May 5, 2011
The Pietermaritzburg High Court has found Sheryl Cwele, the wife of State Security Minister Siyabonga Cwele, guilty of drug trafficking.
Crime is Crime Corruption is Corruption Murder is Murder Rape is Rape Facts are Facts
Thursday, May 5, 2011
Queen's reburial to cost R300m
May 5, 2011
The reburial of King Goodwill Zwelithini's mother will cost the taxpayer R300 million.
eThekwini municipality spokesman Thembinkosi Ngcobo said the cost was justified as the project would benefit the community and promote the Zulu nation, the SABC reported on Wednesday.
The remains of Queen Thomozile Jezangani KaNdwandwe Zulu had been exhumed and would be reburied in Cato Manor on Saturday.
An unveiling and memorial ceremony would be held at the Umkhumbane Freedom Park on Sunday.
Zulu King Goodwill Zwelithini
The king, the traditional leader of the country's largest ethnic group, had asked officials in the eastern province of KwaZulu-Natal to help him find the remains of his mother, Queen Thomozile Jezangani KaNdwandwe Zulu.
Zulu Impi's ( Warriors)
Zulu Princesses
SABC said officials plan to rebury her exhumed remains Saturday and hold an unveiling and memorial ceremony Sunday at a total cost to taxpayers of 300 million rand ($45 million, 30 million euros).
The final resting place of the queen, who died in the 1950s in her early 30s, had been unknown.
After a more than two-year search that was drawn out by legal red tape, officials from the province's largest city, Durban, announced they had found a grave containing the remains of a woman named Thoko Zulu and carried out DNA tests that identified her as the queen.
She will be reburied at a memorial site in the Durban neighbourhood of Cato Manor, where she lived at the end of her life and where the city plans to develop a cultural museum and heritage centre, officials said.
The king is the symbolic leader of South Africa's 11 million Zulus but has no formal political power.
He is a descendant of King Shaka, the 19th-century leader who is still revered for uniting a large swathe of the country as the Zulu nation and waging bloody battles against the region's British colonisers.
King Goodwill Zwelithini's Wives
Wannabee like the "White Ladies"
Reburial of Zulu queen 'a sensitive issue'
THE Department of Co-operative Governance and Traditional Affairs should cover most of the cost for the exhumation and reburial of the remains of Queen Thomo Jezangani Ndwandwe, the DA said yesterday, describing the issue as "sensitive and emotional"
In a document that was tabled before the eThekwini Municipality's executive committee yesterday, it was recommended that the municipality and the provincial government jointly foot the Rl.5 million bill.
The queen, mother of King Goodwill Zwelithini, died in 1958 when Zwelithini, who has led the
Zulu nation for 40 years, was 10 years old. Zwelithini did not know where his mother had been
buried until recently.
DA caucus leader Tex Collins said: "This is a very sensitive and emotional issue and I don't have a problem with the exhuming and reburial of the king's mother, but shouldn't the Local Government and Traditional Affairs Department be the one carrying the main burden of the budget?"
The city document states that the king had expressed a wish to exhume the remains from the
Mayville Cemetery in Durban and for them to be reburied at his Nongoma homestead.
His wish was communicated to the offices of Premier Zweli Mkhize and Mayor Obed Mlaba two years ago.
Since then, the city has had several meetings with Mlaba, Mkhize's office, delegations from the royal household Amafa Heritage Council and Twala AmaAfrica funeral directors.
Because the city would lose an important part of its heritage if the remains were reburied at
Nongoma, Mlaba intervened and approached Zwelithini to have the reburial in Durban.
Zwelithini agreed, and the new site has been made available for the "purpose of reinterment".
The king, according to the document, had indicated he would like the function to take place before the end of May.
Expenditures include R300 000 that would go towards the provision of changing rooms for musicians and artists who would perform at the function.
A further R200 000 would be needed for transporting both the royal family and the Nongoma community, while R150 000 would be required for catering for the 1 000 VIPs attending the ceremony.
An archaeology team, which will conduct the DNA testing, will be paid R65 000.00
The figure excludes the storage, casket, transportation of the remains and the memorial stone.
http://www.timeslive.co.za/local/article1050866.ece/Queens-reburial-to-cost-R300m
Denied Promotion - Being White.
2011-05-04
Trade union Solidarity, which is representing Captain Renate Barnard, said it was expected to take between three months and a year for a ruling to be made.
