Haas Das...Nuuskas ZA: September 2010
Third poacher nabbed in Kruger
R1m bail for rhino poaching suspect
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Labels: poaching crime polokwane
Die mate waartoe die Suid-Afrikaanse samelewing met korrupsie deurtrek is, laat ’n mens wonder of die golf van korrupsie nog gekeer kan word.
In ’n berig Saterdag in Beeld is ’n skrikwekkende prent geskilder van die getal staatsamptenare wat welsyntoelaes van die staat steel.
Die spesiale ondersoekeenheid (SOE), ’n onafhanklike agentskap wat korrupsie in die staatsdiens ondersoek, het reeds 96 000 staatsamptenare geïdentifiseer wat welsyntoelaes steel.
’n Verdere 80 000 kan van bedrog aangekla word.
Die ondersoek moet nog uitgebrei word na munisipale amptenare. Die syfer kan dan aansienlik groei. Die omvang laat ’n mens wanhoop.
Hoe kon dit toegelaat word dat die verrotting so versprei het?
Die staatsamptenare het ’n werk en ’n salaris, anders as ’n kwart van die bevolking wat sonder werk sit.
Hulle steel van armes vir wie die toelaes bedoel is en van belastingbetalers uit wie se sakke die toelaes kom.
Tot dusver is 15 000 amptenare aan bedrog skuldig bevind.
Hulle het opgeskorte vonnisse gekry en moet die geld met rente terugbetaal.
Nie ’n enkele een wat skuldig bevind is – onder wie meer as 900 polisielede – is geskors of afgedank nie.
Die boodskap aan die bedrieërs is: Steel maar, jy sal jou werk hou en jy kan die geld soos ’n lening terugbetaal.
Dis geen wonder soveel duisende is betrokke nie.
Die beste raad kom van adv. Willie Hofmeyr, hoof van die SOE, wat sê as korrupsie nie “nou hanteer gaan word nie, gaan dit erger word. Tronkstraf is ’n goeie afskrikmiddel”.
Die ANC is kwansuis ernstig oor korrupsie, maar sy optrede spreek tot die teendeel.
Hy het die Skerpioene ontbind, sy ministers plunder die staatskas met duur motors en verblyf in weelderige hotelle en pres. Jacob Zuma se familie en vriende word kitsmiljoenêrs.
Dit alles skep die klimaat waarin korrupsie kan gedy.
Dié kanker knaag net so weg aan die land se toekoms as sake soos geweldmisdaad en armoede. Dit moet met harde optrede beveg word, nie sagkens nie.
Posted by Tango at 9:11 AM No comments:
Labels: Korrupsie Misdaad Staasdiens SOE
Dr. Karel Toet Foto: Hoffie Hoffmeiste
Die “diere-slagplaas” .
Dís hoe werkers in die omgewing van Prachtig in die Musina-omgewing dié plaas noem wat glo ’n sentrale punt is in die staat se opspraakwekkende saak teen ’n beweerde renosterhoring-sindikaat.
Verskeie beweerde betrokkenes het Dinsdag in die hof in Musina verskyn.
En straks die grootste skok met dié arrestasies deur die Valke was dat twee veeartse glo midde-in die stropery was.
Ondersoekbeamptes was die laaste paar dae op Prachtig doenig, glo om “grafte” van renosters te soek.
As deel van die beskuldigdes se borgtogvoorwaardes mag hulle niks met die 32 renosters doen wat tans daar is, óf in die ondersoekwerk inmeng nie.
Van die renosters is afkomstig van die Nasionale Krugerwildtuin en die polisie is glo op soek na karkasse van diere wat vermoedelik vir hul horings van kant gemaak is.
Kol. Vishnu Naidoo, woordvoerder van die Valke, wou gister nie bevestig of hulle wel na beweerde renoster-massagrafte soek nie.
“Ons is besig om bewysstukke bymekaar te maak en die ondersoek duur voort. Ons verwag om nog minstens vyf mense te arresteer.”
’n Kenner het die afgelope week aan Rapport gesê die wrede werklikheid is dat ’n dooie renoster veel meer werd is as ’n lewende een.
’n Renosterhoring kos tot $20 000 (R140 000) per kilogram in grootmaat en ’n renosterbul se horings weeg maklik 5kg.
