Daniel Molewa, who raped eight women in Soshanguve two years ago knew his actions were wrong, but claimed on Wednesday his fear of the ”tokoloshe” had driven him to it. Earlier this year Molewa admitted guilt on 12 charges of rape and three of indecent assault. He was out on bail for a double rape when he embarked on a further spree of rapes in 2001 and 2002.
The Gauteng deputy director of public prosecutions, (Scorpions) Cornwell Tshavhungwa, had his R100 000 bail on corruption charges cancelled by a Pretoria magistrate on Wednesday. Specialised Commercial Crimes Court magistrate Desmond Nair found that Tshavhungwa had breached his bail conditions by contacting a witness.
The government has vowed to oppose a multi-billion dollar lawsuit lodged by apartheid victims against it and eight big corporations, but says it has received no official notification of the action. It was announced this week the R63-billion lawsuit was filed in the US for ”genocide, expropriation and other wrongful acts” by international companies under apartheid.
The State’s fraud and theft case against Winnie Madikizela-Mandela and broker Addy Moolman was criticised by a Pretoria judge hearing the pair’s appeal on Monday. Judge Eberhardt Bertelsmann expressed doubts about the credibility of State witnesses relied on, and questioned whether the prosecution had succeeded in proving some of the charges.
Seventy South African suspected mercenaries being held in Zimbabwe lodged an application on Monday for leave to appeal to the Constitutional Court after a Pretoria judge refused to order their extradition home. They would contest Transvaal Judge President Bernard Ngoepe’s ruling on the grounds that a South African’s constitutionally-entrenched rights had to be enforceable in a foreign country.
South Africa was ”aggressively” seeking greater investment from China, despite local fears of foreign competition. Deputy Foreign Minister Aziz Pahad said that what South Africa would lose in certain sectors — such as textiles and clothing — it would gain in others, such as mining, tourism and energy.
The South African government said on Monday it was aggressively seeking greater foreign investment from China despite fears that this may harm certain sectors within the economy. ”We want greater investment in South Africa,” said deputy foreign affairs minister Aziz Pahad.
Visa applications by South Africans are likely to be more thoroughly examined following the recent visas scam uncovered in London, the United Kingdom High Commission said in Pretoria on Friday. ”Applications will be more carefully scrutinised and will be treated with an element of suspicion,” said a spokesperson.
The June 30 deadline for banks to verify the identities of their clients was deferred on Thursday to an array of new cut-off points starting on December 31. Finance Minister Trevor Manuel said banks would have to confirm the identities of their highest risk customers by the end of the year and banks would themselves determine the profile of this group.
Bridging the gap between South Africa’s ”two economies” will be the main agenda item when President Thabo Mbeki meets the International Investment Council (IIC) this week, says the government. The IIC discussions will also include how South Africa perceives itself as a world and African economy.
A deceased tribal chief was among 47 diplomats, activists, trade unionists and other people honoured in Pretoria for their contribution to South Africa’s well-being. There were big names at the national orders investiture ceremony, but the loudest cheers were reserved for the long dead chief Frans Rasimphi Tshivhase.
African and developed countries are to devise a joint plan by next year to transform broad commitment to the continent’s development into concrete action, says the chairperson of the secretariat of the New Partnership for Africa’s Development (Nepad), Wiseman Nkuhlu.
Allegations of soccer match-fixing involving referees will only be investigated by the South African Police Service and not by the Scorpions, the National Directorate of Public Prosecutions said on Tuesday. An undisclosed number of referees were expected to be arrested as police concluded their initial investigation.
Another milestone in South Africa’s multi-billion rand arms deal will be reached on Tuesday in Germany, when the SA Navy’s latest addition to its maritime arsenal is officially launched. The first of the Type 209-class submarines, ”S 101”, will be launched that country.
An overnight coup attempt in the Democratic Republic of Congo was ”a freak incident,” says South Africa’s Provincial and local Government Minister Sydney Mufamadi. He says a military delegation from the DRC is to meet the South African National Defence Force to discuss training and security sector reforms.
The Zimbabwean government has announced that it intends to nationalise all farmland, a step that its critics fear will hasten the collapse of agriculture when millions of people depend on food aid. ”This is not in the best interests of Zimbabweans, black and white,” said the director of the pressure group Justice for Agriculture.