The union's Dirk Hermann said arguments in court on Wednesday centred on how to apply affirmative action in line with the Constitution. He said the matter might end up in the Constitutional Court.
On February 26 last year the Labour Court ordered the police to promote Barnard to superintendent after she was denied the move because of her skin colour.
"She applied for a promotion as superintendent of the complaints investigation unit for the first time in 2005. She has been working as a captain in the same unit since 2004," Hermann said.
A selection panel twice identified Barnard as the best candidate for the post in the inspectorate, created to improve service delivery to the public. The job was advertised in September 2005. Barnard and other candidates applied for it.
After interviews were held, the panel allocated a mark of 86.67% to her, which was 17.5% higher than the next-highest score allocated to a Captain Shibambu.
The panel found the difference in Barnard and Shibambu's scores so great that service delivery would be jeopardised if Shibambu was appointed in the post.
Although the panel recommended Barnard for appointment, Assistant Commissioner Rasegatla resolved not to appoint her because doing so would not be in line with affirmative action policies. The position was not filled.
When the position was again advertised in 2006, Barnard reapplied and was once again the most suitable candidate.
This time Rasegatla decided she should be appointed. In his recommendation to former police commissioner Jackie Selebi, he pointed out that other candidates had had a year to improve to compete with her, but had not done so.
Jackie Selebi - former National Commissioner of Police
He subsequently withdrew the post.
Rather appoint an idiot because he is ANC (not colour) than a person who happes to be white and a woman...
Well - lets find the most incompetent - we don't want to let things run smoothly - do we!!
http://www.news24.com/SouthAfrica/News/Judgment-reserved-in-police-AA-case-20110504
Policewoman's promotion in limbo.
Police studying AA ruling.
Trigger Happy Cop
Incident-prone sergeant denied bail following woman's fatal shooting
May 4, 2011
The policeman accused of shooting Jeanette Odendaal outside the Kempton Park police station last week showed he "cannot be trusted" with a firearm and "he is at it again".
These words were used by magistrate Eric Mhlari when he denied bail to Sergeant Manape Kgoale, largely because he was convicted for firing his gun negligently eight years ago.
Odendaal, who had crashed into a police van, died after being shot, allegedly by Kgoale, outside the Kempton Park police station.
Mhlari said in his judgment that Kgoale had shown "he is somebody who cannot be trusted with the use of a firearm".
Earlier, the packed Kempton Park Magistrate's Court heard that Mhlari had been treated for alcohol abuse from March 28 to April 15 and was discharged less than two weeks before he allegedly shot Odendaal.
Prosecutor Ninette Lambden said Mhlari had been treated in the police employee assistance programme for "emotional stress" after being absent without leave from work for 41 days.
Reports last week quoted car guard Sipho Baloyi as saying that Kgoale walked up to Odendaal's car and fired at her with no warning.
Kgoale's lawyer, Riaan Louw, cross-examined Independent Complaints Directorate investigating officer Wiseman Baloyi, who admitted there were problems with contradictory statements from witnesses.
Kgoale, whom Louw said obtained 90% for a course on legal principles and firearms training in February, claims he saw a vehicle repeatedly reversing and driving into cars parked in front and behind it.
When he received no response and the car drove towards him, he allegedly fired at Odendaal's left arm, a decision taken in "split seconds".
Because of bad lighting and the reflection of the windscreen, he believed that an object clenched in the driver's hand was a gun.
"I thought my life was in danger," said Kgoale.
In her closing argument, prosecutor Ninette Lambden said Kgoale had "allegedly bent down into the motor vehicle and fired" and that there was an "outcry from the community" over police brutality.
"The fact of the matter is that two people have passed away in two months' time due to police action," she said.
Louw denied this . "It cannot be compared to the case in Ficksburg where numerous policemen were beating an unarmed person," he said.
Case crippling me financially - Cwele
2011-05-04
Sheryl Cwele
The claim is made in documents Cwele's legal representatives intend presenting to the KwaZulu-Natal High Court in Pietermaritzburg on Thursday when they opposes the State's application to re-open its case.
The State closed its case earlier this year, but wants to introduce new evidence. It brought its application on Wednesday.
Cwele and her co-accused Frank Nabolisa have pleaded not guilty to dealing or conspiring to deal in drugs, procuring a woman, Charmaine Moss, to collect drugs in Turkey, and procuring another woman, Tessa Beetge, to smuggle cocaine from South America.
