CAPE TOWN – No sign has been found of a 19-year-old teenager who went missing in the surf at Monwabisi Beach, Cape Town on Sunday afternoon, the National Sea Rescue Institute (NSRI) said.
NSRI Strandfontein duty crew were activated at about 4.30pm following reports of a man missing in the surf at Monwabisi Beach, NSRI Strandfontein station commander Vaughn Seconds said.
The sea rescue craft Grand West CSI and the Discovery Rescue Runner, and the NSRI rescue vehicle with NSRI rescue swimmers responded to the scene. Cape Town fire and rescue services and a fire and rescue services dive unit, an SA Police Service dive unit, and law enforcement also responded, he said.
The NSRI ASR (airborne sea rescue) and Western Cape government health emergency medical services (EMS) were placed on alert.
“On arrival on the scene an off-duty lifeguard who had swum out to attempt to find the missing man in the surf was taken on board our sea rescue craft and an extensive sea and shoreline search in fading light revealed no sign of a 19-year-old Khayelitsha man, and a police dive unit will continue with an ongoing search and recovery operation that will be assisted by Cape Town fire and rescue services dive unit,” Seconds said.
— Monwabisi Lifesaving (@MonwabisiSurf) May 14, 2017
Police had opened an investigation. The teenager reportedly went missing in the surf while swimming with friends. Police were assisting family members, he said.
Johannesburg – African National Congress secretary general Gwede Mantashe has rubbished ANC MP Makhosi Khoza’s fears that her disciplinary hearing was an opportunity for an ambush.
Speaking at the Oliver Tambo memorial lecture in Vosloorus, about 30km south of Johannesburg on Sunday, Mantashe said the ANC would have been playing to the gallery if they would have allowed Khoza to determine the venue for the hearings.
Mantashe said he was asked by a journalist why the ANC did not consider Khoza’s claims that her life would be in danger if the disciplinary hearings were held on Sunday.
“I said don’t change the venue because it’s playing to the gallery. I did not want her to get a gallery, she must go to the hearings. Finish.”
Mantashe said he instructed the ANC in KZN to continue the hearings as planned.
He said the journalist conceded that the venue was harmless and that Khoza had nothing to fear.
“The journalist said: ‘You are right. There is no threat, it’s peaceful and the work will be done properly.'”
Khoza has been charged with bringing the party into disrepute by the ANC in KwaZulu-Natal.
She had earlier said that the time and venue for her disciplinary hearings had made her suspicious because no meeting of this type was held on a Sunday.
Her hearing was adjourned on Sunday due to threats against her, News24 earlier reported.
Khoza failed to pitch up for her disciplinary hearings on Sunday with her representative, the ANC’s Smanga Sethene, indicating that her absence was a result of threats that emerged on Saturday evening, the ANC said in a statement.
The disciplinary committee said it had given Khoza an opportunity to come to pre-trial hearings prior to Sunday.
Her hearing was postponed to next Sunday, September 17.
Pretoria – Deputy President Cyril Ramaphosa says the ANC wants to support the youth and make sure that services and commodities are set aside for youth so that they can have a stake in the economy.
Addressing the Thabo Mfotsanyana Cadres Forum at the Mohaladitswe Primary School in the Free State, Ramaphosa the South African economy was either the 17th or the 23rd largest economy in the world and that all, including the youth must have a stake in the economy.
“We are a big economy and we must, therefore, show that we can manage it, but not only manage it, but that can transform it so that this economy works for all of our people so that everyone feels that they have a stake in this economy,” said Ramaphosa.
“Young people must feel that they can be real actors in our economy and be creative and be imaginative and be innovative.
“We want to open spaces for young people to thrive in this economy and that is why we said… when government buys commodities and services we must have some set aside for young people.”
Ramaphosa said the ANC encourages the youth to start their own companies and that they want to support these companies.
“We want young people to come forward with bright ideas; we want the women and men in our country to have jobs.”
He added that it was the ANC’s job to transform the economy as it is an important phase of the ‘struggle towards a national democratic society’ that must enable the lives of all people for the better.
“We must demonstrate to all that we are capable of running a sophisticated and complex economy, like the economy of South Africa.”
Ramaphosa said all women should also feel that they have a stake in the economy which they can benefit from and improve their lives.
“And all those things can only be done by the African National Congress, no one else.”
Johannesburg – The police ministry is a “social media club house” while the country is in a state of lawlessness, the Economic Freedom Fighters said on Saturday.
