Multimillionaire SA businessman Tim Tebeila has defended his friend, TB Joshua, and his church on all counts.

Johannesburg - Multimillionaire South African businessman Tim Tebeila rushed to Lagos last Sunday to help his friend, the preacher TB Joshua, deal with the aftermath of the fatal collapse of a guesthouse on his church grounds.

Joshua, head of the Synagogue Church of All Nations (SCOAN), has been widely criticised for contributing to the calamity, which killed some 84 South African churchgoers and several from other nations as well as Nigerian construction workers, and for the way he responded to it.

But Tebeila, executive chairman of the major coal company Sekoko Resources and other businesses, defended Joshua and the church on all counts.

Tebeila had been described to this newspaper as head of SCOAN in South Africa, but he insisted on Saturday that he was just an ordinary member of the church.

However, he does have more resources than most members and he mobilised them this past week through his Tim Tebeila Foundation to help the victims of the tragedy.

Tebeila said it was not widely known that SCOAN had spent millions of its money transporting injured followers to hospital in its own seven ambulances as well as paying for their hospital treatment and food.

Speaking in a phone interview from Lagos on Saturday, Tebeila dismissed criticism – which came even from South Africa’s Minister of International Relations and Co-operation and senior officials of the Nigerian government – that SCOAN had not co-operated fully with the authorities in their efforts to rescue survivors of the accident.

Nigerian rescue officials said that church officials had initially not allowed rescue workers on to the site.

“When something like this happens, there is always criticism. In fact, the church is working closely with both the Nigerian and South African governments together to deal with this tragedy,” he insisted.

Tebeila also defended Joshua’s nonchalant first reaction to the accident on Friday, September 12, which many also saw as being callous.

The post referred to “a news story currently being reported by the media regarding an incident that happened today” and added: “The few people that were there are being rescued.”

Joshua’s Facebook post also said: “What you wish to others, God wishes to you,” suggesting to some that he was warning that those who criticised him for this disaster would face divine retribution.

Tebeila saw it differently, saying that immediately after the building collapsed, just before noon last Friday, church officials had not realised that so many people were in the guesthouse.

Joshua has also been criticised for refusing to take responsibility for the accident, including delaying several days before issuing a statement expressing condolences to the victims and also insisting that a mysterious aircraft – possibly sent by the Nigerian Islamist militant group Boko Haram – had somehow caused the collapse.

Nigerian government officials have instead said they suspect that the building collapsed because the church was adding extra storeys to the four-storey building without reinforcing the foundations.

Officials have said they are investigating and have threatened to confiscate the church property if they find Joshua was at fault for the collapse – though Nigerian observers are generally sceptical about such claims, saying Joshua is too rich and powerful and politically connected to be punished.

Tebeila dismissed this criticism too, saying that the visual recordings of an aircraft flying six times around SCOAN’s Prayer Mountain and four times around the church building before it collapsed were highly suspicious and needed to be investigated before any conclusions were reached about the cause of the accident.

And he dismissed the explanation that the building had collapsed because of weak foundations, saying that if that were the cause it would have fallen sideways – whereas in fact it had collapsed inwards, like a building deliberately demolished. This suggested it had been brought down on purpose – perhaps by “silent explosives”, he said.

Sunday Independent

If you’re heading to the seaside in Cape Town, don’t go into the water at Hout Bay beach – it’s infested with E coli.

Cape Town - Cape Town is sizzling on Sunday with the mercury expected to hit 28ºC – but if you’re heading to the seaside, don’t go into the water at Hout Bay beach – it’s infested with E coli.

The City of Cape Town has warned that seawater along Hout Bay beach does not currently conform to the SA water quality guidelines for coastal recreational use, due to high E coli levels.

E coli is a bacteria which can cause gastrointestinal problems, as well as skin, eye, ear and respiratory irritations.

The city, which was alerted to the infestation during routine water quality tests, said people who swim, dive, water ski, surf, paddle ski or wind surf there would be at risk.

“It’s likely this situation was caused by the pollution of the Disa River as well as storm water runoff during recent winter rainfall,” said the city’s Benedicta Van Minnen.

“We have erected signs warning the public about the situation and I must emphasise that use of the water is at own risk.”

The city said it would continue to test Hout Bay’s water quality and provide updates if it improved.

In November it was reported that Milnerton Lagoon was similarly infested with E coli, caused by heavy rainfall, after the collapse of a sewage pipe during construction of a new pipeline.

It was also declared unsafe for swimming, but despite warning signs, swimmers still took to the water.

It will be even hotter on Monday with a high of 31ºC, but it will cool down from Tuesday, when thundershowers are expected.

Weekend Argus

Two of the hitmen Dina Rodrigues hired to murder six-month-old Jordan Leigh Norton could be released on parole soon.

Cape Town - Two of the hitmen Dina Rodrigues hired to carry out one of the most talked about contract killings in South Africa – the 2005 murder of six-month-old Jordan Leigh Norton – could be released on parole soon, after spending just seven years behind bars.

However, Jordan’s grandfather Vernon Norton said that, even if the men are released, they would always be seen as Jordan’s killers.

“And so guilty they are until the day they die,” he said.

Zanethemba Gwada and Bonginkosi Sigenu have already become eligible to be considered for release on parole, which usually happens when offenders are halfway through their sentences.

Having had part of their sentences slashed, thanks to a special remission of sentence President Jacob Zuma gave all offenders on Freedom Day in 2012, both Gwada and Sigenu had served half of their sentences by this June.

They appeared before the Parole Board but were told they were not yet ready for release because professional intervention processes had not been completed.

Western Cape Correctional Services spokesman Simphiwe Xako said this means that they have not finished rehabilitation programmes which included anger management and group therapy.

The board will revisit their cases in June, the department said.

Speaking to Weekend Argus this week, Norton said he and the rest of the family would discuss the matter before the men’s next Parole Board hearing.

He said the family had worked hard to rebuild their lives and did not want to worry too much about the killers’ possible release.

While he stressed that the family did not take the issue lightly, he added: “We feel that, if we worry about it, it takes up a portion of our headspace.”

Norton added that, whatever the family felt or said, the men would eventually be released from prison.

“What’s important is that we are comfortable where we are from day to day,” he said.

During the murder trial, it emerged that Gwada’s fingerprint was found on a waybill which the men used to pose as couriers in order to gain access to the Norton home so they could carry out the attack.

Police found the waybill at the crime scene.

Sigenu admitted that he was part of the group that went to the house.

