Friday 13 May 2016
The African Recorder: EYEWITNESS NEWS
The African Recorder: EYEWITNESS NEWS: LOCAL IS LEKKER... SABC TO PLAY 90% SA MUSIC FROM TOMORROW As from tomorrow, 90 percent of the music played on its radio stations will b...
DAILY SUN NEWS
Miners at Marikana. Photo by Leon Sadiki ~
THE widows are starving and the lawyers are dragging their feet.
This is according to Nomzamo Zondo, co-ordinator of the Socio-Economic Rights Institute of South Africa, which is claiming on behalf of the Marikana widows.
Zondo told Daily Sun yesterday that state lawyers were acting against the spirit of President Jacob Zuma’s pledge that the widows should be paid as soon as possible.
She said months after the government accepted liability and offered an adjudication process, they have not committed in important areas.
“The state is not even saying because these families are struggling they will pay them a certain amount so they can keep going,” said Zondo.
She said this shouldn’t be difficult since government has already accepted liability.
The institute has lodged claims for all those who were supported by the miners at the time of the Marikana Massacre.
“We are now approaching the fourth anniversary of the massacre, and the widows are saying to us they want those claims to be finalised as soon as possible,” she added.
Zuma’s spokesman Dr Bongani Ngqulunga said the government was still committed to the process and its successful conclusion. State lawyers were working with legal parties of affected parties to expeditiously find a solution.
“The matter is being prioritised by state attorneys,” said Ngqulunga.
SOURCE: DAILY SUN
DAILY SUN NEWS
Philani Thwala with his mum Beatrice. Photo by Happy Mnguni ~
ONLY a few months ago, Philani was facing a life of darkness.
But today he is looking forward to a bright future.
At the age of seven, Philani Thwala started losing his eyesight and for 12 years he faced the horror of spending the rest of his life blind. But late last year, Philani had his first corneal transplant operation and a few months ago he had another.
Thanks to these operations performed by
Dr Akiel Asvat, a Joburg-based eye doctor who agreed to perform the operation for no charge, Philani’s life has changed.
Dr Akiel Asvat, a Joburg-based eye doctor who agreed to perform the operation for no charge, Philani’s life has changed.
The operation was made possible by Ster-Kinekor’s corporate social investment programme called Vision Mission.
Philani’s mum, Beatrice Thwala (57), a domestic worker from Palm Ridge, Ekurhuleni said when her son lost his eyesight she consulted sangomas who told her that Philani’s father must do some rituals. But they had lost contact with his father, who had gone to KZN. She then explained her son’s problem to her employer, Linda Nieuwoudt, who arranged for the young man to get help.
“Now Philani is back at school and my life is so much better. I thank God and everyone who helped us,” she said.
Philani (20) is in grade 9 at Palm Ridge Secondary School. He said first his eyes started watering and became very painful. Then he lost his eyesight. “I loved watching sport and gospel on TV but I couldn’t do that. Now I can see again and my dreams are back on track,” said Philani.
“We ask the public to share with us the first block-buster movie they think Philani should see,” said Bradley Knowles, Ster-Kinekor’s general marketing manager.
SOURCE: DAILY SUN
DAILY SUN NEWS
Photo by Denzil Maregele/Gallo images ~
SEVEN grades, seven teachers and 300 kids . . . and just one room.
Worried parents of pupils at the Faith Mlaba Primary School in Ntuzuma, north of Durban, said the KZN Education Department does not care about their children.
Three grade one, three grade two, and one grade three classes have been crowded into the school hall since 2014.
The school has faced the problem of a shortage of classrooms for the past 10 years.
“The kids can’t concentrate because there is too much noise,” said a parent who claimed to have visited the school recently.
“I peeped through the window. What I saw was just terrible. The hall is divided into sections. The teacher stands at a wall so the pupils face away from the others but the noise is unbelievable.”
The department sent three mobile classes to the school in March but they are not being used.
“Why are those classrooms here?” asked a parent.
“We won’t be shocked if our kids fail and for that, we will blame the department. They are supposed to follow up to make sure the problem is solved.”
The school’s SGB chairwoman, Faith Mlaba confirmed that the school had received three mobile classrooms but pupils continue to work in the school hall.
“When the mobile classrooms were delivered, we were told that some features were not fitted and that is why they are not used,” she said.
She said together with the school principal they were trying all they could to change the situation.
Spokesman for the office of the KZN MEC for education, Scelo Khuzwayo said: “We are aware of the situation.
“We sent mobile classrooms but before they can be used they must be checked for safety.”
DAILY SUN NEWS
The High Court in Johannesburg ahead of the silicosis class action judgment. Photo by Mpho Raborife/News24 ~
IN a landmark judgment, the South Gauteng High Court ruled in favour of mineworkers’ to launch a silicosis class action suit against mining companies.
“We have reached the consensus that there are sufficient common issues to justify the class action. There will be two classes (for silicosis and for TB)," Deputy Judge President Phineas Mojapelo told the court on Friday morning.
“All the mining companies are accused of failing to protect the health of the employees when they were legally bound to do so and as a result causing (the mine workers) to contract TB and silicosis," Mojapelo said.
He said although the mine workers had developed silicosis or TB – both potentially fatal lung diseases - at different stages, many of them had made similar claims and those claims had been made simultaneously. He said all the mineworkers had contracted the diseases from inhaling silica dust.
He says the certification of the class action would not be dependent on the outcomes of each individual miner’s case.
