Meeting of the Judicial Service Commission : 8-12 June 2009

The Judicial Service Commission invites nominations to fill vacancies as Judges in the following Courts :

1) Supreme Court of Appeal - Judges of Appeal (three vacancies)

2) Transvaal Provincial Division (four vacancies)

3) Eastern Cape Division (one vacancy)

4) Cape Provincial Division (one vacancy)

5) Labour Appeal Court - Deputy Judge President (one vacancy)

6) Free State Provincial Division (one vacancy)

Nominations must be accompanied by the nominee's written consent and the standard questionnaire completed and signed by the nominee.

If any judicial vacancy arises between the date of this notice and the dates on which candidates are interviewed, the Judicial Service Commission may, after the interviews, fill such vacancy if it considers that suitable candidates are available. This is to avoid the situation which has arisen in the past when, despite the availability of suitable candidates, no appointments could be made to vacancies which had occurred subsequent to the notice calling for nominations. Consequently, in making nominations, regard should be had to the possibility that more judicial vacancies may occur than have been advertised.

I wish to emphasize the following points :

1. Interviews with short-listed candidates will be conducted in public, ie members of the public and the media will be entitled to be present.
2. It is open to persons or bodies nominating candidates to motivate their nominations by referring the Commission to the candidate's qualifications and general fitness for appointment.
3. The questionnaire must be accompanied by the standardised "clearance certificate" which the candidate is required to obtain from his/her professional body regarding the candidate's professional status within than body, his or her suitability for appointment to the Bench and the nature of any disciplinary proceedings completed or pending in respect of the relevant candidate.
4. Nominations must be addressed to and reach the Secretary of the Commission not later than Friday 27 March 2009 at 16h00.

The meeting of the Judicial Service Commission and the interviewing of candidates has been scheduled to take place at the Twelve Apostles Hotel, cape Town from 8-12 June 2009.

Please also note the new address of the Secretary of the Judicial Service Commission :

Ms Vuyelwa Masangwana
Constitutional Court
Private Bag X1
Constitution Hill
Braamfontein
Johannesburg 2017

Telephone : 011-359 7570/7537
Fax : 011-403 5964
Fax2email : 086-649 0944

P N Langa
Chief Justice of South Africa
Chairperson : Judicial Service Commission

Click here for details

GN 138/GG 31884/11-02-2009 **

Publication of the draft Marriage Amendment Bill, 2009 for comments
GenN 149/GG 31864/13-02/2009 **

Transport Acts Repeal Bill, 2009

Publication
GenN 150/GG 31864/13-02-2009 **

PR 10/GG 31900/12-02-2009 **

National Youth Development Agency Act 54 of 2008

Commencement of sections 1, 2, 3, 4, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21(1), 21(7), 21(8), 21(9) and 21(1) : 6 February 2009
PR 8/GG 31878/06-02-2009 **

Electricity Regulation : invitation for comments
GenN 139/GG 31891/13-02-2009 **

Environment Conservation Act 73 of 1989

Waste Tyre Regulations, 2008
GN 149/GG 31901/13-02-2009 **

Films and Publications Act 65 of 1996

Advisory Panel Regulations
GN 147/GG 31898/11-02-2009 **

Health Professions Act 56 of 1974

Health Professions Council of South Africa

Regulations relating to the conduct of inquiries into alleged unprofessional conduct
GN 102/GG 31859/06-02-2009 **

Regulations relating to the qualifications for registration of dental assistants : amendment
GN 100/GG 31859/06-02-2009 **

Regulations relating to the registration of persons who hold qualifications not prescribed for registration
GN 101/GG 31859/06-02-2009 **

Regulations relating to the registration of student dental assistants : amendment
GN 99/GG 31859/06-02-2009 **

17 February 2009
Draft Melamine regulations published for comment
BuaNews Online website

Basic Conditions of Employment Act 75 of 1997

Amendment of Sectoral Determination 13 : Farm Worker Sector, South Africa
GN 141/GG 31888/13-02-2009 **

Customs and Excise Act 91 of 1964

Amendment of Rules (DAR/46)
GN 133/GG 31880/09-02-2009 **

Amendment of Schedule no.1 (no.1/1/1374)
GN 144/GG 31892/13-02-2009 **

Amendment of Schedule no.2 (no.2/306)
GN 145/GG 31892/13-02-2009 **

Amendment of Schedule no.2 (no.2/307)
GN 146/GG 31892/13-02-2009 **

National Credit Act, 2005

National Consumer Tribunal : invitation to service providers to register on the Tribunal's preferential supplier database
BN 18/GG 31864/13-02-2009 **

Pharmacy Act 53 of 1974

Election/appointment of members of council
BN 16/GG 31875/09-02-2009 **

Restitution of Land Rights Act 22 of 1994

Amendment notice : various subs, Church Street, Pietermaritzburg
GenN 155/GG 31864/13-02-2009 **

South African Qualifications Authority

Announcement of intention to extend the accreditation of the Manufacturing, Engineering and Related Services Sector Education and Training Authority (MERSETA)
GN 122/GG 31864/13-02-2009 **
GN 123/GG 31864/13-02-2009 **

National Standards Bodies Regulations

Standards Generating Body (SGB) for Air-conditioning
GN 127/GG 31879/11-02-2009 **

Standards Generating Body (SGB) for Clothing, Textiles, Footwear and Leather
GN 128/GG 31879/11-02-2009 **
GN 129/GG 31879/11-02-2009 **

Standards Generating Body (SGB) for Hairdressing, Cosmetology and Beauty
GN 132/GG 31879/11-02-2009 **

Standards Generating Body (SGB) for Integrated Health Professions
GN 130/GG 31879/11-02-2009 **

Standards Generating Body (SGB) for Mining and Minerals registered by Organising Field 06 (Manufacturing, Engineering and ETchnology)
GN 104/GG 31860/09-02-2009 **

Standards Generating Body for Music
GN 126/GG 31879/11/02-2009 **

Standards Generating Body (SGB) for Sport
GN 125/GG 31879/11-02-2009 **

Standards Generating Body (SGB) for Statistics
GN 131/GG 31879/11-02-2009 **

Standards Generating Body (SGB) for Transport and Logistics Operations
GN 111/GG 31873/10-02-2009 **

Standards Generating Body (SGB) for Transport Logistics Operations registered by Organising Field 11 (Services)
Gn 106/GG 31860/09-02-2009 **

Task Team for Adventure Based Learning registered by Organising Field 11 (Services)
GN 105/GG 31860/09-02-2009 **

Task Team for Horticulture registered by Organising Field 01 (Agriculture and Nature Conservation
GN 103/GG 31860/09-02-2009 **

Veterinary and Para-Veterinary Professions Act

South African Veterinary Council : nomination of a candidate for the election of council member for the remainder of the current term of office that expires on 31 July 2010
BN 17/GG 31864/13-02-2009 **

**	Source : Sabinet

19 February 2009 (to be heard)
CCT 83/08
Fatima Gabie Hassam v Johan Hermanus Jacobs NO, Master of the High Court, Mariam Hassam, Mariam Hassam NO, Minister of Justice and Constitutional Development
Application for confirmation of constitutional invalidity of sections of the Intestate Succession Act and that the word "survivor" in the MSSA should be read to include surviving partners of polygamous Muslim marriages. The applicant contends that the exclusion of widows in polygamous Muslim marriages from the benefits provided for in the ISA and MSSA infringes their constitutional rights to equality, religion and culture

Muslim polygamy case goes to court - 18 February
The Constitutional Court will hear an application on Thursday to confirm an order of constitutional invalidity relating to a polygamous Muslim marriage. The court said on Wednesday the application would be brought by Fatima Gabie Hassam for the confirmation of a Cape High Court order. In the lower court Hassam argued that after her husband's death the executor for his estate refused her claims because he disputed the existence of her marriage. - IOL website

