Xenophobia in South Africa -

W A R N I N G :

In the past two weeks, the large centres in South Africa were the
scenes of anarchy and bloodshed. As a result of the Government's
ineptitude, it's devil-may-care attitude in spite of warnings, the
lack of a proper national intelligence sytem, inability to properly
patrol its borders and the corruption of its border- and Internal
Affairs officials, there has been a steady increase of illegal
immigrants into South Africa over the last decade. These are mostly
poor souls from other scumbag-regimes such as Zimbabwe, Somalia, the
Democratic (sic) Republic of the Congo and also opportunists from
Nigeria etc. out for a fast buck. It is said that up to date they
might number close to five million.

In the last two weeks, the pot finally blew its lid and local blacks
went on the rampage. A spree of killings, rapings, beatings, and
burnings ensued and an under-manned, under-equipped and under-trained
Police force is currently under tremendous pressure to try and contain
it - so much so, that President Mbeki (also nicknamed 'Thabo the
Silent') finally ordered the Defence Force into the multitude of
townships to help contain the violence. Characteristically, both the
President and Vice President were out of the country during all this,
thinking it more convenient to visit their peers abroad. The locals
maintain that the foreigners are depriving them of jobs and
opportunities, by swamping the available resources for themselves.
This is not entirely true; some (like the Chinese and Pakistani's who
were also attacked) actually create job opportunities.

I'm afraid that all this simply follows a predictable pattern -
it appears that young ethnic Africans (remember that I am an African
too) thrive on occasional intrigue, unrest, looting and pillaging;
this has never changed since Pontius was a pupil Pilot.
Lately it has become a national disgrace and the illegal immigrants
are fleeing the country in droves. Many are dead, many more are in
hospital and all have lost their homes and belongings to opportunist
looters and arsonists. The dreaded 'necklace' killings, made famous by
the ANC in the late 80's, has been revived by the marauding rabble.

My appeal to friends and relatives locally and oversease is to
circulate this e-mail to your own address listings, with the request
that the FIFA 2010 Soccer World Cup be denied to South Africa. This
country has now been seen as not 'mature' enough to host such a world
class event. This will bring tens of thousands of foreigners to watch
the games, and their safety cannot be guaranteed! There is not enough
time left to re-educate a scumbag population before the World Cup
event starts.

I've been on this continent for twelve generations, and I love it
dearly. I am not a traitor to my country; I'm trying to avoid what can
become a huge embarrassment for us, not to mention a series of
tragedies.

Pres. Mbeki made out that these perpetrations were performed by 'a
few' (!) - that's a lot of horse-manure. The streets were full of
marauding hooligans. Tens of thousands of foreigners that are
streaming back to their countries could not have been scared off by
'a few hooligans'!

The attached pics (some of recent and some of not-so-recent upheavals)
speak for themselves.

Chris Pretorius, Cape Town, South Africa.

Third force involvement ?

'I was paid to kill foreigners'

20 May 2008
Sibongile Mashaba

BATTLE GROUND: Ramaphosa informal settlement in Reiger Park,
Boksburg, was turned into a war zone yesterday when locals and
Mozambican nationals engaged in open gunfire. PHOTO: MOHAU MOFOKENG

IN PICTURES: See our photographers' coverage of this event

EYEWITNESS REPORT: Pictures and Sound

Related Content
a.. SOWETAN SAYS: This is too high a price to pay
a.. YOUR VIEWS: Read the comments here

Claims of third force surface

Police Probe possible Third Force link in violence as man claims he
and other attackers were paid to target
African immigrants !

A Soweto hostel resident has told police that he was paid to carry out
the attacks on foreign nationals in the township.

The man was arrested with six others who looted houses belonging to
those they believed were foreign nationals in White City, Jabavu, on
Sunday night.

This was the first indication that a third force could have a hand in
fanning hatred for foreigners and inflaming xenophobic attacks in
Gauteng.

Police were not revealing much about the man's claims, saying that he
was being questioned. They could not say who paid the man and how much
he received.

Police spokesman Captain Mpande Khoza confirmed that the man had made
the startling claims but was sketchy with the details, saying the man
was still being questioned.

"He had told the police that he was paid to carry the attacks. We do
not know at this stage who hired him. We are still questioning them."

Khoza said another seven men were arrested in White City Jabavu for
looting houses.

Police Crime Intelligence spokesman, Tumi Golding, said there were no
indications that the attacks were organised from a central point.

"We treat these attacks as criminal acts; our members are part of all
types of investigations," said Golding.

The violence which had claimed the lives of 22 people since last week,
had been spreading like wild fire in Gauteng townships.

The Soweto police, however, also issued a stern warning to against
anyone who dared to mount xenophobic attacks in the township. They
said they would do everything in their power to prevent large scale
black-on-black violence.

In the 1990s a third force element was responsible for black-on-black
attacks that claimed the lives of thousands of people in the
townships.

Councillor Zodwa Nxumalo said: "It hurts to see people losing their
belongings. We are not xenophobic in our country and I do not know
where these attackers come from. We urge the police to keep the man
who claims he was paid in jail until he tells them the truth and shows
them who his boss is."

Basani Sondlane, a Tsonga-speaking South African, whose RDP house was
looted, said she was alerted by her neighbours that Nancefield Hostel
dwellers were coming.

"The only thing I am left with is my identity document. My house has
been cleaned out. They took everything."

Reject the Expropriation Bill and protect your property !

Why you should support the Democratic Alliance in rejecting the
Expropriation Bill

Introduction

The Democratic Alliance fully supports a sustainable and equitable
land reform process. However, we firmly believe that the Expropriation
Bill currently before Parliament will have the opposite effect on this
process – it will undermine a legally sound land reform programme and
even more seriously will threaten the very foundation of South
Africa's economic wellbeing – the security of property rights.

The Bill in its current form constitutes a full-on assault on some of
the most fundamental aspects of the Constitution and should be of
concern to anyone who currently holds a right in property or intends
to do so in the future; whether they be urban or rural, black or
white.

The Bill is an attempt to deflect attention away from government's
inability to manage an effective and efficient land reform programme
using legally sound and sustainable measures. There is in fact no need
for this legislation; what is required is, firstly, for government to
commit the necessary resources to finance land reform and secondly,
for it to ensure that there is sufficient capacity within the state to
manage the process.

This Bill must be rejected by all who care about South Africa and its future.

Five reasons why the bill must be rejected:

Under the Bill

The Bill violates the word and spirit of the Constitution.
The Minister can expropriate any right in property in the "public
interest". This is a broadly defined concept and could translate into
properties being expropriated at the whim of the Minister.
After expropriating the property, the Minister need not pay the
affected landowner the full market value of the property.
The affected landowner cannot go to court and argue the fairness of
the amount of money paid to him or her after expropriation.
Without security of property rights our economy will decline,
investors will not come to our shores and in the long run, all South
Africans will suffer.

Support the DA:

The DA fully supports sustainable and equitable land reform and is
committed to ensuring that South Africa puts in place a just and
sustainable pattern of land ownership.
The DA will not rest until this fundamentally unjust piece of
legislation is rejected.
The DA will fight to ensure that sufficient resources are allocated by
government to the current land reform programme.
The DA will fight to protect the rights of both current and future
land owners.