Beetge was arrested when 10kg of cocaine was found in her luggage in Brazil in 2008.
She is serving a jail sentence in Sao Paolo. Moss turned State's witness.
Judge Piet Koen was expected to deliver judgment on Wednesday morning, but this was put on hold pending the outcome of the State's application.
In the defence's court documents opposing the application, Cwele said she had spent a fortune on legal fees on days which could have been used to hear evidence had the State not decided to close its case.
FACING THE FIRE: Sheryl Cwele awaits her fate in the dock yesterday. Her judgment, which was scheduled to take place, was postponed to allow the state to appeal for the case to be reopened so that two more witnesses can give evidence
Her employer, the Hibiscus Coast Municipality was also not paying her for taking leave to attend court proceedings.
"That means that each time I attend the court proceedings I have to pay for my legal team and lose income. I have lost a fortune as a result of my attendance," she said, submitting that the re-opening of the case would make the situation worse.
High profile
She described her case as a high-profile matter which had attracted a huge amount of media attention. She had found some of the reports hurtful to her and her family.
Cwele said she had found it difficult to find experts and witnesses because her case touched on the security and intelligence agency.
"It was difficult to get them to testify. I then decided to direct [former Umkhonto we Sizwe operative] advocate Wilfred Mkhize to help me," she said.
Mkhize had good connection within the intelligence community, she said.
Cwele said Mkhize died on April 18. He had managed to get two people to testify on her behalf.
She said she knew the witnesses only by their code names and that they were experts on how cellphone conversations were intercepted.
During the trial, the State produced bundles of intercepted calls between Nabolisa and Cwele and Beetge.
The bundles of the intercepted calls were riddled with errors and their authenticity was questioned several times by the defence team and Koen.
The State witnesses were also unable to explain how calls were intercepted.
Cwele argues that the State will be unfairly advantaged if its case is reopened because she has lost advocate Mkhize and the two witnesses, known only as Carlos and Bret.
Zille’s Handbook
May 3 2011
Western Cape Premier Helen Zille
There will be no more first-class or business-class domestic flights for Western Cape Premier Helen Zille and her cabinet, nor will they enjoy state-sponsored credit cards or five-star hotel stays.
The DA leader unveiled the ministerial handbook for all Western Cape MECs today.
The national ministerial handbook, which guides executive spending, is produced by the Department of Public Service and Administration and applies to all national ministers and MECs.
But soon after taking office, Zille said her government would review the handbook and introduce austerity measures.
This was at a time when cabinet ministers were reportedly buying top-of-the-range cars and staying in five-star hotels.
They justified their purchases by saying they fell within the ministerial guidelines. “That is why we have developed our own provincial ministerial handbook in line with the ‘no frills’ ethos of this government,” Zille said.
“Western Cape provincial MECs will be bound by these tighter rules and regulations.”
She and her cabinet have been cutting costs in line with this principle for some time, but the release of the handbook makes the measures official.
Zille also announced that the provincial handbook would be made available to the public.
“We do not agree that the ministerial handbook should be classified as a confidential document, requiring a Promotion of Access to Information Act (Paia) application to gain access to it,” she said.
“Any member of the public should be able to use this handbook to hold the provincial executive accountable for the way in which they spend taxpayers’ money.”
Last month, Public Service and Administration Minister Richard Baloyi told the Mail & Guardian that the handbook was classified and could be accessed only through a Paia request.
This morning, Zille announced that:
MECs will not be staying in five-star hotels.
The total purchase price of an official vehicle chosen by an MEC may not exceed 40 percent of the inclusive annual remuneration package of the MEC and must include VAT, accessories, extras and a maintenance plan. This is a substantial cut from the current threshold for vehicle cost of 70 percent of the inclusive annual remuneration package of a minister.
MECs may hire only Group D (1600cc and automatic) rental vehicles at airports unless it is impractical for the required purpose.
MECs may fly only economy class domestically and on international flights that are less than eight hours, while they may fly business class for international flights longer than eight hours. At present, ministers are entitled to business-class travel on domestic flights and first class on international flights.
There will be no department-sponsored credit cards in the name of an MEC.
MECs will be prohibited from doing business with the state.
While the national handbook states that members must disclose any gifts or hospitality received that exceeds R500, the Western Cape handbook lowers the threshold to R350.