17 February 2009 (to be heard)
CCT 80/08
The Trustees for the time being of the Biowatch Trust v The Registrar, Genetic Resources, The Executive Council for Genetically Modified Organisms, The Minister for Agriculture, Monsanto South Africa (Pty) Ltd, Stoneville Pedigreed Seed Company and D&PL SA South Africa Inc (the Centre for Child Law, Lawyers for Human Rights and the Centre for Applied Legal Studies as amici curiae)

Concourt gets a new judge - 17 February
Justice Edwin Cameron has been sworn in as a judge of the Constitutional Court, SABC news reported on Tuesday. Cameron took the oath of office before the court's first sitting for 2009 and was warmly applauded by an almost-full public gallery. - IOL website

Fifteen good years - 18 February
'Unfortunately, a lot of people will be disappointed, because once those judges come to the [Constitutional Court] bench they'll realise their master is the Constitution," says Judge Yvonne Mokgoro. It was clearly a general caveat against the growing use of South Africa's highest court as a political football. One of the "class of 1994" appointed to the court under President Nelson Mandela, Mokgoro's term ends in October. She is the judge who encouraged junior colleague Judge Bess Nkabinde to report Cape Judge President John Hlophe for allegedly attempting to "improperly influence" the Constitutional Court. - Mail & Guardian website

Zuma Case

NPA set to meet lawyers - 16 February
Lawyers for African National Congress President Jacob Zuma will meet the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) on Friday, a spokesperson said on Monday. "There is a plan, that on Friday, we will make representations to the NPA as part of the continuous process that we've been engaged in," said Zuma's lawyer, Michael Hulley. "It is a follow-up as part of the overall process," he added. Last Tuesday, the ANC leader's legal team submitted representations regarding his corruption case to the NPA. The content of the representations have not been disclosed. - IOL website

NPA won't be drawn on representations - 17 February
The National Prosecuting Authority submitted papers on Tuesday in response to ANC president Jacob Zuma's representations in the Constitutional Court. Spokesman Tlali Tlali could however not be drawn to disclose the nature of the representations made. - IOL website

Water struggle reaches Supreme Court of Appeal (SCA) - 18 February
In its historic judgement handed down on the 30th April 2008, the Johannesburg High Court declared prepaid water meters both illegal and unconstitutional and ordered the City of Johannesburg (CoJ) to provide residents with 50 litres of free water per person/per day . Despite the judgement being celebrated by poor communities across South Africa and supported by a wide range of domestic and international unions, political parties and non-governmental organisations, Johannesburg Mayor, Amos Masondo – alongside Johannesburg Water and the Department of Water Affairs & Forestry (DWAF) – appealed the judgement. More recently, the National Treasury has applied to be an amicus in support of the appeal. And so, now into its sixth year, this landmark case to secure basic constitutional rights to water for all, heads to the SCA. - anarkismo website

Judges consider prisoners' pardons - 16 February
The Ministry of Justice was due back in court on Monday over whether the applications for presidential pardons by hundreds of prisoners should have six years of dust shaken off and be processed. The applications were sent to the Ministry of Justice in late 2003, and "no response of whatsoever kind has been forthcoming", said the prisoners' legal team in argument filed ahead of today's hearing in the Supreme Court of Appeal. The minister of justice is challenging a Pretoria High Court ruling of a year ago, when Judge Willie Seriti ordered the then minister, Brigitte Mabandla, to process the applications within three months for a decision by former president Thabo Mbeki. - IOL website

Johannesburg

Pension-fraud mastermind must pay it back - 16 February
A 61-year-old man who was found guilty of fraud on Monday was ordered to pay back R18.6-million in compensation, SABC radio news reported on Monday. The Johannesburg specialised commercial crime court ordered Peter Ghavalas to pay the compensation under a plea-bargain reached with the state. Ghavalas admitted to masterminding a pension fraud scheme that ransacked seven pension funds of R300 million. Pension fund administrator Alexander Forbes was also implicated in the scheme along with eight other people. Ghavalas pleaded guilty and was handed a suspended sentence. - IOL website

17 February 2009
15972/2008 [2009] ZAWCHC 5
M v Family Advocate, Cape Town and Another

12 February 2009
6277/08 [2009] ZAWCHC 3
M5 Developments (Cape) (Pty) Ltd v Groenewald NO and Others

12 February 2009
15721/2007 [2009] ZAWCHC 2
Mlunguza v Smit

30 January 2009
1277/2009 [2009] ZAWCHC 4
Golden Arrow Bus Services (Pty) Ltd v Minister of Transport for the Republic of South Africa and Others

'I didn't know which way to turn' - 18 February
Former senior superintendent Marius Van der Westhuizen, charged with the murder of his three children, told the Cape High Court he was traumatised by what he saw through his work. Van der Westhuizen told the court on Wednesday about many horrific crime and collision scenes that he had to attend through the years and which left him severely traumatised. He also said that as second-in-command at the Claremont police station, a post he resigned from last year, he often had to perform the station commissioner's duties, over and above his own. - IOL website

High court overrules dissolution of T'kei municipality - 18 February
The Bhisho High Court yesterday overturned the decision of Provincial and Local Government Minister Sicelo Shiceka to dissolve the Mnquma municipality. On Monday the provincial and national departments of local government announced the dissolution of the Butterworth- based municipality, placing it under administration. - Herald Online website

Lynne Hume Case

Estate agent killed 'for being Mbeki ally' - 17 February
The Ballito estate agent, who was found murdered in her burnt out car in the Free State in 2007, was killed because she was a close ally of former president Thabo Mbeki and "needed to be taken care of". This is according to the testimony of Msebenziwenkosi Kunene, who on Monday testified against his father, Muziwendonda, who appeared in the Bloemfontein High Court on Monday, charged with her murder. - IOL website

Hume case witness denies conspiracy - 18 February
Mzwendoda Kunene's son has denied allegations that he and others were involved in a conspiracy to tarnish his father's reputation and to get him into trouble with the law. During cross-examination on Tuesday, Kunene snr's lawyer, Jan Nkhahle, told the court that Kunene jnr had been involved in a conspiracy with a Kranskop policeman, Superintendent Zethembe Chonco, to discredit Kunene senior. In court, Nkhahle said : "I put it to you, that you, Chonco and other people involved had a conspiracy against your father. . . You wanted to kill your father but you could not. So you resorted to this conspiracy to criminalise him". - IOL website

Policeman tells of grisly discovery - 19 February
Murdered Ballito estate agent Lynne Hume's feet were still in flames in her burnt-out car when police constable Thulani Mkwanazi arrived at the scene, the Bloemfontein High Court heard on Wednesday. She had electrical cord wrapped around her body. - IOL website

Serial rapist jailed for decades - 17 February
Three life sentences and 48 years in jail were imposed on a 44-year-old serial rapist and robber in the Pietermaritzburg High Court on Tuesday. Judge Chris Nicholson told Vusi Mseleku, of the Pietermaritzburg district, that he should be behind bars for the rest of his life as he was incapable of reformation. Sentences of life behind bars were also imposed to protect society from criminals, Nicholson said. Mseleku, a father of five, kicked down people's doors, robbed them, and raped one victim in front of her boyfriend and another victim in front of her mother and child. - IOL website

13 February 2009
CA&R 75/08 [2009] ZANCHC 3
S v Van Schalkwyk

4 February 2009
K/S 58/08 [2009] ZANCHC 2
S v Nyathi

3 February 2009
K/S 58/08 [2009] ZANCHC 1
S v Nyathi

19 February 2009
50711/08 [2009] ZAGPHC 32
Khumalo and Another v South African Reserve Bank and Another

"According to section 9 of the Currency and Exchange Control Act 9 of 1993, regulations "may be made inter alia for the attachmmentof money and goods and expressly provides that an an attachment shall be for a period  not exceeding 36 months (subject to a qualification not presently relevant)". In terms of regulation 22C(1), money and goods may be attached, however there is no provision relating to a time limit in this regard. In the matter of Khumalo & another v SA Reserve Bank & another [2009] JOL 23137 (T), the court dealt with the issue of whether or not regulation 22C(1) is ultra vires and unconstitutional. Judgment in this matter was handed down by Southwood J (Murphy and Raulinga JJ concurring), in the Transvaal Provincial Division today". - Note in email from LexisNexis

