Dr. Pieter Mulder, leader of the Freedom Front Plus, yesterday asked for an urgent parliamentary debate on affirmative action to be held in Parliament.
According to Dr. Mulder, affirmative action is the basis of the South African government’s policy initiatives to correct inequalities in the country’s community.
Dissatisfaction regarding the controversial policy has however spread to such an extent that it is at present the subject of intense discussions and even court cases.
“I have for these reasons requested that a parliamentary debate on affirmative action, and in particular about the manner in which the department of correctional services enforces it, is held as soon as possible as a matter of national importance,” Dr. Mulder says
International unease mounted Sunday over the re-election of Africa’s oldest leader Robert Mugabe in polls denounced by Zimbabwe’s opposition as “stolen”.
Mugabe, 89, in power since 1980, trounced his long-standing rival Morgan Tsvangirai in Wednesday’s polls with 61 percent of the presidential vote while his party swept to a crushing parliamentary majority.
But 61-year-old Tsvangirai, leader of the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) who has unsuccessfully tried to unseat Mugabe three times, condemned the vote as “fraudulent and stolen” and has vowed to challenge it.
Western powers, barred from sending full observer teams, voiced serious doubts about the polls following concerns over irregularities.
On Sunday, Germany said the election “casts a big shadow on the political and economic future of Zimbabwe”, while Australia called for new polls.
“Given our doubts about the results, Australia calls for a re-run of the elections based on a verified and agreed voters roll,” Foreign Minister Bob Carr said in a statement.
US Secretary of State John Kerry had Saturday described the election as “deeply flawed” and said Washington “does not believe that the results …today represent a credible expression of the will of the Zimbabwean people.”
British Foreign Secretary William Hague added his own “grave concerns” over the conduct of the vote in the former colony.
African and local observers raised concerns over the voters roll, the printing of extra ballot papers, and the turning away of voters at polling stations.
But with gentler assessments from the continent despite noting the flaws, President Jacob Zuma of powerful neighbour South Africa offered his “profound congratulations” to Mugabe on Sunday.
“President Zuma urges all political parties in Zimbabwe to accept the outcome of the elections as election observers reported it to be an expression of the will of the people,” a foreign ministry statement said.
The reaction in Zimbabwe’s Sunday press was starkly divided, with state-controlled newspaper The Herald proclaiming “President Mugabe romps to victory”, while the independent Daily News headlined, “It’s a Crisis”.
The vote marks the end of Mugabe and Tsvangirai’s tense compromise government, forced by bloodstained 2008 polls, that helped steer the isolated nation out of a protracted crisis.
In Harare’s oldest township Mbare on Sunday, several hundred Mugabe supporters carried a white coffin draped in an MDC flag, with a red knotted scarf placed on top with the inscription “RIP Morgan”.
“People are elated,” said one of the marchers, Tatenda Savanhu, 26, an economist.
“It’s really a moment of joy that the GNU (coalition government) is now gone that we are going into an era of ZANU-PF”.
— Finding a smoking gun may prove difficult —
Tsvangirai vowed to challenge the result in court and said the MDC would boycott government institutions.
“The fraudulent and stolen election has plunged Zimbabwe into a constitutional, political and economic crisis.”
Tsvangirai defended his 2008 decision to enter the uneasy pact with Mugabe, who has had him arrested, beaten and charged with treason, saying it had “rescued” Zimbabwe after years of meltdown.
But Mugabe’s ZANU-PF party says there is no need for the MDC in the new government.
“We have received over 60 percent of the vote, we have two-thirds majority, why would we want to bring someone else on board?” State Security Minister Sydney Sekeramayi told AFP.
The MDC now has until Saturday to present evidence of fraud to the constitutional court, but finding a smoking gun may prove difficult. The inauguration is expected within 48 hours of the court’s decision.
Tsvangirai said he would submit a dossier of “all irregularities and all the illegalities” to the influential 15-member Southern African Development Community (SADC) and called for an urgent summit.
