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The family of a businessman who was allegedly killed by his wife believes the justice system has failed them after the murder case against the 26-year-old woman was withdrawn. Itumeleng Makhalemele-Maseko was arrested in September last year after she allegedly stabbed and killed her husband Caswell Maseko, 30, at their home at an estate in Emalahleni, Mpumalanga. According to the National Prosecuting Authority, the case was withdrawn because a key state witness had died. Caswell's uncle, Sunday Maseko, said yesterday that the family was devastated that they will not get justice for their son's death. "Obviously we are not happy as a family. We are frustrated. Once again we have been failed by the South African justice system," Maseko said. He said they would have to make peace with the court's decision. "There is nothing we can do. Only God will judge her. Even if she had been found guilty, the fact is that we have lost him [Caswell]," M...

Sergio Macia, then three, wipes away tears from his mother Biuda's face during the funeral of his father, Mido Macia. Sergio is now eight. File photo. Image:   Daniel Born The Pretoria High Court has upheld a ruling that found eight police officers guilty of the murder of Mozambican national Mido Macia. Macia died in police custody in February 2013 after being dragged behind a police van and, later, physically assaulted by police officers. The incident, in Daveyton, east of Johannesburg, was captured on camera and received international coverage. The Macia family successfully sued the police minister for R6.5m. Mishack Malele, Thamsanqa Ngema, Percy Jonathan Mnisi, Bongani Mdluli, Sipho Sidwell Ngobeni, Lungisa Gwabada, Bongani Kolisi and Linda Sololo were convicted by the Pretoria high court on August 25 2015 and sentenced to 15 years’ imprisonment each for their collaboration in dragging the deceased from a moving police vehicle in full view of the public. ...

President Cyril Ramaphosa speaks in parliament on Thursday. He has apologised to EFF leader Julius Malema, after ANC MP Boy Mamabolo accused Malema of physically abusing his wife. Image:   Esa Alexander/Sunday Times President Cyril Ramaphosa has apologised to EFF leader Julius Malema for allegations made by ANC MP Boy Mamabolo that he was abusing his wife, Mantoa. Ramaphosa addressed Malema towards the end of his response to the two-day state of the nation address (Sona) debate in parliament on Thursday. He also called for a truce between former political allies Malema and Mamabolo. “My heart goes out to Mantoa and your family, honourable Malema,” he said. Turning to Malema, he said: “And Honourable Malema, as the allegation was made against you, I felt for Mantoa, your wife, because it was uncalled for, I must say. It was improper. It was not correct for it to be raised, and if I can offer an apology to you about this, I would like to because it was unca...

Authorities are investigating how pictures of a police woman undressing were taken and shared on social media. In the pictures shared on Facebook, the woman is seen sitting on a sofa with a cellphone in one hand and what looks like a glass of alcohol in the other. Another picture then shows the woman with the glass closer to her mouth while the last two pictures show her undressing, even revealing her panties. In the pictures, the woman seems to be aware in the first picture that someone was taking the pictures as she smiles in the direction of the camera. However, it is difficult to tell whether in the other picture where she is undressing, she was fully aware of what was happening. It is unclear at this stage whether the pictures were shared by the woman in the picture or someone else did it with or without her consent. Police spokesperson Brigadier Vishnu Naidoo said the incident has been identified. “We have identified this member and a senior officer has been tasked...

Residents of Rockville blockaded Kunene Street in protest against the electricity cuts that have hit the area. / SANDILE NDLOVU Soweto's electricity debt has been a headache for Eskom for decades, despite efforts to recover the money from residents. The power utility's spokesperson, Dikatso Mothae, declined to share how far back Soweto's debt went and only described it as "historical". "The debt is growing monthly due to nonpayment, short payments and increase of interest because of the outstanding debt on the individual accounts," she said. But a source at Eskom told Sowetan that the debt was first passed from the City of Johannesburg to Eskom in 1993 and was written off in 1998. He further said that new debt was accumulated after that and was again written off in 2003. Mothae was also unable to state how the debt is spread across the sprawling township. Mothae said Eskom has tried to curb the rise in the debt by installing p...