He testified that he had been instructed to take Jordan into a bedroom and choke her, but said that he thought of his baby brother and couldn’t bring himself to do it.

Mongezi Bobotyane, one of the other hitmen, took the baby from him and stabbed her.

In June 2007, Judge Basheer Waglay sentenced Gwada and Sigenu, who were minors at the time the murder was committed, to 15 years behind bars for their roles.

Rodrigues, Bobotyane and Sipho Mfazwe were each sentenced to life in prison.

Judge Siraj Desai, who chairs the National Council of Correctional Services, said that while offenders become eligible to be considered for parole after serving half of their sentences, less any amnesties granted, those sentenced to life imprisonment were dealt with differently.

Lifers who were sentenced after September 2004 only become eligible to be considered for release after serving 25 years.

This means that Rodrigues, Mfazwe and Bobotyane cannot be considered for release before 2030.

Judge Desai said that restorative justice is taken into account when considering an application for parole, which includes factors such as whether there was a likelihood that someone would re-offend, the seriousness of the crime committed and any input from the victims.

Weekend Argus

A total of 337 people died at the hands of police in the six months between April and September last year.

Johannesburg - A total of 337 people died at the hands of police in the six months between April and September last year, according to the latest available statistics from the police watchdog, the Independent Police Investigative Directorate (Ipid).

While 126 people died in police custody, 211 people died as a result of police action in 197 incidents. In addition, Ipid also investigated 1 924 cases of assault and 53 rapes by police officers in that six-month period last year.

Of the deaths in police custody, the majority happened in Gauteng (32), closely followed by KwaZulu-Natal (29) and the Eastern Cape (16).

Most cases of death as a result of police action happened in Gauteng (54), followed by KwaZulu-Natal (48) and the Eastern Cape (33).

However, the Western Cape leads when it comes to assaults by police – 513 cases, just more than double the number recorded in Gauteng (254), followed by the Free State (376) and the Eastern Cape (217).

The Ipid report was tabled in Parliament just days before Friday’s release of the national crime statistics.

It is expected to be discussed by the police committee after the parliamentary recess. MPs will this week visit Gauteng police stations and the Central Firearms Registry in Pretoria.

In the majority of incidents of death as a result of police action, or 72 cases, death happened in the course of an arrest – Ipid recorded 60 cases of death by an SAPS service firearm and one of torture - while deaths also occurred in four “crowd management incidents”.

In 26 instances, death resulted from “negligent handling of an official vehicle”, while another 12 incidents of “domestic violence deaths” show shootings with official firearms and one assault. In 39 cases death occurred during the commission of a crime.

Of the 53 cases of rape against policemen Ipid investigated in the six-month period ending September last year, 16 took place while the officers were on duty.

In one case “a member… on duty allegedly raped a mentally ill person in the bushes”; another rape happened in a police vehicle; and another policeman on duty “raped a minor by taking her from her parents under the false pretence of interrogating her at the police station”, according to the Ipid report.

Overall, Ipid received 2 821 new cases in the six months between April to September 2013. Together with the 3 310 carried over from the previous 2012 financial year, its total workload stood at 6 131 cases in that six-month period. On average, 30 percent of cases were finalised within the target of 90 days.

Ipid forwarded 485 recommendations for criminal prosecution to the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA), including 384 cases of assault; 22 cases of rape; three cases related to death in police custody; 21 cases related to death as a result of police action; and seven cases of corruption.

The majority of recommendations for criminal prosecution happened in the Western Cape (114), followed by the Free State (93), Northern Cape (84). Only 12 such recommendations were made in Gauteng and 26 in KwaZulu-Natal.

From the 485 recommendations for criminal prosecution, in 39 cases the NPA declined to prosecute, 16 went ahead and in 430 more information was requested.

The Star

The MJC and a number of other Islamic groups have dismissed the Open Mosque as an "embarrassing failure".

Cape Town - The Muslim Judicial Council, United Ulama Council of South Africa and a number of other Islamic groups have dismissed the opening of the new Open Mosque on Friday as an “embarrassing failure”, while calling it a “cult”.

The Open Mosque has been founded by Taj Hargey, a professor of Islamic Studies and African history at Oxford University, and its first Friday prayers were held last week.

The Islamic groups said: “Hargey’s cult has totally no affinity with the Islam which the Muslims of South Africa follow.

“We believe that it is… highly deceptive for Hargey to call his warehouse of ‘worship’ a mosque and his cult ‘Islam’.”

The statement was also signed by a number of branches of the United Ulama Council of South Africa, Sunni United Ulama Council of South Africa, Mujilsul Ulama of South Africa and Jamiatul Ulama of South Africa.

Speaking before the start of its first Friday prayers, Hargey said that despite being targeted, his mosque would remain standing.

The Cape Town-born academic said he had received death threats before the opening of the mosque.

He has said it is to invite women to lead prayers and that it welcomes gay people and non-Muslims.

“They can kill me. I don’t fear any one of them. I fear only God,” he said, addressing journalists and a group of Muslim men who were strongly opposed to the mosque’s opening.

“If they kill me, I know my mosque will still remain.

“In 1994, our country won freedom and we all had equal rights. But in our religion, these changes and rights have not taken shape. In my eyes the Muslim Judicial Council is a joke. It should be named the Muslim Jokers Council.”

Interjecting, Muslim men shouted at Hargey and heckled him.

Hargey said the MJC should not tell him how the mosque ought to be run.

“We are open to all, no matter who wants to join.”

Some of the men interrupted the interviews by journalists, pushing Hargey and blocking the entrance to the mosque building.

“Ons maak die jong in sy p***. Kry ’n mes, ek f*** stiek hom (Let’s sort this guy out. Get me a knife, I will stab him),” said one man who identified himself as Adnaan.

Hargey confronted one of the outspoken Muslim men, Shaheem Wardien.

“What are you going to do about this mosque?” he asked Wardien repeatedly.

“What are you going to do?”

Wardien screamed in response: “We will not allow this.

“This goes against the law of Islam. This is not a mosque. We will not allow him to do this.”

When the sermon started, the hall was filled with journalists and those curious to see what unfolded.

Before Hargey began his sermon, Reeza Williams, a devout Muslim from Worcester, said he had decided to attend the Friday prayers to find out what the Open Mosque was about.

“I can’t really grab what the fuss is about with this new mosque,” he said.

“There are many Muslims who do not do their own readings and make assumptions from what they hear from others.