The European Union, which had been moving toward easing long-standing sanctions, has also expressed concern.
But Emmerson Mnangagwa, defence minister and a key Mugabe lieutenant, argued that the result was a game-changer.
“The West will now have to climb down, they must find a ladder and climb down… A democratic election has taken place in Zimbabwe,” he told AFP.
The SADC, which engineered the power-sharing government, said the vote was “free and peaceful”.
But top SADC election observer Bernard Membe noted: “We did not say it was fair … we didn’t want to jump to a conclusion.”
The poll’s credibility was further tarnished by the resignation of one of the nine official electoral commissioners over “the manner” in which the polls “were proclaimed and conducted”.
But Harare based political analyst Blessing Vava said Western concerns meant little with African guarantors having given the polls the nod.
“The issue of Zimbabwe is over and done with,” Vava said.
The criticism will also be of little concern to Mugabe, he said.
“He will not care much with what the West will say, this is the reason why they were not invited to observe elections in the first place.” – AFP
The Lions have clawed their way back into Super Rugby despite going down 23-18 to the Southern Kings in their second leg promotion-relegation match at Ellis Park on Saturday.
Coach Johan Ackermann said they are keen to retain the services of flyhalf Elton Jantjies and lock Franco van der Merwe.
“We’re going straight into negotiations with senior players this week.
“We couldn’t commit to the players until we knew the outcome of these two games against the Kings.
“We had a plan B in place in case we didn’t earn promotion, which was to focus on… our junior structures, but now we can start speaking to players such as Franco van der Merwe and Elton Jantjies.
“Obviously their agents have been negotiating with other unions, so we need to move quickly if we want to retain their services.
“The floor for negotiation is now open, and in Elton’s case it’s up to him to decide where he wants to play, said Ackermann.
Jantjies was loaned to the Stormers while Van der Merwe spent time at the Sharks during this year’s Super Rugby competition.
Regarding Saturday’s match, the Kings needed to win by more than eight points to remain in Super Rugby, but did not have enough firing power to get themselves over the final hurdle.
It was billed as one of the matches of the season, however, the first half did not live up to the hype as handling errors were the order of the day which added to an uneventful half of rugby.
While the Kings went into the match as overwhelming underdogs following last weekend’s defeat in the Port Elizabeth, they came out firing.
The visitors drew the first blood 11 minutes after the start of the match with Scott van Breda succeeding with a penalty conversion.
Van Breda extended their lead three minutes later to give the team a good cushion early on in the game, but missed the opportunity to take another three points on the 20 minute mark.
While Van Breda had some success with his place kicking, Lions flyhalf Elton Jantjies had some trouble with his aim at the posts.
Jantjies missed three of his attempts at goal, which ultimately did not have a major influence on the game.
The flyhalf’s ball distribution was nevertheless crisp as he put the backline on the front foot.
The Lions had their first opportunity to diminish the Kings’ lead in the 23rd minute, but Jantjies’ kick dropped short of the cross-bar.
Seven minutes later he was on target to bring his side within three points of the coastal side.
The hosts then took the lead for the first time in the match, five minutes from the half-time whistle, when Derick Minnie scored from a driving maul from a lineout, with Jantjies missing the conversion.
The Kings, however, had the last say in the match as Van Breda slotted over a penalty a minute from the break to give them a slender one-point lead.
After the break the Lions wrested the lead back again through a penalty conversion (11-9).
The Lions continued to grow in confidence and scored their second try of the match when Jaco Kriel found his way over the whitewash, with Jantjies converting for a nine-point lead.
The home side’s fortunes, however, started to turn when centre Stokkies Hanekom was yellow-carded for a tip tackle in the 67th minute.
A minute later the Kings prop Schalk Ferreira forced his way over the line, with Van Breda converting for a two-point deficit.
With seven minutes left on the clock the Kings scored again with Van Breda touching down in the corner and converting his own try for a five-point lead.