Butterworth and Komani were brought to a standstill last week as protesters ran amok, burning tyres and blocking roads. Image:   Daily Dispatch/Thembile Sgqolana Eskom in the Eastern Cape has suspended operations in and around Butterworth after employees were threatened and insulted for working while the town is on a “shut down”. Protest action has flared in the town over the past two weeks, with roads being barricaded over service delivery issues including water and electricity. “Butterworth is engulfed by an ongoing community protest and we have taken this decision in the interests of the lives of our employees,” the power utility said in a statement. Butterworth and Komani were brought to a standstill last week as protesters ran amok, burning tyres and blocking roads,  DispatchLIVE  reported earlier. In one incident, a Komani taxi driver was pulled from his vehicle and doused in petrol after angering protesters when he tried to get past them. He...

Internet connectivity has returned to normal in SA, says Openserve. Image:   alphaspirit/123rf.com South Africans can breathe a sigh of relief after international internet connectivity was restored by the crew of a cable repair ship early on Wednesday. An unprecedented simultaneous cable break of two Atlantic Ocean-based submarine cable systems in January saddled internet users in the country with reduced speed on international browsing and also had an impact on international voice calling and mobile roaming. Infrastructure provider Openserve's spokesperson, Pynee Chetty, said on Wednesday that confirmation was received at 1:30am from aboard cable ship  Leon Thevenin  that "the portion of the SAT3/WASC repair offshore Congo was complete, concluding  a long and complex restoration process of an unprecedented simultaneous cable break”. The vessel departed from Cape Town on January 22  on its repair mission. It will now proceed to offshore Gha...

Actress Pabee Moganedi says many male crew members do not respect female crew members on local sets. Image:   Via Twitter Actress Pabee Moganedi no longer feels completely safe doing what she loves, and has spoken out about m en in her work space lacking boundaries. The actress shared her frustration on Twitter in a thread condemning male behaviour on set. “It pains me deeply to think the place I feel most at home, the place where I do what I know and love best, is not and has not been a completely safe space for me as a woman.” Pabee revealed that some male actors in the industry lack respect for female cast members. “Men in my work spaces lack boundaries, lack respect. It's basically sexual harassment.” Pabee added that the male actors' behaviour often leave female cast members feeling uncomfortable. “These men make us uncomfortable and violate our privacy on sets and then chuckle when we raise our voices. But, of course, we gotta keep filming ...

Apartheid-era benches outside the law courts in Queen Victoria Street, Cape Town, regulating where 'non-whites' and 'Europeans' were allowed to sit. / Esa Alexander To many white South Africans, apartheid was not a crime against humanity A few years ago, I attended a round-table organised by the Ahmed Kathrada Foundation. One of the participants at this dialogue was the Institute for Race Relations. Two researchers did a presentation on a study they had done to determine what white South Africans think about race and racism. One of the key questions asked in a survey was whether they thought apartheid was a crime against humanity. The results were depressing, though not completely shocking. They revealed that an overwhelming majority did not believe apartheid was a crime against humanity. Of course, research of this nature uses a manageable sample to derive its results. And it may be argued that its size is not enough to arrive at a conclusive dete...

Samantha Mathane The family of an Alexandra woman who was shot and killed by a police officer wants him to be arrested. The Independent Police Investigative Directorate (Ipid) yesterday confirmed that Samantha Mathane was shot by a cop during a shootout with suspected hijackers last month. Ipid said it was able to link to the firearm used when Mathane was hit by a stray bullet to a police officer. Ipid spokesperson Sontaga Seisa told Sowetan that they received a report indicating that the firearm that was used during the shooting belonged to the police officer. "We indeed received the report with regard to the identification of the firearm that it belonged to a police official. However, at this stage the name of the police official cannot be published. Our investigation is ongoing," Seisa said. Mathane was shot several metres away from her home after she had gotten off a taxi, returning from work. The shooting enraged the community, who marched to ...

The former employee of the cash-in-transit company wanted for theft of millions of rands. The SBV security guard who vanished after allegedly stealing R4m from a cash depot was apparently seen at her sister's wedding in Soweto in December. Neighbours in Dlamini where Bathobile Mlangeni lived said she attended the wedding. But her mother, who asked not to be named, denied this, saying she had not seen her daughter since the incident occurred in July. A neighbour, who asked not to be named, said Mlangeni had spent a few days at her home in December before she disappeared again. He said he was shocked when he read about Mlangeni and her alleged involvement in the disappearance of the millions from the depot at the Mall of Africa in Midrand. "She is such a sweet person. She grew up here and I knew her well. I would have never thought that she would do something like this," said the neighbour. Another neighbour said he had seen Mlangeni in the area nu...

