low-cost houses.
This emerged when KwaZulu-Natal Human Settlements MEC Ravi Pillay gave his budget speech to the provincial legislature in Pietermaritzburg on Tuesday. He said that out of the R3.5 billion allocated to his department, R135.4m was used for administration costs to fight fraud and corruption within the department.
So far, investigations had led to 566 criminal charges being laid and, of these, 449 convictions.
Pillay said the internal investigation had uncovered more than 1 500 other fraudsters, not linked to the government.
They had confessed to the illegal occupation of houses and volunteered to pay back about R18.2m, because they were non-qualifying beneficiaries, to the department to escape prosecution.
The department had worked with the police and their Special Investigating Unit and Anti-Corruption Unit for four years to stop the rot.
So far there had also been a total of 351 internal disciplinary cases.
Pillay said that his department had spent the whole R2.9bn allocated for housing in the previous financial year.
In the previous year it had built 25 940 houses - compared to Gauteng’s 22 365 houses and R4bn budget.
The shortage of houses remained a challenge as informal settlements kept escalating. Durban had a huge backlog, driven by job-seekers coming to the city.
“Let us be under no illusion about the extent of this challenge,” Pillay said.
The Mercury
For the second time this week disgruntled construction workers blocked uMngeni Road and the M19 with burning rubble.
|||Durban - For the second time this week disgruntled construction workers blocked uMngeni Road and the M19 with burning rubble.
Protesters began placing barricades on the road at 4am on Wednesday, police said.
Since 6am metro police were attempting to clear the road for traffic to run smoothly, and a water truck was used to douse the fires.
Workers employed by Rumdel Cape/EXR Joint Venture downed tools four weeks ago demanding a R12 000 project bonus, and every day these workers have been protesting at the construction site.
Metro police spokesman, Senior Superintendent Eugene Msomi, said they were trying to contain the protesters under the N2 bridge with the help of the Public Order Policing Unit.
The M19 was closed on Wednesday morning with officers diverting traffic.
Provincial police spokesman, Colonel Vincent Mdunge, said the road would be re-opened once the rubble had been removed.
“We are trying to quell the violence and keep the peace. There have been no arrests. We are monitoring the recurring problem,” he said.
When asked if police would be deployed at this particular site as a preventative measure, Mdunge said the police were busy tackling crime in other areas but “if this problem persists we would find it compelling for officers to monitor the situation”.
One of the workers, who had been part of a handful of those protesting, said they had had no joy regarding their demands and they were being sent from pillar to post by Sanral and Rumdel Cape/EXR Joint Venture.
Many angry commuters who abandoned their taxi transport and started walking to work, said the protests were a huge inconvenience.
“I live in KwaMashu and I had to jump off the taxi stuck in traffic. The driver told us that he could not get on to uMngeni Road. I’m going to be late for work. These employers must do something and talk to their workers,” said Dudu Khumalo, an employee at Makro.
The latest report on Wednesday morning was that the uMngeni Road side into the city centre was open, but the M19 Pinetown-bound side was closed.
Motorists voiced their frustration at the road closures and protests. On Twitter @pigspotterkzn reported that there was traffic congestion on both sides of uMngeni Road. There were also delays in Inanda Road, inbound, between Newlands and Chris Hani Road via Sea Cow Lake. There was also a delay on the M7 from Outer Ring Road/ St John’s Avenue to uMngeni Road/St John’s Avenue.
Daily News
THE Kennedy Road and Madiba Bottlebrush informal settlements in eThekwini have been designated priority projects.
|||Durban - The Kennedy Road and Madiba Bottlebrush informal settlements in eThekwini Municipality have been designated priority projects by the KwaZulu-Natal Department of Human Settlements.
MEC Ravi Pillay announced yesterday that the two settlements, one in Clare Estate and the other in Chatsworth, had been designated ministerial projects, but the city would be involved in the development.