It, however, proved to be a bitter-sweet victory for the Kings as they needed to win by eight points to remain in Super Rugby.
As referee Stuart Berry signaled the end of the match Ellis Park erupted with Queen’s We are the Champions echoing through the stadium.
Scorers: Lions 18 (8): Tries: Derick Minnie, Jaco Kriel. Conversions: Elton Jantjies.Penalties: Jantjies (2) Southern Kings 23 (9): Tries: Schalk Ferreira, Scott van Breda. Conversion: Van Breda (2). Penalties: Van Breda (3). – Sapa and Praag
Alan Solomons, rugby director of the Southern Kings
Outgoing Southern Kings director of rugby Alan Solomons went out in a blaze of glory following his franchise’s relegation from Super Rugby on Saturday, despite a 23-18 victory over the Lions at Ellis Park.
“I think it is an absolute disgrace that we are not in Super Rugby and if we are interested in truly transforming this game the Eastern Cape has to be there,” Solomons said.
“We need some leadership here and leadership has got to decide what they want to do about South African rugby. Do they want to move it on or do we want to stay where we were prior to 1994?”
The Kings lost the first leg of the promotion-relegation matches in Port Elizabeth and needed to win by eight points on Saturday to maintain the status quo.
Instead, there were scenes of celebrations in Doornfontein as the Lions clawed their way back from the Super Rugby wilderness.
“I look at it from our franchise’s point of view and we’ve had a fantastic debut season,” Solomons said.
“We got the rough end of refereeing decisions in the first match and it cost us our Super Rugby status. To say the least it is unsatisfactory.”
While Lions coach Johan Ackermann was overjoyed with their new-found Super Rugby status, he conceded that it was a flawed process.
“It should have been better dealt with and there could have been a better solution,” Ackermann said.
“Tonight there is no winner: We win, so we are all smiles and they lose, so all the work they’ve done there, will be on hold now.
“From a South African perspective, if I was Heyneke Meyer and I had six franchises to choose from, I would be smiling.”
Solomons said their relegation was not only a setback for rugby in the Eastern Cape but for the sport as a whole.
“The Kings have got to do everything in their power to keep things going, the South African Rugby Union have to ensure that we are in the Premier Division of the Currie Cup at the very least,” Solomons said.
Ackermann was sympathetic to the Kings’ cause as their relegation had consequences in many facets of their structures.
“There are many changes that happen — you plan to sign coaches for your Super Rugby, your Vodacom Cup and your Under-20s — then suddenly things change and you have to adapt,” he said.
“There are many implications…I honestly can’t say how you find a solution for it now.”
He said the Lions were now in the same situation as the Kings were in a year ago where they had little time to assemble a squad for next year’s Super Rugby competition.
“We couldn’t commit to a Super squad until we knew the results after these two games,” Ackermann said.
“We worked on a plan B where the focus was on youngsters and now we can start looking at Franco van der Merwe, Elton Jantjies and all those high-profile players.”
A case of arson is being investigated after a fire claimed the lives of three adults and a baby in the Johannesburg CBD, eNews Channel Africa reported on Sunday.
Police spokeswoman Sibongile Mnguni said police suspected that the fire could have been started deliberately on Saturday.
No arrests had been made by Sunday evening.
Mnguni said that the bodies of two adults and a baby were found in the gutted block of flats, on the corner of Jeppe and Nugget Streets.
A fourth person, who jumped from the building to escape the blaze, died before arriving at hospital. – Sapa
Five robbers broke into an East London store by crashing through its security gate with a bakkie, the DispatchOnline reported on Monday.
Eye witnesses told the Eastern Cape publication that the men then went into the Jet Mart store and stole about 10 plasma screen TVs.
The robbery happened on Saturday night near the taxi rank in the city centre.
Red Alert security company operations manager Alistair Bleach said a patrolling officer was sent to the scene when an alarm went off.
“When he got to the store armed suspects started firing shots at him. Seeing that he was outnumbered and with innocent bystanders nearby our officer did not fire back but called for back up,” said Bleach.
