North West MEC for Social Development Hoffman Galeng expressed his condolences to the Mafoko family on Monday after seven of the family’s members were wiped out in a blaze.
Forty-eight-year-old Boitumelo Mafoko, her five children and one grandchild died in the fire at their home. It is believed that a candle started the blaze.
“We express our heartfelt condolences to the bereaved family and to all residents of Kgetleng River Local Municipality. This is a painful tragedy. We urge the residents here to work with the government as we prepare to pay [our] last respects to the deceased,” Galeng was quoted as saying.
Galeng was accompanied by Kgetleng River Local Municipality Mayor Kim Medupe, the SA Police Services and officials from various government departments, spokesperson Petrus Siko said.
Siko said a team of social workers from the department, Phokeng Trauma Centre and Lifeline have been sent to the area to provide trauma counselling and debriefing to family members, as well as pupils and teachers at local schools the Mafoko children attended.
He said Galeng was also expected to buy clothes and groceries for two children who survived.
Police spokesperson Brigadier Sabata Mokgwabone told News24 that an inquest docket had been opened and that no foul play was suspected.
North West authorities visit Koster informal settlement following deadly shack fire. (Supplied)
The Belgian government committed €30m to South Africa’s land reform process, Minister of International Relations and Cooperation Lindiwe Sisulu said on Monday after a meeting with that country’s deputy prime minister and foreign affairs minister, Didier Reynders.
Speaking at a press conference after their meeting, Reynders emphasised the need for balance in South Africa’s process of amending the Constitution.
“We are sure that we need to go firm on the process of land reform because it was at the beginning [of] the reconciliation process of the country,” Reynders said.
He acknowledged the current parliamentary process relating to the amendment of Section 25 of the Constitution to allow expropriation without compensation, describing it as the “best way”.
“The importance of the process is to be smooth,” Reynders said. “Of course, we need to see a balanced situation.”
He pledged Belgium’s help.
“It’s a difficult issue in many countries, so we need to be sure it is a balanced process. We don’t want to express an extreme view on that,” Reynders said.
Sisulu said Reynders indicated to her that South Africa should perhaps educate the world about its stance on land.
“Maybe we are misunderstood. And I appreciated his advice and told him that we are doing something about it to educate the world about what we are doing to redistribute the land,” Sisulu said.
“The bottom line which has come through is the Belgian government has understood our position, has from the beginning been with us, [has] committed €30 m to the process,” Sisulu said.
“What the minister pointed out to me is we need to educate the world so that we don’t have a situation that we [had] about a month ago, that we have a misrepresentation of what we want to do. I was grateful for that kind of indication from him.”
In August, American broadcaster Fox News aired a factually incorrect insert about land reform in South Africa, prompting a tweet from US president Donald Trump.
A few days, while on a state visit to SA, UK Prime Minister Theresa May said the UK supported President Cyril Ramaphosa’s approach to land reform and believed it could potentially unlock further investment opportunities in Africa.
Also on Monday, COPE leader Mosiuoa Lekota and AfriForum announced that they would lobby foreign embassies in South Africa to put pressure on the government to not amend the Constitution.
Lekota’s party said that it first wanted to discuss the issue of lobbying foreign missions.
Facility management company Bosasa treated a long list of high-profile ministers and government functionaries to high-tech security systems for their homes.
The company, now known as African Global Operations, has, since at least 2013, installed high-end CCTV cameras, alarm systems and electric fencing for ministers Gwede Mantashe and Nomvula Mokonyane, and deputy minister Thabang Makwetla.
Also on the receiving end of Bosasa’s largesse were former SAA chairperson Dudu Myeni, former prisons boss Linda Mti, and one-time procurement manager for the Passenger Rail Agency of SA, Mbulelo Gingcana. Top ANC MP Vincent Smith rounds off the list, as News24 reported this week.
These claims are contained in an affidavit deposed to by a former Bosasa employee in November last year.
While Mantashe and Mokonyane would neither confirm nor deny that Bosasa came to their homes to install the security systems, Makwetla, the deputy minister of justice and correctional services, confirmed that Bosasa had installed an electric fence, cameras and an alarm at his home.
However, he said he “pleaded with [Bosasa chief executive Gavin] Watson, not once, not twice, not thrice, but continuously ever since” to charge for it, but Watson “flatly refused to send me the bill for the job”.
“This has been a source of serious frustration to the deputy minister,” Makwetla said yesterday.
Myeni responded to detailed questions with a terse “no comment”.