The United States government on Thursday donated more than R2,5-million-worth of equipment to the South African Police Service and the Scorpions to assist them in investigating commercial crime. The equipment includes computers, software, digital cameras and projectors, cellphones and cassette recorders.
Serial child rapist Joao de Canha was given 10 life sentences on 10 rape charges on Thursday, but might serve just 20 years behind bars. Judge Hekkie Daniels imposed 10 life terms and a further sentence of 69 years and six months’ imprisonment on De Canha after convicting him on 29 charges ranging from rape to assault.
South African National Defence Force chief Siphiwe Nyanda on Thursday visited three soldiers at Pretoria’s 1 Military hospital who were injured while on peacekeeping duty in the Democratic Republic of Congo last week. One of the patients recounted how he and his colleagues were ambushed.
Serial child rapist Joao de Canha can get medication in jail to keep his ”extraordinary sex drive” under control, counsel for his defence told the Pretoria High Court on Wednesday. De Canha (36), a Portuguese citizen, was found guilty by Judge Hekkie Daniels earlier this week on 29 charges, including 10 of rape.
Seventy South Africans being held in Harare on suspicion of plotting a coup d’état in Equatorial Guinea, will have to stand trial in Zimbabwe, the Pretoria High Court ruled on Wednesday. Their advocate said his instructions were to lodge an application for leave to appeal to the Constitutional Court in the event of their Pretoria High Court bid failing.
Leon calls for ‘words and action’
Mugabe to seize all farm land
The first snow of the season has fallen on the peaks surrounding Barkly East in the Eastern Cape, almost three months later than last year, the South African Weather Service said on Tuesday. As a result, very cold conditions were expected over the western, southern and south-eastern interior as well as the eastern high ground and Highveld.
William Kekana was sentenced to life in prison by the Pretoria High Court on Tuesday for the murder of a Brits electrician. When pronouncing the sentence of life and 35 years, Judge Johan Els criticised the inadequate Correctional Services Act and said persons already serving life imprisonment are ”given a licence to kill”.
Police have launched a high level investigation following complaints of death threats against Public Protector Lawrence Mushwana, the office of the national police commissioner confirmed on Monday. Director Sally de Beer said: ”Police received a complaint from Mr Mushwana last week to the effect that he has been getting death threats via SMS messages on his cellphone.
The man accused of killing baby Kayla, her mother and grandmother has been found guilty of murdering a man during a hijacking just nine days before the triple murder. William Kekana (19) admitted in the Pretoria High Court on Monday that he kidnapped Jacobus Geldenhuys outside the Pretoria Heart hospital.
Economic interests and countries such as France and the United States were behind a ”coup d’état” that led to his ousting in February, former Haitian president Jean-Bertrand Aristide said on Monday. He said he will only contest elections in Haiti next year if the poll is guaranteed free and fair, and democratic.
The South African government on Sunday offered its condolences to the United States following the death of former President Ronald Reagan. Reagan, who suffered from a long bout with Alzheimer’s disease, died on Saturday at the age of 93 at his home in Bel Air in southern California.
Major General Derrick Mgwebi last week became the first South African to head a United Nations peacekeeping mission when he assumed the command of the UN Operation in Burundi. Mgwebi last Tuesday donned a UN blue beret at a ceremony in Bujumbura to mark the end of the African Union mission in Burundi.
The future of the New National Party (NNP) lies in strengthening its ties with the African National Congress (ANC), the party announced following a federal council meeting in Centurion on Saturday. The NNP and ANC have agreed to ”strengthen and deepen the relationship of cooperation between the two parties”, NNP leader Marthinus van Schalkwyk told reporters.
The state closed its case against accused rapist and murderer William Kekana on Friday in the Temba Circuit High Court outside Pretoria. Advocate Dewald Reynierse cross-examined Kekana on his evidence-in-chief heard on Thursday, by trying to show the court that Kekana had been party to the crime.
State, defence battle in Kekana trial
On the eve of a federal council meeting to discuss the future of the New National Party following its poor performance in April’s national and provincial elections, the party’s Gauteng administrative office has closed. The move is in no way a sign of the party’s imminent dissolution in Gauteng, provincial leader Johan Kilian said.
Three men who murdered a Soshanguve priest during a hijacking in 2001 were on Wednesday sentenced by the Pretoria High Court to life in jail. Boetie Mashego, Lucky Choma and Tsholofelo Seome calmly looked at the large number of faithful who had gathered to hear their fate, and even smiled before they were led down the steps to the court cells.