KZN – praag.org

Farm attack foiled by jamming gun

A gun pressed to his forehead, Hopewell farmer Mark Anthony looked into the cold eyes of the black man who was about to kill him, and then heard him pull the trigger.

He expected everything to fade to black, but realised he could still feel his heart racing, and the hooded man was still standing in front of him.

The man cocked the gun and pulled the trigger again, and again, but still nothing happened.

Yesterday morning Anthony’s partner said she was asleep when a voice told her to wake up at around 12.30.

“It was divine intervention. I knew I had to get up and I walked through to the lounge but I couldn’t see anything.

“I ran back to the room and told Mark he needed to wake up.”

Anthony switched the light on and walked through to the lounge and found one of the windows had been broken.

“I stuck my head through the hole in the window and saw a man lurking in the shadows, against the outside wall.

“I shouted at him but instead of running away, he ran straight at me.

“He pulled the glass from the window, climbed inside and pulled out a gun. He said: ‘I am going to shoot you’.

“He pulled the trigger twice and it didn’t go off. My heart was racing.”

Anthony said he had placed a spade behind the lounge door the previous day and decided to make a run for it.

“I grabbed the spade and just started swinging it at the man. He ran behind the table in the lounge and called to his partner outside.”

Outraged

Anthony said the partner jumped through the window and pulled out a firearm and began shooting at Anthony.

“He fired at me eight times. Not once did that gun discharge.”

Meanwhile, the woman had run outside and began screaming for help.

“I ran out the back door and screamed for help. I saw the neighbour’s lights switch on. That’s when I think the men ran away.

“If I hadn’t woken up, we both would have been dead. God protected and saved us.”

They said they were moving out as soon as possible.

“If Sarah hadn’t woken me up, Weekend Witness would not be here writing this story. They would have been writing my obituary,” said Anthony.

The couple said the Thornville police acted swiftly and placed great importance on the pair’s safety.

KwaZulu-Natal Agricultural Union (KwaNalu) security desk head Koos Marais said they were outraged that another farming family had been attacked, making it the 30th farm attack in KZN this year.

“We are grateful that no lives were lost and trust the police will do all in their power to bring those men to trial.”

He urged police to increase visible policing in all rural areas and encouraged people living in isolated areas to ensure their homes were secure.

Plessislaer SAPS spokesperson Captain Musa Ntombela said no arrests had been made and an investigation was under way.

Source: The Witness

KZN premier’s bodyguard shot dead

Premier Senzo Mchunu’s bodyguard has been gunned down, heightening tensions in the ANC in KwaZulu-Natal and raising fears it could lead to further bloodshed.

Xolani Nkosi was found dead with multiple bullet wounds in Empangeni at the weekend, fuelling conspiracy theories that his murder may have been a revenge killing.

Factions in the ANC have accused supporters of Mchunu of having a hand in the death of ANC regional boss, Thulani Mashaba.

Mashaba, 42, who had been aligned to a faction against the premier, died in a car crash near Ballito earlier this month.

The Road Traffic Management Corporation was quoted on Monday as saying the investigation into the crash would be finalised this week.

On Monday, a source close to Mchunu said Nkosi’s death was now being investigated by police intelligence. The source said some people in the anti-Mchunu faction were disputing that the crash was an accident.

“They say the premier bewitched him and now they want to hurt him. The people close to the premier are shocked by the situation,” the source said.

Sourcde: IOL

Teen convicted of raping toddler

A 15-year-old black boy was convicted of the brutal rape of a 3-year-old girl and sentenced to 10 years behind bars in the Pietermaritzburg Magistrate’s Court on Wednesday.

The violent rape of the toddler played out in the Thokoza informal settlement near Howick in the KwaZulu-Natal Midlands in May.

The girl’s mother watched helplessly through the keyhole of a door while she was locked outside as her child was raped.

Police spokesperson Major Thulani Zwane said the woman had heard the scream of her daughter rising from her neighbour’s house.

“She went to check and found that the door was closed and the child was crying inside, she knocked at the door but nobody opened.

“Then she decided to peep through the hole on the door and she saw the accused raping the child. She called her grandmother and the door was opened. The victim was found lying on the floor bleeding,” Zwane said.