An affidavit details how various Bosasa directors had instructed him to install the systems, and even clean up gardens and fix pool pumps at the homes. The affidavit confirmed installations at the home of Smith this week.
Smith also received R670 000 in cash from Bosasa, which he said were loans from former Bosasa chief operations officer Angelo Agrizzi.
Agrizzi, however, denied any loan agreement, saying Watson ordered that Bosasa pay the money.
According to the affidavit, the security installations were branded “Special Projects” and were undertaken with Watson’s knowledge and approval.
Several Bosasa directors instructed him to install the equipment, including Papa Leshabane, Syvion Dlamini, Trevor Mathenjwa, Agrizzi and Watson, the whistle-blower claims.
“In 2013, Gavin Watson asked that I attend to the premises of [then Gauteng premier, now communications minister] Nomvula Mokonyane, while Angelo Agrizzi and Gavin Watson were at the premises,” the man alleges.
“I was instructed by Gavin Watson to sort out the electric fence, the generator, the CCTV systems, gate motor and other incidentals such as the pool, the distribution of electricity and lighting on the premises.”
The affidavit lists other systems that the ministers and top officials allegedly received, including:
• CCTV and recording systems, and perimeter lighting for mineral resources minister Mantashe’s house in Boksburg and homes in Cala and Elliot in the Eastern Cape, valued at R300 000;
• An electric fence, alarm system, CCTV system and computer server worth R350 000 for Makwetla’s home;
• A R150 000 alarm and CCTV system for Gingcana’s Randburg home;
• Electric fencing, CCTV and an alarm system worth R250 000 for Myeni’s Richards Bay home;
• R350 000 worth of work – including 4km of electric fencing and perimeter lighting, and alarm system repairs – to two of Mti’s properties, in Colchester and Greenbushes outside Port Elizabeth; and
• Electric fencing and a CCTV system worth R200 000 at Smith’s Roodepoort home.
“All the systems were paid for by the Bosasa Group,” the affidavit reads.
“Accounts would be opened as cash accounts and I would receive the cash from Jacques van Zyl and Angelo Agrizzi as the company did not want to reflect it on the books.”
Funny SMSes
News24 has also obtained copies of text messages apparently sent to the former Bosasa employee, supporting his claim that he was also tasked with maintaining the security systems.
On July 17 2017, Makwetla sent a text saying: “I thought I should report that the camera system went off again by Friday. On the screen it says: Please check the TX input signal. Thanks. Thabang.”
On June 1 2017, Mokonyane’s personal assistant Sandy Thomas wrote: “There is a problem at the house with the alarm system. For some reason, it keeps ringing, so it now has to be switched off at the switch. Please let me know what to do.”
On April 16 2017, Gingcana texted: “I have a challenge here. I’m locked in without a key to disable the gate to manual. There is no power for the area since 3am. Do you have anyone on standby to assist with the key?”
On March 28 2017, Smith texted: “Spoke to Gavin [Watson] on Sunday and this morning about moving camera. He has no problem. Regards.”
On January 7 2017 Mti wrote: “When in PE [Port Elizabeth] next, please check Colchester alarm continue [sic] to make noise when switching off, and Greenbushes switcher got lost and we can’t activate. Can bring spare one.”
The affidavit also details how, during the installation at Myeni’s home in 2014, a robbery took place. At the time, the Zululand Observer reported that R400 000 in cash was taken from her home, for which the culprits were arrested and sentenced. But the employee states he had to lie to police so as not to reveal that he was a private contractor.
Fightback
The employee is fighting his dismissal from Bosasa, saying he was disciplined and fired for storing “consumables”, such as wiring and cable trunking left over from the politicians’ and officials’ installations, at his home on the property of Bosasa’s Krugersdorp head office.
He said he was forced to keep them there to avoid questions about what they were used for.
Bosasa has won government contracts worth more than R10bn over the next five to 10 years from various departments, including the departments of justice, correctional services, home affairs, social development and the Airports Company SA.
In 2009, a Special Investigating Unit report found the company bribed former correctional services commissioner Mti and the department’s chief financial officer, Patrick Gillingham, to secure lucrative tenders, including massive fencing and catering contracts for prisons worth more than R1 billion.
The report was one of nearly 700 handed to the National Prosecuting Authority since 2007 for prosecution, but no action has been taken.
The former employee also alleges that Watson wanted him to sign a statement saying that Agrizzi instructed him to conduct the “Special Projects”.
He said he signed it but later revoked it, claiming he was uncomfortable about lying.
He then deposed the affidavit in November last year to fight his dismissal.