What you can do to stop this bill:
· Write letters to the press to make the public aware of this
imminent threat to their property rights.
· Attend Public Hearings to be held in each province between
19 May and 13 June (see below).
· Make written submissions to Parliament.

PROGRAM OF PUBLIC HEARINGS FOR THE EXPROPRIATION BILL

Note: Some final times and venues are not yet available. Please
contact the Committee Secretary, Ms. Akhona Busakwe (021 403 3859/083
709 8495), to confirm these.

PROVINCEDATE
TIMEVENUE
Western Cape19 May UnconfirmedBeaufort West (Rusdene Community Hall)
22 MayUnconfirmedPlettenberg Bay (venue not confirmed)
23 MayUnconfirmedOudtshoorn (Banquet Municipal Hall)
Limpopo26 – 27 May Unconfirmed Markado & Waterberg (venue not confirmed)
Gauteng28 May Unconfirmed Randfontein (venue not confirmed)
Mpumalanga 29 - 30 MayUnconfirmed Hlanzeni (Edwaleni & Mbombela) &
Nkomazi (Donga Block A)
Free State2 – 3 JuneUnconfirmed Qwaqwa (Thabo Mofutsanyane
Municipality) & Bloemfontein (venue not confirmed)
Northern Cape4 – 5 June Unconfirmed Kimberley & Kuruman (venue not confirmed)
North West6 JuneUnconfirmed Buphirima or Ventersdorp (venue not confirmed)
Eastern Cape9 – 10 June Unconfirmed Queenstown & Wild Coast (venue not
confirmed)
KZN11 – 13 JuneUnconfirmed Umkhanyakude, Pongola & Newcastle (venue
not confirmed)
National17 - 18 June 10:00 – 16:00 Parliament

Thank you for your support.

Sincerely,

Maans Nel MP Sydney Opperman MP
DA Spokesperson on DA Spokesperson on
Land Affairs Public Works

It's self-defence , NOT racism.

* 'It's self-defence, not racism' -

21/05/2008 08:01 - (SA)

Nicolize van der Walt, Beeld

Delareyville - While a young farmer appeared in court in the town on
charges of murder and attempted murder, interest groups and other
politicians lashed out against a Cosatu spokesperson's "irresponsible
statements".

Cosatu's provincial secretary Solly Phetoe, in a statement this week,
referred to "racist murders" after Jaco Swart, 26, shot two men in his
farmhouse at about 02:00.

The initial investigation showed that Swart, who apparently slept with
his bedroom door locked, had fired only one shot with his father's
licensed firearm. Both intruders presumably were hit by the same
bullet.

'Nothing racist'

Michael Thipe, 35, was fatally wounded in the head and his 33-year-old
accomplice was hit in the lung. The latter fled after being shot and
was later arrested in a nearby informal settlement.

"There is nothing racist about this shooting incident."

"My client protected himself and his possessions according to the law."

"Cosatu is fanning the flames of racial tension. It's funny that when
people kill off foreigners of other races, it's xenophobia but when a
white person is involved, it's immediately racism," Swart's advocate
said to Beeld on Tuesday.

The DA's provincial leader in North West, Chris Hattingh, submitted a
motion to the provincial legislature about, among other things,
Phetoe's remarks.

"We expressed our worry over the politicising of murders and farmers'
defencelessness specifically over Phetoe's remarks.

"It's irresponsible and he misuses his podium to polarise people on
the grounds of race."

North West Premier Edna Molewa apparently warned officials to act
responsibly during these types of occurrences and to discuss them
prudently.

The provincial leader if the Freedom Front Plus Pieter Groenewald said
in a statement said the party would write to Cosatu to ask its leaders
to intervene in case of "such irresponsible statements by provincial
officials".

"Susan Shabangu, the deputy minister of safety and security, can't say
that police officers may shoot to kill if their lives are being
threatened but then it doesn't count for ordinary citizens,"
Groenewald said.

Swart's bail of R2 000 was paid by AfriForum, a civil rights
organisation that also supported the Swart family during the court
hearing.

AfriForum's spokesperson Nantes Kelder said they were worried that
South Africa was being driven towards a Zimbabwe-situation where
politicians would start interfering in the legal system and that could
not be allowed.

The case was postponed until August 26.

Source:News24

http://www.news24.com/News24/South_Africa/News/0,9909,2-7-1442_2326050,00.html

SOS : Support the Scorpions Court Protest !

SUPPORT THE COURT CHALLENGE AGAINST THE DISBANDMENT OF THE SCORPIONS!
Join the Democratic Alliance and other political parties outside the
High Court in Pretoria to form a combined opposition to the
undemocratic, unconstitutional attempt by the ruling party to prevent
their high-ranking officials from being investigated and prosecuted
according to the laws of South Africa.
Date: 20 May 2008
Time: 9.30 am
Venue: Corner of Vermeulen and Paul Kruger Street
(In front of the Supreme Court, Pretoria)

CLICK HERE TO SIGN THE PETITION TO STOP THE DISBANDMENT OF THE SCORPIONS

Know anyone in the Pretoria area? Please encourage them to join the protest!

Savagery of South-African Crime

South Africa Bulletin from the headquarters of TAU SA in Pretoria.

Web: www.tlu.co.za

The Savagery of South African Crime

Lien Gronum was an energetic and attractive South African woman who
moved with her husband to a small farm outside Brits in the North West
province of South Africa from their house in suburban West Rand after
their children left home. While her husband took some farm workers to
town, Mrs. Gronum was attacked, savagely beaten and eventually
brutally murdered with a breadknife and a sharp letter-opener by
members of her staff. Her husband came upon her body when he returned
to the farm an hour or so later.

This is but one example of the spate of vicious murders and attacks
which have seared South Africa's rural communities over the past few
months.

Farm attacks in South Africa have never been pretty, only last week,
Qatar-based TV station Al Jazeera told of what SA farmers are up
against. The programme showed graphic photos of the bloodied and
dismembered bodies of farmers and their families, photos rarely if
ever seen in South Africa's media. What sickens people is the utter
brutality and barbarity of the attacks. But then South Africa is part
of a savage continent which no public relations patina can really
hide.

Underneath it all lurks the Sierra Leone syndrome, like a shark moving
through water. Human Rights Watch issued a report in 1999 detailing
atrocities committed by black against black during that country's
civil war, where RUF rebels slaughtered humans in a manner which
stunned the world. Says the report: "The rebel occupation of Freetown
was characterized by the systematic and widespread perpetration of all
classes of gross human rights abuses against the population. Civilians
were gunned down within their houses, rounded up and massacred on the
streets, thrown from the upper floors of buildings, used as human
shields, and burned alive in cars and buses. They had their limbs
hacked off with machetes, eyes gouged out with knives, hands smashed
with hammers, and bodies burned with boiling water. Women and girls
were systematically sexually abused and children and young people
abducted by the hundreds".