EFF spokesperson Mbuyiseni Ndlozi said the party was appalled by the levels of crime in the country.
“From top leaders in the highest echelons of government who steal public funds and nothing happens to them. To the lowest thugs on our streets who are breaking the law in full view of everyone and nothing happens to them,” he said in a statement.
He made examples of the alleged political killing of Sindiso Magaqa, a former ANC Youth League secretary general who was shot, together with two other councillors over a month ago.
“Yet no arrests have been made.
“This week in Tshwane, criminals high-jacked refuse removal trucks of the municipality and dumped refuse on the roads. They did this to frustrate the work of the municipality because their tender applications were not chosen. “Still, no arrests are made and there are no consequences to their actions,” he said.
‘No police efficiency’
Meter taxi drivers in Sandton are torching Uber cars, assaulting Uber drivers in full view of the police. Still, no arrests are made and there are no consequences to those who break the law, he said.
“…All the while our ministry of police is a social media club house. On the ground, there is absolutely no police efficiency because, in essence, the department is dysfunctional.”
Ndlozi said the ANC was failing to enforce the rule of law because it is itself a “collective of criminals”.
He said ordinary people’s lives are frustrated because criminality is now the order of the day.
“ANC is scared of criminals, it is run by criminals and it rewards criminals. As a result, it is surrendering every aspect of society into criminals and criminality.”
He encouraged South Africans to reclaim their lives and start street committees to push back against crime.
“We are on our own because the ministry of police is only interested in social media.”
Police ministry spokesperson Vuyo Mhaga told News24 they would consider the statement before deciding on issuing a response.
JOHANNESBURG – According to the South African Police Service (SAPS), a man abducted, killed, and started eating a young woman in the Eastern Cape on Saturday.
In a statement, the SAPS says the young man took a girl by force from the main street to his home.
“He killed her with a knife by cutting her throat. When the mother of the suspect saw what was happening, she rushed and called the police to the scene. When they arrived, the suspect was busy eating the flesh of the deceased. Police members ordered him to stop and to hand himself over. He went berserk and stormed at them with the knife. Several warning shots were fired to deter him but in vain. He was shot and taken to hospital where he is under police guard.”
JOHANNEBURG – Kevin Anderson clinching a US Open men’s singles semi-finals showdown with Spaniard Pablo Carreno Busta in New York on Friday has given South African tennis a massive boost.
Football, rugby and cricket dominate the sport scene in the republic, taking most of the sponsorship money and the media space.
After defeating American Sam Querrey in the quarter-finals at Flushing Meadows, Anderson made the main sport page of many dailies.
“It was a pleasant if unusual sight,” Tennis South Africa (TSA) chief executive Richard Glover told AFP in Johannesburg.
“South Africans are used to seeing the back pages dominated by the ‘big three’ of football, rugby and cricket so it was nice to have positive tennis publicity.”
Glover hailed 31-year-old Florida-based Anderson for reaching the last four of a Grand Slam championship for the first time, saying that when it comes to publicity “nothing beats on-court success”.
Johannesburg-born Anderson is the first South African to make the last four of a Grand Slam event since Wayne Ferreira at the 2003 Australian Open in Melbourne.
“My phone almost exploded after Kevin won his quarter-final,” chuckled Glover, who joined the national tennis body last year.
“It rang non stop and, interestingly, it was non-tennis sport followers who were phoning to say how wonderful it was that Kevin had reached the semi-finals.”
Grand Slam semi-finals are uncharted territory for Anderson, who reached the last eight in New York two years ago but has never advanced beyond the fourth round at Melbourne, Roland Garros or Wimbledon.
Like all South African sport bosses outside the “big three”, Glover has the challenging task of wooing financial backers.
He seems to possess a midas touch, however, having signed five sponsors, including local property and telecommunications giants and a South Korean car manufacturer.
South Africa have adopted a bottom-up approach to tennis, concentrating on development to try and unearth more Kevin Andersons, who has three ATP titles to his credit.
– ‘Renewed energy’ –
Once perceived as an elitist white sport, Glover would also love to find a South African Serena Williams, the black American who has dominated women’s tennis for many years.
“That white elitist perception might have been true to some extent in the past,” conceded Glover, “but we are building development centres with the first due to open in Cape Town soon.”
TSA public relations consultant Bruce Davidson told AFP that Anderson could not have reached his first Grand Slam semi-final at a more opportune time.
“These are challenging times economically in South Africa and the publicity generated by Kevin can only assist the sport.