"It can't be overlooked that the case of all mineworkers may not be finalised on a case of one common issue."
Mojapelo says the court's decision to grant the case a class action certification is because there is similar evidence and it would also be more economical.
"Mineworkers correctly point out that the evidence they referred to would have to be repeated in each individual case many times over. It is neither economic nor affordable for him to bring his trial action in his individual capacity," Mojapelo said.
"The class action trial will deal with all the evidence at once, it has to be borne in mind that if ech individual trial had to be held, the findings would remain case specific."
He was delivering judgment in the historic Silicosis Class Action, Bongani Nkala and 55 others v Harmony Gold Mining Company Ltd and 31 others.
The judgment means this is the largest class action to ever be certified in South Africa and it allows hundreds of thousands of gold miners and their families to access justice and redress.
On March 5 this year, former gold miners and relatives of deceased ex-miners have reached a similar landmark settlement of their long-running legal battle against Anglo American South Africa and AngloGold Ashanti.
The 4 365 claimants in that case sued the mining companies for dust-related lung diseases, silicosis and silico-tuberculosis, which they claim were contracted from working in unsafe conditions in the mines. The claims were instituted from 2012 and were completely separate from the silicosis class action proceedings ruled on on Friday.
The overall value of the Qubeka settlement was estimated to be more than R500m. Binyana Benson Qubeka, one of the lead claimants in the litigation, worked at AngloGold mines for 15 years and at other Anglo American operations for 10 years and was diagnosed with silicosis in 1998.
DAILY SUN NEWS
Security guards keep a close eye on the empty building that’s supposed to house the offices of social development and home affairs. ~
WHEN the departments of home affairs and social development’s offices were built in the Upper Nseleni area, Ntambanana, northern KZN, residents were happy.
But five years after completion, the offices have still not been opened!
Residents said what angered them more was that no one has given them an explanation as to why the offices have stood empty since they were built in 2011.
Mjabuliseni Sibalukhulu (59) said the only people working at the offices were security guards.
“We were all excited when the offices were built.
“We thought the days of travelling long distances to get help from offices in Melmoth and Mpangeni were over,” said Mjabuliseni.
“We didn’t know that the offices would be left empty.”
Resident Nomasonto Nsele (47) who lives near the offices said: “Every time I look outside after waking up in the morning, I see the offices.
“This is not fair. Government must stop playing with taxpayers’ money.”
Department of social development spokeswoman Ncumisa Ndelu said they had a challenge with water supply.
“We initially had a challenge with electricity but that was later sorted out.
“We are currently dealing with the water issue.
“The municipality cannot provide enough water to enable us to run the offices.
“The leaders of the area had been informed” said Ndelu.
Home affairs spokesman Thabo Mokgola said they would check with the area’s leaders.
He said: “We will deal with the matter.”
SOURCE: Daily Sun
CITY PRESS NEWS
Mabuza vs Phosa: ‘One of the ANC top six leaked the spy report’
Former ANC treasurer-general Mathews Phosa, who is being sued by Mabuza for R10 million in the Northern Gauteng High Court, said the leak made him feel “betrayed”. Anyone among the ANC’s top six officials could have leaked a report that accused Mpumalanga premier, David Mabuza, of being an apartheid spy.
Phosa claimed that the report was delivered at his White River house by an unknown person. He then passed it on to the ANC’s deputy secretary-general, Jessie Duarte, after she had asked for information about Mabuza after a meeting in one of his business on September 2 2014.
Phosa said he expected that the ANC would investigate all allegations contained in the report, but instead, it found its way to journalists.
“Duarte said she made copies to the top six officials [President Jacob Zuma, deputy president Cyril Ramaphosa, chairperson Baleka Mbete, secretary-general Gwede Mantashe, treasurer-general Zweli Mkhize and herself],” Phosa said.
He said that when he asked Duarte about the leak after the media started asking questions, she allegedly said she did not know who among the top six leaked it.
“If you’ve trusted people and this happens [the leak] you feel betrayed,” Phosa said.
“If you’ve trusted people and this happens [the leak] you feel betrayed,” Phosa said.
In short, the report alleged that Mabuza was an apartheid spy code-named PN485 who spied on senior ANC leaders, including President Jacob Zuma, Basic Education Minister Angie Motshekga and the late Albertina Sisulu, between 1985 and 1993.
It also alleged that Mabuza worked with notorious apartheid killers – former Vlakplaas commander Eugene de Kock and security police officer Butana Nofomela.
When Mabuza’s senior counsel, Ettiene Labuschagne, asked Phosa why he did not give the report to the premier, he said: “The document speaks about him [Mabuza] and it would be unfair to ask him to investigate himself.”
“I put it to you that you did give Mabuza the document and did not acknowledge him by greeting this week because you have an axe to grind,” Labuschagne said.
Phosa denied this and said there was nothing to contest between Mabuza and himself. He said he submitted the document to the ANC officials because Mabuza was a national executive committee member and as such complaints about him had to be handled at that level.
Phosa has dismissed his house manager Jan Venter’s evidence as a fabrication and has labelled him a “pincher” of money.
Venter, who is Mabuza’s key witness in the defamation lawsuit, finished giving evidence against Phosa on Wednesday afternoon.
Venter claimed that he saw Phosa and his business associate, Nick Elliot, drafting the spy report before it was sent to Duarte.
SOURCE: CITY PRESS
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