“Of course this intervention will be in full partnership with eThekwini Municipality.”
Although Pillay did not divulge many details, his undertaking means that the provision of housing for those living in these settlements could be fast-tracked.
The Kennedy Road informal settlement in Clare Estate has been a thorn in the side of the government. Last month, residents at the settlement embarked on a protest demanding to be relocated to the new Cornubia housing development, north of the city.
The chairman of the shack dwellers association, Abahlali BaseMjondolo, Sbu Zikode, was not impressed, saying many promises had been made of fast-tracking development at Kennedy Road.
“We would only welcome the practical implementation of these promises by the MEC. The MEC needs to tell us when and how this would be fast-tracked. The people of Kennedy Road are sick and tired of these empty promises,” he said.
There is concern that at the Kennedy Road site, with some of the land being a landfill, there may not be sufficient space to house all the people living there.
The options may include putting up high-rise, high-density residential buildings.
Pillay, delivering his department’s budget speech at the legislature yesterday, said the existence of slums remained the government’s Achilles heel, especially in eThekwini.
The 2011 census revealed that there were 635 informal settlements across KZN, with 494 of these being in eThekwini.
While there have been concerns about the slow pace of delivery housing in eThekwini, Pillay said he was satisfied the municipality had turned the corner on the matter.
The Department of Human Settlements and the provincial infrastructure team have been working with eThekwini to try to unlock the bottlenecks in the delivery of houses.
“I expect that eThekwini in their new financial year will deliver at least 10 000 units and begin a concerted effort to remove transit camps,” Pillay said.
“In addition, they will have an aggressive programme in respect of interim services such as water, electricity and sanitation.”
Pillay warned that proper planning was needed for cities such as eThekwini because of rapid urbanisation.
Deliver
“Our NDP (National Development Plan) points out that another 7.8 million people will be living in South African cities in 2030 and a further 6 million by 2050, putting pressure on municipalities to deliver services.
“A large portion of new urban residents will be poor, reflecting a phenomenon referred to as the urbanisation of poverty.”
Pillay said that – with its budget of R2.9bn – his department had built more than 26 000 houses in the 2012/13 financial year, the highest number of units built by any province.
Gauteng, with the biggest housing budget of R4bn, had built only 22 000 units.
“Proportionally to budget, we were among the best and far better than Gauteng and the Western Cape.”
bheki.mbanjwa@inl.co.za
Daily News
A Manor Gardens mother-of-two has spoken of her ordeal at being awoken to find a gun pointed at her face.
|||Durban - A Manor Gardens mother-of-two has spoken of her ordeal at being awoken to find a gun pointed at her face.
Elmarie Ella Swart, 26, said had it not been for the quick thinking of her 14-year-old niece, one of the four robbers who had broken into her home might have carried out his threat to rape her.
“My niece was brave enough to blurt out, ‘don’t do it because she is pregnant’, to one of the men who threatened to rape me,” she said yesterday.
Swart, who is not pregnant, was at home on Saturday night with her children – a 10-year-old son and two-year-old daughter – and her niece.
She was waiting for her fiancé to return home from a rugby match when the men entered her home through the unlocked front door and gate.
“I fell asleep on the couch in the lounge. I was unaware that the men had entered the house,” she said.
“I felt a gentle tug on my arm and a voice whispering to me, ‘armed robbery’, repeatedly. I thought it was my fiancé, but when I opened my eyes I saw a gun pointed at my face.”
The three other men had already grabbed the children from their rooms and pushed them into the lounge.
Swart said she was in shock when one of the men grabbed her and repeatedly threatened to rape her, but backed off when her niece told him that she was pregnant.
Daughter
“The men tied our hands behind our backs with cable ties. They attempted to tie the hands of my daughter, but I managed to talk them out of it saying she was harmless and frightened.
“I told them that my fiancé was on his way home and they could take whatever they wanted, but spare our lives,” Swart said.