16 February 2009
3369/2009 [2009] ZAGPHC 31
Altech Alcomo Matomo (Pty) Ltd v South African Police Service and Others

13 February 2009
30396/05 [2009] ZAGPHC 29
Pieterse en Andere v Minister van Veiligheid en Sekuriteit en Andere

Cops must pay family for their humiliation - 14 February
The police must pay a total of R380 000 in damages to a Pretoria North family who were manhandled and humiliated by the police following a rugby match at Loftus four years ago. Pretoria High Court Judge Bill Prinsloo, in his judgment, said the evidence delivered in court by the police was unsatisfactory and their versions of events improbable. The police tried to lay blame on the family who, they said, acted in an aggressive manner towards them, but Prinsloo said pictures taken by a newspaper photographer who was at Loftus at the time painted a different picture. David Pieterse, his wife Susan, sons David junior and Jason and their spouses attended the semi-finals of the Currie Cup rugby in October 2004 between the Blue Bulls and the Lions. - IOL website

12 February 2009
13166/08 [2009] ZAGPHC 28
GHPM Boerdery 100 Bk v Standard Bank van Suid-Afrika Bpk

Fassie dispute to be settled out of court - 16 February
An ongoing dispute over South African pop queen Brenda Fassie's estate will be handled out of court, it was decided on Monday in the Johannesburg High Court. In a statement released by JT Communications on Monday, the Southern African Music Rights Organisation (Samro) said independent experts in the fields of accounting and law would be roped in to determine whether Samro rendered proper accounting to Fassie, in line with its rules. - IOL website

Selebi Case

NPA bullying witnesses, alleges Selebi - 14 February
Jackie Selebi's prosecutors say they took legal action against his colleagues because of the hold he still had on them. But Selebi has accused prosecutors of bullying, breaking his silence on the subpoenas obtained by the Scorpions to force top police officers to provide information related to the corruption case against him. Responding to Selebi's urgent Pretoria High Court bid to force prosecutors to hand over copies of documents and evidence that will be used against him in his trial, special Scorpions investigator Andrew Leask suggested they had no choice but to seek the subpoenas. - IOL website

Deadline nears in Selebi case - 16 February
Police have until Tuesday to comply with subpoenas instructing them to hand evidence to the Scorpions for their case against police chief Jackie Selebi, the NPA said on Monday. Subpoenas were issued to secure the evidence, with Tuesday January 27 as the deadline. The deadline was extended to February 17 after an agreement reached at the Randburg Magistrate's Court last month. - IOL website

Selebi case : NPA application postponed - 17 February
The National Prosecuting Authority's court application to secure documents for its case against suspended police commissioner Jackie Selebi was postponed, NPA spokesperson Tlali Tlali said on Tuesday. The NPA is in the process of securing documents it requires in the lead-up to Selebi's court appearance in April and had sought intervention at the Randburg Magistrate's Court. - IOL website

Selebi, lawyers free to 'consult witnesses' - 19 February
The Scorpions insisted they did not have to hand over everything that Jackie Selebi's lawyers claim they need to defend the suspended national police commissioner, the Johannesburg High Court heard on Thursday. Scorpions prosecutor Gerrie Nel said they had been asked only for "further particulars" in terms of Section 87 of the Criminal Procedure Act (CPA). - IOL website

Judge warns of delays in Selebi trial - 19 February
Johannesburg High Court Judge Nico Coetzee warned of delays in Jackie Selebi's trial if he didn't have everything he needed to prepare. "I foresee that this trial is going to stand down from time to time [as further documents are sought]. It's not the way a trial should be run," he said on Thursday. The case revolves around the national police commissioner's bid to get information he needs to defend himself at a general corruption and defeating the ends of justice trial in April. - IOL website

'Advocate Barbie' Case

I had no will of my own, claims Visser - 16 February
Cezanne Visser, also known as "Advocate Barbie", pleaded not guilty on Monday to charges of soliciting minors to perform indecent acts. Appearing in the dock in the Pretoria High Court, Visser pleaded not guilty to 14 charges including indecent assault, rape and the manufacturing of child pornography. Her defence is that she was coerced by her then-boyfriend Dirk Prinsloo to perform the criminal acts. - IOL website

'Barbie' to tell of demon lover's dark spell - 16 February
It is expected that Cezanne Visser, dubbed "Advocate Barbie", will over the next three weeks describe to the Pretoria High Court how her former lover, Dirk Prinsloo, allegedly influenced her to commit sex crimes involving underage girls. Her new legal team, headed by criminal law expert, Johann Engelbrecht SC (who also defended Najwa Petersen), will rely on the so-called battered woman's syndrome as a defence. - IOL website

'Advocate Barbie' admits to most of state's sex charges - 17 February
Prosecutor Andre Fourie said two of the witnesses were minors when they testified and neither the state nor the defence wanted to put them through the trauma of having to testify for a second time. Acting Judge Chris Eksteen urged the state and the defence to reach an agreement on exactly which elements of the evidence were admitted to. - Herald Online website

Children might have to testify again in 'Barbie' case - 17 February
Two child witnesses, who have already testified against Cezanne Visser, or "Advocate Barbie", might have to testify again, the Pretoria High Court heard on Tuesday. Defence counsel, Johann Engelbrecht SC, told Acting Judge Chris Eksteen, Visser would contest the evidence of two girls, aged 11 and 14 at the time, as well as a witness to whom one of the girls had revealed her alleged sexual abuse. Both girls testified behind closed doors about their alleged sexual abuse at the hands of Visser and her former lover, Dirk Prinsloo. Prinsloo has since disappeared while on a trip to Russia. Visser's trial had to start afresh after the initial trial judge died in 2007. - Mail & Guardian website

Two 'victims' testify in Barbie retrial - 19 February
Two of the alleged victims of former advocate pair, Cezanne Visser and Dirk Prinsloo, on Wednesday once again relived their ordeal when they were recalled to the witness box in the Pretoria High Court to give evidence in Visser's sex trial. Visser, who is now being retried after the death of the former trial judge, this week admitted the bulk of the evidence given by the witnesses at the time, but she disputed some of the evidence of the girl who was 11 at the time and all the evidence of the then 14-year-old victim. The then 11-year-old, who is now 17, was in a Pretoria orphanage in 2002 when Prinsloo and Visser took her and another girl to their home on weekends. - IOL website

'Great sex kept Visser on Prinsloo's heels' - 19 February
Cezanne Visser, also known as Advocate Barbie, never asked for help getting out of her relationship with Dirk Prinsloo, the Pretoria High Court heard on Thursday. Lorie Pieters, a graphic artist who worked for Visser and Prinsloo for five weeks in 2001, testified that Visser had told her she would never give up on her relationship with Prinsloo because "he did it for her". - IOL website

Ananias Mathe Case

Frail-looking Mathe's trial begins - 17 February
After numerous postponements, the trial of Ananias Mathe finally started in the Johannesburg high court. The frail-looking Mathe sat quietly throughout the hour-long hearing yesterday when the 71 charges he faces were read to him. Only twice did he plead guilty - to two counts of escaping from custody. He looked weak and often used his head to gesture. Judge Geraldine Borchers was concerned about his health. She told him to sit down while the interpreter read all the charges. - Sowetan website

Judge makes decision on Mathe - 17 February
Annanias Mathe has been convicted on two counts of escaping from lawful custody, the SABC reported on Tuesday. Mathe pleaded guilty to escaping from custody and innocent to 69 other charges including rape, robbery and cruelty to animals. - IOL website