A case of rape was reported at Howick Police Station and the case docket was transferred to the Howick Family Violence, Child Protection and Sexual Offences Unit.

The girl had been seriously injured and was taken to hospital for medical attention.

Source: News24

Two schools in KZN hit with swine flu

At least two private schools in KwaZulu-Natal have warned parents to be vigilant after several pupils tested positive for the H1N1 flu virus, or Swine Flu.

Clifton School in Morningside, Durban, told parents this week that three Grade 3 pupils had been diagnosed with the virus.

“Should your son exhibit flu symptoms we suggest you err on the side of caution and consult a doctor,” the school urged parents.

“Boys should not return to school until they have medical clearance to do so. Similarly, we ask that you exercise caution and keep your son at home until this medical clearance has been received.”

Three preschool children at Ashton International College in Ballito, on the KwaZulu-Natal north coast, were diagnosed with the virus last month.

Young enough for the ANC Youth League

Newly elected KwaZulu-Natal ANC youth leader Thami Ngubane says he’s young enough to lead the party’s Youth League.

Ngubane is also the mayor of Greytown, near Pietermaritzburg.

He was elected at the league’s controversial provincial conference in Port Shepstone on the KwaZulu-Natal South Coast at the weekend during a chaotic conference.

He looks much older than his age on his Facebook profile photo and many have made comments on that.

The ANC constitution limits entry to the league to people aged from 14 to 35 years old.

Perturbed about the scepticism, he posted a copy of his ID on his profile to show that he was within the age bracket of youth as required by the party.

Ngubane’s ID shows he is 32 years old.

The conference degenerated into chaos when some disgruntled league members complained that branches had been disbanded for having “parallel structures”. There were also claims that signatures had been forged.

The age issue is not new in the ruling party’s youth wing. There were similar question marks raised about the age of ANC NEC member Pule Mabe, 35, who is vying for the league’s presidency at its national congress at the end of this month.

Gunman kills teacher, pupil in classroom

A teacher and a pupil were killed after a gunman opened fire in one of the classrooms at Luvisi Primary School in Nquthu northern KwaZulu-Natal on Tuesday.

The South African Police Service said the teacher was in class giving lessons when he was attacked by an unknown gunman.

SAPS spokesman Jay Naicker said the teacher was shot in the classroom and passed away on the scene.

“Two other pupils were also injured during the shooting and were taken to hospital. One of them died on arrival at hospital.”

Police arrested three suspects in connection with the incident and have recovered a firearm.

The motive for the shooting is unknown at this stage and an investigation is under way.

KwaZulu-Natal Provincial Commissioner Lieutenant General Mmamonnye Ngobeni congratulated the Nquthu police for the swift arrests.

“Whilst we condemn the brutal manner in which this educator and pupil were killed, we are pleased that police were able to act swiftly.

“We will ensure that we throw the book at them,” she said.

Source: eNCA

Sunday Times stands by Trevor Noah murder story

Sunday Times editor Phylicia Oppelt on Monday said she stands by an article stating that comedian Trevor Noah’s cousin was murdered and buried in KwaZulu-Natal at the weekend.

On Sunday night, Trevor Noah tweeted: “Thanks to some crafty journalism my family and I have spent the whole day trying to figure out which one of us died #awkward”.

He later tweeted: “Don’t always believe what you read. This is something I learned from aliens when I travelled to Mars last year.”

“We had several interviews with Mr Noah’s grandmother at her home in Soweto. We attended the funeral in KwaZulu-Natal at the family’s invitation,” Oppelt told News24.

The newspaper reported that Cebisile Happiness Khoza disappeared a day after travelling from her home town of Msinga to Greytown, where she was preparing for a ceremony to receive her postgraduate certificate in education.

Farmworkers found her burnt body in a sugar-cane field in a village near Wasbank. She had been stabbed several times.

According to the article, Nomalizo Noah had been emotional on Saturday when talking about Khoza’s death. She believed the women in her family were cursed.

She reportedly told the Sunday Times she received news of Khoza’s death via a phone call from a relative in Pietermaritzburg.

She was quoted as saying Trevor and the murdered student had not been close as they lived in different provinces, but that they knew each other.