One man stood watch over them while the others ransacked her home,
she said, adding that when they came across a bunch of keys they kept shoving her around, wanting to know which key would open the garage door and her car.
“They ripped my computer cords off the wall and threw everything from the cupboards on to the floor. They took three cellular phones, my Polo, flat-screen television, clothing, appliances and some cash,” Swart said.
“They were loading up the appliances in the car when my fiancé arrived. He was unaware that we were being held up.”
Swart, who did not want her fiancé named, said he had seen an object lying on the driveway, so he parked his vehicle on the roadside and came up to investigate.
“The men yelled at him to run away when they saw him. He was stunned,” she said.
“He turned back and ran on to the road, screaming ‘hijacking’ repeatedly to alert neighbours.“
She said this caused the men to panic. “They left some items on the floor. They took my car and sped off. I have a bruised arm and lost close to R70 000 worth of stuff.”
Swart, who managed to wriggle the cable tie off her hand and untie her niece and son, said they would undergo counselling.
Police spokesman, Captain Thulani Zwane, said a case of house robbery was being investigated.
Daily News
A Durban taxi drivers’ organisation has vowed to stay away until taxi owners and the Department of Labour address their demands for better working conditions.
|||Durban - A taxi drivers’ organisation that claims to have more than 1 000 members in Durban has vowed to stay away from Friday until taxi owners and the Department of Labour address their demands for better working conditions.
SA Taxi Workers Organisation (Satwo) secretary Musawenkosi Khoza said yesterday that members had agreed stop to work on Friday.
“The drivers have suffered enough exploitation at the hands of the taxi owners… Drivers need to enjoy rights just like any other employed person,” said Khoza.
He said the Department of Labour should enforce the labour laws and drivers’ right to permanent employment.
On Workers’ Day (May 1), Satwo members marched to the city hall to deliver a memorandum to the SA National Taxi Council (Santaco) and labour and transport departments.
Only an official from Department of Labour was present to receive the memorandum.
“Their demands are not feasible,” Santaco secretary Mdu Xaba said.
“Taxi owners are negotiating with the government to formalise and subsidise the industry. They do not realise that their grievances can be dealt with only after ours have been resolved by the government.”
Xaba warned the drivers that a stayaway could lead to a serious confrontation with taxi owners.
nkululeko.nene@inl.co.za
Daily News
Three months after a brutal attack on a Greytown family left seven dead and two injured, three men have been arrested.
|||Durban - Three months after a brutal attack on a Greytown family left seven dead and two injured, the task team responsible for investigating the massacre has made a break- through, arresting three men.
Seven Mkhize family members were shot dead and two survived when a gang of assailants attacked them at their home at Muden in the KwaZulu-Natal Midlands early on March 9.
The five Mkhize brothers - Sibusiso, 59, Mngeni, 46, Lungisani, 40, Mhlengi, 38, Simphiwe, 18, a two-year-old girl – and their relative, Sizwe Zuma, 32, were asleep in separate rondavels when five men opened fire on them.
The attackers, weilding AK-47 rifles and handguns, were allegedly masquerading as police officers.
Two males, a four-year-old and a 17-year-old, were injured during the attack.
Police spokesman Col Vincent Mdunge said the National Intervention Unit had conducted operations in the Muden and Greytown area.
Several firearms were seized.
“During one of these operations, a 51-year-old man was arrested for possession of an unlicensed firearm on April 14, and was subsequently released on bail,” Mdunge said.
The firearms seized, including the one found in his possession, were sent for ballistics testing to determine whether they had been used in any crimes.
Mdunge confirmed the ballistics report on the firearm taken from the 51-year-old indicated it had been used in the Mkhize family massacre.
“The task team rearrested the 51-year-old on Monday morning and subsequent police investigations led to the arrest of his two sons in connection with the massacre,” Mdunge said.
The three will be charged with the seven murders and on two counts of attempted murder. They were expected to appear in Greytown Magistrate’s Court this week.