Mathe tells of escaping while guards partied - 18 February
To the sounds of Happy Birthday sung by prison guards, Annanias Mathe escaped from his police holding cell at Joburg Central police station. And when he made his second escape - this time from C-Max in Pretoria - the prison guards were watching soccer. This emerged in the Johannesburg High Court on Monday when rape accused Mathe gave his reasons for pleading guilty on two counts of escaping from lawful custody as an awaiting-trial prisoner. - IOL website

Wounded Mathe victim retaliated - 19 February
One of Annanias Mathe's victims broke into tears as she recounted how she survived three bullet wounds to avoid being raped by the alleged serial rapist.  The court also heard evidence about the rape of a 19-year-old girl and the alleged poisoning of a dog by Mathe on June 20 2003. - IOL website

Lucky Dube Case

Cop tells court how Dube shooting happened - 19 February
Lucky Dube was shot at close range through his seat by an assailant who sat right behind the driver's seat. The alleged killer, who had forced his way into Dube's car, pulled the trigger twice with his left hand, leaving two bullet holes in the seat. Inspector Michael Mugadi, a fingerprint expert, led this evidence in the Johannesburg High Court on Wednesday. Mugadi was explaining to Judge Seun Moshidi how the shooting occurred. - IOL website

Delmas

Gender activists slam judge - 16 February
Gender activists have criticised a judge for ignoring the sexual orientation of brutally murdered Banyana Banyana star when sentencing her killer on Friday. Delmas circuit court Judge Moses Mavundla sentenced Thato Petros Mphiti to 31 years in prison for murdering soccer star Eudy Simelane. Before sentencing Judge Mavundla said : "I listened to the mother talking about the sexual orientation of the victim and in my view this is not significant". - Sowetan website

Durban

Jailed for cheating on VAT refunds - 17 February
A Durban businessman who fraudulently claimed more than R6,2-million in VAT refunds has gone to jail for four years. In the continuing crackdown on tax cheats, Rohland James van Niekerk, of Trade Concept International, which operated from Polela Drive, Kloof, pleaded guilty to fraud last week. Evidence before the Durban Regional Court was that his business had been involved in exporting goods, mainly to the Seychelles, which qualified for VAT refunds. - IOL website

Ga-Rankuwa

Seiso's tormentors briefly in court - 19 February
The two teenagers who attempted to murder baby Seiso Ratswana with boiling water and oil, returned to the place of safety where they have been kept since late 2006 on Wednesday after their sentencing was postponed again. Now aged 16 and 15, the two boys were supposed to hear their fate in the Ga-Rankuwa Regional Court but the case was postponed to March as magistrate Sarina Benade wanted one final report before sentencing the two. "The court wants to investigate every possible sentence option and consider everything carefully before making a decision," she explained on Wednesday. - IOL website

Wynberg

Elderly accused seeks private psychiatrist - 18 February
A Cape Town court will decide whether a grandmother accused of hiring a hitman to have the wife of her love-interest killed should be treated at a private or state psychiatric institution. This comes after the National Directorate of Public Prosecutions turned down representations to place Sophia de Villiers, 74, in private care rather than a State facility. Her attorney William Booth told the court there was no dispute that the accused did not have the necessary intent to commit the offence and could not stand trial. - IOL website

Johannesburg

Women jailed for 'worst abuse' - 17 February
Social worker Pam Wilson was the only person to show emotion when Zaibonisha Herman was sentenced to a 15-year jail term yesterday for beating to death her 21-month-old adopted child, Tammy. Herman has been given leave to appeal against the sentence. The 46-year-old was found guilty of culpable homicide and three counts of assault with intent to commit grievous bodily harm by magistrate Lucas van der Schyff in the Johannesburg Magistrate's Court yesterday. Said to be one of the worst child abuse cases in South African legal history, details emerged in the marathon trial of how Tammy was repeatedly "tortured" by her adoptive mother. Tests showed that the toddler had 12 broken ribs in various stages of healing and a ruptured liver - the kind of injury usually suffered in a "serious accident". - The Time website

Police had tough time with Motata witnesses - 16 February
A police superintendent told the Johannesburg Magistrate's Court that she had tremendous difficulty in dealing with witnesses in Judge Nkola Motata's drunken driving case on Monday. Superintendent Maxi Ryan, based at the Parkview police station, said the owner of the property had initially refused to hand over the cellphone recording that he had of the accused, and that the other witness did not want to come to court, saying he feared for his life. - IOL website

Will mysterious Mrs X ever testify? - 16 February
The application by the State to call witness Mrs X in Judge Nkola Motata's drunken driving trial was refused by the Johannesburg Magistrate's Court on Monday. State counsel Zaais van Zyl told the court that he wished to renew his application to call the witness, Mrs X, to court because there was now evidence before the court on how the State had difficulty with witnesses, unlike when the ruling was made on November 6, 2008. - IOL website

Mystery witness lined up for Motata trial - 17 February
Prosecutors say "Witness X" now wants to testify after twice refusing to do so, and after the court twice denied applications for her to be subpoenaed. The woman, believed to be the second witness at the scene of the crash - has apparently changed her mind about testifying after attending a hearing in the Motata trial in the Johannesburg Magistrate's Court in October. Police Superintendent Maxi Ryan testified yesterday : "After listening to the audio recordings, she said : 'I've been listening to what happened. This is rubbish and I'm willing to set the record straight'." - The Times website

Van Zyl wants Mrs X in court - 17 February
There was no justification for not calling a witness, Mrs X, to testify in Judge Nkola Motata's drunk driving trial, the Johannesburg Magistrate's Court heard on Tuesday. State advocate Zaais van Zyl said this in court while filing his third attempt to get Mrs X to be called to testify. He said it was not possible for the State to subpoena Mrs X until the late stages of the trial because her address was unknown. He submitted that it was the court's legal duty to call this witness, saying any failure to do this would amount to an error of law. In his responding argument, defence counsel advocate Danie Dorfling said if the courts were to call Mrs X, that would infringe on his client's right to a fair trial. - IOL website

Pinetown

'He has disappeared before' - 18 February
Mathew Naidoo, described as "the son of God" by his former girlfriend, daughter of the couple he is accused of helping to murder, has been released on R20 000 bail by a regional magistrate here. Among his bail conditions is that Naidoo does not communicate with his former girlfriend Nicolette Lotter, 26, and her brother, Hardus. The trio are accused of murdering the siblings' parents, Johannes and Magdalena Lotter, in their Westville home near here last year. - IOL website

Competition Appeal Court

1 December 2008
68/CAC/MAR/07 [2008] ZACAC 4
African Media Entertainment Ltd v Lewis NO and Others

Vodafone-Vodacom won't lessen competition : Commission - 16 February
South Africa's Competition Commission has referred the proposed large merger between UK-based Vodafone and Vodacom to the Competition Tribunal, and has recommended the merger be approved. Vodacom is currently jointly controlled by Telkom, which holds a 50% stake, and Vodafone, which also holds 50%. The transaction proposes that Vodafone acquire a further 15% of Vodacom from Telkom. On completion of the proposed transaction, Vodafone will hold a 65% stake in Vodacom. - Creamer Media's Engineering News website

Moosa acted improperly, but Medupi tender not unlawful : Mushwana - 18 February
Former Eskom board chairperson Valli Moosa has been found by the Public Protector South Africa to have acted improperly during the awarding of a contract related to the construction of the Medupi coal-fired power station in 2007. However, his failure to "manage the conflict of interest" in compliance with Eskom's Conflict of Interest policy did not affect the outcome of which company the contract would have been awarded to, asserted Public Protector Advocate Lawrence Mushwana on Wednesday. - Creamer Media's Engineering News website