No-one was injured.
East London police spokesman Captain Stephen Marais said no arrests had been made. – Sapa
The City of Johannesburg is trying to find out whether former President Nelson Mandela owes it more than R6,000 for services.
Eyewitness News is in possession of a copy of a pre-termination notice dated 1 August that was stuck to the elder statesman’s Houghton home over the weekend.
The notice states that his account has been in arrears for over 30 days. It also indicates that his services will be cut off and legal action taken unless the amount, listed as R6,468.48, is settled within 14 days.
City Power has not confirmed whether his account is actually in arrears. It has also not ruled out the possibility that the notice was stuck to the wrong door or is a case of irregular billing.
The city has been plagued by billing problems over the past few years with many customers laying complaints for incorrect statements or being over-charged.
The Nelson Mandela Centre of Memory has distanced itself from the allegations, saying the city should verify its facts. It has denied Madiba owes any outstanding amounts relating to services.
The organisation has further called on the City of Joburg to respond to the allegations.
The city has promised to comment on the matter later today.
The issue comes as Madiba enters his second month in hospital for a recurring lung infection.
According to Sapa, it was quiet outside the Medi-Clinic Heart Hospital in Pretoria on Sunday where former president Nelson Mandela was receiving treatment.
Some people stopped to take pictures of the hospital’s wall, where people had pasted messages of support.
Mandela was admitted to the hospital on June 8 with a recurring lung infection. – Eyewitness News and Sapa
Russia’s awarding of asylum to US leaker Edward Snowden dealt a new blow to already bruised relations between Moscow and Washington but it remains in their interest to prevent the row from erupting into a Cold-War style crisis, analysts said.
Washington immediately rebuked Moscow for granting one year asylum to a man the United States wants to put on trial for leaking details of a vast US intelligence programme.
The White House said it was “extremely disappointed” and, perhaps more significantly, said the decision had called into question the need for a planned bilateral summit between Vladimir Putin and Barack Obama in September.
The dispute could barely come at a worse time in Russia-US relations with Washington deeply critical of rights violations under Putin’s rule and the two sides at odds over the conflict in Syria.
Yet in over two decades since the collapse of the Soviet Union, Russia and the United States already have a chequered history of cyclical ups and downs in relations and the blow of the Snowden row may not be terminal, analysts said.
“A cancellation of the meeting between Obama and Putin would be evidence of a serious complication in relations,” said Maria Lipman of the Carnegie Centre in Moscow.
“But it would be wrong to say that relations are collapsing,” she added, noting that one of Obama’s priorities remained agreeing more arms cuts with Russia.
“There is a risk that Obama could lose interest in relations with Russia but even in this case it is not fatal,” she told AFP.
Putin has tried to distance himself from the entire Snowden affair, declaring on July 17 that “relations between states are much more important than squabbles surrounding the work of security services.”
Minutes after the asylum decision was made public on Thursday, Putin’s foreign policy advisor Yury Ushakov rushed to describe the Snowden issue as “rather insignificant” and arguing it should not affect relations.
The Kremlin had repeatedly argued that it did not invite Snowden to come to Russia and his arrival on June 23 at Moscow’s Sheremetyevo airport from Hong Kong was completely unexpected.
“Russia did not need the Snowden problem but it happened,” said Valery Garbuzov of the US-Canada Institute in Moscow.
“The Russian leadership had to react — it would have been inhumane to hand him over but giving asylum also complicates relations,” he said.
In a strong sign that contacts have not been ruptured, US ambassador to Moscow Michael McFaul met Ushakov Friday for talks on issues including the “new status” of Snowden as well as Syria and missile defence, the American embassy said.
Obama is due to visit Russia in any case in early September to attend the G20 summit in Saint Petersburg.
But he had been expected to come to Moscow for a separate one-on-one meeting with Putin which would be the first bilateral summit between the two men since the Russian strongman returned to the Kremlin for a third term in May 2012.