Certainly South Africa hasn't reached that point yet, but the savagery
endemic to South African crime is making news. Over the past few
months, terrible things have happened in our country. A Groblersdal
farmer was shot stone dead in his living room while watching
television. An Indian woman from Ottosdal was brutally murdered in her
home. The assailants were arrested, escaped from police custody and
then proceeded to break into farmhouses outside the town, finally
killing a farmer by sawing his throat until his head was attached to
his body by the skin only. His wife was repeatedly raped and then shot
dead.

Another farmer outside Pretoria was attacked by twelve men, his family
tied up and brutally assaulted. A recently released parolee murdered a
young man of 27 in front of his three year old son in Kempton Park,
east of Johannesburg. An elderly couple on a farm outside Lichtenburg
were murdered, he was shot and his wife had her throat cut.

A widow (70) from North West was murdered by a man who had been
sentenced to death, then released. Her throat was cut and the murderer
raped her dead body.

South Africa's newspapers are replete with crime: old people savagely
beaten and killed for a cell phone, a young dancer suffocated and shot
in her house. Later the complex's security guard was arrested for the
murder. Violent crime stalks our hospitals, doctors and nurses are
"working in fear" declared a Sunday newspaper as criminals have
declared hospitals "their new hunting ground". The Johannesburg
Hospital has effectively been turned into a "fortress", yet a senior
doctor was attacked after coming off night shift with a gun to his
head in a lift. In the Cape, a recent survey revealed that 30% of
general nurses, 22% of midwives and 54% of psychiatric nurses have
been seriously assaulted. Young student doctors and nurses have been
raped.

Rape is endemic to South Africa - rape has always been a tool of war
in Africa, yet South Africa's rape rate is the highest in the world,
and we are defined as a peaceful nation. In early April a young woman
and her husband attended an Emigration Expo and on the following day
the woman was raped while lying next to her six year old son. Her
tear-filled face filled the newspapers. Needless to say the family of
four cannot wait to leave the land of their birth.

Parents collecting children from school in broad daylight have been
robbed and hijacked. A family of four emigrated to America six years
ago after the father was shot in the back during a hijacking. Refused
a further stay, they were repatriated to South Africa where in early
April, they were again hijacked and the wife's brother was shot dead
by the hijackers, in front of two small children. The brother's
daughter had been killed seven hours before in a motor accident with a
taxi.

People are regularly killed in their houses - in Garsfontein,
Pretoria, serious crime has increased by 40% over the past year. An
eighteen-year-old Pretoria girl was shot five times in her house and
left for dead. Paralysed, she is now trying to walk. Security
complexes are no longer secure, criminals rent houses within the
complex and conduct their operations from the house.

In Craighall Park, Johannesburg, the help of a witch doctor was sought
to kill the employer of a domestic who had worked for the house owner
for thirteen years. The lady divorcee was killed by deep knife wounds
to her head. In Rustenburg in March, a man was given a 20-year
sentence for torturing a house owner by burning him with boiling
water, cutting open his forehead, garotting him with a shoelace, then
assaulting his family, three children, with a knife. The murderer had
already committed crimes of assault and robbery and had been out on
early release.

In another instance, an elderly Johannesburg man received third degree
burns over 60% of his skin when he was tortured for hours with boiling
water repeatedly poured over his body. He died ten days later. This
month, a man from Knysna in the Western Cape was found guilty of
murdering two young women. One was smothered to death in a flower bed
and a month later he murdered and raped another girl, and set her car
alight. Her burnt body was found near the wreck, raped and covered
with assault wounds.

Human Rights Watch

It is interesting that the international organization Human Rights
Watch makes no mention of the brutality of these crimes on their
website and in their reports, especially the murder and assaults
against the commercial farming community of South Africa. According to
the Al Jazeera TV programme "No White in the South African Rainbow",
South African commercial farmers are the most murdered group outside a
war zone. But no special attention is paid either to this phenomenon
by the US State Department's "Country Report on Human Rights
Practices"

The Human Rights Watch latest report on human rights in South Africa
covers HIV abuses, "institutionalized racial inequality", the
mistreatment of people at the Johannesburg Methodist Church, sexual
violence, abuses in political asylum procedures, the targeting of
lesbians for murder, migrants abused by farmers, the non-granting of
full marriage rights to gay and lesbian couples, children threatened
by AIDS, the rights of rural schoolchildren, and the lack of basic
services for farm workers, especially housing. Nowhere is there
anything specific said about the gory murders and assaults on the
commercial farming sector in South Africa.

The US State Department's March 2007 Report on Human Rights in South
Africa sends out the same message. One lone paragraph in a 45 page
report is devoted to farm murders, and these are explained as
"motivated by financial gain". There are no descriptions of the
killings. But Mr. Mark Scott-Crossley, the man who was convicted of
placing a black person's body in a lion enclosure, is called "a white
farmer" which he definitely is not. Other white farmers who have been
involved in killing people trespassing on their farms are given
prominence, but there is nothing to show what is happening to white
farmers themselves. Scores of other human rights abuses in South
Africa are itemized by the State Department including human
trafficking and HIV problems, but the onslaught on the commercial
farming sector is missing.

It could be said that the endemic violence is simply a continuation of
the violence and the rendering of South Africa as "ungovernable" by
the ANC/SACP alliance in the run up to their revolutionary takeover of
South Africa. What you reap, you sow.

Source URL: http://www.tlu.co.za

MARULENG DRAFT BUDGET 2008/2009

Pieter,

As hulle nie julle besware in ag neem nie, wat heelwaarkynlik sal
gebeur, dan het julle al die redes, wetlik sowel as moreel, om 'n
dispuut te verklaar en julle gelde terug te hou.

Dit is 'n skande dat die klomp wil fuif en tekere gaan terwyl daar
derduidende swart, wit, pienk en pers is wat onder haglike toestande
lewe. Dan nie eers gepraat van die infrastruktuur wat besig is om total
in duie te stort nie ! Ons kan nie toelaat dat Nero viool speel terwyl
Rome brand nie !

Geagte vriende,

Net gisteraand was my vrou by 'n burgemeesters funksie van die
Ekurhuleni Metro Raad ( ek word natuurlik nie uitgenooi nie ! ) en daar
was alles net van die beste en dit terwyl ons paaie en strate besig is
om te verkrummel, die middestad van Kempton Park en 'n groot nywerheids
gebied 'n week lank sonder krag was weens swak onderhoud.

Dit is die tipe van ding wat ons in die komende finansieële jaar kan en
gaan stopsit.

Groete

Jaap Kelder

-----Original Message-----
From: Pieter Janse van Rensburg
Sent: 07 Mei 2008 10:07 nm
To: MM
Cc: Jaap Kelder; Sydney Mufumadi; Heidi Smith
Subject: MARULENG DRAFT BUDGET 2008/2009

Mr. Ramothwala,

With reference to my e-mail dated 01/05/08 raising the Hoedspruit Rate
Payers concerns with several issues and the Maruleng Budget for
2008/2009, please take note that on behalf of the Hoedspruit Rate Payers
we hereby lodge our disapproval of the Draft Budget for 2008/2009.