Interesting Documents and New Bills

Criminal Law (Forensic Procedure) Amendment Bill : proposed amendments

Committee Minutes

Justice and Constitutional Development Committee

13 February 2009
Rules of Procedure for Judicial Review of Administrative Action : public hearings

12 February 2009
Constitution 16th Amendment Bill [B1-2009] ; Cross-Boundary Municipalities Laws Repeal Bill [B3-2009] : adoption

DA unveils private members bill - 18 February
A day after Parliament approved the axing of Vusi Pikoli as prosecutions chief, the Democratic Alliance on Wednesday unveiled a private members bill that seeks to prevent the president from filling the post with a political ally. Under the DA's proposal the president would still appoint the national director of public prosecutions (NDPP) but would have to choose a candidate from a shortlist compiled by the Judicial Service Commission (JSC). - IOL website

Broadcasting Amendment Bill

SABC board faces shake-up - 18 February
ANC MPs are preparing the way to dislodge the embattled SABC board. The National Assembly on Tuesday adopted the Broadcasting Amendment Bill after making changes that were necessary to bring it in line with the constitution, after President Kgalema Motlanthe referred the bill back to lawmakers. ANC MPs and its communications portfolio committee whip, Khotso Khumalo, told the Cape Argus yesterday the committee was now waiting for Motlanthe to sign the bill into law. It would then summons the entire board to answer charges of failing to exercise its fiduciary duties. - IOL website

Companies Act

Companies Act needed sooner - 16 February
Another area where an emergency team might delve is the new Companies Act. The act is due for promulgation only next year, and is a huge step forward from the previous act that was originally promulgated in 1973. It is much simpler, and is about half the size. But it's also a lot looser, as far as I can tell. - Tim Cohen on the allAfrica website

Competition Amendment Bill

MPs ignore president's legislation concerns - 18 February
The Competition Amendment Bill, which President Kgalema Motlanthe sent back to parliament after he was given advice that the bill was potentially unconstitutional, was left unaltered yesterday by the finance and foreign affairs select committee of the second house of parliament. It looks likely that the measure will end up in the constitutional court for adjudication. - Business Report website

South Africa

Lawyer turned politician calls it a day after 22 years of public service - 18 February
After a career in politics spanning 22 years, Tertius Delport is finally giving up his seat in parliament to focus on what‘s important in his life – family. But that doesn‘t mean the lawyer- turned-politician will be slowing down. At the age of 70, he recently opened a law firm in Port Elizabeth with his son-in-law and has been deeply involved in his role as chairman of the Presidential Reference Group, tasked by former president Thabo Mbeki to investigate thousands of requests for political pardons. - Herald Online website

Animal Rights

No more slaps on the wrist, says SPCA - 14 February
The Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (SPCA) is determined to change South African law because, at present, those convicted of cruelty to animals receive merely a "slap on the wrist". This follows the appearance of Andile Jezile in the Kokstad Magistrate's Court on Wednesday, for allegedly dragging his dog behind his car, causing shocking injuries to the animal. The SPCA was forced to put down the dog. - IOL website
Keyphrase :
Animals Protection Act

Arts and Culture

SA to revive literary classics in indigenous languages - 17 February
The Department of Arts and Culture has tasked the National Library of South Africa to reprint literary classics in indigenous languages to help preserve the country's heritage. Launching the Reprint of South African Literary Classics Project on Tuesday, Minister of Arts and Culture, Pallo Jordan said publishing literature in indigenous languages was self-evidently an area with the greatest potential. - BuaNews Online website

Company Law

King III

King takes dim view of directors' shares - 18 February
After 18 months of revision, a draft of the third King report on corporate governance will be issued next week for comment. One of the more significant changes is expected to be tightening of remuneration policies on independent directors. - Business Report website

Election

Motlanthe hammered for his decision - 19 February
The Cape Chamber of Commerce and Industry has taken President Kgalema Motlanthe to task for selecting Wednesday, April 22 for the general election, because it is in the middle of the only week of April that doesn't already include a public holiday. - IOL website

Finance

Task team proposes aid for struggling sectors - 17 February
Business, the government, labour and community organisations have devised a plan to rescue struggling sectors of the economy and reduce the estimated loss of 250 000 jobs this year. A report of a task team of the National Economic Development and Labour Council (Nedlac) on rescue measures is expected to suggest extending assistance outside of the budget to targeted sectors. - Business Day website

Task team proposes to curb 'cheap imports'  - 18 February
A joint government, business and labour task team is proposing a clampdown on "cheap imports" into SA as part of a raft of measures aimed at helping local companies retain jobs and stay afloat through the global economic slowdown. Although aiming to stay within World Trade Organisation rules on free trade, the restriction on cheap imports may hurt consumers who have enjoyed cheaper goods from Asia, principally China, in clothing and electronics. - Business Day website

Special duty on textiles considered - 19 February
A special duty - over and above import duties on clothing and textiles - might be imposed if a rescue package proposed by the National Economic Development and Labour Council (Nedlac), and intended to help ailing sectors, is implemented. The trade and industry department's director-general Tsediso Matona said yesterday it was "true that the issue of a general review of protection has emerged. Among those measures, in addition to industrial policy measures, would be trade policy measures". There was no tool in the World Trade Organisation (WTO) that would allow for acting against cheap imports per se, he said, but added that it was a country's trade policy prerogative to upwardly review its tariffs. - allAfrica website

Human Rights

'His underpants were soaked with blood' - 17 February
A group of Grade 11 boarders at a top Johannesburg school were dragged out of bed at midnight, stripped naked and tortured until some of them bled. Cricket bats, hockey sticks, golf clubs and a whip were allegedly used to beat the victims. This was part of a brutal initiation at Parktown Boys' High School in the northern suburbs. - IOL website

Judiciary

Judge Hlophe

Hlophe saga reflects poorly on Bar Council :- Ngobeni - 18 February
South Africa cannot afford a 'Janus-faced' approach to judicial independence, writes Paul Ngobeni, [deputy registrar, legal services, at the University of Cape Town]. It is a crying shame that such an august body, the General Council of the Bar (GCB), has been hoodwinked by the arrogant posturing of the Minister of Justice Enver Surty on the Judge John Hlophe saga. By endorsing Surty’s half-baked legal theories, the GCB has prostituted its own principles to curry favour with the executive. - Cape Argus website

KwaZulu-Natal

18 February 2009
State of the Province Address by KwaZulu-Natal Premier S Ndebele
SA Government Information website

We rescued KZN, says Ndebele - 18 February
The KwaZulu-Natal government would have collapsed had the ANC not taken over control of the province from its rival, the IFP, in 2004, the ruling party said on Wednesday. - IOL website

Premier Ndebele's grand finale - 19 February
Outgoing KwaZulu-Natal Premier Sbu Ndebele spoke of unprecedented economic growth in the province under his tenure. Ndebele has led the province since 2004. - Sowetan website

Ndebele lists KZN's achievements - 19 February
The KwaZulu-Natal government would have collapsed if the ANC had not taken over control of the province from the IFP in 2004, the ruling party claimed yesterday. - Dispatch Online website

Labour Law

Affirmative action needs loosening to cater for scarce skills - 17 February
Despite its successes in redressing labour market imbalances, affirmative action has certain basic challenges that are of national interest. At the centre of these challenges is the shortage of critical skills, along with population growth, especially among black people. Adding to this predicament is the country's ever modernising and rapidly globalising economy. - Business Report website

2010 stadium staff fired - 19 February
Mbombela stadium in Nelspruit will not meet its April completion deadline after construction firm Basil Read dismissed about 400 workers following an illegal strike. The strike at Mbombela had entered its third week, and according to Eugene du Toit, spokesman for Mbombela Stadium Joint Venture, workers were "demanding a R70 000 bonus fee each because the project was nearing completion". He said the first illegal strike was in December 2007 and it was agreed that any illegal industrial action would result in dismissals. "They participated in another illegal strike last year June over bonus payments and we dismissed them. We later reinstated them under another agreement that they will never engage in an illegal strike". Du Toit emphasised that no worker will be reinstated this time. - The Times website

