Justice was not served during the 2005 murder trial of Mark Scott-Crossley, who is serving a life sentence for killing a farmworker he threw to lions, the Supreme Court of Appeal heard on Monday. Scott-Crossley’s counsel submitted that the court had entered the ”arena of guiding the state when examining witnesses in chief” during the trial.
The Blue Bulls played better than the scoreline of 44-18 in favour of the Free State Cheetahs indicated in Bloemfontein on Saturday. Free State led 10-6 at half-time. The difference between the two sides was the impact the replacements made for the home team.
The Free State Cheetahs moved clear at the top of the Absa Currie Cup standings when they outclassed Griquas 51-10 in Bloemfontein on Saturday. After holding a narrow 14-7 (two tries to one) lead at halftime, the Cheetahs simply moved up a gear after the break and scored another five tries for their third success full-house of log points.
The Afrikaner enclave of Orania and the Northern Cape government have agreed that Orania’s quest for self-determination should be discussed at all government levels. Chairperson of the Orania representative council Prinsloo Potgieter said this was the outcome of a meeting between the council and premier Dipuo Peters.
A two-year-old who got lost on a farm near Jansenville in the Eastern Cape survived a night alone in the snow and rain, police said on Wednesday. Ronaldo Spogter toddled along behind his deaf grandfather, who was unaware of him, climbed over two barbed-wire fences and spent a mid-winter night outside.
Former Mangaung mayor Pappie Mokoena, his wife and other former senior municipal officials appeared on fraud charges in the Bloemfontein High Court on Tuesday. The matter concerns a Scorpions investigation at the Mangaung local municipality relating to alleged fraud amounting to R170-million.
All permits are in order at the Heilbron game farm in the Free State where a Bengal tiger attacked a child and her father over the weekend, environmental officials said on Monday. ”There is no problem with the camps, fences or permits,” said Werner Boing, spokesperson on biodiversity compliance at the local department of environmental affairs.
Jannie du Plessis says he is delighted to be included in the Springbok touring party of 28 players for the away fixtures of the Tri-Nations series against the All Blacks and Wallabies. Jake White has opted to rest his big guns for the tour to Australasia, saying it would be ”a ludicrous risk” to take all his players on tour in this World Cup year.
Two game farmers with tape measures in hand say Free State authorities break their own rules for housing confiscated wildlife, including lions, a media report said on Friday. Free State department of environmental affairs spokesperson Kgotso Tau said: ”Individuals should stop kicking up dust and dramatising.”
The long-awaited new Mokala National Park in the Northern Cape was officially proclaimed by Environmental Affairs and Tourism Minister Marthinus van Schalkwyk on Tuesday. The establishment of this new park near Plooysberg, south-west of Kimberley, came as a result of a successful land claim made on a section of the old Vaalbos National Park.
Free State provincial minister for safety and security Playfair Morule faces a culpable-homicide charge in the Bloemfontein Magistrate’s Court, the Volksblad newspaper reported on Friday. The case was postponed to August 24 for a possible trial, after Morule (47) appeared in court on Thursday.
It’s back to business on Monday for the Springboks and England as they prepare for the second Test in Pretoria this coming Saturday. With the first Test behind them, both teams will be more settled and focused for their second encounter, which could be a whole new ball game.
South Africa kicked off their international season with a crushing 58-10 win over World Cup champions England in Bloemfontein at Vodacom Park on Saturday. The hosts, who ran in seven tries, led 30-3 at half-time. England, minus up to 30 of their leading players who are either injured or were involved in last weekend’s Heineken Cup final, were no match for the South Africans.
Springbok captain John Smit said on Friday the fact that so little is known of the touring England team makes them dangerous. ”We do not know much about this team,” Smit said, adding that all the talk had been about the Springboks lately. ”When there is something you’re not sure about, an unknown quantity, you have to prepare twice as hard for anything.”
South Africa coach Jake White has gone with tried and tested combinations for Saturday’s first of two Tests against England. Ten of the 15 players selected in the starting team featured in last weekend’s Super 14 final between the Sharks and Bulls. The one surprise selection is that of winger Ashwin Willemse, who has struggled with numerous injuries.
Springbok coach Jake White said on Monday that the Luke Watson issue had had no influence on the Springbok squad, who are preparing for the first Test against England in Bloemfontein on Saturday. ”It’s not a question as to how Luke Watson fits in, it’s more important that we’re coming out of a positive Super 14 and all that energy is focused there now,” said White.