“I have heard that what happens here is not within the values of the Islam religion.

“I must say I had my reservations about coming here, but I did so to find out for myself and then make my decision.”

MJC president Maulana Ihsaan Hendricks said: “Islamic religion clearly delineates the roles of men and women on an equitable basis in all spheres of life that includes the morality, ethics and etiquette of mosques in Islam.”

Quoting from the Qur’an, Hendricks said: “He who obeys the Messenger has obeyed Allah (God); but those who turn away - we have not sent you over them as a guardian.”

jason.felix@inl.co.za

Cape Times

Dogged by capacity and funding constraints, the City of Cape Town’s Dial-a-Ride service is being reassessed.

Cape Town - Dogged by capacity and funding constraints, the City of Cape Town’s Dial-a-Ride service is being reassessed to find a more sustainable model.

But this review, to “determine the eligibility of all Dial-a-Ride applicants”, will only be done by the end of November.

“The city does keep a record of those who have requested to use the system on a regular basis, or daily. However, due to capacity and funding constraints, these additional regular users can unfortunately not be accommodated at this stage,” said mayoral committee member for transport Brett Herron.

While there are about 6 000 potential users, the service currently only provides transport for about one-sixth of these passengers on a regular and ad hoc basis.

This means that there are about 5 000 disabled passengers, such as Tina Delacruz, who may be unable to get to work while they wait for a spot.

Delacruz applied for the Dial-a-Ride service in November 2011 and went for all the assessments required by the city to be considered for the city’s public transport service for disabled passengers.

Although not confined to a wheelchair, Delacruz walks with great difficulty and with assistance. Using conventional public transport would be difficult for her. The mother of two has been unable to get transport to her work at a call centre in the city centre and risks losing her job.

“This means that I don’t get paid. Why is more not being done? Surely the taxi associations could be involved?”

Delacruz said she was told that the city did not have enough money for the service and that she would have to go on to the waiting list.

The Western Cape Association for People with Disabilities confirmed that several of its members had complained about the waiting list. But disabled people who worked did get priority over those wanting to use Dial-a-Ride for errands.

Herron said the city would adjust its list of potential users once the assessment of their eligibility was done at the end of November.

“Due to the current operational model, the Dial-a-Ride service has a limited capacity to serve the needs of current and future users and we want to explore other options available to us,” said Herron.

The city’s budget for the service this year is R21.5 million, of which R10m is funded by the Western Cape government.

Cape Argus

A police official, a rhino poaching ringleader and eight others have been arrested on suspicion of rhino poaching.

Pretoria - A police official, a rhino poaching ringleader and eight others have been arrested on suspicion of being involved in rhino poaching and related crimes spanning four years.

They are due to appear in court in a move commended as a victory for World Rhino Day on Monday.

The men are suspected of being part of a syndicate that illegally obtained 84 rhino horns and killed 22 rhinos valued at nearly R22 million between 2008 and 2012.

The arrest of the men was carried out across four provinces simultaneously on Friday.

“It was a joint effort led by the Hawks and involving the departments of Environmental Affairs, Tourism, Home Affairs, SAPS, crime intelligence and the Forensic Science Laboratory,” said Hawks spokesman Captain Paul Ramaloko.

He said the National Prosecuting Authority, the Veterinary Council of South Africa, and Protea Coin Security were also part of the sting operation.

The alleged ringleader was nabbed at the Pretoria North Magistrate’s Court where he had appeared on a separate rhino-poaching related case.

“The other suspects were arrested simultaneously in Polokwane in Limpopo, Ficksburg in the Free State, Potchefstroom in the North West and in Montana, Mamelodi and Kameeldrift in Gauteng,” said Ramaloko.

Pretoria News

Suspended KwaZulu-Natal Hawks head Major-General Johan Booysen is expected to report for work, his lawyer has said.

Durban - Suspended KwaZulu-Natal Hawks head Major-General Johan Booysen is expected to report for work on Monday.

“He was acquitted of all charges. I think he will be reporting for work this morning,” Booysen's lawyer Carl van der Merwe said on Monday morning.

Booysen was charged in August 2012 for racketeering, involving allegedly receiving payment to carry out hits in the KwaZulu-Natal minibus taxi wars.

Police however would not confirm or deny that he would return to work.

“The process has not yet been finalised and we will only comment afterwards,” national police spokesman Lieutenant-General Solomon Makgale said.

Earlier this year, all criminal charges against him were withdrawn. Police however pursued disciplinary charges against him which were linked to his alleged failure to act against members of the Cato Manor serious and violent crimes unit for their alleged excessive use of force.

KwaZulu-Natal's newspapers were on Monday dominated by news of Booysen's acquittal and extracts from the report by advocate Nazeer Cassim SC, which detailed his findings from the police's internal inquiry. - Sapa

Warda Meyer sits down with children who belong to some of the most notorious gangs in Cape Town.

Cape Town - Sitting down with children who belong to some of the most notorious Cape gangs felt like being in a scene from a Quentin Tarantino move.

Teenager after teenager told of their obsessive interest in guns, the high life they led and how the lure of bling and drugs got them hooked.

They all share similar tales of initial good times, which inevitably ended in threats, if they did not demonstrate their loyalty to the gang.

During the recruitment drive, children as young as nine are pulled into gang activity. Some are trained to handle and clean guns.

They are shown how to assemble a gun, where the safety is, how to aim and shoot.

Some of the children, now young men, would describe how, before a hit, they would be taken to an empty field, usually a school ground. There they would fire a few rounds before they were sent out on their first hit.

Youngsters, aged 14 to 23, described how little favours for gangsters in the beginning turned into murderous sprees – all under the banner of the numbers brotherhood.

Mike battling to break free

“It starts off with odd jobs for R10 – like borrowing a bike or spying on rivals, but soon you are schooled in guns and knives and before you know it you are shooting people, robbing and stealing,” said 17-year old Mike (not his real name).

Mike has just completed a two week-rehabilitation course and he fears that unless he is taken out of his old neighbourhood he will either be killed by a rival gang or end up back in the clutches of his old gang pals.

On joining the 26s gang when he was 14, he was required to use a gun that same year. Ordered to shoot at a rival gang, Mike was more than willing to demonstrate his commitment. He was soon selling drugs to fellow pupils and spying on rival gangs for his “new brothers”.

He is the only one of his own brothers who got mixed up with gangs and now he fears the others will follow in his footsteps.

