Mpumalanga – praag.org

Front National lodges largest land claim in SA history

The political party Front National is lodging the single largest land claim in South African history to the Land Commissioner in Pretoria on Thursday, April 24. The claim will test the legitimacy, honesty and objectivity of the ANC-government regarding land claims.

The claim for the land, stretching from Ohrigstad eastwards to include the Kruger National Park, is the first of several claims being prepared. Front National claims that the intention of the Deed of Sale was to put the land under the guardianship of the “Dutch South African nation” as an ethnic group and was NOT intended as a sale to the then, or later, governments but for utilisation by the descendants now known as Afrikaner/Boer.

LAND CLAIM: OHRIGSTAD, MPUMALANGA

CLAIMANTS: I present the land claim on behalf of the natural descendants of the Dutch South African nation, commonly known as the Afrikaner or Boer. The claimants are those descendents identifying themselves as Afrikaners with the distinct characteristics of western/European outlook on life regarding language, culture, history and a sense of nationhood. This will exclude people not identifying themselves with the ethnic group in a political and cultural sense.

DESCRIPTION OF LAND:
The claim pertains to the land described in State Archives R117/1846, namely –
From Ohrigstad to the north till the Olifantsrivier, then downwards to the Delagoa Bay line; to the south till the Crocodile River; to the west to Elandspruit till the 26 degrees line; east till where the Crocodile River joins the Komati River.

REASON/DATE OF LAND CLAIM
The said land is the property of the Dutch South African nation as described above and according to the Deed of Sale, should by administered by the Dutch South African nation ONLY. This right was unilaterally taken from the Dutch South African nation/Afrikaner on 27 April 1994 and is currently administered by the South African Government in contravention of an international deed of sale between two nations’ descendants.

The land was legally obtained for the Dutch South African nation as an ethnic group to be administered by such ethnic group and was only in custodianship of the SA government pre-27 April 1994 because the said government was regarded as descendents of the ethnic group. There was no legal right to hand this land over to a “foreign” government in April 1994 away from the original ethnic group.

We claim the said land as our ancestral land of the Dutch South African nation/Afrikaner; duly bought and paid for on July 25, 1846 as an ethnic group and not as individual landowners.

LEGAL SALE/PURCHASE
The sale of said land on July 25, 1846 were between King Masous (representative of the Zulu) as seller; and Commandant SJZR Burg (representative of the Dutch South African nation) as buyer and a copy of the agreement is filed in the Government Archives under file R117/46.

The original agreement is in Dutch and apart from King Masous, the following witnesses signed for the Zulu nation: Samkoela (chieftain), Makienkaan (chieftain), Mandalea (chieftain). As witnesses for the Dutch South African nation it was signed by WF Joubert, JC Steyn, JM de Beer (field cornets), L de Jager, J Lotter, H Breytenbach and PJ Coetzer.

The sale was conducted at Kjakas Kraal, Umkumaas.

It states: (in Dutch) …ten dienste van de Hollandsche Zuid Afrikaansche Natie die thans binnen dat grond zyn en noch in vervolg door de wettige gezag onder hun ter inwooning zal gepermitteerd worden…

In English it states that the land is sold to those members of the Dutch South African nation and “those who in future will be permitted by their legal guardianship (not Government)…

PAYMENT FOR THE LAND
The receipt for the payment of the said land is filed in the Government Archives in 1846 and the copy was certified by State Secretary NJR Swart.

The receipt for the last payment in cattle was received in January 1856 and also includedin the Deed of Sale of July 21, 1855 to conclude the sale.

The receipt was issued by Maloenke (Zulu representative) at Tabankolea on February 5, 1860 and signed as witnesses by chieftains Sonagla, Jogo, Santlant, Omglagen, Malayde, Kaompeunis and Kampa. Commandant WF Joubert signed for the Dutch South African nation with FJ Joubert and H Joubert as witnesses.

CLAIM:
1. Flowing from the above there an be no doubt that the said land, as stated in the sale agreement, was the property of the Dutch South African nation, nowadays known as Afrikaner or Boer.

