Minister in the Presidency Jackson Mthembu has called the blunder by the SABC while broadcasting President Cyril Ramaphosa’s recent televised address to the nation a terrible mistake. 

He added the mistake or sabotage could not have happened at a more inopportune time.

Mthembu made the statements at a media briefing on the outcome of a Cabinet meeting held on Wednesday.

News24 previously reported the SABC had confirmed the flighting of the clip on September 5 was an act of sabotage.

“The SABC now has strong prima facie evidence indicating that the broadcast of the incorrect clip was a well-considered and co-ordinated act of sabotage to bring the SABC and consequently the president into disrepute,” read a statement released by the broadcaster. 

Mthembu, addressing the issue on Thursday, said about “the blunder”: “I don’t know what to call it. I felt very bad because I was waiting patiently to hear my president speak to the nation on very important matters.”

Ramaphosa’s address was focused on issues of gender-based violence, rape and femicide as well as xenophobia and criminality brought to the fore by weeks of unrest that had rocked parts of the country, News24 reported. 

The president also made a clarion call to men to end the scourge of violence against women and children.

On Thursday, Mthembu, said the address was about the “killing of women by men in our country and attacks on foreign nationals and fellow South Africans by some in our country”.

“And what does SABC do, or some people in the SABC do? They make a joke out of it. 

“When I saw that thing I said, ‘yoh, what has happened here’. Even if you wanted to deal with us as a government or a president, why decide on that important issues? I felt that you could have done this some other time – not at that time,” he added.

“And we knew that the only people we had used [to broadcast the address] was the SABC. Now, how can the SABC give everyone the right footage and they use a wrong footage? We were hurt, we were very hurt that you could have chosen any [other] time.

“It’s so bad when, you know, something of this nature happens to our own public broadcaster and [you] throw your own government under the bus. It was not under the bus, it was under train … at a time when we relied on you to get all of South Africa – through the president – to focus on what was happening.”

Mthembu said: “… but I think that is in the past now, I think all of us as a country is now facing up to the reality that we must stop violence against women, we must stop the killing of women, we must stop the killing of our girls.

“You did throw us under the bus but we are happy that you are dealing with it.”

1:1090 is the current ratio of police to citizens, Maimane says.He says 81 police to every VIP is the current standing.”Surely, this cannot be right,” says Maimane.

Warning: This article contains graphic details

Convicted child rapist Nicholas Ninow won’t have wiggle room in arguing for a deviation from a life sentence for rape after his version of events that he acted “impulsively” was rejected by the Gauteng High Court in Pretoria.

Following a guilty verdict of rape by the High Court on Monday, Ninow will now have to prepare for the pre-sentencing trial where he will in all likelihood argue for mitigation.

Ninow was found guilty of defeating the ends of justice, possession of an illegal substance and rape, which has a minimum prescribed sentence of life, which is 25 years without the possibility of early parole.

His defence team would have to show substantial and compelling circumstances if the court is to deviate from the minimum prescribed sentence.   

Ninow’s version rejected

Ninow’s chances of escaping a life sentence on the rape charge have further diminished following Judge Mokhine Mosopa’s judgment as well as the concession he made in his plea explanation.

Judge Mosopa rejected Ninow’s version that he was in the women’s bathroom, at a Dros restaurant in Silverton, Pretoria on September 22, 2018, snorting the drug CAT when the seven year-old girl came in, asking to urinate.

READ: Court rejects convicted Dros rapist Nicholas Ninow’s version of events, finds him guilty on 3 counts

Ninow said he then acted “impulsively” by taking off her pants, forcing his penis into her mouth and inserting his fingers into her vagina.  

In his judgment, Judge Mosopa found that Ninow’s actions were planned and deliberate.

“The only reasonable inference the court can draw is that the accused saw the victim playing in the play area, saw her going to the bathroom, followed her and then undressed and raped her,” Judge Mosopa said.

Premeditation as an aggravating factor

In arguing for a life sentence, the fact that the court found Ninow’s actions to be deliberate and premeditated is an aggravating factor that the State will likely use to have the heaviest possible sentence imposed.

It also means that Ninow cannot use the excuse of “impulsiveness” as a mitigating factor.

His version, in which he painted himself as being drunk and high, and who made an impulsive mistake, cannot be accepted by the court during sentencing arguments if the court found it was premeditated.

As far as the judgment is concerned, which upheld the State’s version of events, Ninow acted like a predator, getting closer to his prey, waiting for the right moment to strike.

He is now a convicted child rapist who did not concern himself with the well-being of his victim, but rather a sickly lust that he intended to satisfy.

Ninow’s alcohol and drug use may also not be a factor in arguing for mitigation after he stated in his plea explanation that the substances had no bearing on his thought processes when he raped the girl.

READ MORE: Nicholas Ninow details rape in Dros bathroom

It was placed on record that while Ninow was under the influence of drugs and alcohol, he could still appreciate the wrongfulness of his actions and his culpability, adding he had acted intentionally when he raped the victim.

“I had no legal justification for penetrating the complainant in her mouth, or vagina; and at the time I knew my actions were wrong and I was committing an offence,” Ninow said in his plea explanation.

“I had no right to penetrate the complainant’s vagina and she did not consent thereto; and due to her age she was, anyway, incapable of consent.”

Ninow said he was aware that his actions were unlawful while he was committing the offence.

Psychiatric observation

Ninow was also found sane and fit to stand trial, after he spent a month in Weskoppies Psychiatric Hospital, undergoing extensive evaluation in February this year, following a court order.

The report, which could come up in sentencing proceedings, diagnosed Ninow as a mixed substance abuser. However, the report further stated the diagnoses had no bearing on his ability to understand court proceedings and contribute to his defence.

“At the time of the alleged offence, the accused did not suffer from a mental illness or intellectual disability that affected his ability to distinguish between the rightful and wrongful nature of his deeds,” the report stated.

ALSO READ: Ninow planned to rape someone at the restaurant – State

“A mental illness or intellectual disability did not affect his ability to act in accordance with the said appreciate (sic) of the rightful and wrongful nature of his deeds.”

Ninow’s history of substance abuse and depression may be led as a mitigating factor, but would fall short on being compelling enough, or even a justification for his actions, to deviate from the minimum sentence.

Before the trial, it was placed on record that Ninow was diagnosed with bipolar disorder in 2013, and had been using drugs since he was 14-years-old.

He has also previously undergone rehabilitation for substance abuse and attempted to commit suicide.

Given the judgment and Ninow’s own concessions, it is highly unlikely that there can be any compelling reasons to deviate from a life sentence that he deserves.

A Western Cape teen has been sentenced to a hefty 12 years in prison for stealing almost 2km of copper cable in Robertson, police said on Sunday. 

Spokesperson Sergeant Noloyiso Rwexana said the 18-year-old had made off with 1 800m of copper cable belonging to Eskom last year. 

It’s removal had caused electricity interruptions in the area. 

Rwexana said Rethabile Mxolisi was sentenced to 12 years in prison by the Robertson Magistrate’s Court a week ago, in terms of the Criminal Amendment Act, for tampering with, damage to, and theft of essential infrastructure.

Acting Western Cape police commissioner Lieutenant General Sindile Mfazi said he considered the conviction and sentencing a deterrent to would-be cable thieves. 

“Tampering, damage and theft of copper cable is a serious offence that impacts on essential services such as rail, telephone and electricity services. The economy of the country also suffers as a result of these offences,” Mfazi was quoted as saying.