Fresh out of rehab, Mike has already had one attempt on his life, after rival gangsters spotted him walking in the street.

“It’s difficult to break free once you are associated with a gang. There will always be rivals who will remember your face from one or other shooting,” he said.

Mike openly admits to being involved in gang shootings.

“I don’t know if I’ve killed, but I know I’ve hit people. I was involved in four shooting incidents,” he said, adding that if gang members refused an order they themselves were shot in the leg.

He was once shot and wounded by a teen from a rival group.

Describing a street gun battle, Mike said: “When we go and hit a rival group, the gang always ensures that on the very next corner a group of kids younger than 10 are playing, ready to take the guns used in the shooting. After the attack these children will hide the guns at their homes and the cops will never be the wiser.”

Mike longs to escape the area he once called home but he fears for his siblings who will be left behind. “In our community the only option you have is join them or die,” he says.

‘Brown Eyes’ known as the ‘violent one’

“Brown Eyes” joined the IDC (I Don’t Care) gang at the age of 14, and although he has never shot anyone, because of his dislike of guns, he did master the art of using a knife and his fists.

Now 16, he says he was bullied when he was at school. “I wanted it to stop so I joined the gang to get respect. I started smoking dagga with the gangsters, and later they started to school me in the numbers gang.”

“Brown Eyes” said he was known as the “violent one” among the gang. “They had big plans for me. I was seen as somebody who would be able to move up in the number. It took a while for me to realise we were only being used and were seen as dispensable.”

“Brown Eyes” said they were warned from the beginning they must do everything to protect their bothers. “If the gang kills someone and the cops want to arrest us, we must go because we must help carry the burden of our brothers and be there for one another. Now we realise they put us in the front line only to protect themselves. We were not really brothers, they were using us.”

“Brown Eyes” said the worst thing he did was stab another boy to prove he was serious about joining a gang. “I stabbed that boy because I knew if I didn’t I would risk being caned by the whole gang. I do not know what happened to him.”

He recalls assaulting several people in a drunken state, admitting he was very aggressive. “We had to be the worst of the pack, because for every one who joins or leaves there’s hundreds more willing to join.”

‘Skinny’ filled a void after losing parents

Skinny is only 17 but has already been in two big gangs operating on the Cape Flats.

From the age of 10 to 12 he was a member of a youth gang affiliated to the 26s before he joined their rivals, the 28s.

“They used to borrow my bike and give me R10 for it. For R50 I would go and spy on their rivals,” he said.

Explaining that he lost both his parents and turned to gangsterism to fill the void, Skinny said he started using drugs and helping his gangster “brothers” to hide their guns.

“I’ve robbed innocent people for money to get drugs and booze. I would go out to Eerste River or Kuils River on a robbing spree.” He admitted stabbing a man in one of his robbery sprees.

“I think he was coming from work. All I got was a R30 and a cellphone. I was drunk and did not feel anything at the time. I did not wait around to see if he was okay. I was in a hurry to get drugs for the weekend.”

Skinny said the gang would tell him before a hit where he should wait to take the weapons away. “I had to clean the guns and hide them. We were told to use white gloves like the doctors use, then we clean the guns, taking out the magazine and take out the leftover bullets,” he said.

He would hide the guns under his bed, between his books or inside his speakers. “Where I live the boys are all afraid of the gangs and the only way to stop being afraid is to join them for their protection.”

But his eyes were opened when his best friend, who initially lured him into the gangs, was shot and beaten to death by a rival gang. He knew he had to leave then.

Little hope of getting out, says ex-gangster

A reformed 28s member nicknamed “Times”, who operated in Cape Town’s northern suburbs, believes parents have little hope of freeing their children from the clutches of gangs.

“They are made aware early on, ‘you rat out your brothers and we will come for your family’,” Times told the Cape Argus.

He said that on the Cape Flats, where children were left unattended for hours at a time, they had little if any protection against the advances of hardened criminals.

“Many children are eager to prove themselves to the gangs. They are more than willing to sacrifice their own miserable home lives just to be cared for and they will gladly take the blame for their new brothers who believe they will get off lightly if caught by police,” he said.

Times has been declared a “habitual criminal”, having been in jail regularly for robberies and housebreaking. He has been a 28s gang member for most of his life, but turned his life around after his most recent 13-year stint behind bars.

Giving insight into how gangs target the youth, Times said it was all about the circumstances of youngsters who were left on their own, either abused at home or victims of alcoholism and drugs.

“The gangsters just need to show an inch of interest in a boy or girl, shower them with branded clothes, flashy accessories and loads of cash, and they are hooked.”

He said gangs would often place an outsider or newcomer in an area to lure school children into the underworld.

“Soon you have a new breed of drug dealers who are selling to their friends, who in turn sell to the entire school. That’s how they expand their turf.”

He said youngsters were hooked with free drugs and alcohol. But when the good times stopped and they were asked to pay, these children would do just about anything to feed their habits.

“It is not long before they are unwittingly involved in crime, hiding murder weapons at their homes and stashing drugs in their bedrooms,” he said.

Times said children would do anything to get the “godly power” handed to them by the gangs.

“The power they get from being able to walk around with a gun or being trusted to hide a gun. It makes them feel like real men; men others must fear. But they don’t think about the consequences of having that gun,” he said.

Girls had an even harder life, he said, especially if they were hooked on drugs.

“The gangs use the so-called ‘love drugs’ on girls and once they are knocked out, things are done to them. When they wake they have no idea what they’ve done but others will tell them about the wild night they had. Out of shame they will keep quiet and do as they’re told.”

Hooked on drugs such as tik, they are soon trapped and sexually abused. “They are used to lure others with their looks, and the vicious cycle continues. You can’t tell your parents or they will be targeted.”

He said that if a kingpin wanted to get your house, they would get outside gangsters to make your life a living hell. “They shoot a member of your family in your home and tell you it was a rival gang. They offer you a gun and the next thing you know, you find yourself knee-deep in trouble.”

warda.meyer@inl.co.za

Cape Argus

* This the first of a two-part series about the lives of young gangsters on the Cape Flats. Part 2 will feature in the Cape Argus on Tuesday.

Children are being turned into vicious killers, pushed to the front lines of Cape Town's gang wars.

Special Report by Warda Meyer and Ian Landsberg

Cape Town - Cape children, some as young as 9, are being turned into vicious killers, pushed to the front lines of the gang wars plaguing Cape Flats communities and causing mayhem as they rob, steal, stab and shoot on command.