We are of the opinion that the monies budgeted for the following is to
high:
1) Management - R805186.00 for Traveling Allowance
Councilors - R97781.00 for Traveling Allowance
The additional Subsistance & Traveling amount of R759700.00
This adds up to a smart total of R1,662'667.00

2) The additional amount of R235400.00 for Conference & Workshops
The amount of R142758.00 for Refreshment
The amount of R1,665'000.00 for Functions
This adds up to a smart total of R2,043'158.00

Add this all up it accumulates to a grand total of R3,705'825.00 for
riding around and having functions.

3) We put the question how can a small town like Hoedspruit with a Mayor
and Twenty Councilors afford these kind of luxuries 8% of the total
budget if we have thousands of people in the rural areas around
Hoedspruit that does not even have proper housing or drinking water. I
would also like to know if Hoedspruit/Maruleng can afford a salary
package of R23,421'982.00 for its personnel, correct me if I am wrong
±80 people all and all together.

4) Furthermore we notice that NO projects are planned for Hoedspruit
town where as the Hoedspruit residents are the only tax contributors to
Maruleng. We strongly object to this and we insist that taxes paid by
rate payers be spend in town. The R38,362'000.00 Grants & Subsidies by
National Government and income of levies and fees totaling
R21,485'300.00 adding up to R59,847'300.00 can be put to work for better
use by cleaning the town, fixing the roads and parks. After all the
MARULENG Municipality's Head Office is situated in this pigsty of an
town.

Kind regards,

Pieter Janse van Rensburg
(On behalf of the Hoedspruit Rate Payers)

Wit armoede

Die stilte is gebreek

Die stilte oor wit armoede is die afgelope twee weke in die media
gebreek. As gevolg van die politieke klimaat in Suid-Afrika is daar
lank niks gesê oor wit armoede nie. Verskeie TV- en radioprogramme het
die afgelope twee weke oor wit armoede berig. Die feite is dat sowat
660 000 wittes in Suid-Afrika nou minder as R1 600 per maand verdien.
Dit is ongeveer 15% van die land se totale wit bevolking. Sowat 430
000 is so arm dat hulle nie in tradisionele woongebiede kan bly nie.
Wit armoede het die afgelope 10 jaar met sowat 150% toegeneem.
Volgende week gaan die Solidariteit Helpende Hand 'n volledige verslag
oor wit armoede publiseer. Ons sal volledig hieroor in die
BlyNet-nuusbrief berig.

Them Boers

Spoken by Great Men

"Give me 20 divisions American soldiers and I will beach Europe . Give
me 15 consisting of Englishmen, and I will advance to the borders of
Berlin . Give me two divisions of those marvelous fighting Boers
(Meaning Farmer, originating from the
<http://www.geocities.com/pentagon/6638/say.htm#%23> Boer War) and I
will remove Germany from the face of the earth."
Field Marshall Bernard L. Montgomery, Commander of the Allied forces
during WWII.

"The Americans fight for a free world, the English mostly for honor and
glory and medals, the French and Canadians decide too late that they
have to participate. The Italians are too scared to fight; the Russians
have no choice. The Germans for the Fatherland. The Boers? Those sons of
bitches fight for the hell of it!"
- American General, George "Guts and Glory" Patton -

"Take a community of Dutchman of the type of those who defended
themselves for fifty years against all the power of Spain at a time when
Spain was the greatest power in the world. Intermix with them a strain
of those inflexible French Huguenots, who gave up their name and left
their country forever at the time of the revocation of the Edict of
Nantes . The product must obviously be one of the most rugged, virile,
unconquerable races ever seen upon the face of the earth. Take these
formidable people and train them for seven generations in constant
warfare against savage men and ferocious beasts, in circumstances in
which no weakling could survive; place them so that they acquire skill
with weapons and in horsemanship, give them a country which is
immanently suited to the tactics of the huntsman, the marksman and the
rider. Then, finally, put a fine temper upon their military qualities by
a dour fatalistic Old Testament religion and an ardent and consuming
patriotism. Combine all these qualities and all these impulses in one
individual and you have the modern Boer."
- Sir Arthur Conan Doyle -
(And for those who don't know, he wrote the Sherlock Holmes stories)

Hostage Drama

Candice Bailey

May 07 2008 at 11:52AM

"I woke up with a gun in my mouth and I screamed."

This is how Tamboerskloof resident Angela Collins described the start
of a two-hour hostage ordeal she and her husband, Stuart, suffered at
the hands of four armed gunmen early on Tuesday.

The Collins couple, both in their 60s, told the Cape Argus the
nightmare had begun when the four masked men, three with guns and one
with a knife, charged into their house just before 7am on Tuesday.

The couple was forced to sit on the bed while the invaders looted the
house of electronic equipment, cellphones and valuables.

The gang tied them up and urinated on the bathroom floor before fleeing.

On Tuesday night they were still wondering how the men had managed to
get access to the house.

Speaking from their son's Green Point home, Angela Collins said: "It
was from 6.55am until 9.20am but it seemed like forever.

"They terrorised us. I thought it was our last hour. I never prayed so
hard in my life. I prayed and prayed and prayed.

"We were not allowed to move. They told us to keep our heads down."

She described the knife they were threatened with as being about 30cm long.

One of the men told her: "You make a sound and it goes in your stomach."

Stuart Collins, a former councillor, was the first to encounter the intruders.

"I'd been downstairs, and instead of making breakfast, I came
up-stairs to listen to the 7am news.

"I got back into bed and I didn't hear a sound until I felt someone
punch me on my head. I turned around and saw a guy with a gun.

"He told me to lie down, because there were two other guys with guns.
There were three guys in my bedroom."

One of them stuck the barrel of his gun into Angela's mouth, waking her up.

"It was a hard steel old gun, a good weather-beaten gun. Not a toy,"
Stuart Collins said.

"We said we didn't have money, but they said: 'You live in a house
like this, you must be rich.'

"I was an ANC ward candidate on two occasions and when they saw my ANC
membership card, they took it and said: 'F*** the ANC and f*** you.'

"We were very, very lucky. It could have gone seriously wrong."

The couple's ordeal was ended by the arrival of their son.

This article was originally published on page 1 of Cape Argus on May 07, 2008

Source:IOL

http://www.int.iol.co.za/index.php?set_id=1&click_id=15&art_id=vn20080507113500983C805775For
more information visit http://www.dienuwesuidafrika.com

Racial brutality against whites concealed from the media by the ANC (African National Congress)

A few weeks ago, international headlines were made when students of the
University of the Free State gave some hostel cleaners a concoction to
drink, apparently containing urine. Shortly afterwards, the public outcries
about racism and human rights began.

cid:000d01c8b038$38e46b10$6502a8c0@oem973aa8a3f10On the subject of racism,
please read the story of Nico Bruwer (25).

Nico was arrested in Polokwane for reckless driving on the night of 6
January 2008. After he was arrested, he asked four times if he can call his
family to tell them where he was, but they refused. (According to SA Law,
you are allowed one phone call when you are arrested.)

He was thrown in a dirty cell with 25 other inmates. His arms were held and
his head shoved in a dirty pillow, so his screams couldn't be heard - while
he was repeatedly raped and assaulted. Later he lost consciousness from
shock. The policemen on duty didn't once come to check on what was happening
in the cells.
The next morning he was harassed by one of the rapists. Hours later Nico was
released on bail after his family finally found him. He broke down and they
rushed him to hospital where he was admitted and tested for HIV.
Nico and his wife, Rose-Mary (24) was married on 1 March 2008. Nico also
have a son (5). He and his whole family is traumatized by this experience.