A Bosasa insider told News24 that the installations were done as favours, saying “favours keep people happy with Bosasa deals … and, most importantly, control any prosecution”.
The insider also provided details of “Operasie Skoonmaak”, apparently undertaken by Bosasa in January, which involved removing the CCTV systems the company installed to cover its trail.
News24 this week published footage captured by the system at Smith’s home that shows three men, believed to be Bosasa employees, removing the cameras.
What they say
In a detailed response, Makwetla’s office confirmed that he knew Watson “from the struggle days”, and shortly after his appointment, visited Bosasa’s operations centre as part of his work.
After New Year in 2015, Makwetla’s house was broken into and he needed a security upgrade, but all the companies were closed.
Around that time, Watson called, asking for an urgent meeting about “how the department was treating his company”, and Makwetla told him about the burglary.
Watson offered to help and Makwetla “asked him to send a quote first”. But, to Makwetla’s “discomfort”, Watson’s team began installing security systems without “forwarding any quote” and he declined to “charge the deputy minister as a comrade”.
“Makwetla immediately disagreed with him for the obvious reason that perceptions of conflict of interest would be difficult to dispel because his company was doing business with [the department].
“In the intervening period, the camera system which was installed had to be removed because it had glitches from day one.”
Makwetla said he was “not guilty of any wrongdoing” and undertook to approach the office of the Public Protector to investigate all tenders issued to Bosasa and other large companies during his term.
Texts and emails seeking comment from Gingcana and Mti went unanswered. Mti could not be reached for comment.
Leshabane, Bosasa’s executive director, said: “We are aware of a media and political conspiracy, and have been advised to communicate no further with the media until we have finalised our investigation into this conspiracy.”
Smith denied that Bosasa installed any systems at his home, saying it merely conducted an assessment and provided advice on possible upgrades.
Mokonyane’s spokesperson, Mlimandlela Ndamase, would neither confirm nor deny that Bosasa installed the systems at her home, questioning instead the provenance of the affidavit.
“The minister has been a public representative since 1994 … which positions entitled her to security upgrades at her house,” Ndamase said, adding that Mokonyane would respond “to the forum for whom the affidavit was made”.
Mantashe would neither confirm nor deny that Bosasa paid for his security system, saying: “It is not a valid question.”
He questioned why Bosasa would do him such a favour. “For what? If they were contracted by people who dealt with our security, what then? I can assure you I am not living for favours.”
The details of the alleged installations are included in a new docket presented to the Hawks by private investigator Paul O’Sullivan, who laid a charge against Watson and Smith over revelations that the MP received cash from Bosasa, reported by News24 last week.
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Special Investigating Unit (SIU) head Advocate Andy Mothibi says the majority of the cases his unit has referred to the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) for attention between 2013 and April have been left to gather dust.
Annual reports issued by the investigative body since 2015 reveal that the bulk of the matters referred for prosecution are for offences committed in terms of the Prevention and Combating of Corrupt Activities Act, the Prevention of Organised Crime Act, the Public Finance Management Act and the Municipal Finance Management Act.
Most involve corruption by officials and businesspeople to whom contracts were illegally awarded, and which had a direct impact on service delivery.
“No feedback has been received since 2014/15, even at that time. There is still no feedback,” Mothibi said on Thursday.
“These referrals keep accumulating. That’s why, if you look at the numbers, you’ll end up seeing it’s 686 cases because nothing is being done.”
After receiving scant feedback from the NPA, Mothibi signed a memorandum of understanding with former National Director of Public Prosecutions Shaun Abrahams. The agreement seeks to formalise the feedback process with monthly meetings between the head of the NPA’s Specialised Commercial Crime Unit and SIU provincial heads, the establishment of a database to track cases and quarterly reports sent to the SIU head.
Mothibi said little had come of this.
“We entered into that in August last year. Still nothing has been done that we are happy with. There has just been to-ing and fro-ing and no tangible action. That’s our concern,” he said.
“As against our referrals for Public Finance Management Act violations, we should have seen more. If these referrals had been acted on, we could be seeing a lot,” Mothibi said.
“I don’t know where the hold-up is, and that’s really what we want to understand. We really want to know what the gaps are. How can we assist to unlock them so that we see traction? It’s problematic.”
But the NPA hit back, saying it had to refer SIU matters to the Hawks because only it and the SA Police Service were mandated by the Constitution to conduct criminal investigations.