Provincial commissioner, Lieutenant-General Mmamonnye Ngobeni, expressed her gratitude for the steadfast and resolute investigative approach of the task team.
“This breakthrough comes at a time when the public expected a speedy resolution to the inhumane attack on the Mkhize family, yet the community was reluctant to volunteer information to the police,” she said.
The commissioner added that the SAPS’s quest to eradicate the proliferation of illegal firearms in Greytown and surrounding areas was yielding the intended results.
“We are confident that we will make further arrests in this case and we advise those suspects that are outstanding to hand themselves over as it is only a matter of time before we arrest them,” Ngobeni said.
Daily News
The management of Brian Boswell’s Circus say they are being victimised by a malicious group of protesters.
|||Durban - After being publicly vilified for an “isolated incident” involving animal abuse last year, management of Brian Boswell’s Circus says they are being victimised by a malicious group of protesters.
Footage aired by Carte Blanche showing a former handler at the circus whipping an elephant enraged activists who have since staged pickets on several occasions.
Now as the circus heads for the Bluff next week, and central Durban after that, protesters are preparing for another confrontation against the use of wild animal acts and are planning to stage protests daily.
Bluff activists are urging locals to boycott the circus and have written to the hosts, the Dutch Club, asking them to cancel the contract with Brian Boswell’s Circus. The circus – minus the elephants and lions acts because of the weather – is currently in Scottburgh.
Despite publicly declaring that they would consider not using wild animals at shows if circus-goers were against them, the family-owned circus and entertainment company said the threats continued.
“It is very difficult to deal with, because people hide behind their Facebook pages and send me threats, telling me they hope my family dies a slow and miserable death,” said Georgina Boswell, whose father, Brian, started the circus.
“I respect people’s opinions and we do everything to keep our public happy, but honestly I feel like my family business is being persecuted by a minority group of illegal protesters who should be arrested,” she said.
“We have regular surveys and we had said that if our supporters were against us using wild animals, we would consider it. But based on feedback from the surveys, 100 percent of people who come to the show say they enjoy having them there,” Boswell said.
“We have 60 people here. Right now, we don’t have any wild animals in our show because we change it around based on the weather and what we think our people want to see. So the trapeze artists, clowns and our employees face being deprived of their only source of income.”
Battle
Boswell said she felt like she was fighting a losing battle, because the attacks were relentless despite the current exclusion of wild animals.
“I am not even sure if it’s still about the animals at all. We have a great family show with only farm animals like pigs, horses, goats and a Mongolian Cossack. We always invite the public to come in and look around,” she said.
The circus has been in the spotlight since Carte Blanche aired amateur video footage in April showing its elephants being abused by handlers in two separate incidents.
The Daily News reported on the outcry in May.
The national council of the SPCA (NSPCA), which was also sent the footage taken in December, has laid five criminal charges against the circus.
Circus management fired one handler in December after receiving complaints from patrons, and suspended another after the Carte Blanche footage.
Support for the “Boycott Brian Boswell’s Animal Circus” Facebook page appears to have increased since the airing of the footage, and the NSPCA’s petition to the Department of Environmental Affairs to ban wild animal acts in circuses has so far drawn more than 7 000 signatures.
Boswell said there had been four protests staged while they were touring. At one protest, she claimed protesters intimidated patrons with pictures, off the internet, of blood-soaked animals.
Calls to bombard the venue hosts with e-mails, SMSes and phone calls amounted to harassment, she said.
Bluff crime-fighter, Rake Jeeves, said yesterday he learnt only recently of the circus coming to the area. “I have tried speaking to the Dutch Club to cancel the booking, but they have said it is difficult to do so as they are under a contract. We’re now trying, through social media, to get residents not to support the circus.”
Bluff animal activist, Louise Bennet, said: “If there are human acts alone, that is okay, but we don’t agree to the use of animals. We are trying to spread the word via e-mail.”