On Monday afternoon, the 88-year-old told News24 she did not know any relatives named Khoza.

She said her children, including Noah’s mother Patricia, had warned her to turn journalists away from her Soweto home.

The comedian had asked his mother to ask her to stop speaking to reporters.

“Tell granny not to talk to all these reporters because they are making news out of nothing,” he had told his mother, she said.

White nun’s murderers sentenced

The Pietermaritzburg High Court is scheduled on Friday to sentence two black men convicted of raping and killing an 86-year-old nun infor iXopo in the KwaZulu-Natal midlands.

Austrian nun, Getrud Tiefenbacher’s body was found in her room, with her hands bound.

It’s D-day for Mondli Shozi and Sibongiseni Phungula convicted of rape, murder and robbery with aggravating circumstances.

The crime against the elderly woman has shocked many, and left other nuns, mostly elderly, living in fear.

The Sisters have commended police for working around the clock to arrest the two men.

On Thursday, Advocate Anastasiou for the defence told the Pietermaritzburg High court that the crime committed against the 86 year old nun was a serious one.

However, she told the court that the crime had not been premeditated as the men were under the influence of alcohol.

Meanwhile, State prosecutor advocate Sandesh Sankar appealed to the court not to entertain the personal circumstances tabled by the defence.

‘Xenophobic attacks won’t affect SA relations with Zim’

Zimbabwe’s Consul-General in South Africa, Henry Mukonoweshuro, says diplomatic ties between South Africa and Zimbabwe will not be affected by the on-going xenophobic attacks in the greater eThekwini Metropolitan Municipality.

Hundreds of foreign nationals from Zimbabwe, the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Ethiopia and Somalia have been displaced after xenophobic attacks in Durban. Close to 2000 foreign nationals are being housed in three temporary makeshift camps.

Mukonoweshuro says they will be working closely with their South African counterparts to find a solution and put an end to the on-going violence.

“It is just a question of a few misguided individuals. To some extent I think some vagrants who think if they create chaos people will run away from their homes. Then they can vandalise and steal but my president was here a few days ago and met with President Jacob Zuma and elevated political and economic relations, our people are here.”

Mukonoweshuro says talks with Home Affairs Minister Malusi Gigaba are continuing to address the issue.

“This is a dent but I mean look, these problems are never at any one time planned.”

There’ve been reports of attacks in Umlazi, KwaMashu, Inanda and Siyanda

Meanwhile, eThekwini Metro police say about five shops owned by foreign nationals were set alight and several others looted in townships in the Durban area Sunday night.

More than a dozen foreign owned businesses have been looted since the violence began, Somali Hassan Ali says all his shops in KwaMashu, north of Durban, have been looted and burnt.

Terrifying ordeal for Ramsgate couple

One of the most terrifying cases of late involved a dramatic jump from a top story window by a 57-year-old Ramsgate woman who wanted to alert her husband to two masked black men who had broken in at breakfast time on Monday.

Police spokesman Captain Gerald Mfeka said Arnold Miller (72), of Ilala Crescent, had taken his daughter to school, leaving his wife, Patricia Lorraine Tench-Wilkinson, home alone.

Ms Wilkinson shared her terrifying ordeal with the Herald.

“I had just made coffee for myself and Arnold. I left his cup in the kitchen, went upstairs to watch the news, leaving the kitchen door open for him and our domestic worker. Suddenly there was a knife at my throat and my three gold chains were ripped off my neck.”

Two men tied her hands and legs with cable ties, then taped her mouth. They demanded money and the keys to the safe and threatened to rape her.

When Mr Miller arrived home the men went downstairs to confront him. Mrs Wilkinson managed to break free, jumped through a window and landed on a pot plant.

She couldn’t see her husband, so – badly bruised – she limped to a neighbour for help.

Meanwhile, the black intruders had already overpowered Mr Miller and were pushing him up the stairs. He managed to surprise them and slammed a security gate closed between them.

They shot him twice in the leg and fled.

“I heard my husband shouting for help and ran back into the house.There was blood everywhere and I remember him saying he was going to die. Luckily the ambulance arrived quickly and he was taken to hospital.”

He is in a stable condition. No arrests have been made.