2. There is no doubt that the land was not turned over to private ownership, but that it was to be put under the guardianship of the legal governance of said ethnic group, and not under the South African Government.

3. There is no doubt that the sale and purchase were legal and binding and that the purchase was fulfilled.

4. There is no doubt that the descendants of the Dutch South African nation did not by any means turn over the utilisation and control of such land to any government, the South African Government included, but that the land should be utilised and controlled by the descendants of the ethnic group and those they permit to settle there. This right was at no stage turned over to the South African Government on April 27, 1994 by the descendants of the ethnic group.

5. As the only legal, registered political party representing only descendants of the ethnic group known as Afrikaner or Boer, FRONT NATIONAL lay claim to the land to form an ethnic controlling body in terms of our traditions, culture, language, and Western outlook on life as intended by our ancestors.

HANNES ENGELBRECHT
LEADER: FRONT NATIONAL

Congregation robbed at gunpoint in S. African church

Today, the Provincial Commissioner, Lieutenant General Thulani Ntobela expressed his disapproval of the barbaric incident of robbery at a church in Masoyi.

On Friday, 22 November 2013, members of a local church in Mganduzweni Trust in Masoyi near White River gathered for a night prayer.

Just before mid-night, they were accosted and attacked by a gang of four men armed with a pump action short gun. The men commanded the congregants to lie down and robbed them of their personal belongings.

The thugs took some members of the church who parked their cars outside and searched them. It is alleged that they further took other personal belongings, cash and raped a 21-year-old church member.

“This act of lawlessness is not approved and must be condemned”, said General Ntobela.

A call is hereby extended to community members to rally behind the police in their efforts to put the acts of these miscreants to a curl-de-sac.

“A church is a place of worship where congregants gather to pray and it should be respected but these villains had a different ideology.

We need to stop them before they ruthlessly attack other churches,” concluded General Ntobela. – SA Police Service

Outdoor air pollution classified as carcinogenic by World Health Organization

by Melissa Roper

It is not yet certain if climate change is the result of anthropogenic-sourced carbon emissions or, on the contrary, is a Sun-influenced phenomenon. As the debate on global warming versus global cooling continues, results of recent research draw attention towards an equally worrying side-effect of industry greenhouse gas emissions – the fatal implications of air pollution on human health. Earlier this month, 24 experts from 11 countries met at the International Agency for Cancer Research (IARC) headquarters in Lyon to assess the correlation between cancer and air pollution. IARC is the cancer specialized agency of the World Health Organization (WHO), the coordinating authority for health within the United Nations.

Cancer and air pollution: two widespread phenomena

The scientists evaluated over 1000 papers analysing the carcinogenicity of particulate matter and transport-related pollutants, and the results of the study will be published as Volume 109 of the IARC Monographs. According to the study’s Press release published on 17th October 2013, “outdoor air pollution [is] a leading environmental cause of cancer deaths”. This conclusion is the first paper to officially link the two: both the worldwide rate of cancer and global air pollution have become alarmingly widespread phenomena in the past decades. Cancer has become so common, that the international medical industry was revolutionized in order to address the problem in evermore effective ways. As Licensed Prescriptions explain, it has become possible to diagnose, prevent and treat cancer quickly, in some cases even without the need of a biopsy. One of the reasons why cancer has become such a frequent problem may be that “the air we breathe has become polluted with a mixture of cancer-causing substances” as summarized by Dr. Kurt Straif, Head of IARC Monographs.

Sources and effects of air pollution

The IARC study reports that although air pollution comes from a mixture of natural and anthropogenic sources, “the predominant sources of outdoor air pollution are transportation, stationary power generation, industrial and agricultural emissions, and residential heating and cooking. Generally, the burning of fuels – oil, coal, gas or wood – release elements such as particulate matter, carbon monoxide, sulphur oxides, and metals (lead, in particular) into the air. Humans breathe in these particles, which get stuck in the lung tissue and produce breathing affections and cancer on the long term.