From Belhar to Delft, Elsies River to Wesbank, Hanover Park to Manenberg, Mitchells Plain to Lavender Hill, boys and girls are being lured into violent gang activity, with the promise of money, drugs and flashy clothes.

The latest crime statistics for the province – part of the national crime statistics released on Friday by the police – show that the number of murders in the province is up 12.8 percent from the previous year.

A total of 2 909 people were murdered in the Western Cape between April last year and March – 329 more than during the same period the previous year.

Amid the figures lies a sobering reality in Cape Town – vulnerable children continue to be exploited by drug lords and gang bosses, who use them as shooters, drug runners, smugglers and spies.

It is a confluence of factors, including a craving to escape abuse and bullying, to be part of a family-like structure, and to have money and power.

Cape Flats pastors, community outreach groups, NGOs and politicians have tried and failed to free these children from the clutches of organised gangs.

Having met some of the child killers, an outraged Community Safety MEC Dan Plato has swung into action to explore ways to rescue some of the youths desperate to break ties with their gang masters.

“These gangsters are turning our children into killers.

“We cannot tolerate this in our schools or our communities,” he added.

Plato said that based on the detailed accounts of young children in gang strongholds – coupled with claims of police involvement in gangsterism – only an integrated approach involving law enforcement, communities and all government departments would help stem the problem.

“The ongoing shootings in known gang areas in the province play a cardinal role in the murder stats. But it is a major problem for which we do not have detailed crime statistics to indicate which crimes are gang-related,” said Plato.

“It is only through a coherent whole-of-society approach that we will turn the tide and win the battle against drugs.

“We can take these children out of these areas, but as long as the gangsters and drug lords still remain the cycle will continue.

“I’ve seen too many parents crying over their children who have gone astray, but it is time that we tackle the root causes, it is time we take the gangsters and drug lords out of our areas.

“There is too much blood and tears flowing in our streets. It is time we stop talking and do something more drastic to turn the tide. NGOs, community-based organisations, religious leaders, pastors and government can no longer work on their own.

“We have to tackle the problem head-on together.”

Plato called on the police’s crime intelligence to step up their game and for police to lock up drug and gang bosses.

Plato said he had heard numerous stories of children from broken homes turning to gangs.

He said the Western Cape government spent millions on rehabilitation centres, MOD (mass participation, opportunity and access, development and growth) centres and youth programmes.

“While there are challenges, our youth do attend school. However, just as many youth are not in the classrooms but out in the streets. Parents need to see that their children attend school.

Communities must own the school in their respective areas and get involved and assist in ensuring the safety of their children.”

Meanwhile, Plato announced on Sunday that crime statistics for the province would be released every month.

“Crime stats should not belong only to the police but should be used to inform the public of risks in their communities and empower strategic action from the entire safety fraternity.”

All legislative measures of this act must be implemented by January.

Plato said a police ombudsman – who would be tasked with helping “build and strengthen the relationship between the police and communities” – was also set to be appointed.

He said this office was expected to be up and running by the end of October.

Cape Argus

A plane carrying 26 South Africans injured in a building collapse in Nigeria has arrived at the Swartkop Air Force Base.

Pretoria - A plane carrying 26 South Africans injured in a building collapse in Nigeria arrived at the Swartkop Air Force Base in Pretoria on Monday morning.

The C130 SA Air Force plane touched down at 10.42am.

Three children were among the injured, including an 18-month-old baby and a two-year-old toddler who lost both their parents in the collapse that killed 84 South Africans. - Sapa

A 16-year-old boy was murdered in what is suspected to be an ongoing gang war that is ranging in the Northern Cape.

Kagisho, Nothern Cape - A 16-year-old boy was murdered on Saturday in what is suspected to be an ongoing gang war that is ranging in Galeshewe.

Xolani Swartbooi’s body was found lying next to his friends’ home in Tebogo Maseng Street in Kagisho with some of his clothes missing.

“Although there was not a lot of blood where his body was lying, his face had several cuts and it looks as if they sliced him up. His shoes and pants are missing and the shirt that he was wearing has been torn,” Swartbooi’s friend, Velile Jantjies, said.

He said that Swartbooi could have been killed by local gang members who are operating in the area.

“We were drinking together last night (Friday) and he told me that some of the boys who belong to a certain gang in this area wanted to hack him to death with an axe and pangas. He said that the boys, who were in a gang of about five members or so, had threatened to kill him on several occasions. Although I did not see how he was killed, I believe that this gang is responsible for his murder,” Jantjies said.

He added that on Friday night he tried to find out from some of the gang members why they apparently wanted to kill Swartbooi, but instead of providing him with answers, one of the gang members insulted him.

“I even tried to take Swartbooi to one of the gang member’s house to try and find a solution to the misunderstanding, but no one was at home when we were there on Friday night,” Jantjies said.

Swartbooi’s father, Piet Swartbooi, said that he was told of the tragedy while he was at work.

“We are all traumatised by this incident. The last time I saw him alive was yesterday (on Friday),” the father said as he tried to hold back the tears.

Another family member, who did not want to be named, said that Swartbooi was living with his grandmother and his siblings in Morris Lenyibi Street, which is just a few streets away from where Swartbooi’s body was found.

She said that although he sniffed glue and had dropped out of school, Swartbooi was a good person.

“He did not like violence and was a very good person. He just liked to smoke his glue,” she added.

Some of the residents in the area said that they are sick and tired “of gangsters that are operating in our township”.

“We will now mobilise the residents to plan a march to the office of the MEC for Transport, Safety and Liaison, Martha Bartlett, and to the provincial office of the police to demand that this area be allocated more police officers. We are no longer safe in our homes as long as gangsters continue to terrorise our neighbourhoods,” they added.

The Northern Cape police said that they were not aware of Swartbooi’s murder.

Diamond Fields Advertiser

A man employed by Desmond Tutu’s daughter has been found guilty of murdering her live-in domestic worker.

Cape Town - The man on trial for murdering the live-in domestic worker of Archbishop Emeritus Desmond Tutu’s daughter has been found guilty in the Cape Town Regional Court.

On Friday, the court found that Olwethu Matiso, who had been working as Mpho Tutu’s gardener, killed Angela Machinga in the bedroom of her home in Milnerton on April 12, 2012.

Machinga, 40, was strangled and her body wrapped in a rug, on the floor.

Matiso was also found guilty of robbery with aggravated circumstances.

He looked solemn in court as magistrate Victor Gibson told him: “The State has proven its case beyond a reasonable doubt. I find you guilty on both counts.”