Dít terwyl ’n lewende renoster tans in Suid-Afrika vir van R130 000 tot R300 000 verkoop word.
Rapport verneem dat die meeste van die renosters wat ter sprake is glo op dié plaas gestroop is.
’n Ingeligte het gesê mnr. Dawie Groenewald, die eienaar van Prachtig, waar sy safari-onderneming, Out of Africa, se jagtogte gehou is, het in ’n stadium gespog dat hy 80 renosters op sy plaas het.
Van dié renosters se horings was afgesny.
Out of Africa se reuse-advertensiebord by die hek was verwyder toe Rapport die plaas Vrydag besoek het. Plaaswerkers in die omgewing het nie geweet waar die “Out of Africa”- plaas is nie, maar het blitsvinnig aanwysings gegee na die plek wat hulle die “animal butchery” noem.
Me. Wanda Mkutshulwa, woordvoerder van Sanparke, het bevestig dat Groenewald “sowat 20 tot 30” renosters by die Nasionale Krugerwildtuin gekoop het.
Dr. Karel Toet, ’n veearts wat ook gearresteer is, het ook as ’n tussenganger renosters namens Groenewald by die wildtuin gekoop.
Mkutshulwa sê hulle het opgehou om diere aan Groenewald te verskaf nadat hy vroeër vanjaar deur ’n Amerikaanse hof skuldig bevind is aan die uitvoer van ’n luiperdtrofee wat onwettig in Suid-Afrika gejag is.
Groenewald is ’n uiters berugte rolspeler in die jagbedryf. Hy was ­jare gelede ’n polisiebeampte in die voertuigdiefstaleenheid in Po­lo­kwa­ne waar hy weens voertuigdiefstal gearresteer is.
Lt.kol. Ronel Otto, provinsiale polisiewoordvoerder, het dit aan Rapport bevestig. Groenewald se broer is skuldig bevind, maar hy nie.
Julian Rademeyer berig Groenewald is vier jaar gelede weens jagpraktyke uit die Suid-Afrikaanse Professionele Jagtersvereniging geskors en word belet om in Zimbabwe te jag.
Media24 se ondersoekspan het Groenewald vroeër vanjaar gekonfronteer oor bewerings van sy betrokkenheid by renosterstropery.
“Is jy laf?” het hy toe geantwoord. “In my lewe nog nie … As daar sulke bewerings is, hoekom is ek nie daarvan aangekla nie?”
Groenewald se selfoon was gister af en hy kon nie vir kommentaar bereik word nie.
Hy en tien ander staan tereg op aanklagte van aanranding, bedrog, korrupsie, opsetlike saakbeskadiging, dwarsboming van die gereg en die onwettige besit van vuurwapens en ammunisie.
Hulle word ook aangekla van oortredings van die Nasionale Wet op Omgewingsbestuur, die medisynewet en die Wet op die Voorkoming van Georganiseerde misdaad.
Posted by Tango at 8:33 AM No comments:
Labels: Renosters Georganiseerde Misdaad
Shoot to kill: Cops need all the help they can get
Approximately five years ago I argued an appeal in the North Gauteng High Court where the conviction and sentence of a police sergeant, who had been convicted of murder and sentenced to 12 years, were overturned and replaced with culpable homicide and a suspended sentence.
In brief — responding to calls from people, whose houses surrounded a small plot, that robbers were breaking into the home on the small holding, the sergeant and another (not a police officer) drove to the scene.
Upon arrival it was completely dark. The pair spotted a figure in the garden. The sergeant called out “police” whereafter the suspect began to run. During the chase he fired two or three warning shots aimed high but due to the uneven nature of the ground one hit the suspect who died.
It was as clear to me when I took over the case — after the conviction — as it was to the judges who presided over the appeal, that the dolus required for murder could never be sustained on the facts on record.
Section 49 (set out in full below) was of no assistance in this case despite the fact that robberies and murders were frequent in that area. South Africa’s crime rate — even now — is staggeringly high and the fact that people had called in to report a robbery in the middle of the night.
Based upon that background alone you would have to believe that there was merit in Section 49 rescuing him from a murder conviction. Add to that the fact that in pitch black darkness, a suspect when confronted with the words “police halt” took off at a sprint and you would think it was a slam dunk.
