Eastern Cape – praag.org

Corruption turns beach into world’s deadliest

Corruption has now turned Second Beach, in Port St Johns, Eastern Cape, into the deadliest beach in the world. An Austrian tourist was killed there at the weekend in a shark attack.

Eight people have been killed by sharks at this Wild Coast holiday destination in the past five years. The beach reportedly has no lifeguards to man designated areas because Port St Johns municipality did not renew their contracts.

The money has gone instead to fund expensive lifestyles and German cars.

Eastern Cape Parks and Tourism CEO Luxolo Rubushe said that Port St Johns had the highest number of shark-related deaths in the world.

The 72-year-old victim was cooling off in shallow water just a few metres from the crowded beach when he was dragged into the sea.

Beachgoers, including his wife, watched in horror.

Siphesihle Mangcotywa, 26, said the man had been swimming with three others.

“Suddenly people started screaming and running towards the shore and the next thing there was just blood in the water next to the man. He did not even scream but tried to swim towards the shore. His three companions were about a metre away and watched helplessly. They also ran to the shore,” he said.

The man’s body washed up about an hour and half later.

Massive corruption in SA’s schools

There is massive evidence of corruption in schools, a Corruption Watch report revealed on Thursday.

The organisation said 12% of reports on corruption it had received since its inception in 2012 related to alleged corruption in schools. Corruption Watch spokesperson Patience Mkosana said her organisation received reports of corruption directly from the public and then followed them up through door-to-door investigations.

The reports indicated that principals, school governing body (SGB) members and, to an extent, teachers, manipulated and abused the school system to enrich themselves. The concerns ranged from abuse of public funds received for infrastructure maintenance and upgrading, and sourcing of learning materials, to funding of feeding schemes.

The organisation conducted a survey after receiving reports on corruption at schools. It was conducted through social networking platform Mxit and sampled 3284 respondents aged between 13 and 34. Fifty-three percent of this group believed corruption in schools
was on the rise.

The Eastern Cape was the province perceived to have the most corrupt principals, according to 61% of respondents

Almost half of the respondents were pupils at school or at a further education and training college, while 31% were family members of a school pupil. At least 30% of pupils surveyed were from public schools and 8% were from private schools. There was no major difference between corruption at public schools and corruption at private schools.

Favours for better marks and the selling of exam papers were the most common forms of bribery. The selling of test and exam papers was a particular problem in Mpumalanga, where 23% of respondents believed it happened.

The misuse of school money or property was especially prevalent in the Free State, according to 30% of respondents, and the North West (31%). The main person behind such corruption, according to 47% of the respondents, was the school principal. Thirty-three percent said it was teachers and 14% claimed an SGB member was the culprit.

The Eastern Cape was the province perceived to have the most corrupt principals, according to 61% of respondents. The Free State had the worst teachers, and the Northern Cape the most corrupt SGB members, according to respondents.

Source: SABC

Eastern Cape shoot-out leaves one policeman dead, another critical

The South African Police Service in the Eastern Cape are working around the clock looking for two suspects involved in an attack on two police constables in Cofimvaba, late Wednesday afternoon.

Police Constable, Tandile Mlenga aged 35 and Student Constable Siviwe Majwede aged 23, stationed at Cofimvaba SAPS were on duty when they followed up information on a business robbery which took place at one of the businesses at about 15:30 yesterday. Upon searching for the suspects at a residential home in the Joe Slovo Informal Settlement, they were attacked by at least four unknown gun-men. Several shots were fired at them and Constable Mlenga died on the scene. Student Constable Majwede is in a critical but stable condition in hospital.

Two suspects, aged 30, have been arrested and will appear in the Cofimvaba Magistrates Court on charges of murder and attempted murder. Police are looking for two (2) more suspects.

Constable Mlenga leaves behind his mother and two minor children. He served in the SA Police Service for 9 years. – SA Police media release

92-year old stabbed to death in the Eastern Cape

A 92-year woman has been stabbed to death by a relative at Mndundu Village, in Willowvale, Eastern Cape police said on Sunday.

Captain Jackson Manatha said the woman was asleep in a room with her grandson when a man entered at 11pm on Saturday night.

“The granny was stabbed on her upper body and she died instantly. The motive for the murder is not known at this point in time,” said Manatha.

“The suspect was known to the grandson and police arrested him the same night. The grandson was not injured and it appears that the granny was the target of the killing.”