The circus is expected to be in Durban from June 25, and local animal rights activist and amateur documentary maker, Michael Almendro, are co-ordinating daily protests.
“When the circus officially says they are no longer using wild animal acts, then our protests will stop,” he said yesterday.
Almendro is defending a R1 million defamation suit brought against him by Brian Boswell’s Circus over an 11-minute video feature, posted on YouTube, that alleges animal abuse at the circus.
Boswell said that the campaign by protesters overshadowed the good work that the circus did. “We enjoy reaching out to people from places where they would never get to see a circus,” she said. “We are also a member of the Magaliesburg Lions Club and we are accountable to them.”
A director of the club, who requested her name be withheld because she was receiving hate mail, praised the circus.
‘I think the work that they do while on the road is phenomenal. We don’t just get anyone to be a member. You need to be upstanding and demonstrate that you are passionate about what you do,” she said.
“They entertain thousands of elderly people and young children.”
Jackie Debble, supervisor of the Scottburgh Country Club where the circus is currently based, said he was “perfectly happy” with them being there.
“There are no wild animals in sight, so I don’t understand what the hassle is about.”
noelene.barbeau@inl.co.za
dudu.zwane@inl.co.za
Daily News
KZN city manager S'bu Sithole will head a probe into an unauthorised protest march by 200 metro police officers.
|||Durban - City manager S’bu Sithole will head a probe into Friday’s unauthorised protest march by 200 metro police officers calling for the removal of their boss - Eugene Nzama.
The disgruntled metro police officers had been reminded that they were bound by the National Police Act, city mayor James Nxumalo said on .
During the Executive Committee meeting, Nxumalo said he was disappointed by their conduct.
“We have assigned the city manager to handle the situation. We need to know who the culprits are. We cannot have police violate protocol. We condemn this behaviour,” he said.
Nxumalo said grievances should be directed to the bargaining council.
According to a memorandum of grievances, the officers want, among other things, metro police head, Nzama, to be removed.
Lindani Sicwala, who represents the metro police with the union, said the Manase Report into challenges facing the city had indicated that there were a number of problems within metro police, so they were now more determined to see Nzama go.
“We want him out because we have been proven right,” he said.
Sicwala said they were also calling for a review on how Nzama was hired, a qualification audit of all senior managers in the department and a review of all the positions of people who were hired by the police chief.
Sicwala said if the city did not respond in time, the union would move on to their “Plan B” - to down tools.
He said this would have a negative impact on the Top Gear Festival that will be taking place at the Moses Mabhida Stadium this weekend.
Regional secretary of South African Municipal Workers Union, Jaycee Ncanana, said if they downed tools, there would be ramifications.
“If we down tools, our industrial action will coincide with the event in Durban. It is not planned, but if we are forced to down tools it will be affected.”
Ncanana said: “What we are asking is for them to deal with Nzama. We can’t have over 3 000 people suffering because of one person.”
He said Nzama thought he was “above everything”, which did not make his officers happy.
Municipal spokesman, Thabo Mofokeng, said some of the grievances were already being addressed, but did not say which ones.
Mofokeng said he did not think the Top Gear Festival would be affected.
“While the issues are being discussed, we expect our police to be disciplined,” he said.
mpume.madlala@inl.co.za
Daily News
A Clare Estate man accused of stabbing his mother to death will spend a week behind bars pending his bail application.
|||Durban - A Clare Estate man accused of stabbing his mother to death will spend a week behind bars pending his bail application.
Sumeet Ruggaran, 23, is alleged to have stabbed Premie Devi Ruggaran, 62, eight times, in a bout of rage.
It is alleged he walked into the kitchen of the Membry Road home and stabbed his mother in the back.
When police, alerted by neighbours who heard noises coming from the house, arrived at the scene, they allegedly found Ruggaran standing over the body with a knife in his hand and a cigarette in his mouth.