NPA spokesperson Luvuyo Mfaku said: “Prosecutions are not instituted on the basis of the evidence collated by the SIU, as the statements and/or forensic reports contained in the referrals are not for the purpose of the institution of criminal proceedings but for civil recovery. Prosecution can only ensue on the basis of a criminal docket registered and investigated by the police.
“The NPA is currently conducting an audit of all the reports referred by SIU to the NPA. On completion of the audit, we will engage the SIU in line with the prescripts of the memorandum of understanding before we engage the media. However, I can assure you that all the matters referred by SIU to the NPA are receiving the necessary attention.”
Mothibi, however, said his staff – among them highly trained advocates, forensic attorneys and accountants – knew their work and could spot when a crime had been committed.
“What we expect is that they go through the dossier and satisfy themselves that the evidentiary material is sufficient to prosecute. The added expectation is that, if they don’t prosecute, let us understand why,” he said.
“If there is a need for further evidence, send it back and we will get it for you so that we enable you to prosecute.”
However, the NPA’s alleged inaction is not Mothibi’s only concern. He has also been met with reluctance by accounting authorities and officers – including directors-general and the boards of state-owned enterprises – to institute disciplinary action against officials whose cases were sent to them.
“We have got a similar concern there. We are not only singling out the NPA here. It is our concern. We can’t see the impact of the SIU’s work if these matters are not actioned. That’s our serious problem,” he said.
“We are currently working on measures to follow up with the accounting authorities and accounting officers, and those measures are still in discussion between ourselves and the presidency.”
Yet another requirement the SIU finds it difficult to fulfil is civil litigation against alleged wrongdoers, and to cancel irregularly awarded contracts and recover the money. One example is the SIU’s R155m lawsuit against Minenhle Makhanya, the architect employed by former president Jacob Zuma to oversee the renovations and security upgrades project at his home in Nkandla. The case has now been enrolled, “but, unfortunately, only for June next year”.
“In the civil section, we are worried as well because we are in the queue with all the other litigants. We are in the process of engaging the department of justice and are satisfied that we will make an announcement this year about the establishment of a special tribunal,” Mothibi said.
“We are glad that there is the political will now to make sure this is re-established.”
Mothibi said the SIU’s new strategy involved monitoring remedial action, as well as preventing corruption through campaigns to educate officials about what it is. The unit has also conducted risk assessments to determine corruption-prone sectors – which include the construction, health, education, information technology and local government sectors, as well as state-owned enterprises – to improve controls.
His comments come as President Cyril Ramaphosa this week authorised SIU investigations into the department of water and sanitation, the Ekurhuleni and eThekwini metropolitan municipalities, and the Media, Information and Communication Technologies Seta.
The water and sanitation department is under investigation for “maladministration and unlawful expenditure” on software from German company SAP. City Press revealed in April that the department blew R772m on software licences for itself and all its water boards – even for those who already had them and for others who didn’t need them.
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The community of Sydenham in Durban braved the rain and cold to attend the candlelight vigil of missing 9-year-old Miguel Louw on Friday evening.
Children as young as Miguel and their parents lit candles, sang and prayed outside his home in the bad weather.
A decomposed body discovered in Phoenix on Monday is believed to be that of Miguel who went missing on July 17 in Sydenham.
He was believed to have been kidnapped shortly after leaving school.
Family lawyer Vasthi Williams told journalist at the vigil that the police had not given them any information since the body had been found.
“DNA samples had been taken from both Miguel’s parents, but we were given to understand that even a rushed DNA takes three to four weeks at a the very least. So, in this time the family is going through a [lot of] turbulent of emotions. Part of them wants to believe that it’s not Miguel at the same time they want closure if it is him. With all the stories going around, people sympathising and the family saying they don’t know if it’s him, it’s a very difficult emotional situation,” said Williams.
Mother ‘not in a good place’
She said the family was very grateful for the support from the community.
Williams said Miguel’s mother, Raylene Louw, was “not in a good place at all”, that’s why she did not join the community at the vigil.
“No one wants this to happen in their lives. I don’t think she can face the crowd today,” she said.
She added that their focus now was to ascertain whether the body that was found on Monday was Miguel’s or not.
Vigil organiser Cindy Parsons thanked those who came to the gathering on behalf of the family.
“The children are the most important things to us right now, without our children there is no future. They are our future. That’s why this evening, having every one of you here, warms my heart and I’m sure it warms the family’s hearts tenfold,” she said.
Suspect given bail
She added that other candlelight vigils were held in Wentworth and Newlands East at the same time as the Sydenham vigil.
Last week, 43-year-old Mohammed Ebrahim who was allegedly the last person seen with Miguel appeared in court facing human trafficking charges.