He said a 35-year-old man was arrested on Saturday night. It was not known how he was related to the elderly woman.

The man would appear in the Willowvale Magistrate’s Court on Monday on a charge of murder. – Sapa

Matric pupil beaten to death

A matric pupil has been beaten to death by a group of people who believed he was involved with the disappearance of children in Nomphumelelo township in East London, Eastern Cape police said on Monday.

The 23-year-old Mbulelo Mtati was killed on Sunday, said Brigadier Marinda Mills.

“The police confirmed that there are no children reported missing in the East London area.”

Mills said there was also no information or evidence linking the man with the crimes.

Eastern Cape provincial police provincial commissioner Lieutenant Celiwe Binta said revenge attacks were not an answer to crime.

“We are condemning this in the strongest possible way, as these disturbing incidents are unjustifiable. We are in hot pursuit of the perpetrators,” said Binta.

Two Eastern Cape children found dead in car

Two children were found dead in a car in Zwide, Port Elizabeth, on Tuesday morning, Eastern Cape police said.

The two boys, aged three and four, were discovered in Scheepers Street just after 1am, said Warrant Officer Thembi Gwe.

They were found after a search by residents and police.

Gwe said one of the boys’ grandmother visited a house in the area with them on Monday.

“They wanted to play with vehicles that were parked outside. She ordered them to go back home,” said Gwe.

When she arrived home a few hours later the boys were not there.

A search was initiated and the boys were found in a vehicle parked in a yard in the street near the house they went to visit.

“The vehicle has been standing there for two months as it had mechanical problems. It is not clear how the children got into the vehicle.”

It was not known how the children died. Police were waiting for post-mortem results, she said. – Sapa

Coloured ANC leader wants to honour assassin Tsafendas

Christian Martins, MPL for the Eastern Cape

A request has been made to declare the graves of Hendrik Verwoerd and his assassin Dimitri Tsafendas national heritage sites.

The request came from ANC Eastern Cape MPL Christian Martins in a letter to the National Heritage Council of SA, released to the media on Monday.

Martins argues in the letter that South Africa’s history would be incomplete without Verwoerd, referred to as the “architect of apartheid”.

Verwoerd served as South Africa’s prime minister from September 2, 1958 to September 6, 1966, when he was stabbed by Tsafendas in the then House of Assembly in Parliament.

“Dimitri Tsafendas and Hendrik Verwoerd arguably changed the course of post-war South African history more than any other, when Tsafendas stabbed to death the ‘architect of apartheid’,” said Martins.

Martins said that while Tsafendas was declared unfit to stand trial due to insanity, research showed Tsafendas knew what he was doing and planned the assassination well in advance.

“And further research clearly shows that this act of Tsafendas was politically motivated, aggravated by the heinous racial prejudices that Verwoerd exploited to try to entrench white rule on the subcontinent.”

It was Martin’s opinion that rather than forgetting these important role-players in the country’s history, homage should be bestowed upon Tsafendas, a hero and martyr for the cause of the South African people.

“The assassination of Verwoerd was our exodus from the policies, laws and by-laws articulated and crafted by Verwoerd,” he said.

“Verwoerd inculcated in South Africans a belief that those who opposed apartheid or criticised it either misunderstood the policy or were dangerous communists.”

This led to violence which drove black leaders into exile and quenched internal opposition, giving birth to a form of leadership within many mass movements that saw South Africa transformed to democracy.

“Shared opposition and shared passion for apartheid shaped South Africa and for that we have to honour and remember the oppressed and the oppressor, the villain and the hero,” said Martins.

Martins was punished by the Eastern Cape legislature’s ethics committee in September for referring to the Democratic Alliance as peacocks in October last year.

He was penalised one months salary and suspended from participating in the activities of the legislature for 30 days from October 1. – Sapa

Tanzanian arrested for raping teenager

Alexandria, Eastern Cape – A 33-year-old black man accused of raping a teenager has been arrested in Alexandria, Eastern Cape police said on Monday.

The Tanzanian man was taken to custody on Sunday after allegedly raping a 15-year-old girl, said Lieutenant Luvuyo Mjekula.

The man tried to bribe her into silence, but she lodged a complaint.