Until now, they have only held brief meetings on the sidelines of international summits.
Fyodor Lukyanov, editor of the journal Russia in Global Affairs, said it was still possible that Obama could undertake the Moscow visit although he would risk domestic criticism.
“Putin has tried to distance himself from the Snowden affair and has always emphasised that Russia is a victim of circumstances,” he said.
He said that any “retaliation from the United States will only have symbolic character”.
Republican US Senator John McCain had said after the granting of asylum to Snowden that it was time to “fundamentally rethink our relationship” and take tough action against Moscow.
But Lipman said that Putin’s statements on the Snowden affair had shown that the Kremlin chief still had an interest in preserving relations with Russia.
“Other solutions were sought, including sending him to another country. Putin did not strive for Snowden to come to Russia,” she added. – AFP
A Mpumalanga man who shot dead his ex-girlfriend in front of her colleagues was jailed for 30 years on Friday, a Sapa correspondent reported.
Steven Johannes Malumane, 25, of Chochocho outside Hazyview, was sentenced by the Nelspruit Circuit of the Pretoria High Court for murdering Cynthia Mashego, 30, on the third floor of the Sanlam building in Mbombela on March 22 last year.
Mashego’s colleagues testified that Malumane entered their office around 8am and asked to speak to her. Minutes later, he dragged her into the corridor and a gunshot went off.
When her colleagues tried to see what had happened, another shot was fired, forcing them to close the door and hide in their office.
Judge Mmonoa Teffo noted that Malumane had insisted on speaking to her even though she was scared and had tried to avoid him.
“You found her with her two colleagues and she refused to speak to you. You insisted until her colleagues allowed her to speak to you,” Teffo said.
“She was very scared. She came and you spoke to her from the reception, went with her to the corridor where you shot her and left the building.”
A few minutes later, Malumane hijacked Vusimuzi Mabuza, threatened him with a gun, and forced him to drive to Chochocho, where police later arrested him.
“These offences you committed were serious and the circumstances were bad,” said Teffo.
“You shot a defenceless woman where she thought she was safe. Your actions have traumatised her co-workers and you never showed respect. If they knew you were going to kill her, they would not have allowed her to speak to you.”
Teffo said the State had pointed out that Malumane had pleaded guilty only when he realised there was overwhelming evidence against him.
He sentenced Malumane to 25 years’ imprisonment for murder, 10 years for robbery with aggravating circumstances, seven years for possession of an unlawful firearm, and three years for possession of ammunition.
Five years of the robbery sentence would run concurrently with the murder sentence.
“All other sentences will run concurrently, meaning you will serve 30 years imprisonment,” Teffo said.
She granted him leave to appeal against the sentence. – sapa
A traffic officer and a security guard have been arrested for shoplifting in Heidelberg, police said on Friday.
Constable Mathews Tshabangu said they were arrested on Thursday after being caught on camera stealing clothes at Edgars.
The officer, in full uniform, was filmed entering the fitting room, leaving it with a plastic bag full with clothes, and proceeding straight to the entrance, where she spoke to a female security guard.
She left the shop without being searched, said Tshabangu.
The stolen clothes, still with the price tags on, were found at the officer’s house.
The women would appear soon in the Heidelberg Magistrate’s Court, he said. – sapa
The Russian lawyer for Edward Snowden says the National Security Agency leaker has determined where he will live, but is still figuring out what he will do during his stay in Russia.
Russia granted Snowden temporary asylum on Thursday, allowing him to leave the Moscow airport where he had been holed up for almost six weeks. He can now remain in Russia for at least a year as he evades charges of espionage in the United States.
His lawyer, Anatoly Kucherena, told Russian news agencies on Friday that Snowden “is in a safe place,” but the location will remain secret out of concerns for his security. Kucherena says as soon as Snowden decides what he will do in Russia, he will announce his decision himself. – AP
Elderly crime victim Annatjie van Rooyen suffocated in a freezer she was forced into during a farm attack, Beeld reported on Friday.