What you may not know is that this is the ** second ** time this year a
young white male was raped in the Polokwane Police cells.

Why am I asking you to forward this? Because this is also racism. This is
crime in its worst form. Yes, what happened at UFS was despicable, but
nobody was PHYSICALLY hurt. But because it was ** WHITE ** students doing it
to ** BLACK ** workers, everybody made a huge deal about it. Now that a
white male was raped by black criminals while in police custody, virtually
nobody knows about it. No big cries from overseas condemning this absolute
disregard for human rights or basic human dignity. Nico Bruwer's whole life
will be forever influenced about what happened that night. But because he
is ** WHITE **, nobody cares.

But you should care. Think about your husbands, sons and brothers. Forward
this to as many people as you can. Let this email travel all over so that
the whole world can see what is ** REALLY ** happening in South Africa.

Lets show the world that we are sick and tired of the hate, the war and the
lack of respect for humans and their lives.
Oh, and don't forget the absolute disgrace of what the SAPS have become -
they who are supposed to keep us safe.
Yes, they recently wasted their time assaulting students in Stellenbosch and
ransacking pubs for 130g of dagga. But a rape in Police cells goes
unnoticed.

And while you are doing this, please say a prayer for Nico Bruwer and his
family. Ask God to give his wife strength to support her new husband during
this terrible time. To give them peace, wisdom and dignity when they surely
do not feel like they have any. And that his HIV test comes back negative,
because he already has so much to deal with, and he does not need this added
to his pain.

Crime Focus : May 2008 - Issue 16

Issue #16 - May 2008
In this issue:
INTRODUCTORY LETTER

SUPPORT THE COURT CHALLENGE AGAINST THE DISBANDMENT OF THE SCORPIONS!

ANC CONFIRMS THAT IT WANTS THE SCORPIONS DISBANDED FOR POLITICAL REASONS

DA CALLS ON MINISTER TO GET THE BASICS RIGHT

WHY SHOULD WE PAY FOR CRIME? DA CALLS FOR TAX RELIEF

PRESIDENT ASKED ABOUT LACK OF PROGRESS ON THE CRIMINAL JUSTICE SYSTEM REVIEW

DA WINS THREE YEAR STRUGGLE TO HAVE PSEUDOEPHEDRINE RECLASSIFIED

10111 CAN'T TAKE YOUR CALL

INTRODUCTORY LETTER

Having been to Zimbabwe twice in past weeks - once to monitor the
election, and then to monitor the recount of votes - it was
fascinating to see how the country is now run as a virtual police
state, with heavily armed police constantly visible, and members of
the defence force in full combat gear patrolling the streets.
One feels quite safe from any criminal elements that may be present
(Zimbabwe has a very low crime rate compared to South Africa anyway).
But one doesn't feel very secure in the presence of the Zimbabwean
police.
And that's the problem with Deputy Minister Susan Shabangu's populist
appeal to police to "shoot the bastards". It's the first step down the
road towards a police state.
Let me be quite clear: there is no party - and that certainly includes
the ANC - that has been tougher on crime, criminals, and the failures
of our criminal justice system than the Democratic Alliance.
The police and citizens of this country already have the absolute
right to use lethal force if threatened by a criminal, but for
Shabangu to call for our police to ignore their regulations (the
regulations that prevent them from shooting you or me in the back),
and to ignore our constitution, is to call for the police to act as
judge, jury and executioner.
Our police know their rights and, if the government would actually
train them to some level of proficiency, and equip them adequately, we
could turn the crime situation around. For a politician illegally to
give them the 'right' to murder whomsoever they target as a 'threat to
the community' cannot be allowed. She will not stand in court to keep
those SAPS members from jail, and our police know that.
Jacob Zuma, like the DA, called for the police to be tough on crime;
but he called for that to happen within the law. Thankfully,
Shabangu's superiors have ordered her to tone down her populist rabble
rousing. Her declarations sound wonderful, until it's your son they
shoot as he runs for a bus because they believe he's a criminal and a
threat.
One fifth of the SAPS budget is already paid back to citizens in civil
claims for shootings, beatings, being locked in cells overnight to be
gang-raped, etc. - let's not call for that to become 90%.
Kind Regards
Dianne Kohler-Barnard MP
DA spokesperson on safety and security

Back to menu >>

SUPPORT THE COURT CHALLENGE AGAINST THE DISBANDMENT OF THE SCORPIONS!

Join the Democratic Alliance and other political parties outside the
High Court in Pretoria on 20 May 2008 to form a combined opposition to
the undemocratic, unconstitutional attempt by the ruling party to
prevent their high-ranking officials from being investigated and
prosecuted according to the laws of South Africa.
The protest will be held in front of the court building, corner of
Vermeulen and Paul Kruger Streets at 9.30 am.
We are urging all concerned citizens who can to attend the protest on
the day that the Court will hear the application from a member of the
public to stop the government's attempt to disband the Scorpions.

Back to menu >>

ANC CONFIRMS THAT IT WANTS THE SCORPIONS DISBANDED FOR POLITICAL REASONS

In April, DA leader Helen Zille met Secretary-General of the ANC Gwede
Mantashe to discuss the future of the Scorpions, where he made it
clear that the ANC is pushing for the dissolution of the Scorpions for
its own political purposes.
"Mantashe admitted at the press briefing after the meeting that the
main reason for dissolving the Scorpions was for its 'persistent
hatred of the ANC', and labelled it a political unit on a witch-hunt
against ANC officials, including Jacob Zuma," said Zille.
Zille said that Mantashe went so far as to say that the eight year
investigation into Zuma was an 'abuse of power'.
"It is deeply ironic that Mantashe sees the Scorpions' investigation
into Zuma as an abuse of power. He cannot see that the real abuse of
power is when high-ranking ANC officials allegedly use their positions
to line their own pockets," she said.
In light of these remarks, the DA has written to Minister of Justice
Brigitte Mabandla urgently seeking a public guarantee that the cases
brought against Jacob Zuma and Jackie Selebi will not be undermined by
the decision to disband the Scorpions.
"Already the proposed disbanding of the DSO (Directorate of Special
Operations) has severely stunted its ability to fulfil its crime
fighting obligations. It has been reported that seven out of the eight
investigators assigned to the Selebi case are leaving the DSO. This
raises very real questions about whether there will be sufficient
capacity remaining in the DSO to bring both the Selebi and Zuma
matters to court effectively," said DA spokesperson on Justice Dr
Tertius Delport.
"The DA calls upon the Minister to issue a public statement in which
she details exactly what steps will be taken to guarantee the
integrity of the current DSO cases. If she fails to do so, then the
public can be forgiven for thinking that this government is no longer
serious about the cause of justice," he said.