What many don’t realise is that there is a ton of case law which breaks down what constitutes terms like “reasonable grounds” and when “force is immediately necessary”.
This has ended up with many policemen and women being too terrified to draw their weapons until it is too late.
The death toll among South African Police is again staggering and worthy of being declared a national disaster. Many of our criminals carry weapons and a substantial number use them if confronted and sometimes without any basis at all.
South Africans are united in the call to reduce crime.
President Jacob Zuma and the minister of police, Nathi Mthethwa, have been seeking measures to bolster the police in this “war”.
An amendment has now been drawn in respect of Section 49 of the Criminal Procedure Act, 1977 (Act 51 of 1977) in order to give the police further relief in specifically defined areas. This has been approved by the Cabinet and is now with the state lawyers to check its constitutionality before going before Parliament for hearings.
That it is long overdue is, to my mind, without question.
No doubt there will be instances where it will the subject of abuse debates but in terms of our society the police need to be able to deal effectively with crime.
Human-rights activists are concerned that some police might become cowboys if they keep getting told that it’s “shoot to kill” time. This, however, is not really the problem. There are always going to be gung-ho members of the police or military. The law will never be wide enough to cover their actions and they will face the appropriate sanctions.
What you have got to ensure is that overall the people responsible for law and order have the ability to defend the public in a meaningful way or the amount of people who will be killed or injured by the violent criminals in this country will surpass the exceptions — that in reality the activists are guarding against — by many many thousands.
Sometimes when you are too busy trying to do good you overlook the bigger picture.
In trying to ensure that the police are not too eager to shoot to kill you overlook the fact that criminals in South Africa couldn’t give a continental damn. By guarding against the odd police rebel and making our law enforcement less effective they land up occasioning widespread murder as opposed to the exceptions they are trying to avoid.
Remember too that any legislation is tested by the judiciary, which more often than not reduces the effect if it is too harsh.
While we are yet to be privy to the wording of the amendment one thing is clear, the police need whatever assistance the legislature can give them and far more certainty when required to use deadly force.
49. Use of force in effecting arrest.
(2) If any arrestor attempts to arrest a suspect and the suspect resists the attempt, or flees, or resists the attempt and flees, when it is clear that an attempt to arrest him or her is being made, and the suspect cannot be arrested without the use of force, the arrestor may, in order to effect the arrest, use such force as may be reasonably necessary and proportional in the circumstances to overcome the resistance or to prevent the suspect from fleeing: Provided that the arrestor is justified in terms of this
section in using deadly force that is intended or is likely to cause death or grievous bodily harm to a suspect, only if he or she believes on reasonable grounds—
( By Michael Trapido ) Mail and Guardian
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Labels: Kill Section 49 Shoot Police
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Johannesburg - National Police Commissioner General Bheki Cele should resign if it is found that he lied to Parliament about who was responsible for renting two buildings for top police staff at high prices, the DA said on Sunday.
"If it is found during the special investigating unit (SIU's) probe that Cele misled the police portfolio committee on Friday, then the Democratic Alliance will have no option but to call for his resignation," DA spokesperson Dianne Kohler Barnard in a statement.
Kohler Barnard was referring to a report by the Sunday Times that alleged Cele had lied to the parliamentary committee about two police rental deals, for buildings in Pretoria and Durban that amounted to over R700m.
Cele said his role had ended with identifying the police's accommodation needs and that he had left the rest up to the department of public works.
He had then attempted to blame three generals who had resigned soon after an investigation was launched to probe approved suspect deals worth billions since 2006.
Generals Stefanus Terblanche, Matthews Siwundla and Hamilton Hlela were accused of playing a key role in approving the rental deals for new police headquarters.
"Two of the generals (however) claim they were effectively fired and forced out because they refused point blank to sign off on the Roux Shabangu (landlord) deals, as they were for unnecessary and extremely expensive offices," Kohler Barnard said.
She said there were now two versions of what had happened, with Cele saying he had approached the SIU to investigate police property deals, while the department of public works claimed it was responsible for launching investigations.
The rental of a building in Durban, now cancelled by the public works department, would have cost R6m a month.
The building in Pretoria has been rented for about eight months at a cost of R2m a month.