Pathologist Dr Daniel Humphris (SUBS: CORRECT) was reportedly testifying in the Circuit Court in Parys, in the Free State, on Thursday.
According to the newspaper, Ngope Abram Oupa Mokoena, 47, his wife Mmaditaba Francina Mokubung, 46, and Ezekiele Mtshembelele Mguni, 30, have pleaded not guilty to a number of charges related to the attack.
Van Rooyen, 76, and her husband Ernest van Rooyen, 77, were attacked in their farm tuck shop in Parys in January, Beeld reported. Their bodies were discovered a few days later.
Her hands were tied behind her back with shoelaces and her feet were secured with wire.
Humphris said he had to wait for the body to defrost before he could conduct the autopsy.
Ernest van Rooyen’s body was found on the floor of the shop. He and his wife had been stabbed.
The newspaper reported that the court was read a statement Mokoena made the day of his arrest, in which he said he had agreed with “Rasta” (Mguni) to rob the couple because they owed him money for painting work.
“Rasta hit the old white man and he fought back…. The old woman was still alive when he put her in the freezer,” he was quoted as telling the court. – sapa
A University of Johannesburg (UJ) student was hijacked on campus and robbed, police said on Friday.
An armed man approached the 23-year-old student while she was parking in the university’s Kingsway campus parking lot at 9am on Thursday, said Constable Elizabeth Mnguni.
He pointed a firearm at her and told her to move over to the passenger seat.
The man drove out of the campus to an empty parking lot where he tied her hands, put her in the boot of the car, and drove to an ATM.
“She says she gave him the pin because he promised to hurt her [if she did not],” said Mnguni.
The man left her in an open area in Eldorado Park, where she was later found.
“They took her to the police station where a carjacking case was opened, but transferred to Brixton where the crime happened,” Mnguni said.
UJ spokesman Herman Esterhuizen said the university had launched an internal investigation into what happened.
“Arrangements are being made to meet with the alleged victim so that we can extend our support by counselling etc, and to get a better understanding of what happened,” he said.
“The safety of students is of highest priority.” – Sapa
Zimbabwe’s election was credible and fair, the chief of the African Union observer mission said Friday, but the bloc’s report noted some problems with the voter roll and of people being turned away from polling booths.
President Robert Mugabe’s Zanu-PF appeared confident of a sweeping victory, while the rival Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) led by Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai has said the “sham” polls would plunge the country into crisis.
“We are very happy this morning. We are very confident and excited. We think there is a sense of victory for us,” ZANU-PF spokesman Rugare Gumbo told dpa.
He said the party expected to get between 130 and 140 seats in the 210-member parliament.
Results from about 30 per cent of seats in parliament showed Zanu-PF taking a strong early lead, with 52 to the MDC’s 10.
Mugabe’s party managed to wrest control of some urban constituencies previously held by the rival MDC.
The final results of Wednesday’s election must be announced by Monday.
Local elections observers noted there were serious problems with the voters roll in urban areas – long considered MDC strongholds.
Tsvangirai has declared the elections to be “null and void” because of allegations of vote rigging.
Zanu-PF insists the poll were conducted in a “free and fair” manner, as does the Zimbabwe Election Commission.
In the 2008 election that was marred by violence, Tsvangirai won the first round but did not get enough votes to avoid a run-off. Widespread intimidation, including the deaths of some 200 of his supporters, forced him to pull out of the runoff.
The presidential poll results are only expected in the coming days. If no candidate gets at least 50 per cent of the vote, a second round will be held September 11.
The 89-year-old Mugabe, who has led Zimbabwe since 1980, has vowed to step down if he loses.
Africa’s oldest head of state presided over a decade-long economic collapse, in part blamed on his policy of grabbing white-owned farms without compensation and fueling hyper inflation. -sapa-dpa
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Dr. Pieter Mulder, leader of the Freedom Front Plus, yesterday asked for an urgent parliamentary debate on affirmative action to be held in Parliament.