Back to menu >>

DA CALLS ON MINISTER TO GET THE BASICS RIGHT

While the comments made by Deputy Minister of Safety and Security
Susan Shabangu that police should simply "kill the bastards" will more
than likely resonate with the majority of South Africans who are sick
and tired of crime, it is an astonishing admission of failure on the
part of the government, said the Democratic Alliance in April.
"Rather than playing to the gallery, Shabangu and her Department
should be focusing on getting the basics of policing right: high
quality recruits, professional training and adequate equipment," said
DA spokesperson on safety and security Dianne Kohler Barnard.
"Unless these basic three elements are in place, the police will never
get the upper hand in the fight against crime."
Kohler Barnard revealed that, in reply to a DA parliamentary question,
the Minister of Safety and Security admitted that the police were
short of 7,458 bullet-proof vests. Given the fact that there were 1124
police stations in the country, this meant that there was an average
shortage of seven bullet-proof vests per station.
"To learn that the same Deputy Minister who created confusion over the
right of police to use deadly force is also partly responsible for the
failure to issue basic safety equipment shows that the Minister and
his Deputy are all about playing to the gallery and not doing their
actual jobs. The rush to score cheap political points simply serves to
distract the public from the real problems - our police are not even
properly equipped to perform their duties," said Kohler Barnard.
"Last year, I conducted a series of police station visits and learned
that most stations visited were short of torches, handcuffs, vehicles,
cell phones, radios, roadblock kits, pepper spray and portable blue
lights. We therefore call upon the Minister of Safety and Security and
his deputy to focus their attention on the basics of policing and to
make sure that every police officer is kept safe," she said.

Back to menu >>

WHY SHOULD WE PAY FOR CRIME? DA CALLS FOR TAX RELIEF

The Democratic Alliance wrote to the South African Revenue Service in
April requesting that it consider extending a tax rebate for
security-related expenses to private citizens as well as businesses.
"South Africans spent a massive R40-billion on private security in
2007, picking up the tab for the state's failure to protect them from
crime, but individuals may not claim tax relief for these expenses,"
said DA spokesperson on finance Kobus Marais.
Private security costs in South Africa were a mere R 2 billion short
of the government's entire SA Police Service budget (R42-billion), and
more than double that of its prisons (R12-billion) and court
(R10-billion) budgets.
"Currently, individuals are offered no tax relief for private security
costs, including for erecting defensive walls, armed-response
services, razor wire, guard dogs, insurance or any other security
expenses which relate to non-business activities," said Marais.
He said the party had proposed as early as 2004 that private citizens
be allowed to claim back money they had spent on providing security
for themselves. The DA's policy document 'Freedom from Fear' called
for tax relief of up to R5 000 or 5 percent of taxable income spent by
households on verifiable private security-related expenses.
"Members of the public ought to be allowed to claim the money back, as
they are providing for themselves a service that is the responsibility
of the state," he said.
The party's 2008 Alternative Budget called for VAT rebates on
expenditure such as burglar bars, alarm systems, boom gates,
surveillance cameras, motor vehicle tracking devices and rapid
response teams.

Back to menu >>

PRESIDENT ASKED ABOUT LACK OF PROGRESS ON THE CRIMINAL JUSTICE SYSTEM REVIEW

In April, the Democratic Alliance wrote to President Mbeki asking for
the public to be given an update on the review of the Criminal Justice
System (CJS).
"The review was heralded as a long overdue plan to create a new CJS
that did not suffer from inefficiency, and lack of cooperation and
coordination. It was promised that new structures and processes at
different levels would bring the courts, prisons and police together
in the fight against crime, and held the promise of significant
reductions in levels of criminal activity," said DA spokesperson on
Justice Dr Tertius Delport.
"The DA calls upon the President to issue a public statement detailing
the progress made on the CJS review. It is important that we know how
serious government is in developing strategies to combat crime,
especially given the increasing rate of murder, house robberies and
hijacking in the country," he said.
Delport said that the Presidency needed to provide the necessary
leadership in moving the review forward including, if necessary,
creating an interim structure to guide the process.
"Given the challenges faced by our prisons, the courts, and the SAPS
in the face of our high violent crime rate, the review ought to have
made significant progress to date, but unfortunately, the overall
review has made virtually none," said Delport. The DA had also
submitted parliamentary questions to the Minister of Justice asking
for an update on the review and had received no reply as yet.
"The public have a right to know what is happening," he said.

Back to menu >>

DA WINS THREE YEAR STRUGGLE TO HAVE PSEUDOEPHEDRINE RECLASSIFIED

It was a victory for the war on tik that a DA request to the Medicines
Control Council to have pseudoephedrine reclassified had finally
succeeded, said the Democratic Alliance in March.
"A reply to a parliamentary question indicates that a request, which
the DA made to the MCC in July 2005, has finally been agreed to and,
as soon as the necessary legislative amendments are in place, it will
become much more difficult for backyard tik manufacturers to produce
this deadly substance," said DA spokesperson on health Mike Waters.
Waters said that the DA would now be tackling other measures to reduce
the supply of tik, and would call on the Minister for Safety and
Security to take a number of specific steps to halt the illegal import
of raw pseudoephedrine.
"Tik is causing havoc in many Cape Town communities, and is
increasingly filtering through into other areas, fuelling our murder
and rape epidemic. The SAPS' own figures show that 80% of crimes are
linked to drug abuse. The supply needs to be stopped, but no
comprehensive plan to do so exists. This is a scandal," he said.
The DA called on Safety and Security Minister Charles Nqakula to
reinstate the specialist Narcotics Bureau, which was closed in 2004 as
part of the SAPS restructuring process.
The party also called for the re-establishment of Operation Neptune, a
highly successful marine anti-poaching unit.
Waters said that research had also shown that the import of raw
pseudoephedrine was becoming increasingly tied up with perlemoen
poaching, with Chinese syndicates bringing in large supplies of the
product and exchanging it for perlemoen, so that no money ever changed
hands and deals were difficult to track.

Back to menu >>

10111 CAN'T TAKE YOUR CALL

The DA in Mpumalanga were very concerned to learn that the SAPS number
10111 was not being answered.
"This is apparently happening all over the province. There could be
numerous reasons for the delay, but a traumatised member of the public
does not want to hear the telephone just ringing and ringing when they
need help. These calls need to be answered within three rings," said
DA provincial spokesperson on safety and security Clive Hatch.
Hatch said that the DA have posed a number of questions to the MEC for
safety and security to establish why there were delays in answering
calls made to 10111.
"The DA is trying to establish where the 10111 centres are situated,
how many people man the phones, how well equipped are these people to
handle traumatised people on the line, what is the average response
time for the SAPS to answer a call made to 10111, and what is the
average time for the SAPS to act on such a call?" said Hatch.
Hatch said that the DA was also concerned that prank calls and cutting
of telephone lines harmed the relationship between the SAPS and the
public and urged the public not to slow down a system developed to
save lives.
"Such delinquent, irresponsible acts need the stern hand of the law
and an appropriate punishment. The Department of Safety and Security
should advise the public about which calls should be made to 10111 and
which calls should be made to the local police station," he said.

Back to menu >>

MILLION MAN MARCH POSTPONED TILL JUNE

SHABANGU'S COMMENTS DANGEROUS

FRIDAY FOOL: JEWEL THIEF ATTEMPTS A "MISSION IMPOSSIBLE"

DOES ZUMA HAVE THE METAL TO MEET WITH ZILLE?