South Africa air pollution

The University of Western Cape’s Biodiversity and Conservation Biology Department (BCB) also discusses air pollution, stating that “pollution from exhaust gases of vehicles is responsible for 60% of all air pollution and in cities up to 80%”, with lead being one of the most dangerous chemicals emitted by the transport industry. Combustion of coal is also acknowledged as a major source of air pollution leading to possible fatal effects. For South Africa in particular, one of the dangerous side effects of burning coal is acid rain, affecting stone, metal and brick elements. Highly acid rain, snow, hail or fog is produced when sulphur and nitrogen dioxides combine with the atmospheric moisture. “Coal in South Africa is rich in sulphur and the power stations in the Mpumalanga Province could be responsible for acid rain over other areas of our country”, explains the BCB.

Indeed, as announced by Greenpeace in August 2013, Witbank, a town outside of Johannesburg, has “some of the world’s most polluted air”. This can be linked with the activity of the 11 coal-fired power stations situated across Mpumalanga. Witbank is also the place where 83% of South Africa’s coal is mined.

Improving the National Ambient Air Quality

South African air is polluted by the high sulphur dioxide and particulate matter concentrations resulted from power-generation and industrial burning of coal. This urgent matter was addressed by the most recent air quality governance approach, the Air Quality Act of 2004 and the recent National Ambient Air Quality Standards 2010. Key directions of the new approach include: Decentralisation of air quality management responsibilities; Requirements that all significant sources be identified, quantified and addressed; Setting of ambient air quality targets as goals to achieve emission reductions. The National Standards sets limits for the following airborne particles: Sulphur dioxide (SO2), Nitrogen dioxide (NO2), Particulate matter (PM 10 – 10 micrometre diameter), Ozone (O3), Benzene (C6H6), Lead (Pb) and Carbon monoxide (CO). The required date of compliance with the standards depends on each element, from “immediate” (2010) to January 1^st 2015.

Head of community safety arrested for drunken driving

Mpumalanga’s head of community safety appeared in the Kempton Park Magistrate’s Court on Monday on charges of drunk driving and impersonating a police officer, Gauteng police said.

Thulani Sibuyi was granted R1000 bail after appearing in court, said Lt-Col Katlego Mogale.

“He allegedly crashed into another vehicle, and when the police came he allegedly put on his siren and told them he was a police officer, said Mogale.

Democratic Alliance spokesman Anthony Benadie has called on Mpumalanga MEC Vusi Shongwe to act against Sibuyi.

“As the head of the provincial task team implemented to fight drunk driving in the province, the DA believes Sibuyi must lead by example,” said Benadie.

The Mpumalanga department of community safety could not be reached for comment on Monday. – Sapa

Black farm attacker sentenced to 45 years

A man who attacked and robbed farm dwellers in Mpumalanga was sentenced to 45 years in prison by the Nelspruit Regional Court on Monday.

A Sapa correspondent reported that Xolane Letsoalo, 27, from Ngodwana outside Mbombela, faced nine charges including theft, armed robbery, housebreaking, two of attempted murder, and possession of an unlicensed firearm and ammunition.

His co-accused, Freddy Nkosi, 27, faced one charge of possession of an unlicensed firearm and ammunition.

The two were arrested in November 2010 and pleaded not guilty to all charges.

Magistrate Andre Geldenhuys sentenced Letsoalo to 15 years on three counts of housebreaking and theft, 10 years on two counts of attempted murder, 10 years on two counts of armed robbery, two years on theft out of a motor vehicle and eight years on possession of an unlicensed firearm and ammunition.

Letsoalo would serve the sentences consecutively.

Geldenhuys sentenced Nkosi to eight years, and said he was lucky he was not charged for the other offences.

Letsoalo committed very serious offences, he said.

“A day after you committed the first robbery and stole a firearm, you went further to use the same firearm to commit another robbery.”

Letsoalo could have easily killed some of his victims.

“You fired shots at two women at a farm and injured one of them. You shot at her using her own firearm. You could have easily killed her.”