Matiso was arrested about a week after Machinga’s body was found. Mpho Tutu testified during Matiso’s trial and had been recalled as a witness.

Matiso worked as Tutu’s gardener for about a year, but had also done odd jobs in the house.

When he worked there in 2011, Matiso had been given a key to a pedestrian gate. He could not take it home, and at one stage had lost it and a duplicate was made for him.

He also worked at Desmond Tutu’s house twice a week.

The court heard that Matiso had left his job at Mpho Tutu’s home, without notification, a month before the murder. There had been no forced entry, giving the impression the perpetrator had access to the house, or Machinga knew her attacker.

Gibson said that among the “circumstantial evidence” led by the state was Matiso’s fingerprints - a fresh palm print “visible to the naked eye”, said fingerprint experts - found on Tutu’s cosmetics basket. The basket was kept in a cupboard in the main bedroom and had been handled by Tutu and Machinga daily. Nineteen prints were found throughout the house, but Matiso’s were found only on the basket. Gibson said the position of Matiso’s fingerprint “favours the irresistible conclusion that he was in fact the last person to touch that basket”.

Also, the DNA belonging to Matiso was taken from inside a piece of a glove found under the bed where Machinga’s body was found. A portion of the glove, which appeared to have been ripped off from the glove, contained Matiso’s skin cells.

Matiso claimed he absconded because he was fed up he had to do work he and Machinga were meant to share. He said he was upset with Machinga, who told him on behalf of Tutu that his work was not good enough. He said he went on to work at a car wash. But Gibson said: “If he wanted to abscond, it would have made sense to see the day out, collect his money and not return.”

natasha.prince@inl.co.za

Cape Argus

Pamela Mthethwa desperately hoped that her brother and his wife were still alive, days after the Nigeria church collapse.

Johannesburg - On Sunday afternoon, Pamela Mthethwa was still desperately hoping that her brother and his wife were still alive.

She said she prayed that by posting pictures of Mandla and Lufuno Mthethwa online, someone in Nigeria could confirm they were still alive after being trapped in the collapse of The Synagogue Church of All Nations (Scoan) guest house, which killed at least 86 people, including 84 South Africans.

But less than an hour later, the news came through from church representatives visiting her family in Orange Farm, south of Joburg, that the couple and one of Lufuno’s children, 9-year-old Ronewa Mulaudzi, were believed to be dead.

Mthethwa had no idea her brother and his wife were followers of TB Joshua Ministries.

It was only on Friday that she and her extended family pieced together that Mandla, Lufuno and their three children - Zama, Siphelele and Ronewa - had made the trip to Nigeria more than a week before.

Countless unanswered phone calls to the couple seemed to confirm the family’s deepest fears, but slivers of good news throughout the weekend had kept alive Mthethwa’s faint hopes for her brother’s family’s survival.

On Saturday, it was reported that a 4-year-old girl had been discovered alive in the rubble.

Immediately, Mthethwa contacted Gift of the Givers, an aid organisation trying to track information on the 84 South Africans killed in the building collapse.

Mthethwa prayed that the young girl was Zama, and sent pictures to the organisation to see if she could be identified.

The organisation’s founder, Dr Imtiaz Sooliman, said they were able to confirm her identity.

The Mthethwas were relieved that the 4-year-old had sustained only minor injuries to her hand, and was able to talk after being taken to a local hospital.

Later in the day, more good news helped keep up the family’s spirits.

A 2-year-old girl was discovered at a nearby church, where survivors were being sheltered while the authorities continued their investigation.

Unlike her sister, Siphelele was apparently uninjured.

Before confirmation of her brother’s death on Sunday, Mthethwa said she knew the chances were slim, but that the whole family were still clinging to the dim hope he was somehow among the people rescued in the aftermath.

But she said she realised that her brother could also be among the dozens of bodies still unidentified in Lagos.

When the news broke that the couple were believed to be dead, all she could ask was: “Can life be that cruel?”

Mthethwa said her family eagerly awaited the two children’s arrival in South Africa this week, but still feared for their safety while being kept in Nigeria.

The siblings are expected to live with their maternal grandmother on their arrival in South Africa.

Lufuno Mthethwa’s Facebook page told the story of a deeply religious woman, with numerous ministers, including TB Joshua, as part of her “likes” page.

Instead of the usual profile picture, hers was an uplifting message showing her faith and said: “Stay in peace. God’s got you in the palm of his hand.”

Meanwhile, the Gift of the Givers has reported that since meeting with Scoan representatives, their own efforts to receive up-to-date information on the rescue and investigative efforts were running smoothly.

It was reported at the weekend that 349 South Africans were in Lagos on church business when the disaster occurred that fateful Friday September 12.

A total of 265 people were found alive.

shain.germaner@inl.co.za

The Star

Health experts have warned that South Africa is unlikely to meet its targets for two key Millennium Development Goals.

Cape Town - Health experts have warned that South Africa is unlikely to meet its targets for two key Millennium Development Goals: reducing child mortality and improving maternal health care.

The UN General Assembly is in session in New York discussing the agenda to be followed after the Millennium Development Goals’ 2015 deadline. Countries are taking stock of the progress they have made.

According to an international report, “Countdown to 2015: Maternal, Newborn and Child Survival Report 2014”, South Africa’s under-5 mortality rate was 61 deaths among every 1 000 live births in 1990. This has dropped to 45.

The Millennium Development Goal, however, is less than half of this: 20 deaths among 1 000 live births.

Professor Heather Zar, head of the department of paediatrics and child health at UCT, said: “South Africa has seen good progress with prevention of mother-to-child transmission, with strong immunisation programmes, and with good national guidelines.

“Breastfeeding, immunisation and good nutrition alone could eradicate two thirds of child deaths.”

Neonatal causes, pneumonia and diarrhoea led to most deaths among children under 5.

“For maximum impact, we need improvement in antenatal and obstetric care (with prevention of pre-term deliveries, use of antenatal steroids and strengthened prevention of mother-to-child transmission for HIV), good management of pneumonia in children (with antibiotics and oxygen at primary care facilities) and effective oral rehydration for diarrhoea,” Zar said.

The Countdown 2015 report said South Africa in 1990 had a rate of 150 maternal deaths among every 100 000 live births. This had dropped to 140.

The Millennium Development Goal is 38.