AM I WAITING TO BECOME A VICTIM?

DID YOU KNOW?
In a reply to a DA parliamentary question, it has been revealed that
backlogs at forensic science laboratories (FSL) throughout South
Africa have increased by 66% since last year.
• In 2007, there were 4,874 chemistry samples (drugs and chemical
samples) awaiting analysis, compared to 8,716 this year.
• Last year, there were 22 questioned documents (altered documents)
awaiting processing; this year, there are 387.
• Total backlogs of evidence awaiting analysis have increased from
6,086 (2007) to 10,121 (2008).
• The waiting period for results has increased from 54 days (2007) to
60 days (2008).
• Waiting periods for ballistics tests have increased from 40 days to
42 days and chemistry waiting periods have increased from 56 days to
68 days.
• Staff vacancies have increased from 15 (May 2007) to 24 (December 2007).

LINKS
SHEDDING LIGHT on the electricity crisis
THE SILENT MAJORITY - a voice for the voiceless.
Visit the DA WEBSITE - for all the latest news
ARE YOU A VICTIM OF CRIME? tell us your story
Read the latest updates on crime on our CRIME BLOG
In touch with the AGRICULTURAL COMMUNITY
A behind the scenes look at SA POLITICS
CONTACT US with your views and queries
SUBSCRIBE to our other newsletters:
SAToday
Agriculture-matters
Health Matters
Business Brief
AIDS Focus
DA@WORK
Welfare Watch
The Report Card
Enviro-Matters

Fight back farmer kills midnight attacker

 Fight-back farmer kills midnight attacker

May 02 2008 at 09:48AM

By Sharika Regchand

A 54-year-old Richmond farmer, despite stab wounds in his back, shot both his attackers and killed one of them in his bedroom on Wednesday night.

Grant Warren,speaking to The Natal Mercury from his hospital bed on Thursday, said he had had an "horrific" experience.

He said he went outside with his weapon at about 10pm on Wednesday when his dog began barking but saw nothing and went back into the house.

"My wife Muffy and I were packing - we were going away for the weekend," he said.

About midnight, while they were watching TV, shots were fired through his bedroom window and two men entered.

"I rolled over to get my weapon from the bedside table and fell on the floor. Both men jumped on me. One held me down while the other stabbed me," he said.

Wrestled

Warren freed his hand and shot one of the men, who then left. He then shot the other man two or three times. Wounded, the man wrestled with Warren and bit his arm.

"I was getting weaker and weaker. My wife hit him on the head with the bedside lamp. I then hit him on the head with my gun," said Warren.

At some stage, one of the men also kicked and assaulted his wife.

Warren said the attackers had cut through an electric fence to get on to his premises.

In the past four months his office, which is in the house, and factory had been broken into four times.

Police Superintendent Henry Budhram said the motive for the attack was being investigated.

He said police had found the body in Warren's bedroom.

"There were bloodstains on the walls and floor... the large window was smashed open and a knife was also found near the deceased," Budhram said.

sharika.regchand@inl.co.za

DA@WORK 5 May - Remember the unemployed on Worker's Day

DA@WORK 5 May

QUOTE OF THE WEEK

"What is… important is developing a new spirit of community
activism.... this means moving away from a victim mentality that stops
us from taking control of our lives…it means each one of us taking
responsibility for the community in which we live and encouraging
others to do the same. If every law-abiding resident … became the eyes
and ears of the police, crime rates would drop."
DA Leader Helen Zille led an anti-crime march in Port Elizabeth last
Saturday. Read the full address here >>

http://www.da.org.za/da/Site/Eng/Speeches/Speech.asp?ID=1558

DA PROPOSES BORDER SAFETY REVIEW

South Africa's international land borders are as porous as the
proverbial sieve, with tens of thousands of refugees streaming into
the country each week, alongside gun smugglers, drug traffickers and
stock thieves, said the Democratic Alliance last Tuesday.

The party has called for the deployment of SA National Defence Force
troops to the worst-affected border regions to bring the situation
under control.

"There is a security vacuum in our border and rural areas," DA safety
and security spokesperson Dianne Kohler-Barnard said.

The Border Control Co-ordinating Committee (BCOCC), the body
established to oversee border security, was not doing its job, and the
SA Police Service - tasked with the actual patrols - was seriously
under-equipped.

"Despite having been created in 2001, the BCOCC still has no complete
overall strategic plan relating to borderline policing, as well as no
divisional policy relating to borderline operations," she said.

South Africa was experiencing a flood of refugees, who were entering
the country at the rate of 28 000 a week. Besides Zimbabweans fleeing
the troubles in their country, there were also huge numbers of
Nigerians, Kenyans and Congolese.

DA defence spokesperson Rafeek Shah called for the urgent creation of
a specialised SANDF unit, paramilitary in nature, to police South
Africa's long land borders, as well as the establishment of permanent
border monitoring posts in high-risk areas.

According to a DA document distributed at the briefing - titled
"Sealing our Borders" - land border patrols are operating at 71
percent under capacity. There are also no permanent staff allocated to
air patrols along South Africa's land borders.

Further, the SA Police Service faced serious equipment shortages.

"There are frequently no fences in place and no compensating equipment
such as helicopters, horses or quad bikes to patrol borders in areas
not accessible by conventional vehicles."

There were between three and five million illegal foreigners in South Africa.

The document calls for the role of the SANDF in borderline security to
be looked at again.

"The DA believes that if the SAPS is going to retain responsibility
for maintaining our borderline security, then not only must the SAPS
border activities be overhauled, but the support role of the SANDF
needs to be revisited," it states.

Read the full document … click here to continue >>

http://www.da.org.za/da/Site/Eng/News/Article.asp?ID=8867

REMEMBER THE UNEMPLOYED ON WORKERS DAY

While Workers Day commemorates the contribution of workers to society,
it also reminds people of SA's chronic unemployment, said the
Democratic Alliance last Wednesday.

"Workers Day reminds us of the millions of unemployed and discouraged
workers... it serves as a stark reminder of South Africa's chronic
unemployment problem," said DA labour spokesperson Anchen Dreyer.

The International Monetary Fund's 2007 report noted that the country's
high unemployment rate emphasised how government needed to revise
onerous labour market regulations that encouraged unemployment, Dreyer
said.

She said: "The DA has long contended that relaxing onerous labour laws
will make it easier for both the unemployed and the growing volume of
discouraged job-seekers to enter the job market."

"This Worker's Day must be used to address the growing challenges
faced by the unemployed if we are to realise our goal of reducing
poverty and halving unemployment by 2014."

"While South Africa's narrow unemployment rate of 23 percent is
alarmingly high, the broad definition of unemployment at 36 percent is
reaching crisis proportions."

"Disturbingly, the number of discouraged workers is on the rise in
South Africa. Specifically, the number of discouraged job-seekers have
increased by 431 000 to 3.4 million between September 2001 and
September 2007."

"The 3.9 million narrowly defined unemployed in the years to September
2007 indicates that there are almost as many discouraged job-seekers
as there are active job-seekers," she said.

Dreyer said in conclusion that government had to consider how labour
market policies and trade union actions affected unemployment and the
prospects of millions of South Africans.