Where Arnold Miller (72) was found by his injured wife

Source: South Coast Herald

Corpse falls from mortuary van

A corpse fell out of the back of a moving mortuary vehicle on a busy Pinetown road at the weekend.

The vehicle was travelling on Josiah Gumede (Old Main) Road in Durban on Saturday morning when local car dealer, Mike Mears, said he heard a clattering sound.

He was standing on the roadside chatting to a friend at the time.

“The noise caught my attention and when I looked back I saw a steel tray lying on the road. In a split second, a body came hurtling out from the back of the van on a stretcher. We realised it was a mortuary van when it reversed to fetch the corpse,” Mears said.

“There was blood splattered on the floor from the tray. It looked like a body was wrapped in a body bag and tied to the stretcher.”

The driver stopped after motorists started hooting to get his attention.

Mears said two occupants of the van got out and hastily picked up the body and fallen items.

Another bystander, Ian Neil, who stared in disbelief as the incident unfolded, said it appeared that the mortuary van’s back door was broken.

There was no lock, bolt or any other way to secure the door, he said.

“The van pulled off fast enough for the entire back to swing open and out came the body, including the drip tray,” he said.

Neil was unable to confirm if the body was that of an adult or child.

But the drip tray made it gruesome, he said.

The KwaZulu-Natal Department of Health said it was investigating the incident and would respond later.

Source: Daily News

Video of pupil being stabbed to death posted on YouTube

A video showing a KwaZulu-Natal pupil being assaulted and stabbed by a group of other pupils has been posted on YouTube.

The screams of other pupils who saw the attack are heard in the 50-second video. It had over 300 views two hours after it was uploaded onto the video sharing website on Wednesday morning.

In the last few seconds of it the injured boy is seen lying on the ground motionless and his attackers have moved from view.

Police spokesman Captain Thulani Zwane said the 18-year-old died in a local clinic after the attack on Monday.

It was believed two groups of pupils started fighting during assembly at Isizimele High School on Monday. Two other pupils were injured in the fight.

Five pupils were arrested that day and were expected to appear in the Dannhauser Magistrate’s Court on Wednesday. One of them was found in possession of a dangerous weapon.

Update: Youtube has removed the video.

KZN man get 18 years for rape

A 28-year-old black man has been jailed for 18 years by the KwaDukuza Regional Court for the statutory rape of a teenager, KwaZulu-Natal police said on Tuesday.

He was sentenced on Monday for raping his 14-year-old girlfriend, said Captain Thulani Zwane.

The teenager’s parents had asked him to stop seeing their daughter, but he continued the relationship and had sex with her.

The parents opened a case and he was arrested and charged with statutory rape, said Zwane. – Sapa

Game lodges draw international paedophile tourists

A man that is alleged to have worked as a manager at various game lodges across the country, including the Lowveld, is also being charged with the possession of child pornography.

The suspect (59) allegedly “pimped” children to visiting guests before he was apprehended by Brighton Beach SAP in KwaZulu-Natal on May 27. His arrest was thanks to information received from a neighbour with whom he shared a wireless internet connection (Wifi).

National police spokesman Lt Gen Solomon Makgale confirmed the case was not linked to the national and international child pornography investigation which implicated a local primary school principal and is alleged to have 50 more suspects.

According to the police, the neighbour was perusing through the shared documents folder when she came across the pornographic images. She took screen shots and presented them to the police, which subsequently led to his arrest. – looklocal.co.za

The man’s computer equipment was seized, pending further investigation. Police believe the total number of images stored on his computer runs into hundreds of thousands.

According to a social worker who cannot be identified, the man was alleged to have taken a boy away from his mother when he was eight years old and pretended to be his father.

The boy is now 21 years old. The social worker said the police have alleged that he abused and used the child as bait for other children to be sexually abused. He allegedly also filmed the children. They were reportedly also “hired” by guests who stayed at the lodges he worked at.

The source said the lodges or game farms had not yet been identified but the background in the pornographic pictures did allegedly show some had been taken in the Lowveld indigenous area.

The suspect is out on bail of R5 000 on the condition that he did not contact state witnesses.

The case has been postponed to December 6, pending the outcome of the forensic report. The accused has not been asked to plead, which is why he may not be identified as yet.