Land Affairs and Property

House prices: dipping or diving? - 16 February
Home repossessions, insolvencies and distressed residential property sales "jumped alarmingly" in the last quarter of 2008, Alliance Group's chief executive Rael Levitt notes. He says the residential property market is now in the third quarter of a technical recession. The index, which tracks various distressed asset classes, shows that the residential property market is in a deepening recession, house prices are continuing to fall and interest rates cuts are having a muted effect on mortgage arrears. - Moneyweb website

Bond application difficulties - 19 February
Picking up on the widespread comments from estate agency people at the Cape about the huge difficulties now faced by their clients when they apply for bonds, Ivan Neethling, Chief Executive of the Cape real estate agency Startprop, said that this had resulted in the agents in the less affluent and disadvantaged areas "becoming very disillusioned". The impression recently created by some banks, he said, is that they are facing liquidity problems and huge borrowing costs and at this stage are looking mainly for those ideal borrowers whose other assets make them risk free and who are generally applying for fairly large bonds. Such buyers, said Neethling, reduce their loan to equity risk by often putting down 40% or even 50% as a deposit. - Cape Business News website

Property sellers beware : nasty last-minute escape route - 17 February
In light of the recent economic down-turn, sellers of immovable property can expect to find themselves facing not only failed bond applications but also a number of technical reasons for purchasers to renege on what would appear "signed and sealed" deals. An agreement for the alienation of land, other than a sale of land by public auction, must comply with s2(1) of the Alienation of Land Act, 1981. A deed of alienation must be signed by the parties or by their agents acting on their written authority. However, the Act does not indicate when signature must occur. Common law principles of contract apply. - Moneyweb website

Durban waterfront gets thumbs up - 18 February
It's all systems go for the final phase and R4 billion construction at Durban's Point Waterfront. The official nod has now been given to the long-awaited environmental impact assessment and Premier Sbu Ndebele announced this in his state-of-the-province address this morning. It means that the controversial small craft harbour will now go ahead as well as the construction of a five-star hotel and retail zone. - IOL website

Point disclosure 'out of line' - 19 February
Premier S'bu Ndebele has been accused of making a mockery of the country's environmental impact assessment laws by taking it upon himself to announce approval of the controversial Durban Point small-craft harbour development yesterday. The criticism was levelled by senior Durban environmental law expert Jeremy Ridl, who said it was "outrageous" that the province's most senior politician should make an announcement on an issue outside his direct area of responsibility, undermining trust in the independence and integrity of an environmental impact assessment process. - The Mercury website

Number of farms in use falls by 13% - 18 February
The number of farms in active production fell by 12.7 percent to fewer than 40 000 in the five years to 2007, Statistics SA said yesterday. Agriculture experts attributed the decline to consolidation while discounting a government view that food producing land was being bought up for golf courses and game farms. - Business Report website

Development

Gas-drilling scheme could be fatal to Karoo game reserve - 16 February
Graaf-Reinet's Samara Private Game Reserve says a proposal to drill on its land to check for gas deposits could have serious social, environmental and economic repercussions if it is approved. But even before these issues could be properly investigated the public needed more information on what was planned, and an opportunity to consider the project before responding, said Samara's attorney Derek Light. Light said the process adopted so far by the developer was unfair in administrative terms. - Herald Online website

Probe into sale of golf course uncovers a web of deceit - 17 February
A forensic investigation into the failed sale of the controversial R120-million Jeffreys Bay Golf Course has uncovered an intricate web of deceit, possible corruption and wholesale flouting of procurement policies by Kouga municipal officials. The damning allegations against the municipality are contained in a forensic investigation conducted by the auditor general at the request of the Eastern Cape local government department. - Herald Online website

Land Claims and Expropriation

DA Delft councillor suspended for invasion - 18 February
A City of Cape Town disciplinary committee has found Democratic Alliance councillor Frank Martin guilty of encouraging people to invade homes at Delft. Committee chairperson Anthea Serritslev said on Tuesday that the body had recommended a one-month suspension without pay, which would go to the full city council for ratification. - IOL website
Keyphrase :
Delft Eviction Case

Media

Joost's statement about sex tape - 16 February
IOL website

Who's behind Joost video? - 17 February
Former Springbok Joost van der Westhuizen has viewed the sex and drugs video in which he allegedly stars - and he still protests his innocence. He says his enemies are people in the entertainment industry. - The Times website

Expert : 65% chance it's Joost - 17 February
A face recognition expert says there's a 65% chance that the man in the controversial sex video is the same one featured in an older photograph of Joost van der Westhuizen in a Springbok jersey. Beeld has forwarded some of the video clips and some photographs of Van der Westhuizen to Barry Fryer Dudley, a face recognition expert from Durban, for analysis. Not even the different photographs of Van der Westhuizen provided a 100% match, and the highest probability that the two people in these photographs are one and the same was 81%. - News24 website

Municipal Management and Procedure

Cape Town

Shock increase looms for ratepayers - 18 February
The City of Cape Town will have to trim its expenditure and possibly increase rates by as much as 11.5% after a R100-million shortfall created by changes to the national government's grants allocation. Mayoral committee member for finance Ian Neilson said on Tuesday that the city would challenge the changes proposed by Finance Minister Trevor Manuel in his Budget last week, and would consider taking the matter to the Financial and Fiscal Commission and the Constitutional Court. - Cape Times website

National Prosecuting Authority

16 February 2009
Senior National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) staff could be charged
SA Government Information website

NPA : end of Scorpions could hamper arms-deal probe - 17 February
The National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) admitted on Tuesday that the imminent disbanding of the Scorpions and a sustained exodus of staff could seriously hamper ongoing arms deal-related investigations. "We are losing people we cannot replace and that could really impact on one of these serious cases", Willie Hofmeyr, the deputy national director of public prosecutions, told Parliament's public accounts committee (Scopa). - Mail & Guardian website

Scorpions scurry off as police takeover looms - 18 February
Investigators were leaving the Scorpions in droves ahead of its merger with the police, parliament was told yesterday. The National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) admitted that the imminent disbanding of the Scorpions and a sustained exodus of staff could seriously hamper ongoing arms-deal-related investigations. - Herald Online website

Two names suggested to replace Pikoli - 13 February
President Kgalema Motlanthe could be interdicted from appointing a replacement for suspended National Director of Public Prosecutions Vusi Pikoli. Pikoli's fate is set to be sealed next week, when the National Council of Provinces will almost certainly give the final nod that he be fired from his position, despite vehement opposition from outside the ANC. Two names have already been suggested as Pikoli's possible successors - Durban advocate Muzi Wilfred Mkhize, SC, and Public Protector Lawrence Mushwana. - IOL website

'He intends taking the President to court' - 17 February
The Pretoria High Court will be the final stage for the showdown between President Kgalema Motlanthe and suspended National Director of Public Prosecutions, Vusi Pikoli. Pikoli's lawyer, Aslam Moosajee, has already prepared papers that he will be filing with the court in anticipation of the National Council of Provinces, which meets today, also ratifying President Kgalema Motlanthe's decision to axe Pikoli. - IOL website

Pikoli points the finger at Motlanthe - 18 February
Axed prosecuting head Vusi Pikoli has accused President Kgalema Motlanthe of firing him to protect Jacob Zuma. In papers filed before the Pretoria High Court this morning as part of his urgent legal bid to stop Motlanthe from appointing his successor, Pikoli said he suspected that the President had "acted with an ulterior purpose when he dismissed me". - IOL website

Pikoli court documents - 18 February
IOL website

See Legislation above

Pension Funds

How retirement changes affect you - 17 February
MoneywebTax.co.za's story on retirement reform details in this year's Budget has generated a number of questions about the changes planned for retirement annuities and, in particular, the changes to the treatment of employer contributions to retirement annuity funds. - Moneyweb website