“The suspect has previously been charged for drug-related offences, but (has been) released due to technicalities,” said Mjekula. – Sapa

Black man arrested for raping his 8-year old niece

An Eastern Cape man has been arrested for allegedly raping his eight-year-old niece in Gungululu, Tsolo, on Thursday, police said.

“The man, 48, called his niece to his house pretending that he wanted to give her and her friends meat. He then chased out the other children and then raped his niece,” said police spokesman Lt-Col Mzukisi Fatyela on Friday.

“The girl’s mother noticed that she was in pain and on enquiring, the child told her about what happened.”

The man was arrested by police around 7pm after the girl’s mother reported the matter to the police, Fatyela said.

He will appear in the Tsolo Magistrate’s Court on Monday. – Sapa

Eastern Cape black stabs his wife to death

A man was arrested in King William’s Town on Thursday following the murder of his wife, Eastern Cape police said.

The 44-year-old was caught in Buffalo Street after police received a tip-off, Lieutenant Siphokazi Mawisa said.

He allegedly stabbed his 37-year-old wife to death in their home in Motherwell, Port Elizabeth, on Tuesday, and fled to King William’s Town.

He was expected to appear in the Motherwell Magistrate’s Court on Monday. – Sapa

17 black rapists, including 88-year old, convicted

Seventeen men have been jailed for various sexual offences in the Eastern Cape, police said on Thursday.

The sentences were all handed down last week, spokesman Thulani Mbambala said in a statement.

One of the culprits, 88-year-old Ntakopo Desi from Lusikisiki, was given a 10-year prison term for the rape of a 72-year-old woman.

The suspects were aged between 17 and 88. In another case 48-year-old Mbulelo Ntapo from Butterworth was given a 10-year jail sentence for the rape of a 13-year-old girl.

Lungile Ndululo, 37, from Grahamstown was sentenced to 10 years’ imprisonment for raping a 42-year-old woman. – Sapa

Showdown looms at Water Sisulu University

A show down is looming between management of the Water Sisulu University and students in the Eastern Cape as the 12 o’clock deadline to vacate the premises nears.

The university says the move to vacate the residences is for the safety of students but they have threatened to resist it on the grounds that management must address the workers’ demands.

Staff are on strike demanding a salary increase of 8% while the university is offering 4.25%.

Students’ spokesperson, Lusanda Thutha says they will resist any attempt to vacate them legally or otherwise. “We are not going anywhere. It cannot be good that we have been told through Facebook that we have to leave and vacate the premises because we know that we never applied through Facebook,” says Thutha.

She says that every decision that has to be taken about students has to involve the leadership of the students. Meanwhile, the university’s spokesperson Angela Church says that students have started to go home.

Church, has warned against resistance. “We issued the notice on Tuesday that they must vacate the residences. We did extend the deadline to Friday August 30. We need our students to vacate the residences for their own safety and security as the situation around the WSU campuses is very volatile. Some of our students have been injured in skirmishes with police and we cannot put them at risk any further,” she says.

“We will assess the situation after 5 o’clock on Friday,” Church added.

Taxi for 13 carries 37 kids

An Eastern Cape taxi driver was arrested on Wednesday for transporting 37 school children in a Toyota Quantum.

The Times newspaper reported that the taxi — which was licensed to carry 13 passengers — was impounded by police in East London.

The 25-year-old driver was charged with reckless driving, negligence and overloading, said police.

“We keep emphasising to parents that the safety of their children is very important,” police spokesperson Captain Mluleki Mbi told the newspaper.

“It is important for them to know the vehicle and about their children’s safety all the time.” – iafrica.com

Unrest closes Walter Sisulu University indefinitely

Students have been told to vacate the Walter Sisulu University, in the Eastern Cape, because of labour trouble, administrator Lourens van Staden said on Tuesday.

“The volatile situation that is unfolding has made it impossible for management to risk or to guarantee the safety and well-being of our students and the communities in which they live,” he said in a statement.

“We therefore regret to announce that all students are to vacate university premises, university residences and university rented accommodation with immediate effect.”

He said the labour deadlock had dragged on for five weeks.

“The response to the offer made by management to staff last week has not been sufficiently conclusive to enable classes to resume,” Van Staden said.

“The university does not want to keep students waiting on campus indefinitely.”

Van Staden said management would continue seeking ways to resolve the dispute.

“The decision to send students home does not mean that the academic year is lost,” he said.

“All efforts will be made to put alternative arrangements in place in order to complete this second semester.” Sapa