The DA would submit parliamentary questions to Police Minister Nathi Mthethwa on various rental issues on Monday.
Read more on: corruption bheki cele dianne kohler barnard nathi mthethwa
Labels: corruption crime SAPS Cele barnard mthetwa
Units were set to probe cop deal
Dept: Cops' office deal not dodgy
Cele defends new building
Cape Town - Police top brass abused a 2006 decision to let the force manage its own properties with carte blanche to award irregular contracts that wasted millions and enriched outsiders, Parliament heard on Friday.
Police commissioner General Bheki Cele told MPs he was asked to rubberstamp suspect deals from the day he took office in July 2009, suggesting that the practice was common and had carried on for years.
He said he declined a spurious request by former deputy commissioner Hamilton Hlele to sign an R11m contract to renovate his office and that of Police Minister Nathi Mthethwa, though the police merely rented the properties.
Months later he learnt by accident that the contract had been signed.
Cele said he subsequently came across a contract essentially outsourcing the police's forensics operations to a company belonging to the spouse of a police official and another, worth R47m, to buy water canons the police did not need.
"We discovered a huge document intercepted in London, completely outsourcing the department.
"There would have been no Saps forensics if that thing was not intercepted," he told Parliament's portfolio committee on police.
Cele said the deals were part of a "slash and grab" mentally on the part of senior officers, and hinted at the involvement of two other deputy commissioners who have, like Hlele, left the force.
Police committee chairperson Sindi Chikunga said the revelations left her disgusted and wishing she could see the men jailed.
"We may as well tell them you have to go to report to the nearest police station. I'm talking about the highest order of mismanagement you can think of at the highest level. It is discouraging and it is really disgusting."
Cele also conceded the police's building management programme, which seeks to devolve responsibility for all 1 127 police stations nationwide from public works to police in coming years, was so badly and unethically managed that "if we had gone to court we would be pleading guilty".
He said 18% of this budget went directly to consultants, partly because the department's capacity was limited, and partly because the personnel it did have, including some 38 bricklayers, merely acted in an oversight capacity.
"Theirs is not to lay bricks - it's to get people from outside and oversee."
Huge cracks in system
The police chief said the faulty logic of not leaving construction in the hands of public works became evident to him when it took five months to construct a simple guard post at his official residence, and a police station was built without toilets.
"Then I understood why the police station takes seven years, if the guard house takes five months...
Public works gives you a lot of headache but the process you get with SAPS cracks your head."
Gary Kruser, the acting commissioner for supply chain management in the police since July, said the division had a deservedly poor reputation. It had neither sound financial planning nor a legitimate procurement system and paid scant regard to customer relations.
"How much money we can spend, how much money we can outsource seems to be the guiding principle of this division," Kruser said.
"It seems that the only customer relations we have is with those people who make money out of us."
Dipping hands into honey pot
ANC MP Anneliese van Wyk said the government should revise its decision to allow the police to manage property, because it lacked the capacity to do so, and a plan to clean up the mismanagement of the past four years.
She suggested the request from senior management in March 2006 to devolve responsibility had been motivated by greed.
"It was opening the honey pot and dipping your hands into it," Van Wyk said.
Cele again denied media reports that he too had sidestepped procurement rules and signed a R500m lease for a new police headquarters in Pretoria, saying the department of public service inked the contract now being probed by the Special Investigating Unit.
"The contract has been signed, but there is no Cele (signature). It's not there."
Read more on: corruption sapf bheki cele
Johannesburg - The deputy national police commissioner, Lieutenant General Hamilton Hlela, and two of his subordinates have resigned, the office of the national commissioner said on Sunday.
Spokesperson Nonkuleko Mbatha said Hlela resigned in June, for personal reasons.
The Sunday Independent reported that Hlela and two of his subordinates resigned in the middle of a probe involving contracts amounting to R4bn in his department.
Mbatha said the divisional commissioner of supply management unit, Lieutenant General Matthews Siwundla and his subordinate, Major General Stephanus Terblanche resigned in July and August respectively.
"They have reasons which I cannot comment on," Mbatha said.
Hlela was responsible for supply chain management which is at the centre of investigation by the Special Investigation Unit (SIU).
President Jacob Zuma has recently asked the SIU to probe corruption within the SAPS.