Mpumelelo Mokase is still in disbelief that he miraculously survived a shooting in which a bullet went through his neck and he lived to tell the tale - on his feet. Mokase, 20, of Etwatwa on the East Rand was shot by a member of a Cartrack recovery crew on February 9 while washing his uncle's car, which had been reported stolen the previous night. The crew found the car, a Toyota Avanza, being washed in the yard registered on their records but said the members thought it was being stripped. Cartrack said the car seats were folded, doors open and some parts were removed from the vehicle. "I was sweeping the floor of the car, so I had to fold its seats. I did not see the two men when they entered the yard. One of the guards kicked me on my side and asked what I was doing in the car," Mokase recalled. "He then grabbed the door and pressed it against me. He already had his gun pulled out. He then grabbed me and said I was stripping the car. I tried to tell...

Samantha Mathane Alexandra residents have welcomed police investigations which have confirmed their suspicions that a police officer was behind the killing of Samantha Mathane. Mathane was killed last month, but police officers claimed she was caught in the crossfire between them and suspected hijackers. She was shot metres away from her home after she had alighted from a taxi, from work. The Independent Police Investigative Directorate (Ipid) on Monday confirmed that a bullet that killed her came from a police officer's firearm. Teffo Raphadu, a community leader in Alexandra, said they were happy that the officer who they suspected of having fired the fatal shot was now linked to the murder. "We are glad that the police have vindicated our long-held belief that it was the police who were firing shots recklessly. I'm expecting justice to be done so that we can be saved from the killing of innocent bystanders by police. Those implicated must have the...

Authorities are investigating how pictures of a police woman undressing were taken and shared on social media. In the pictures shared on Facebook, the woman is seen sitting on a sofa with a cellphone in one hand and what looks like a glass of alcohol in the other. Another picture then shows the woman with the glass closer to her mouth while the last two pictures show her undressing, even revealing her panties. In the pictures, the woman seems to be aware in the first picture that someone was taking the pictures as she smiles in the direction of the camera. However, it is difficult to tell whether in the other picture where she is undressing, she was fully aware of what was happening. It is unclear at this stage whether the pictures were shared by the woman in the picture or someone else did it with or without her consent. Police spokesperson Brigadier Vishnu Naidoo said the incident has been identified. “We have identified this member and a senior officer has been tasked...

Calls for the unsealing of the controversial CR17 presidential campaign banking records are gaining momentum. The African Transformation Movement (ATM) has written to public protector Busisiwe Mkhwebane to release the CR17 banking records which she obtained during her investigation into the R500,000 Bosasa donation. CR17 campaign was for President Cyril Ramaphosa's successful quest for ANC presidency in December 2017, at the party's elective conference held at Nasrec, Johannesburg. The records which contain details of people who donated to Ramaphosa’s campaign were sealed by the court on argument that they were not obtained legally by Mkhwebane during her investigation into him. In her investigation of the R500,000 donations from Bosasa boss Gavin Watson, Mkhwebane obtained banking records relating to the CR17 campaign which had details of other donors. The documents were quickly sealed by the court ahead of Ramaphosa’s court application seeking to review and set a...

The Constitutional Court on Monday heard arguments from Thembeka Ngcukaitobi, counsel for EFF leader Julius Malema (pictured) on whether parts of the Riotous Act are unconstitutional. Image:   Alaister Russell The Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) have called on the Constitutional Court to uphold a high court ruling that a section of the Riotous Assemblies Act is unconstitutional. Thembeka Ngcukaitobi, counsel for EFF leader Julius Malema, on Tuesday submitted that the act was put in place to resolve the conflict between non-European and European nationals, and that it was intended as an instrument of oppression which had no place in a democratic South Africa. Ngcukaitobi said there were certain features of the act that were non-justifiable. His client, Malema, had been charged under the act following his calls for South Africans to occupy vacant land. Ngcukaitobi told the court it was unconstitutional for Malema, who in this case was regarded as an inciter of...