There will be no direct payment to an MEC for security to be installed at his or her private residence, but the provincial Department of Public Works will be solely responsible for the installation of security measures.
Last month, the Sunday Times reported that Co-operative Governance and Traditional Affairs Minister Sicelo Shiceka justified his use of state funds for a range of personal costs as they were allowed by the ministerial handbook.
Baloyi said last month that the Executive Members’ Ethics Amendment Bill would be published soon for public comment, while the review of the ministerial handbook was still under way.
A review of the ethics code was called for last year by Public Protector Thuli Madonsela after she found that President Jacob Zuma and members of the cabinet had missed the deadline for declaring their business and financial interests.
Land Bank ex-boss in court over fraud
Johannesburg - Former Land Bank CEO Philemon Mohlahlane and three others appeared briefly in the Pretoria Commercial Crimes Court on Tuesday in connection with fraud charges, the National Prosecuting Authority said.
Ex-Land Bank CEO arrested for false qualifications
Former Land Bank chief executive Philemon Mohlahlane was arrested on Thursday for the second time this month by the Hawks in Polokwane for charges related to the alleged falsification of his qualifications.
Hawks spokesman McIntosh Polela said a 56-year-old former Land Bank chief executive had been arrested on charges of fraud and uttering."A suspect allegedly submitted fraudulent documents when he applied for and held several high ranking government jobs," Polela said.
The posts he had held were head of the department of the Free State provincial governemnt, chief executive of the Land Bank and chief executive of the Limpopo Agricultural Development Corporation (LADC). He was axed from the LADC post last year after about two months in the position. His employment at the time was controversial as it followed his suspension form the land Bank.
His axing from the LADC followed a forensic report by Pricewaterhouse Coopers which apparently uncovered many irregularities. The LADC appointed him over 22 other candidates apparently without consulting the provincial agriculture MEC Dipuo Letsatsi-Duba or Limpopo premier Cassel Mathale.
The Polokwane Observer newspaper reported last november that an external auditing firm had found that Mohlahlane, who had claimed the title of doctor, did not pass matric and that his degree from the united states was bogus.
Polela said today that according to the information in the Hawks' possession Mohlahlane had written his matric exam in 1974, but had in fact failed.
Earlier this month Mohlahlane was released on bail in connection with charges of defrauding the Land Bank of R14 million. He is expected to appear in the Polokwane Magistrate's Court later today.
ex-land-bank-ceo-arrested-for-false-qualifications
"(The) case in Pretoria was postponed to July 27 for further investigations and we (are) still confident of sustaining the charges in a subsequent trial," spokesperson advocate Mthunzi Mhaga said.
Mohlahlane, former Gauteng housing MEC Mpu Daniel Mofokeng, Khutso Mosoma and Matuba Maponya were arrested on five counts of fraud and five of money laundering in February.
They allegedly transferred money from the AgriBEE fund to a firm of attorneys and spent the money on cars and houses. The fund was intended to help start up small businesses.
Mohlahlane is also being investigated for allegedly presenting fake educational qualifications.
Mohlahlane, former Gauteng housing MEC Mpu Daniel Mofokeng, Khutso Mosoma and Matuba Maponya were arrested on five counts of fraud and five of money laundering in February.
They allegedly transferred money from the AgriBEE fund to a firm of attorneys and spent the money on cars and houses. The fund was intended to help start up small businesses.
Mohlahlane is also being investigated for allegedly presenting fake educational qualifications.
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| Ex-MEC in court over missing AgriBEE millions | |
 Former Land Bank CEO Philemon Mohlahlane appeared briefly in the Commercial Crimes Court in Pretoria yesterday with three others accused of embezzling R19m from the AgriBEE scheme. A report on the IoL site says Mohlahlane, former Gauteng housing MEC Mpu Daniel Mofokeng, Khutso Mosoma and Matuba Maponya appeared in court on five counts of fraud and five counts of money laundering. They were released on bail of R40 000 each and the case was postponed until 3 May. The four were arrested by the Hawks on Tuesday. At the time, Hawks spokesperson McIntosh Polela said they allegedly transferred money from the AgriBEE fund to a firm of attorneys. This money was then allegedly used to buy houses and cars, rather than to fund the struggling small, medium and micro enterprises for which the money was intended. Full report on the IoL site |