Ruggaran, who has been charged with murder, briefly appeared in the Durban Magistrate’s Court yesterday. His bail hearing is set for next week when it will be recommended he be sent for mental observation. The State is still awaiting the post-mortem report.
rizwana.umar@inl.co.za
Daily News
A bullet grazed the head of a Durban man who survived a shoot-out with four would-be robbers armed with an AK-47.
|||Durban - A bullet grazed the head of a Durban businessman who survived a shoot-out with four would-be robbers armed with handguns and an AK-47 rifle at his Parlock home.
Three men tried to force their way into the house, at the intersection of Parlock Drive and Carden Crescent, at 8am on Tuesday. A fourth waited in the front garden with an AK-47.
The 40-year-old businessman, who wished to remain anonymous for fear the gunmen might return, said he was in the bathroom when he heard his wife scream.
Three men with guns were trying to pry open the kitchen gate.
The man fetched his gun and told his family and domestic worker to hide.
He fired shots at the armed robbers, who then fled from the side of the house into the front garden.
“I came to my front door to assess the situation. I heard what sounded like fireworks going off. One of the men had an AK-47 in his hand and his finger on the trigger. I kept shooting back in his direction,” he said. “The men jumped into a white Audi and fled.”
During the shoot-out a bullet grazed the man’s forehead, an inch away from his right eye. He received five stitches to the wound.
A damaged burglar gate, shattered lounge windows and the front house walls and fence pockmarked with bullet holes bore testimony to the gun battle.
Police chalk markings around bullet shells and bloodstains on the driveway indicated that the robbers were well armed and at least one of them could be wounded.
The businessman said the robbers had climbed over his front driveway gate, opened the automatic driveway gate box and deactivated the gate, which allowed the men to open it with ease. The robbers, who wore balaclavas, then reversed their car into the property.
“My life was in God’s hands. It was a very traumatic incident,” the homeowner said, clutching his five-year-old daughter and assessing the damage. “I will leave the investigations in the hands of the police
.”
Police spokesman Captain Thulani Zwane said a case of attempted murder, attempted house robbery and malicious damage to property was being investigated.
A relative at the scene said they were told that a gang of robbers armed with an AK-47 rifle had been involved in other robberies in KwaZulu-Natal.
They are believed to have been involved in a house robbery in Dawncliffe, Westville on Saturday. Zwane said a 64-year-old man was robbed at gunpoint by two men.
The men are also believed to have robbed a business in Malvern. Zwane said the 44-year-old victim was in his shop when two armed men entered and demanded money and cellphones.
They took airtime vouchers, cigarettes and cash.
zainul.dawood@inl.co.za
Daily News
A total of 77 employees in the KwaZulu-Natal health department have been fired for fraudulent or corrupt activities since 2009.
|||Pietermaritzburg - A total of 77 employees in the KwaZulu-Natal health department have been fired for fraudulent or corrupt activities since 2009, the provincial legislature learned on Wednesday.
Of these, 34 were in managerial positions, according to the province's health budget, presented by MEC Sibongiseni Dhlomo.
It showed that a further 42 people had been charged, but had resigned before they could be dismissed.
A further 89 health department staff had been charged and issued with a final warning. - Sapa
Just over 200 South Africans had secured jobs with MSC Cruises to work on its cruise liners in both local waters and worldwide following the company’s first concerted recruitment drive in the country.
|||Just over 200 South Africans had secured jobs with MSC Cruises to work on its cruise liners in both local waters and worldwide after the company’s first concerted recruitment drive in the country.
Speaking in Durban last week, Neil Palomba, the global chief operations officer of the Italian-based cruise company, said it had received a great response, with more than 600 applications.
In March, the company announced the South African recruitment campaign, which Palomba said was part of MSC Cruises’ commitment to growing the maritime and cruise tourism industry in the country. The cruise line division forms part of maritime giant Mediterranean Shipping Company (MSC), which is reported to be the biggest user of South Africa’s ports.