The two had shown no remorse during the trial, Geldenhuys said. – Sapa

Farm murder in Eastern Transvaal

A farmer was shot dead near Sabie, Mpumalanga (Eastern Transvaal), on Thursday morning, police said.

Four armed men accosted Paul Madison, 63, and his wife, Gwyneth Madison, 58, when they returned to their home on the farm Kruisfontein, Colonel Leonard Hlathi told a Sapa correspondent.

“The wife was tied up and placed in the house. They took the husband outside and the wife heard three gunshots. She managed to untie herself and called for help,” said Hlathi.

Minutes later, the police and a private security company arrived to find Madison dead.

The farm’s gardener was found tied up and was thrown into a pit toilet. He was saved. The robbers took two laptops, bank cards, four cellphones, jewellery, cash, and several guns.

“We are now investigating cases of murder, armed robbery, and attempted murder,” said Hlathi.

Asked whether the police were linking the attack to that in Hazyview after midnight on Thursday, Hlathi said nothing could be ruled out.

“We cannot deny or confirm. Our investigations are underway in both cases and we cannot reveal the details at the moment,” he said.

In the early hours of Thursday morning, three masked men armed with a shotgun and two pistols reportedly robbed 108 pupils and 10 teachers, from Laerskool Hennopspark in Centurion, Gauteng.

The children, who represent their school choir, were staying at the Aan de Vliet Resort and Guest House outside Hazyview. Hlathi said three of the teachers were robbed.

“The robbers took cellphones, cash, a laptop, and an iPad. After robbing them, the unknown men ran away and police were called. We are now investigating,” said Hlathi.

Black man jailed for raping two girls on way to school

An Mpumalanga man was jailed for 20 years on Wednesday for raping two teenagers on their way to school.

Angel Phokane, 29, from Clau Clau Trust near Mbombela, was sentenced in the Nelspruit Regional Court, a Sapa correspondent reported.

He was arrested in February last year on four charges — armed robbery, attempted murder, and two rapes. He pleaded guilty to all the charges and told the court he was influenced by a substance he had been taking. He did not identify the substance.

In his confession statement, Phokane told the court that on February 6, 2012, he attacked two young girls at Silingane Trust while they were on their way to school.

“After I assaulted one of the girls and stabbed her in the back of her neck with a knife. I demanded their two cellphones and they gave them to me,” Phokane said in his statement.

“I then forced the other girl, who was in school uniform into the veld, where I had oral sex with her. I then… raped her. The other girl escaped while I was busy raping her.”

On February 22 he again went to his spot at Silingane Trust to wait for other girls.

“When the other 15-year-old, who was in school uniform, approached, I threatened her with a knife and forced her to follow me into the veld. I forced her to lie on the ground and raped her,” he said.

“I left the girl at the scene and walked away. I know what I did was wrong and is punishable by law.”

Passing sentence, magistrate Willie Wilkens said: “The court is satisfied that you did not try to deceive us with lies.”

Wilkens sentenced Phokane to 10 years for armed robbery, 10 years for attempted murder, and 20 years for each of the two rapes. The sentences would run concurrently, meaning he would only spend 20 years in prison.

“Your name will be placed in the register for sexual offenders and you are not fit to work with children or possess a firearm,” Wilkens said.

“When you get employment after your release from prison, you should disclose to your new employers about these offences. If you fail, a fine for R140,000 will be imposed on you by the court.” – Sapa

‘Keep your children from being raped’: Provincial leader

Parents are responsible for keeping their children away from criminal activities, the department of community safety said on Sunday.

“Women must also not allow poverty to keep them in abusive environments, which usually leads to their children being sexually abused,” Mpumalanga Community Safety MEC Vusi Shongwe said in a statement.

Shongwe was speaking at a public gathering between residents, the police and other government departments in Barberton on Saturday.

Residents called on Shongwe to strengthen law enforcement to fight crime in the area by bringing in the police’s Tactical Response Team, also called “Amabherethe”.