He was released on R2 500 bail after evidence failed to link him to the kidnapping of the boy.
Although Ebrahim was released on bail, he is still in custody.
Williams said according to her understanding, Ebrahim, who was arrested on July 28, was still in custody only because he could not pay his bail.
Video footage allegedly shows Ebrahim buying Miguel KFC near his school in Rippon Road in Sydenham.
However, it is not yet clear whether the boy entered a taxi with Ebrahim after visiting the KFC.
A suspected robber was shot dead following a cash-in-transit heist in Florida, west of Johannesburg, on Friday.
Earlier on Friday, a security guard was confronted and robbed of an undisclosed amount of cash and his firearm by two armed men while he was collecting money at a service station.
“Suspects shot a tyre of the CIT (cash-in-transit) vehicle before fleeing. At least four suspects are reported to have fled from the scene in a light delivery vehicle. The suspect vehicle was immediately circulated,” read a statement from the Ministry of Police.
“A short while later the suspect’s getaway vehicle was spotted in Dobsonville by metro police, which resulted in a high-speed chase and a shootout. A local SAPS (South African Police Service) vehicle which was also patrolling the area assisted the metro police officers.”
One suspect was shot dead during the shootout with police and an AK-47 and three pistols were recovered. The other three suspects escaped, however, investigations are underway to track them down.
Two bystanders were also injured in the shootout. ER24 spokesperson Russel Meiring said when paramedics arrived on the scene, provincial services were attending to the injured man and woman.
Officers commended for good work
“Upon closer inspection, paramedics found that a man and woman had both sustained gunshot wounds and were in a serious condition,” he said.
“Paramedics treated the patients and thereafter transported them to nearby hospitals for further treatment.”
Police Minister Bheki Cele commended the law enforcement members for their good work.
“The swift action of police is now the business of the day, we cannot co-govern with criminals,” Cele said.
“Nothing will distract or divert our attention from creating a safe and secure environment.”
National Police Commissioner General Khehla Sitole praised both the SAPS and the metro police officers for their vigilance and bravery.
“The positive response by our police officers nationally to these violent crimes since the implementation of the national interventions must be applauded,” Sitole said.
Game over for 1 CIT suspect.
Suspect was shot dead when JMPD & SAPS returned fire in a shoot out with the suspects in Dobsonville.
This notice provides detail of the US dollar equivalent of the level of the South African Reserve Bank’s (SARB) official gold and foreign exchange reserves, Special Drawing Rights (SDRs) and foreign currency deposits received from customers published today in the SARB’s Statement of Assets and Liabilities as at 31 August 2018.
The names of the three firefighters who lost their lives in a blaze at the Bank of Lisbon building in Johannesburg have been released on Wednesday.
Johannesburg Public Safety MMC Michael Sun released the names at a media briefing outside the building on Thursday.
Twenty-eight-year-old Simphiwe Moropane is believed to be the first firefighter to have died in the tragedy, after he slipped and fell from the 23rd floor. He had run out of oxygen and had gone to the ledge to try to get air.
His partner and the mother of his two children has sent tributes out to her husband and set up a GoFundMe page which the public can donate to. So far, the page has raised just over R14 000.
The other two firefighters, 40-year-old Mduduzi Ndlovu and 37-year-old Kathutshelo Muedi are believed to have died from lack of oxygen after they became trapped in the building.
Mayor Herman Mashaba met with the families of the deceased at the Fairview fire station on Thursday.
The fire in the Bank of Lisbon building – which housed the Gauteng departments of health, human settlements, and cooperative government and traditional affairs – broke out on the 23rd floor on Wednesday.
In a briefing outside the building on Wednesday afternoon, Infrastructure Development MEC Jacob Mamabolo said his department had commissioned an assessment of various buildings around the city in 2017 for occupational health and safety. The report which was presented on August 27, 2018, had revealed that the Bank of Lisbon building was only 21% compliant with occupational health and safety standards, against the norm of 85%.
He warned against speculating about what may have caused the blaze. However, the National Education, Health and Workers Union and the Democratic Nursing Association of South Africa have both said that they reported safety issues in the building since 2014.
EMS spokesperson Nana Radebe said firefighters were in the process of dampening down of the smoke, after the fire reignited in the early hours of Thursday morning.
Director of mayoral communications at the City of Johannesburg, Luyanda Mfeka, said he was unable to provide details of the memorial service for the firefighters at this stage.
“We usually do hold memorials, but that will most likely be announced next week,” he told News24.