“Our recruitment programme will continue, but we are happy with the response we’ve received following our announcement in March… This initiative is part of our efforts to play a more active role in job creation and skills development in the South African cruise sector through hiring local South Africans for both land-based and on-board positions.
“Positions on board include guest services, buffet attendants, room service attendants, waiters and waitresses, shore excursion hosts, shop assistants, casino dealers, as well as housekeeping staff… MSC Cruises have to date received over 600 applications, conducted around 300 interviews and have seen numerous of these applicants for a second-round skills tests.
“Interviews were conducted across Durban, Joburg and Cape Town. Skype interviews were also done with those in inaccessible areas or those who were not able to make the allocated dates. Interviews are ongoing,” Palomba added.
The company had originally said it would open up 80 to 100 positions for South Africans as part of the initial phase of the recruitment programme, but has increased them. Successful candidates were undergoing the relevant medical tests before starting their standards of training, certification and watchkeeping for seafarers training courses in Durban.
“This is not just a once-off plan… I came to Durban to meet some of the people selected to work on board our ships both in local and international waters. We were looking for candidates who had some sort of hospitality industry experience and those who were willing to be away from home for an extended period, working mostly at sea. We were impressed by the quality of many of the applicants,” Palomba added.
Zihle Mnyandu, a 23-year-old recruit from uMlazi, said she was excited to get the opportunity to work aboard MSC Cruises’ liners.
“I used to work as a ground staff assistant at the N-shed cruise terminal in Durban, but now I am getting the opportunity work on international cruises. It is going to be an amazing career opportunity. I can work and explore the world at the same time,” she said.
Palomba said MSC Cruises wanted to play a more significant role in development the industry, through not just skills development, but also Durban’s planned new cruise passenger terminal.
KZN Speaker Peggy Nkonyeni denies that she accelerated the awarding of a contract in exchange for a donation to the ANC.
|||Durban - KZN Speaker Peggy Nkonyeni has defended herself against allegations made in the Durban Labour Court this week by a suspended health department employee that she exerted pressure on health department officials to accelerate the awarding of a contract in exchange for a donation to the ANC.
Nkonyeni was health MEC when Cape Town-based Uruguayan businessman Gaston Savoi’s company, Intaka Holdings, was awarded the multi-million rand contract to supply equipment to the health department.
Suspended health department legal services manager Kantha Padayachee testified on Tuesday that she was worked out of the health department after informing the police and auditing firm PricewaterhouseCoopers (PWC) about Intaka’s irregular contracts with the department.
On Wednesday, Nkonyeni’s spokesman, Wonder Hlongwa, said that, while the Office of the Speaker respected the Labour Court process, the allegations were now “out in the public domain” and Nkonyeni had to give her side of the story.
“Nkonyeni categorically denies allegations attributed to (Padayachee)… It is also important to mention that Padayachee was charged and suspended by the department after Nkonyeni had left and the charges she faced had to do with allegations of racism that were levelled against her and had nothing to do with the Intaka Holdings saga,” Hlongwa said.
He said it was “now baffling to understand” why Padayachee was “dragging Nkonyeni’s name into her problems with the department”.
Savoi and several senior KZN government employees were charged with racketeering, fraud and money laundering in the “Amigos” trial. Nkonyeni was originally charged, but the charges were withdrawn last October.
Hlongwa said Nkonyeni’s office had noted, “with suspicion”, that Padayachee’s allegations had surfaced shortly after the DA instituted court proceedings to force the National Prosecuting Authority to make public its reasons for withdrawing these charges against Nkonyeni.
He said Nkonyeni’s office believed that certain individuals, colluding with political parties, could be using the courts for party politics.
“The Office of the Speaker will, however, watch developments until the end of the proceedings before it makes a full statement on the allegations.”
The Mercury