The Sunday Independent reported that a preliminary report stated that Hlela had allegedly been aware of corruption in his department since August 2008, but had not acted.
Hlela told the newspaper that he had taken early retirement and would assist investigators if required.
"The investigation must carry... I'm still in South Africa," he told the paper.
Mbatha said national Commissioner, General Bheki Cele, raised the issue of violation of procurement procedures when he met the head of the SIU, Willie Hofmeyr.
Read more on: corruption saps siu willie hofmeyr bheki cele hamilton hlela
Hawks seize cops' cars, property
Johannesburg - President Jacob Zuma has directed the Special Investigating Unit to conduct a probe into corruption in the South African Police Force.
The probe, mainly into procurement, "originates from a referral" by police watchdog, the Independent Complaints Directorate (ICD), the presidency said in a statement on Thursday.
The investigation has the "full support" of the National Police Commissioner General Bheki Cele.
The proclamation was gazetted seven days after former national police commissioner Jackie Selebi was sentenced to 15-years in jail for corruption.
It also comes after revelations about a "dodgy" multi-million rand property deal signed by Cele.
The R500m property deal would see police headquarters move to the 18-storey Middestad Sanlam centre in Pretoria, which was owned by billionaire businessman Roux Shabangu, reported the Sunday Times last month.
According to the report the deal was allegedly not treated as a tender, violating Treasury regulations that all government contracts worth over R500 000 go through a bidding process.
The presidency said the SIU would look into the "procurement of and contracting for goods, works or services including leased accommodation, by or on behalf of the Service".
It includes payments that may have been made with "undeclared conflicts of interest" or "conducted or facilitated by the manipulation of the service's supply chain management, procurement or information system management processes" or "in collusion with or through the intervention of the service's personnel".
The probe also extends to "unlawful or irregular conduct by the service's personnel, the service's suppliers and service providers or third parties relating to any one or more of the aforementioned allegations".
The SIU is an independent statutory body that is accountable to Parliament and the president.
The Congress of SA Trade Unions welcomed the investigation, saying it was "in line" with what the union federation has in the past called for.
"We urge the [SIU] to leave no stone unturned to uncover any corruption or misuse of public funds in such areas as the procurement of goods and services, contracts signed, or not signed, by officials or officers with an undeclared conflict of interest and unauthorised, irregular, wasteful or fruitless expenditure in any branch of the SAPS," said spokesperson Patrick Craven in a statement.
Cosatu has taken a tough stance against corruption, even clashing with its alliance partner, the ANC, in its calls for the government to take tougher action against ministers who are linked to corrupt activity.
"Allegations of corruption must be either proved or disproved. Everyone is innocent until proved guilty, but this can only be established when the evidence has been thoroughly investigated," Craven said.
Read more on: corruption icd sapf siu bheki cele jacob zuma
Hawks confirm 'blood diamonds'
Hawks bust robbery kingpin
Cop fired 2 days before retiring
KZN former cop boss denied bail
KZN cop boss to face charges
Former cop boss gets bail
Pietermaritzburg - The Hawks seized cars and three properties belonging to four policemen, a clerk and a businessman in Pietermaritzburg on Wednesday, the Daily News reported.
Mountain Rise police station's former commissioner Hariram Badul, was arrested in December with Colonel Yunus Khan, Captain Suresh Naraindath, Constable Patrick Nkabini, clerk Edward Isaac, and businessman Sigamoney Pillay, allegedly in connection with the disappearance of government property worth more than R1m.
On Wednesday, the Asset Forfeiture Unit reportedly served Badul with papers restraining his pension and property.
They seized Naraindath’s Toyota Hilux and served him with papers restraining his property, seized a Toyota Corolla at Nkabindi's home and seized two Toyota Hiluxes and a home-built trailer at Pillay’s home.
The unit wanted to take an Opel Corsa from Khan, but it was not at his property.
Badul, who was dismissed from the police on January 29, is also on trial for allegedly changing crime statistics to give the impression that crime had dropped in his area. He is out on bail in that matter.
Khan, Naraindath and Nkabini face police internal disciplinary inquiries.
Read more on: corruption pietermaritzburg sapf hawks
Johannesburg - The R500m rental deal that would see police headquarters move to another building was apparently going to be probed by two groups, the Sunday Times reported on Saturday.