The residents listed the increasing use of drugs by youth in the area, school pupils loitering during school hours and the rising number of rape and common crimes in the area as some of the problems in the community.

Shongwe said communities should stop promoting crime by buying stolen goods.

“These perpetrators are known in our communities, therefore communities must play a role by informing police and not protect them,” Shongwe said.

The department and the police would embark on a clean-up programme in Barberton.

They would also target non-compliant liquor stores, Shongwe said. – Sapa

Mpumalanga farm murder: One acquitted

The Nelspruit Circuit Court found Aaron Majawodwa Nkosi, 30, guilty on Tuesday of killing white Mpumalanga farmer Johannes Hendrik Tolstoi Schoeman.

A Sapa correspondent reported that Nkosi’s co-accused Thomas Johannes Nyathi, 30, was acquitted.

The two black men were accused of robbing and kidnapping Gudryn Schoeman, 67, and murdering her 86-year-old husband at Vygeboom Farm, near Badplaas, on the night of December 17, 2010.

Judge Mmonoa Teffo said Nkosi incriminated himself during the pointing out of the crime scene, and that his evidence tallied with the testimony of Gudryn Schoeman.

“Nkosi put himself on the crime scene by pointing out the crime scenes,” said Teffo

He had told Captain Martinus Roussou, from the Hawks in Middelburg, that he was at the farm on December 16.

“You said you climbed next to the roof to the top floor of the house and on the first floor, went through a door inside the house.

“You also pointed to the bedroom where Schoeman was found lying on a bed, and attacked him… your accomplice strangled him on his throat until he was unconscious,” said Teffo.

She said Nkosi had shown Roussou how they waited for Gudryn Schoeman to enter the room and how they attacked her before demanding money from her.

“You pointed how Nyathi searched the cupboards, where keys to the couple’s car were fetched and how you left the farm with the wife on the way to Belfast ATM.

“You even pointed the accident scene at the Carolina R33 road, where the Honda Jazz you were travelling in with Schoeman’s wife had the accident.”

Teffo said that, during a trial-within-a-trial, it became clear that Nkosi had not been assaulted to confess to the crime.

“Captain Roussou testified the interpretation was not met with difficulties. Your rights were explained and interpreted. You never even raised to him you were assaulted during the interview and you even signed the rights document.

“If you did raise any complaint to Captain Roussou, he should have asked you to lay charges against those responsible,” said Teffo.

The judge said Nkosi had claimed he was home that night and had no alibi.

“I am satisfied you were involved in the commission of the crime. You are therefore found guilty beyond reasonable doubt on all five counts.”

She said that although the blood samples taken from the car used in the crime, which later crashed into a wall, matched Nyathi’s, the State had failed to prove its case against him.

“Testimony by Pretoria laboratory Warrant Officer Matome Arthur Manyama stated there was error regarding the CAS number. The CAS number on the sample bag was 37122011, instead of 37122010.

“Although Manyama communicated with W/O Orcilla Loubser to rectify the mistake, Loubser herself did not mention it in her testimony,” she said.

“Due to the fact that a proper procedure was not followed by the police

team, there is doubt about contamination.”

Although Nyathi had been unable to explain how his blood came to be on the car’s bumper, she do not accept the DNA results, Teffo said.

“There is no evidence which positively links Nyathi to the crime and he is acquitted of all charges,” she said.

Nkosi will be sentenced on Wednesday. – Sapa

British woman fears Aids after brutal S. African rape ordeal

by Jane Flanagan, London Daily Mail

A British woman was repeatedly raped at gunpoint during a savage 14-hour ordeal after she and her boyfriend were kidnapped at a South African beauty spot.

Now she faces a nightmare wait to see if she has been infected with HIV in a country where Aids is rife.

The couple were blindfolded and bundled into their car by four thugs and driven for 200 miles.

The only stops were when the gang visited illegal drinking dens and when the 29-year-old woman was raped.

As the attackers got more drunk, they invited other drinkers from shanty town shebeens to come and taunt their two white victims trussed up in the back of the vehicle.