Still sinking in! Thanks to the fans who stayed late last night in NYC and everyone for your support. Excited to keep going — #usopenpic.twitter.com/X6TaLbEya2
“His victories in New York have given renewed energy to all those involved with the sport from school level to academies and clubs.
“Finance is our greatest challenge and Richard Glover has done a magnificent job. We also have a national organisation packed with people who bring so much intellectual capital to the table.”
Davidson said it cost about 40 million rand ($3.1 million, 2.6 million euros) to stage a one-week, bottom-tier men’s ATP event.
A brief revival of the South African Open as part of the international calendar proved an annual crowd puller in Johannesburg, but ended in 2011 for financial reasons.
Similar cash constraints two decades ago stopped the women’s WTA circuit from including South Africa as a destination.
WATCH: Kevin Anderson QFs Press Conference
Glover is hopeful, though, that better times lie ahead for South African tennis.
“Sponsors want their money well spent and I believe Tennis South Africa achieves that goal. We have an eight-year plan designed to take the sport to a higher level.”
Should Anderson overcome Carreno Busta, he would face another Spaniard, Rafael Nadal, or Argentine Juan Martin del Potro in the final.
Captured in Africa’s Drew Abrahamson said: “What has possibly happened here is that the people could not have had a permit, if they report him as missing they would get quite a hefty fine from nature conservation. If he’s gotten out and they can’t report anything because they don’t have that permit so it would be illegal.”
“It’s not very easy because when lions get out of their natural environment, their behaviour changes slightly because they know that they’re not where they’re supposed to be. So pinpointing a location becomes a little difficult. You need to kind of rely on any kills made or various sort of tracks or anything like that.”
Pretoria – The Gauteng department of education says it is investigating a school in Pretoria after nine learners were allegedly sexually assaulted by a teacher.
Spokesperson Oupa Bodibe said on Friday that the teacher had “fondled” the learners’ private parts at the school last week.
“The officials from the department visited the school already and continue with an investigation which will be finalised in due course accordingly,” Bodibe said.
Bodibe said the teacher had been served with a notice of intention to suspend him on Friday.
He said the suspension meant that the teacher would not be at work on Monday, September 11, and that learners could go to school without any fear.
Education MEC Panyaza Lesufi said it was disappointing and that educators had a responsibility to be role models.
“Our children cannot be afraid to go school in fear of sexual assaults by an educator. Such incidents are regrettable and must not be allowed to prevail in our schools,” Lesufi said.
Durban – African National Congress MP Makhosi Khoza says she fears for her safety ahead of her disciplinary hearing before the party’s KwaZulu-Natal leadership this weekend.
Khoza will appear before the province’s disciplinary panel headed by Ravi Pillay on Sunday, but recent events had made her fear the possibility of an “ambush” in the embattled province.
The time and date of the hearing had made her suspicious, as not many meetings of this type were held on Sunday afternoons, she said.
“Many of these recent killings, they have been killed at meetings,” she told News24 on Friday.
Former ANC Youth League secretary general Sindiso Magaqa, who died from gunshot wounds on Monday in an attack in the province, had not even been buried yet, she said.
Other deaths include the killings of councillors in various municipalities, including the death of a councillor in Richmond in July.
She said she had requested that the hearing be moved to a day during the week, but Pillay had refused. The party had ignored the facts in her appeal, she said.
“I’ve let the secretary general and everyone know my concerns… I will still go, but I am beginning to ask questions,” she said.
She had not yet made up her mind about her future in the ANC, but said some of those questions revolved around whether she could continue to put up with abuse.
As a woman in SA, she was questioning what message was being sent, considering the worst accusation against her was that of “having a conscience”.
Khoza said she wanted to be part of a party that stood for principles that resonate with her, but the ANC had shown “how far they will go to protect corruption”.
Khoza has been charged by the KwaZulu-Natal ANC for bringing the party into disrepute.
She has been a vocal critic of the party’s current leadership, especially President Jacob Zuma, and had publicly called for him to step down before the motion of no confidence against him was held via secret ballot in August.
She has received multiple death threats against her and her daughter’s life since first going public with her criticism in April.
Khoza was recently removed from her position as chairperson of the portfolio committee on public service and administration, after five ANC MPs boycotted one of her meetings.
She believes the boycott was part of a campaign orchestrated by Public Service and Administration Minister Faith Muthambi to have her removed as chairperson.
She has since been moved to the portfolio committee on economic development.