In a season-ending Castle Premier Soccer League match played at Seiso Ramabodu Stadium, Bloemfontein Celtic and Maritzburg United played to a one-all draw in front of a capacity crowd on Sunday afternoon. Home team Celtic led 1-0 at the break.
It was acceptable for a television documentary on the baby Jordan-Leigh Norton murder case to be broadcast without the director of public prosecutions viewing it in advance, the Supreme Court of Appeal ruled on Friday. The accused in the case, Dina Rodrigues, and her co-accused were convicted earlier this month.
SA Rugby has gagged Springbok coach Jake White, who will not be allowed to grant media interviews until next Monday. ”This is an instruction from SA Rugby,” the organisation’s media manager, Vusi Kama, told Johannesburg morning newspaper Beeld.
Petsana at Reitz in the Free State was quiet on Wednesday morning after protests and a stayaway from work the day before, police said. Sergeant Mmako Mophiring said that according to police on the scene, schooling was going on as usual in Petsana, and workers had returned to work.
Police arrested 31 people on Tuesday afternoon after a protest in the Petsana township near Reitz in the Free State. Sergeant Mmako Mophiring said the people arrested faced charges of public violence, damage to state property, vandalism and being in possession of stolen goods.
Residents of Pepsana at Reitz in the eastern Free State blocked roads with burning tyres and stones on Tuesday in a protest over municipal service delivery, police said. Sergeant Mmako Mophiring said the protesters had stopped all traffic in and out of the township since 4am on Tuesday.
Twenty-four members of various cable-theft syndicates have been sentenced to a total collective sentence of 420 years’ imprisonment by the Kroonstad Regional Court, Spoornet said on Thursday. The syndicate members were convicted on 76 charges and received individual sentences ranging from three to 80 years’ imprisonment.
Radio Pretoria, a radio station catering specifically for ”boere-Afrikaners”, on Friday asked five appeal judges to order the Independent Communications Authority of South Africa to reconsider an application for a four-year community broadcasting licence. Judgement was reserved.
A Zastron man shot dead his three-year-old daughter and tried to shoot his wife before turning the gun on himself, police said on Monday. Inspector Harry Nagel said the 32-year-old man allegedly shot the girl first and then tried to shoot her mother in Matlakeng at about 4.30pm on Sunday.
The African National Congress (ANC) provincial executive committee in the Free State on Monday dismissed a failed court challenge to its leadership as ”counter-revolutionary”. ”The matter referred to the court has never been a legal matter but has always been a political matter,” said Free State ANC deputy chairperson Pat Matosa.
More members of the African National Congress (ANC) in the Free State are planning to take on the leadership of provincial party leader Ace Magashule in court, the Volksblad reported on Friday. Members of four more ANC regions are expected to apply for court interdicts to stop ANC ward meetings.
The Afrikanerbond on Wednesday welcomed the National African National Congress’s (ANC) stance against the damage to the Great Trek memorial in Standerton, Mpumalanga. ”The Afrikanerbond is heartened by ANC national spokesperson Smuts Ngonyama’s unequivocal message …,” said Afrikanerbond spokesperson Jan Bosman in a statement.
The difference in asking and selling prices in the property market is back to normal levels, said the MD of Homenet, David Rogers, on Tuesday. ”Clear evidence that the property market has settled … is the fact that the difference between asking and selling prices has dropped back to normal levels of between 5% and 10% in most areas,” Rogers said.
The African National Congress (ANC) in the Free State is stable and united, provincial party leader Ace Magashule said on Wednesday in reaction to questions about party leadership battles and ”factions” within the ANC at regional level in the province. ”The ANC is stable and united at all levels,” Magashule said at an ANC media breakfast.
A stork that flew from Germany to die on a Free State farm in December last year is now making headlines on the internet, the Volksblad newspaper reported on Tuesday. Prinzesschen (Princess), a white stork (Ciconia ciconia), died on December 23 last year on the farm Uitzicht between Wesselsbron and Hoopstad.
The Congress of South African Trade Unions (Cosatu) wants the government to investigate ”properly” the circumstances around the escape of a lion from a game farm near Winburg in the Free State, it said on Tuesday. It said it was relieved to hear the escaped animal was finally shot at by a local farmer.