The men grew increasingly violent as the night wore on, stabbing the 26-year-old South African boyfriend in the leg and beating him repeatedly.

The couple were told that they would be driven over the border to Mozambique and their bodies dumped.

They escaped only because their attackers lost control of the car and it overturned. The tourists scrambled out of the wreckage and fled.

A passing motorist, who stopped to help after seeing the crash, was shot dead and his passenger wounded as the attackers tried to steal their car.

The rape victim, from Gloucestershire, has told friends she feels she is under ‘a death sentence’ from Aids.

She has been prescribed anti-Aids drugs. But it will be months before doctors can say if she has been infected.

The Foreign Office said yesterday it was reviewing advice to visitors to South Africa, and especially Mpumalanga province where the rape happened and where a British woman was shot dead in a robbery last month.

The rape victim arrived in South Africa two weeks ago for a three-month visit.

She and her boyfriend had stopped at a picnic spot on Long Tom Pass in the Drakensberg Mountains when they were attacked on Saturday. It is one of the country’s busiest tourist routes – and the scene of a coach crash in 1999 which killed 26 British holidaymakers.

Piet Posthumus, a family friend of the victim, said: ‘This is the worst thing in the world for her. She is so traumatised by the possibility that her life is now under threat because of what has happened.’

He added: ‘A pistol was fired a couple of times as a warning and at least once it was fired through the floor of the car where they were lying.

‘Who knows how this would have ended if the car had not crashed.’

‘You have to understand that it is just not safe to get out of your car in South Africa any more.’

The ordeal ended when the driver went off the road near Barberton, 50 miles to the south.

The couple later spotted two men they believed were part of the gang as police drove them away from the scene.

The men, a South African and a Zimbabwean, are expected to appear in court today accused of rape, abduction and murder.

Nick Sheppard of the British High Commission in Pretoria said travel advice was being reviewed in view of the rape and the murder of Briton Diane Conway in Mpumalanga last month.

Mrs Conway, 60, was shot dead after she and her husband confronted an armed robber in their hotel room.

Mr Sheppard said ‘These are very serious incidents so we have to examine our options.

‘But 300,000 Britons visit South Africa each year and these two incidents are the worst over the past two years involving British tourists.’

With a favourable exchange rate, attractive climate, safari parks, beauty spots and beaches, South Africa has become a tourist magnet.

But it also the most violent society in the world, with the highest rates of murder and rape. Tourists are seen as soft targets by young men who have easy access to weapons.

There are almost 20,000 murders a year – 60 times more than in Britain.

Nearly 50,000 rapes were reported to police last year, but the true total is estimated at 30 times more.

The charity Childline says a girl born in South Africa is more likely to be raped in her lifetime than learn to read.

South Africa also has the highest number of people in the world with Aids or carrying the HIV virus. Some estimates put it at a quarter of the population. – MailOnline

Yet another South African policeman appearing in court for corruption

A policeman accused of corruption and of using a state vehicle without consent appeared in the Standerton Magistrate’s Court on Monday, Mpumalanga police said.

The case against Constable Ronald Mmatlou was postponed to September 13, said Colonel Leonard Hlathi. He remained in custody, he said.

Mmatlou was arrested in Bronkhorstspruit on Friday. – Sapa

Elderly Mpuma farmer killed in latest farm attack

An elderly man has been shot dead on his farm in Waterval Boven, Mpumalanga, provincial police said on Monday.

“[Around] 6pm on Friday, Mr Garth Johnson, 67, was fatally wounded in his home on … his farm,” Colonel Leonard Hlathi said.

The man’s 70-year-old wife was at home at the time and heard gunshots, but did not see her husband’s attacker.

Hlathi said the man died on the scene and nothing was stolen from the house.

No one had been arrested by 8am on Monday.

Beeld newspaper reported on Monday that another farmer in the area alleged that Johnson could have been killed because of a dispute with the new owners of a farm he lost through a land claim.

According to the report, Johnson had a heated meeting with the new owners last week.