Politics

Carl Niehaus : the skeletons tumble out - 15 February
Over the past few days the public reputation of (now ex) African National Congress national spokesperson, Carl Niehaus, has unravelled in the most spectacular way. On Friday the ANC's spin doctor himself became the centre of a news cycle that went into overdrive following revelations by the Mail & Guardian of the chaotic state of his financial affairs. The Saturday Star claimed that in 2004 Niehaus lied to the law firm where he was employed as an empowerment and transformation consultant (at R100 000 a month) to get it to pay for a return business class ticket to London for himself and his then wife Linda Thango. Niehaus was involved in organising an ANC concert in London, but he told the firm, AL Mostert & Co, that his sister had died and he had to attend the funeral. The untruth was exposed when Thango, whom Niehaus had insisted be employed as his personal assistant, let slip on their return that they had seen his sister the day before. The article quoted Tony Mostert as saying he had been "dreadfully disappointed in the man's total lack of ethics". - Politicsweb website

ANC tells Niehaus to get his house in order - 17 February
Embattled African National Congress spokesperson Carl Niehaus was granted a leave of absence from the party, it said on Tuesday. The ANC on Friday said it would not abandon Niehaus and while it accepted his resignation, it would redeploy him within the organisation. - IOL website

Niehaus resigns his position : and ANC accepts - 18 February
Former ANC spokesman Carl Niehaus has resigned from his position in the party, the ANC said last night. Duarte said the party had received a letter from Niehaus's lawyer, Ian Small Smith, indicating his desire to resign from his position as an ANC employee. - Herald Online website

Safety and Security

Lekota could challenge bodygaurd decision - 17 February
Congress of the People (COPE) leader Terror Lekota is considering a legal challenge against Safety and Security Minister Nathi Mthethwa's decision to take away his bodyguards, the party said on Tuesday. Mthethwa made an announcement on Monday that there was no need for the government to provide Lekota with bodyguards as his life was not in danger. - IOL website

South African Police Service

SAPS urged to pay informers rewards promised - 18 February
The Public Protector has urged the South African Police Services (SAPS) not to renege on paying informers rewards owed to them, saying this brought the image of the police under disrepute. Public Protector, Advocate Lawrence Mushwana said on Wednesday that members of the public would be reluctant to assist police in future with intelligence, if they were promised rewards and were not paid, in particular when such assistance involved security risks to individuals and their families. - BuaNews Online website

Sport and Recreation

Race card cans Boks v Maoris - 19 February
SA Rugby has turned down a request for the Springboks to play a Maoris team from New Zealand on the grounds that the Boks do not play teams selected on racial grounds. - IOL website

Transport and Roads

Tollroads

Motorists expected to pay more for toll fees from March - 16 February
Motorists travelling on all national toll routes in South Africa will be paying more from 1 March, following adjustments made to tariffs by the South African National Roads Agency Limited (SANRAL). - allAfrica website

Miscellaneous

KPMG forensic unit appointed to probe SAA mismanagement claims - 17 February
State-owned carrier South African Airways (SAA) has appointed audit firm KPMG's forensic unit to conduct an investigation into allegations surrounding the airline. The airline announced on Tuesday that the investigation would start immediately and would probe the issue of retention premiums, alleged issues of conflict of interest and issues of procurement. CEO of the national carrier Khaya Ngqula last week went on special leave, following the decision by the airline's board of directors to launch an independent investigation into allegations of mismanagement. This came after the South African Transport and Allied Workers Union handed over a dossier of complaints against Ngqula and other senior SAA members to the Minister of Public Enterprises, Bridgette Mabandla. - Creamer Media's Engineering News website

Zimbabwe

Motlanthe calls for removal of sanctions - 16 February
South African President and Southern Africa Development Community (Sadc) chair Cde Kgalema Motlanthe last Friday repeated calls for the European Union and the United States to immediately lift sanctions against Zimbabwe now that an inclusive Government was in place. - Sunday News [Zimbabwe] website

Mugabe's R57m Hong Kong residence - 17 February
Zimbabwe's Robert Mugabe has bought a £4 million (R57 million) home in Hong Kong, Britain's Sunday Times reported. Citing unnamed sources in Zimbabwe, the newspaper identified an intermediary who had helped arrange the purchase of the three-storey property, in a walled and gated complex in an exclusive area of Hong Kong. It was bought last year, as Mugabe's 20-year-old daughter began studying at the University of Hong Kong, the newspaper said. The paper said it was one of several properties that the Mugabes owned in Asia, but the first to be documented. - The Mercury website

No-show postpones Bennett's case - 16 February
Zimbabwean ministerial nominee Roy Bennett had his terrorism case postponed for 24 hours on Monday as the country's fledgling unity government began work. Prosecutors in Bennett's case, which has overshadowed the government's first day, failed to show up at the court in the eastern town of Mutare. The controversial opposition figure remains under arrest and police have extended the the period for which they can hold him without trial, lawyer Trust Maanda told AFP. - IOL website

Bennett to appear in court today - 17 February
MDC-T national treasurer Roy Bennett is expected to appear before a Mutare magistrates' court today on allegations of attempting to commit acts of insurgency, banditry, sabotage or terrorism. The former Chimanimani legislator, who spent the weekend in police custody, was arrested at Charles Prince Airport while trying to fly to South Africa last Friday. - allAfrica website

Who is Roy Bennett and what makes him tick? - 19 February
Nehanda Radio website

Cambodia

Landmark Khmer Rouge trial starts - 17 February
The long-awaited UN-backed trial of a former Khmer Rouge leader in Cambodia has opened at a Phnom Penh court, 30 years after the murderous regime fell. Kaing Guek Eav - better known as Duch - was head of a notorious prison camp and is accused of presiding over the murder and torture of at least 15 000 inmates. - BBC News website

Singapore

The case of Chijioke Stephen Obioha - 16 February
On 30 December 2008 Nigerian citizen Chijioke Stephen Obioha was convicted for drug trafficking in Singapore. Drug trafficking carries a mandatory death penalty in Singapore and Judge Woo Bih Li duly sentenced him to death by hanging. Chijioke was arrested in April 2007, some four months after two other Nigerians, Tochi Amara Iwuchukwu and Nelson Okele Malachy, were hanged in the same Singapore, both for drug trafficking. Nelson Okele Malachy was arrested with a fake South African passport and was subsequently often referred to as stateless. During the Tochi/Malachy case, the South African government naturally went to great lengths to affirm that Malachy was not a citizen of their country, pointing out that he had a forged South African passport. - Daily Triumph website

Germany

Germany drafts bank takeover law - 18 February
The German cabinet has agreed on a draft law that will allow it to temporarily nationalise troubled banks. The law would allow private sector banks to be nationalised through the seizure of their shares to support Germany's financial system. The draft law, which still has to be approved by the German parliament, said nationalisation would be a last resort. - BBC News website

Courts

Corby council accused in first birth defects case since thalidomide - 17 February
Eighteen people were born with deformities after their mothers were exposed to "an atmospheric soup of toxic materials", the High Court was told yesterday. Their families are bringing a multi-million-pound compensation claim, alleging that the defects were caused by toxic substances released when the Corby steel works in Northamptonshire was redeveloped. - Times Online website

Driver guilty of M6 family deaths - 16 February
A Portuguese lorry driver has been jailed for causing the deaths of a family of six by careless driving. David and Michelle Statham and their four children, from Llandudno, north Wales, died when a lorry hit their car as they travelled home from Birmingham. Paulo Jorge Nogueira da Silva had denied causing the deaths by dangerous driving or by careless driving on the M6 in Cheshire last October. He was jailed for three years by a judge at Chester Crown Court. - BBC News website