ESKOM TARIFF INCREASES WOULD BE RECKLESS

Allowing Eskom's requested 53 percent tariff increase would be
reckless, the Democratic Alliance said last Tuesday.

Expecting government and, in particular, the public, to condone a 60
percent tariff increase was without grounds or basis.

"It is the DA's view that an agreement to any additional tariff
increases would be reckless in light of the prevailing failures by
government and mismanagement on the part of Eskom," said party
minerals and energy spokesperson, Hendrik Schmidt.

In a submission to the National Energy Regulator (Nersa), tasked with
regulating the electricity, piped-gas and petroleum pipeline
industries, the DA said it recommended an independent inquiry into
South Africa's energy crisis before any tariff hikes could be
considered.

"The electricity crisis with which we are now faced has been fraught
with Eskom mismanagement and government failure - the mismanagement
has led to a serious loss of confidence in Eskom's ability to manage
its own affairs, both from a financial as well as an operational
perspective."

"An independent multi-disciplinary task team must urgently be
appointed to investigate the causes of and possible solutions to the
current crisis. Merely agreeing to the increases would most probably
lead to further mismanagement."

Schmidt said that the party had requested an independent commission of
inquiry to assess Eskom's culpability in the crisis, its current
production capacity and its ability to provide continuous future
supply on 19 March 2008, a request which had so far been ignored.

Tuesday was the final day for written submissions to Nersa on the
proposed tariff hike, and Schmidt said the DA proposed that until
completion of the inquiry, no application for an increase be
entertained by NERSA.

Read the full document … click here to continue >>

http://www.da.org.za/da/Site/Eng/News/Article.asp?ID=8868

For more on the electricity crisis, visit SHEDDING LIGHT

http://sheddinglight.wordpress.com/

DA CHAMPIONS THE FIGHT FOR RETAINING THE SCORPIONS

The Democratic Alliance will again ask the Speaker of Parliament to
suspend the process to disband the Scorpions, the party said on
Sunday.

DA chief whip Ian Davidson said he had asked Baleka Mbete to halt the
legislative process to disband the Directorate of Special Operations
(Scorpions) in March pending the outcome of a legal challenge to the
process on Constitutional grounds by concerned citizen Hugh Glenister.

"I have not as yet received a reply from her," said Davidson.

In the light of the release of the Khampepe Commission report on
Monday, in which Judge Sisi Khampepe plainly recommends that the
Scorpions be retained within the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA),
and following on the decision last Wednesday by President Thabo
Mbeki's cabinet to approve the General Law Amendment Bill and the
National Prosecuting Amendment Bill in advance of the two Bills being
tabled in Parliament this week, Davidson would again be writing to the
Speaker to reiterate the DA's call.

Speaking on the Scorpions earlier in the week, DA leader Helen Zille
said that Cabinet should explain to South Africans why they took a
dramatic U-turn in approving the bill to incorporate the Scorpions
into the SAPS.

Zille said less than two years ago cabinet had endorsed the Khampepe
Commission's recommendation to retain the Scorpions in the National
Prosecuting Authority.

"So what has changed?" said Zille.

"What has happened in this period that warrants the disbanding of the
most successful crime-fighting unit in the country?"

Zille said it was the African National Congress leadership that
emerged from Polokwane which wanted to disband the Scorpions - in
order allegedly to protect high profile members from investigations.

Zille said two weeks ago that ANC secretary-general Gwede Mantashe had
apparently admitted the ANC wanted to see the Scorpions closed down
because it was targeting ANC leaders in its investigations.

"The dissolution of the Scorpions will weaken the fight against
crime," she added.

Zille said the DA and sectors of civil society would continue to fight
to prevent this happening.

SIGN THE PETITION TO STOP THE DISBANDING OF THE SCORPIONS >>> CLICK HERE

http://www.mypetition.co.za/index.php?page=sign_petition&petition_id=39

SUPPORT THE COURT CHALLENGE AGAINST THE DISBANDMENT OF THE SCORPIONS!

Join the Democratic Alliance and other political parties outside the
High Court in Pretoria on to form a combined opposition to the
disbandment of the Scorpions.

The protest will be held in front of the court building, corner of
Vermeulen and Paul Kruger Streets at 9.30 am on 20 May 2008, the day
of the court hearing of the application by Hugh Glenister to stop the
government's attempt to disband the Scorpions.

DID YOU KNOW?

• The number of South African Police Service (SAPS) officers boarded
for health or stress reasons has more than doubled in the past year.

• In reply to a parliamentary question, the Minister of Safety and
Security revealed that increasing numbers of South African Police
Service (SAPS) members are being declared unfit for duty for stress or
health reasons.

• The Democratic Alliance (DA) has found that since 2005, the number
of police officers declared unfit for duty due to health problems has
increased by 146%, and the number declared unfit for stress reasons,
by 100%.

RELEASE OF KHAMPEPE COMMISSION REPORT - WILL IT MAKE IT HARDER FOR THE ANC?
http://www.eyeoncrime.co.za/?q=node/349

THE IMPORTANCE OF A CRIME SCENE
http://www.eyeoncrime.co.za/?q=node/348

GUEST LETTER: SHOOTING FROM THE HIP WILL NOT SOLVE CRIME
http://www.eyeoncrime.co.za/?q=node/347

Question mark over farmer's killing

May 05 2008 at 08:18AM

By Jeff Wicks

The death of a KwaZulu-Natal farmer, who was shot dead while driving
towards his home on Thursday night, has raised fears of
land-claims-related violence in the area.

A police spokesperson, Superintendent Zandra Wiid, said the incident
happened at Nqabeni, near Harding, as Winston Fynn drove home.

"The shooting took place at approximately 6pm... An unknown number of
assailants shot at his vehicle and he was struck once in the upper
thigh."

"He continued to drive to his farm house, where he later died... At
this stage the detectives cannot reveal the suspected motive for the
attack, and to date no arrests have been made."

Wiid would not be drawn on whether the attack was related to land claims.

Many farmers in the Nqabeni area, which is between Harding and
Izingolweni, have allegedly been victims of violence and intimidation
linked to land claims on their farms.

According to a police report on land invasions in the Nqabeni area,
there has been significant squatter encroachment on farmland.

The report tells of farmers' attempts to legally evict squatters.

"When the local sheriff attempted to move the squatters he was shot
at, and that was the end of his attempt to move them."

KwaZulu-Natal violence monitor Mary de Haas questioned whether the
attacks were aimed at driving farmers off their land.

"Fynn said he was experiencing problems with the illegal occupants in
terms of lack of control over cattle, damage to crops and implications
over sustainable land usage."

"The murder of Fynn should not be seen in isolation. Recently Mr and
Mrs Baker, who also farm in the area, were held at gunpoint and robbed
of valuables," said De Haas.

"The police say that land claims issues had not been identified as the
motive for the killing, but the facts about the situation in Nqabeni
suggest otherwise," she said.

jeff.wicks@inl.co.za

This article was originally published on page 3 of The Mercury on May 05, 2008

Source:Source:IOL

http://www.int.iol.co.za/index.php?set_id=1&click_id=15&art_id=vn20080505054259318C326982For
more information visit http://www.dienuwesuidafrika.com

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