Unicef says the maternal mortality rate is “of concern”. It is “evident maternal mortality is dependent on a range of other factors, including education, decent work, safety, clean water and sanitation, and adequate transport facilities”.

Marion Stevens, a research associate at the African Gender Institute, said: “There has been some change, but nothing substantial. We are concerned about how the department isn’t addressing some of the systemic issues.”

Stevens said not enough was being done to encourage women to book in for check-ups before 20 weeks of pregnancy.

Health workers’ attitudes were a “major problem”.

“From what we have seen, women don’t feel welcome in the clinics, and often the health workers’ own religious beliefs or conservative thinking influence how they deal with contraception and abortions.

“We are not addressing the profound system issues that result in four in 10 women having pregnancies they didn’t plan.”

Joe Maila, spokesman for national health, said the ministry would prefer not to comment on whether the Millennium Development Goals had been achieved until an audit had been done.

Child mortality and maternal health care remained “key priorities and an essential part of the work in our department. We will continue to work towards the targets.”

tanya.farber@inl.co.za

Cape Times

If you thought your job was tough, imagine what it must be like having to make life-or-death decisions every day?

Johannesburg - If you thought your job was tough, imagine what it must be like having to make life-or-death decisions every day?

Doctors Without Borders (MSF) will be giving South Africans a look into the difficult scenarios that the organisation’s medics working in conflicts and crises worldwide have to face.

The organisation will be doing this through an advertising campaign called #ToughDecisions.

The ads give a glimpse of what it is like working as a medic in the frontline of conflict zones in Afghanistan, Pakistan, Central African Republic and the Ebola outbreak in West Africa.

At the campaign launch at The Orbit jazz club in Braamfontein, Joburg, MSF South Africa general director Daniel Berman said they wanted to show South Africans what was really happening in these areas to get them more involved in supporting humanitarian work internationally.

One area that has been particularly challenging has been the unprecedented Ebola outbreak in five West African states.

Since the beginning of the outbreak, MSF has admitted 2 932 patients, of whom 1 747 were confirmed cases of Ebola - 520 have survived the disease.

The challenges treating a disease such as Ebola go further than just isolating and treating patients.

Marilize Ackerman, the co-ordinator of human resources and finance for MSF in Guinea, said it was not easy arriving at a place to find a slab of concrete and nothing else, and having to set up a treatment centre there.

A more worrying decision they have to make is which villages to go into because many are red zones, where people will not accept medical attention.

Ackerman said that because this was the first outbreak of Ebola in Guinea, many villagers had associated the disease with foreign doctors, whom they believe were bringing the disease.

At the treatment centre, they have a map on which villages are marked in red or green, indicating if they are welcome there or not.

She said every day they had to make a decision about whether to risk their lives and go into unwelcoming villages to help patients and to try to educate them about Ebola.

“We have found the best education comes from those who have survived. Sometimes they return home and tell their communities they have recovered. Then those villages open up,” Ackerman explained.

She shared her experiences just a few days after news emerged that a team of journalists and healthworkers were killed while trying to spread awareness on Ebola in a village in the remote forests of south-eastern Guinea.

The villagers attacked the group, three of whom were radio journalists and a preacher, in the belief that foreigners were responsible for spreading the disease.

They were attacked with stones, machetes and knives. Eight bodies were found in the village latrine.

The Washington Post said it was the most horrific Ebola-related violence to date, but it was not the first act of aggression. The paper said that as the death toll increased, so had the violence.

Frightened locals blamed doctors for perpetuating the virus. It also reported that some doctors and nurses had stopped wearing uniforms because they were scared of provoking attacks in the street.

MSF said that the Ebola outbreak continued to grow.

The organisation is operating in Guinea, Liberia, Nigeria, Senegal and Sierra Leone in response to the outbreak.

Created by TBWA/Hunt-Lascaris, the #ToughDecisions TV adverts will be aired on SABC2, SABC3 and DStv, with a social media campaign on Facebook and Twitter.

angelique.serrao@inl.co.za

The Star

Stand-up comedian Tol Ass Mo’s appeared briefly in court on charges of crimen injuria intimidation and assault.

Johannesburg - The legal troubles of stand-up comedian Tol Ass Mo, real name Mongezi Ngcobondwane, are not over yet.

He appeared briefly in the Newlands Regional Court on Friday with his fashion designer wife Mome on charges of crimen injuria intimidation and assault, after an incident in Melville, Joburg, in July.

According to reports, Ngcobondwane claimed that a white man who laid the charges against him had called him a k*****.

He allegedly retaliated by assaulting the man.

On the day of the incident, Ngcobondwane told the Daily Sun that he had been withdrawing money at an ATM when the complainant allegedly lost his temper, after he could not move past Ngcobondwane’s car, which was parked in front of the ATM.

The man then allegedly started swearing at his wife.

Ngcobondwane said he went to the car to see if his wife was fine, and as he drove off the man allegedly called him a “k*****”.

He then stopped the car and “manhandled” the man.

He was arrested about two weeks after the incident and released on bail of R1 000.

According to the Daily Maverick, the man was not white. James Albert French, the complainant, is an African-American and denied that he swore at the comedian.

He told the Daily Maverick it was the celebrity couple that had actually been racist towards him.

He told the paper that Ngcobondwane had fired a weapon at him during the incident and was now trying to defame him in the media as a desperate attempt to defend his actions.

On August 28, the case was postponed for further investigation.

On Friday, State prosecutor Vincent Mochabela said the case would again be postponed for the Director of Public Prosecutions to decide whether it should go to trial.

The TV personality, who also stars with his wife on the popular reality show Mo Love, told the Daily Sun he wanted to lay a complaint with the Human Rights Commission against the man.

The case was postponed to Thursday.

The Star

It took over two days for more than 100 people to save a man who had become wedged on a cliff near Rustenburg.

Johannesburg - It took over two days for more than 100 people from different organisations to save a North West man who had fallen from a mountain and become wedged on a cliff between two large rocks.

The man was stuck near the Rustenburg Kloof Resort for three days. After various failed attempts to extricate his foot, which was trapped, surgeons were hoisted down the mountain and amputated his right leg below the knee.

Rescuers rotated shifts, set up a command post on the mountain, slept on the ground in their clothes, and worked upside down to try and free the man.

“I was out there from 8pm Friday evening - 48 hours. We slept on the mountain, it was chilly. Some didn't have sleeping bags and slept on the ground in the clothes they were in. It was uncomfortable, but not life-threatening cold,” Mountain Club of SA (MCSA) Search and Rescue team leader Rob Thomas said.