In closely watched case, Britain’s highest court favors deporting nilitant cleric - 18 February
A Palestinian-born cleric described by British security officials as "a significant international terrorist" lost the latest round in a seven-year battle to remain in Britain as a refugee on Wednesday when Britain's highest court ruled that he could be deported to Jordan. The preacher, known as Abu Qatada, was convicted in absentia by Jordanian courts in a terrorist bombing and a bomb plot in the 1990s. His lawyers argue that he should not be sent there because he might be tortured. But the British government considers him a security risk because he has called on British Muslims to become martyrs and because of his suspected links to Al Qaeda. - New York Times website

Human Rights

Leading jurists call for urgent steps to restore human rights in efforts to counter terrorism - 17 February
In one of the most extensive studies of counter-terrorism and human rights yet undertaken, an independent panel of eminent judges and lawyers today presents alarming findings about the impact of counter-terrorism policies worldwide and calls for remedial action. - eGov monitor website

Legislation

BCS raises serious concerns about the Coroners and Justice Bill - 17 February
The British Computer Society (BCS) is today raising its concerns with members of the Bills Committee (Coroners and Justice Bill) over proposals to make very significant changes to the Data Protection Act (DPA) 1998. - eGov monitor website

Municipal Management and Procedure

Outgoing Councillors not let off the hook for past behaviour - 18 February
In a further move to ensure that councillors continue to deliver the best for local people or face the consequences, Local Government Minister John Healey has today laid regulations ensuring the councillors' code of conduct still has full force - during the transition to the new unitary authorities in Bedfordshire, Cheshire, Cornwall, Durham, Northumberland, Shropshire and Wiltshire. - eGov monitor website

See also :

Government to build on success of ethical framework for councillors - 2 October 2008
Proposals to enhance the ethical framework for councillors will be set out today, including clarifying the application of the framework to the conduct of councillors in their private lives. In recognition of councillors' public profile, new proposals will help to provide further public reassurance that councillors behave lawfully in all areas of their lives. The aim is to clarify that certain provisions of the code of conduct for local authority members also apply to a councillor's conduct in their private lives, where that conduct constitutes a criminal offence that leads to a criminal conviction in the courts. - Communities and Local Government website

Codes of conduct for local authority members and employees : a consultation
Consultation documents

Councillors Code of Conduct
Bedford Borough Council website

Miscellaneous

US Muslim TV boss 'beheaded wife' - 17 February
The founder of a US Muslim TV network has been charged over the beheading of his wife, media reports say. Muzzammil Hassan is accused of second degree murder of Aasiya Hassan, whose body was found last week at the TV station in New York state. Both Mr Hassan and his wife worked at Bridges TV, a station aimed at countering stereotypes of Muslims. Authorities said Mrs Hassan had recently filed for divorce. - BBC News website

Beheaded woman's sister : I might have heard deadly confrontation - 17 February
A woman who was beheaded near Buffalo, New York - allegedly by her husband - may have been on the phone with her sister when she was killed. Asma Firfirey of suburban Cape Town, South Africa, told the Afrikaans newspaper Die Burger that she was on the phone with her sister, Aasiya Zubair Hassan, last week when she heard Hassan tell her husband to calm down. She said she heard Hassan say the two could talk about their impending divorce the following day. Then she heard something that sounded like her sister struggling to breathe, she said. Police have charged Hassan's husband, Muzzammil Hassan, with second-degree, or intentional, murder in the death of his wife, according to the Erie County District Attorney's Office. Her decapitated body was found at the offices of Bridges TV, the television network where Muzzammil Hassan was chief executive officer and Aasiya Hassan was general manager. - CNN website

Beheading in New York appears to be honor killing, experts say - 17 February
The beheading of 37-year-old Aasiya Hassan has all the markings of an honor killing, psychologists and Islamic experts tell FOXNews.com, as the upstate New York woman's husband awaits a preliminary hearing on murder charges. Dr Phyllis Chesler, an author and professor of psychology at the Richmond College of the City University of New York who wrote "Are Honor Killings Simply Domestic Violence?" for Middle East Quarterly, said some Muslim men consider divorce a dishonor on their family. "This is not permitted in their culture," said Chesler, whose study analyzed more than 50 reports of honor killings in North America and Europe. "This is, from a cultural point of view, an honor killing". Chesler said honor killings typically are Muslim-on-Muslim crimes and largely involve teenage daughters, young women and, to a lesser extent, wives. But Chesler said the "extremely gruesome nature" of the crime closely matches the characteristics of an honor killing. M Zuhdi Jasser, founder and chairman of the American Islamic Forum for Democracy, agreed with Chesler. - Fox News website

See also :
Are honor killings simply domestic violence? - Spring 2009
Article by Phyllis Chesler in the Middle East Quarterly
Middle East Forum website

Securing rights for Muslim women - 18 February
Campaigners from Afghanistan set out the country's new marriage contract. Activists from Morocco explained how they secured wholesale reform of family law. These were just two of the issues discussed by hundreds of Muslim women who gathered in Malaysia to launch a new global campaign for equality. Reform of family law is at the heart of the campaign, to tackle what organisers called the "untenable" treatment of some Islamic women. Polygamy, consent to marry, inheritance rights, custody of children after divorce - all are areas where they want change. - BBC News website
Keyphrase :
Zainah Anwar

Facebook’s users ask who owns information - 16 February
Reacting to an online swell of suspicion about changes to Facebook's terms of service, the company's chief executive moved to reassure users on Monday that the users, not the Web site, "own and control their information". The online exchanges reflected the uneasy and evolving balance between sharing information and retaining control over that information on the Internet. The subject arose when a consumer advocate's blog shined an unflattering light onto the pages of legal language that many users accept without reading when they use a Web site. - New York Times website

Facebook 'withdraws' data changes - 18 February
The founder of Facebook says the social network will return to its previous terms of service regarding user data. In a blog post Mark Zuckerberg said the move was temporary "while we resolve the issues that people have raised". Users had complained after new terms of service seemed to suggest Facebook would retain personal data even if someone deleted their account. - BBC News website

Facebook Rules - 18 February
Why the privacy backlash from those who happily plaster their pages with personal information? What do social networking sites like Facebook owe their users? - New York Times website

Judge dismisses Google lawsuit - 19 February
A legal claim by a Pittsburgh couple that Google's Street View feature violated their privacy has been thrown out by a federal judge. Christine and Aaron Boring sued the search giant after photos of their home appeared on the free mapping programme. The couple accused Google of privacy violation, negligence, trespassing and unjust enrichment. In her ruling, Judge Amy Reynolds Hay said the Borings "failed to state a claim under any count". - BBC News website

Cyberbullying Europe : how is Europe dealing with it? - 16 February
This feature highlights how the European Commission is working with the ICT industry especially the social networking sites to protect young people in Europe from Cyberbullying. - eGov monitor website

Employers start cyber vetting - 19 February
Online social networking sites such as Facebook and MySpace – known as a person's "network reputation" or 'Net-Rep' - are becoming almost as important as employment references, according to a leading global headhunter. Debbie Goodman-Bhyat MD of Jack Hammer Executive Headhunters says a person's online profile, possibly featuring risqué happy snaps and other professionally inappropriate bits of information, has the potential to extinguish that big corporate job you may be rooting for. She says employers and recruiters frequently ‘cyber vet' potential candidates either to find confirmation that the job seeker is in fact an expert in their said field or other general information about them. - Cape Business News website

Experience

Has worked as Secretary and Personal Assistant to to senior Attorneys in KwaZulu-Natal
Driver's licence

Skills

Excellent customer service skills
Solid communication skills
Strong administrative skills obtained throughout a fourteen-year working history in providing administrative support to respective Partners, General Managers and the like
Over ten years' experience in all aspects of customer service, including key account management and resolving complex billing situations
Excellent written and oral skills
Conscientious and flexible
Enjoy being a team worker as well as taking a leadership role

Currently running a secretarial company offering typing services at a rate of R8.00 per page

Contact

Email : valzn@iafrica.com
Telephone : 031-563 3305
Cell : 083-608 3598