Johnson was reportedly unhappy that squatters had moved onto the farm he had lost.

Hlathi said police would not narrow their investigation based on this claim.

“We won’t be drawn into those allegations. We are [viewing] this issue as an lone incident.”

However, if the allegation was true, this would emerge in the police investigation, he said.

He appealed to anyone with information about the murder to contact the police. – Sapa

Four black rhino poachers shot dead

More valuable tha a pale male — More valuable than a pale male

Four suspected rhino poachers were shot dead in the Kruger National Park at the weekend.

Rangers in the park made contact with a group of six suspected rhino horn poachers on Saturday, SanParks spokesman Ike Phaahla said on Monday.

“A shoot-out ensued between the suspected poachers and the rangers; three of the alleged poachers were killed and the other three were arrested,” said Phaahla.

Phaahla said two rifles, ammunition and rhino poaching equipment were recovered.

Another suspected rhino horn poacher was shot and killed by rangers in Crocodile Bridge in Mpumalanga on Saturday.

Limpopo police spokesman Brigadier Hangwani Mulaudzi said police also arrested four suspected rhino poachers on Sunday at Hoedspruit.

“Police found the alleged poachers in possession of a hunting rifle, firearm silencer and ammunition,” said Hangwani.

The four men aged between 33 and 46 will appear in the Phalaborwa Magistrate’s Court on Tuesday on charges of illegal possession of a firearm and ammunition and charges under the National Environmental Biodiversity Act which includes conspiracy to poach rhino.

The court date for the first three arrested was not available. – Sapa

S. African school principal fired over child porn

A principal of a high profile private school in Mpumalanga has been fired after being arrested in connection with an international child pornography syndicate.

The man who cannot be named until he pleads appeared in the White River Magistrate’s Court on Wednesday and was released on R1000 bail, a Sapa correspondent reported.

“Today, we have come up with an agreement to terminate his position in the school,” the school board announced in a statement on Wednesday.

The board said it regarded the allegation in the most serious light while respecting his constitutionally protected right to be presumed innocent until proven guilty.

The accused, who is an award-winning author, has been headmaster at the preparatory school for the past three years.

The board described him as a man “characterised by exceptional professionalism,” who also enjoyed the respect of his teaching colleagues, parents and pupils alike.

He is suspected of being part of a syndicate, which includes five other people across the country.

A total of six professionals have appeared in courts throughout the country for child pornography.

The six included two teachers and a retired principal, a lawyer, a dermatologist, and a businessman.

Police spokesman Lt-Gen Solomon Makgale said the accused were arrested in Lichtenburg, Bloemfontein, White River, Douglasdale, Florida, and Potchefstroom.

“They are all suspected to have been involved in an international child pornography syndicate,” said Makgale.

Makgale said police were investigating whether the six were involved in distribution and manufacturing of child pornography, and if they were linked to an international syndicate.

At the weekend, police raided several homes in KwaZulu-Natal, Eastern Cape, Western Cape and Free State.

Among the items seized were 672 dvds, 22 memory sticks, eight laptops, two computer tablets, 39 external hard drives, and 25 books containing child porn.

The Times reported the case had links to Canada, the United Kingdom, the United States, Western Europe, and Australasia.

It reported that children as young as five were believed to have been groomed to have sex with each other and adults. The images were believed to have been generated overseas, and local police — with the help of their international counterparts — were investigating whether South African children were involved.

Their cases were postponed in court and they would appear separately on different dates in the next two months.

The Film and Publications Board (FPB) commended police for the arrests.

FPB acting CEO Jonas Phoshoko expressed disappointment at the fact that the crimes were committed by those who ought to be protectors.

“Looking at the profile of those arrested, it affirms that these crimes attract even the most trusted within society,” he said in a statement.

He hoped those found in transgression of the Film and Publications Act by being in possession, creating or distributing child pornography would be severely punished if found guilty.

Phoshoko urged parents to be vigilant and guard their children against potential abusers, both physically and on the internet. – Sapa