The injured man, identified by Beeld newspaper as Tsenolo Shadrack Rasello, 26, was alone on the mountain on Friday. Apparently a snake frightened him and he fell several metres. His foot became wedged between rocks.

He phoned his family, who alerted police. The police contacted the fire department, the police air wing, and the MCSA. Thomas put a team together and went to the resort.

By the time they reached the top of the mountain, it was 3am.

“There was no way we were going to find him in the dark. The team decided to stop,” Thomas said.

“When daylight came we realised that the chances of finding him were slim. The police helicopter team came and pointed out his location to us. We set up an abseil, but the rocks there were very loose. A recent rockfall had happened there.

“To get to the patient was a 40m abseil, I went down and tried to get his foot out, but all the techniques we tried were not working.

“We tried getting one of the mine rescue teams involved, but they had just finished fighting an underground fire for over 28 hours. We had no luck.”

Other organisations became involved, including the Rustenburg Fire Service, North West Disaster Management, Offroad Rescue Unit, SA Air Force, Rescue SA, Lonmin mine rescue, Impala mine rescue, Netcare, ER24, and Medi-Assist.

“Over 100 people were involved at one point or another - 14 were from mountain rescue.”

The SA Air Force used one of their helicopters from an air show. Until that point the police helicopter could only ferry one person at a time. The air force helicopter could take four to five people at a time.

“Fatigue was a major problem. I made sure there was a paramedic at the patient's side non-stop. We were rotating paramedics every six to eight hours.”

All work on the patient was done on ropes and upside down. Rescuers had tried using baby oil to lubricate the trapped man's leg, as well as chipping away at the rock around it, in an effort to extricate him.

“The crack was only 18cm wide, he was trapped at the ankle. We were literally working upside down. It was very difficult to work,” said Thomas.

Rescuers had also tried to take off the safety boot the man was wearing, but no one could reach it.

On Saturday night, the team decided to amputate. Arrangements were made to get surgeons and medical equipment to the location. Mine rescuers had to clear away rocks to make space for the doctors to work.

“We connected them [the surgeons] to ropes and lowered them down, while we controlled the ropes from the top. A stretcher was (lowered) to get him on to do the amputation.

“There were lots of complications, rock falls could have happened. They worked in very difficult circumstances.”

After the amputation, the man was taken to Chris Hani-Baragwanath Hospital in Soweto.

Sapa

Military personnel at Swartkop Air Force Base swiftly attended to South Africans injured in the church building collapse.

Pretoria - Military personnel on Monday morning swiftly attended to South Africans injured in the Nigeria church building collapse.

Shortly after the C130 SA Air Force plane carrying them landed at the Swartkop Air Force Base in Pretoria, an initial batch of the patients was whisked off to hospital.

Most of the patients were brought out of the plane on stretchers and taken to ambulances parked nearby.

A woman in a red dress, supported by two soldiers, limped to one of the ambulances. Others could also walk to the ambulances, with assistance.

A convoy of Tshwane metro police officers on motorbikes and SA Police Service vehicles escorted the first two ambulances from the military base shortly after 11am.

Members of a government inter-ministerial task force, led by Presidency Minister Jeff Radebe, approached the plane carrying the 26 injured South Africans after it landed.

The C130 SA Air Force plane touched down at 10.42am.

Three children were among the injured, including an 18-month-old baby and a two-year-old toddler who lost both their parents in the collapse that killed 84 South Africans. - Sapa

When Salome Skosana went under the knife to remove haemorrhoids, little did she know she’d be left with years of pain.

Pretoria - When Salome Skosana went under the knife to remove haemorrhoids four years ago little did she know that she’d be left with four years of debilitating pain and discomfort. Two years would be spent carrying a stoma bag, and two more with a growing hernia.

The huge lump on the left side of her stomach is extremely painful, and it has stopped her from carrying out any domestic chores or economic activity.

It also weighs heavily on her side and has altered her walk, and changed her eating and sitting habits: “What a price to pay for having piles,” she told Pretoria News.

Skosana’s “journey of hell”, as she describes it, began in 2010 at the hands of specialists at Steve Biko Academic Hospital. They removed the piles and discharged her with a stoma bag attached to the colostomy incision on the left side of her stomach.

“I came back two months later, as instructed. They pronounced the site of the haemorrhoids completely healed but did not close me up and remove the bag. Instead I was sent from pillar to post for two years before they operated on me again,” Skosana said.

In that two-year period she made repeated visits to the hospital and several attempts to see the head of department, under whose instruction the procedures had been done.

All were in vain, she said.

She spent days sitting outside his office hoping to see him, and a few times he walked past her. “When he saw me he would hurry past and look away, ignoring me completely.”

The operation to close the colostomy was eventually done 27 months after the initial operation. And a few days after that she was discharged but the hernia appeared on her left side - and in two years it has grown more than four times in size.

She went back to the hospital, and during meetings with other doctors she was told the incision was too wide and too deep.

In written communication between her and some medical officers, she was told her chances of survival grew slimmer by the day, but they could not help. Closure of the incision had to be done by the doctors who had initially opened it.

One note – a request sent to the head of department by another doctor - says he does not understand why Skosana has not been seen by the doctor, and urges immediate surgery to rid her of the inconvenient lump.

Skosana is deaf, therefore she has a lot of written communication with doctors. In one note she is told of a defect in her abdominal wall, while in another she is informed that her intestines were pushing out, making it “bigger, thus needing to be closed”.

Another doctor, from Mamelodi hospital from where she had been referred to Steve Biko, writes: “I am sorry, I cannot operate on such a big hernia, it is too risky.”

The doctor promises to push Steve Biko to operate on her.

“But they never did, he never did either,” she said.

“I have lost all hope, no one is willing to help me because I am deaf,” she says.

She carries the hernia with difficulty and pain, and she has been unable to knit the jerseys she sold to generate an income.

“I cannot sit in front of my sewing machines because of pain and discomfort,” the pensioner said.

While the Health Department was unable to talk about the case, Steve Biko Hospital chief executive Dr Ernest Kenoshi, said he had handed Skosana’s matter to the clinical department of surgery.

“They will contact Ms Skosana and arrange that she be brought in for review.

“Subsequent to this, the surgeons will manage her clinical condition in the best way possible,” he said.

“They butchered me four years ago and did nothing despite repeated requests.

“Why would that change now,” Skosana asked.

ntando.makhubu@inl.co.za

Pretoria News