According to the Sunday newspaper, the Public Protector's office confirmed it was investigating the deal, and the corruption-busting Special Investigations Unit was also probing irregular government leases worth billions of rands.
National police commissioner Bheki Cele was reported to having signed the deal in June, without a public tender process, he has since denied the allegations.
The building was only purchased a week ago by billionaire Roux Shabangu, who is apparently politically connected. The police would be renting the building for R500m over a period of ten years.
Read more on: corruption bheki cele
Posted by Tango at 6:35 AM No comments:
Labels: Cele Corruption Gary Kruser Building Management Hlele Deputy Commissioner
Polisiehoë skielik verplaas ná Krejcir se stelling
Genl.maj. Joey Mabasa, omstrede hoof van die Gautengse polisie se misdaadintelligensie-eenheid, is in geheimsinnige omstandighede skielik na die polisie se hoofkantoor in Pretoria oorgeplaas.
Dit het gebeur enkele dae nadat die Tsjeggiese voortvlugtige en miljardêr mnr. Radovan Krejcir aan Rapport erken het Mabasa was “’n man na wie ek in ’n moeilike situasie vir hulp kon gaan”.
Kol. Vish Naidoo, polisiewoordvoerder, het gister bevestig Mabasa is na die misdaadintelligensie-hoofkwartier oorgeplaas. Hy het gesê die redes vir Mabasa se oorplasing is ’n “interne saak” en kan nie bekend gemaak word nie.
Volgens Naidoo weet hy nie wat Mabasa se nuwe pos is nie.
“Dit is nie ’n demosie nie, want hy behou sy rang en gaan na die hoofkwartier.”
Mabasa het gesê hy het geen kommentaar nie.
In ’n onderhoud wat Sondag gepubliseer is, het Krejcir – wat weens verskeie vermeende misdade in die Tsjeggiese Republiek gesoek word – Mabasa as ’n “opregte polisieman” beskryf en bewerings dat hy hom geld betaal het ten sterkste ontken.
Intussen het die hooggeregshof in Johannesburg gister gelas dat ’n nuwe uitleweringsverhoor vir Krejcir moet plaasvind.
Dit het gebeur nadat die nasionale vervolgingsgesag (NVG) aansoek gedoen het om die hersiening van ’n landdroshofuitspraak van 2007 dat hy nie uitgelewer mag word nie.
’n Tsjeggiese hof het Krejcir in sy afwesigheid weens bedrog tot 6½ jaar tronkstraf gevonnis. Dié vonnis is Maandag met ses maande verminder.
Mabasa se verhouding met Krejcir en ander lede van die Johannesburgse misdaadonderwêreld is sedert die moord op mnr. Lolly Jackson in die soeklig.
Krejcir het aan Rapport erken mnr. Ian Small-Smith, sy prokureur, het hom aan Mabasa voorgestel.
“My prokureur het gesê hy ken die hoof van misdaadintelligensie en as jy hulp nodig het ... as jy in ’n moeilike situasie is en jy kan nie vir my wag nie of jy wil direk met die polisie skakel, is dít die persoon wat jy moet kontak.”
Vrae oor Mabasa se verhouding met Krejcir word gestel ná die moord op Jackson, baas van die Teazers-ontkleeklubs, in Mei vanjaar.
Jackson en mnr. George Smith, sy vermeende moordenaar, het albei noue bande met Krejcir gehad.
Smith – alias George Louka, ’n gewoontemisdadiger en polisie-informant – het Mabasa kort ná Jackson se dood gebel en gesê hy het Jackson geskiet. Smith het toe te midde van ’n reuse-polisiesoektog verdwyn.
In Junie het Mail & Guardian berig Krejcir se vrou, me. Katerina Krejcirova, en Mabasa se vrou, Dorcas, het in Oktober verlede jaar mededirekteurs van ’n maatskappy genaamd Radloch- ron geword.
Volgens die registrateur van maatskappye het mev. Mabasa sedertdien bedank.
Mabasa het destyds gesê hy en sy vrou is al 15 jaar geskei.
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Labels: Mabasa Krejcivora Jackson George Louka Smith Genl Maj Joey Mabasa
Share 1 September 2010, 06:54
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