DUNCAN GUY

NEIGHBOURHOOD watchesin the crime-plagued Highwayarea have proposed that thetaxi industry be on the invita-tion list for a high-level meet-ing to address the scourge.

“We want all role-players totake part, including the taxiservice,” said NikkiMohlmann, who is on the exec-utive committee of the KloofCommunity Policing Forum.

“Criminals often use taxis toescape.”

Rick Crouch, the Democra-

tic Alliance councillor for Kloofand Gillitts, said he had spentyesterday morning at a plan-ning meeting for the event,scheduled for Wednesday atHillcrest’s City Hill Church. Hesaid the provincial premier andthe entire cabinet were ex-pected to attend.

Crouch questioned the effec-tiveness of police reinforce-ments, saying they were actingreactively instead of proac-

tively. “It hasn’t stemmed thetide at all,” he said.

“I still receive daily reportsof housebreaking and busi-nesses being broken into, andpeople going around casing outhouses. I don’t think the taskforce is making a dent.

“They should have thenames of everybody out on bailand on parole. They are thenumber-one suspects. Theyshould be harassing them,”

Crouch said. “They’re a smallminority, these repeat offend-ers.”

Police spokesman Lieu-tenant-Colonel VincentMdunge hit back, callingCrouch’s remarks “discourag-ing and irresponsible for aleader” and said he was insti-gating public panic.

He said the task team hadbrought a high degree of policevisibility and included the

Hawks, a highly-trained techni-cal police deployment andhighly-experienced investiga-tors and docket handlers.

“In the past eight days, sincethe deployment started, therehave been only unsuccessful(break-in) attempts.”

Citing two incidents, he saidpolice had immediately made itto one crime scene, where theyarrested four people. In an-other, the owner of the prop-

erty refused to charge a sus-pect.

He said that the provincialpolice commissioner hadtoured the entire Highwayarea, up to Hammarsdale.

“Feedback we have receivedfrom the general public is thatthere is peace of mind andsome people even sleep withtheir windows open.”

Meanwhile, a Neighbour-hood Watch spokeswoman in

Waterfall said there was still nosign of extra policing.

Karen Baxter of the Water-fall Three watch said this weektwo people who claimed to be“just walking” one night thisweek were suspected of havingthrown house-breaking equip-ment – hammers, spanners anda crowbar – into the bush uponseeing a patrol.

“Meanwhile, Mohlmannadded that “incidents keep onhappening”. One of the latestwas at a garage in Kloof whereattendants were held up at gun-point in their locker room.

Pro-dagga gathering at marketSIHLE MTHEMBU

PATRONS at Essenwood FleaMarket may encounter morethan the usual fare in the parkthis morning.

Organisers of a protest forthe legalisation of marijuanafeel they “have turned the cor-ner” and are hoping hundredsof people will gather in publicareas around the country in adisplay of solidarity in thenational 4/20 campaign.

According to Sarah-JaneBow, who is the spokeswomanfor the Durban chapter of theevent, they expect a few hun-dred people to make their wayto the gathering, which willtake place in Durban’s Essen-wood Park at 10am today.

This year will not be the

first time the gathering willtake place – last year a similarevent was held at the samevenue.

“But we’re expecting aslightly bigger crowd this yearbecause more and more peopleare becoming open to the sub-

ject – from housewives to pro-fessionals. It’s no longer astaboo as it used to be,” saidBow.

The term 4/20 has been acode word among marijuanausers for decades and is a refer-ence to a song by The GratefulDead as well as Quentin Taran-tino’s Pulp Fiction movie,which makes mention of thephrase in connection withsmoking dagga.

The 4/20 gathering is thefirst of two major events thatare scheduled to take place thisyear to support the legalisationof the drug. Cape Town, wheremore than 1 000 people are ex-pected, and Johannesburg willalso be hosting similar events,according to national co-ordi-nator Imiel Visser.

NewsPage 2THE INDEPENDENT

on Saturday20 April 2013

snapshots1 killed, one hurtA MAN was shot dead andanother wounded when fourmen opened fire at the Ballitotaxi rank, KwaZulu-Natalpolice said yesterday.

“Four armed unknown menfired shots at a vehicle that wasparked at the Boulevardshopping centre on Thursdayafternoon,” Colonel VincentMdunge said.

A 27-year-old passer-by diedat the scene and another manwas wounded.

Police are investigatingcases of murder and attemptedmurder. No arrests have beenmade. – Sapa

New SAA chiefSA AIRWAYS had appointedseasoned corporate leaderMonwabisi Kalawe as its newchief executive, the state-ownedairline said yesterday.

“The board workedtirelessly to find a suitableleader who will lead by exampleand stabilise the internalenvironment while workingtowards ensuring goodcorporate governance withinthe airline,” the board’s actingchairwoman, Dudu Myeni,said. Myeni thanked NicoBezuidenhout for acting aschief executive. – Sapa

JZ’s surprise visitPRESIDENT Jacob Zumaarrived unannounced at theSunnyside police station inPretoria yesterday morning toinspect the quality of service tothe public.

He said afterwards thestation was struggling to copewith the number of residents inthe area.

“I think it is the busiestpolice station in Pretoria. I alsothink it is overwhelmed by thepopulation here,” he said.

Astonished police officersstared at the president and hisentourage. – Sapa

Rape dad jailedA KWAZULU-NATAL fatherhas been jailed for 15 years bythe Empangeni Regional Courtfor raping his daughter, policesaid yesterday.

Colonel Vincent Mdungesaid the man was sentenced onThursday.

He raped his then 14-year-olddaughter twice in May last yearat his house in the Macekanearea, where she had gone tovisit him with her two siblings.

“She escaped after thesecond rape and was laterrescued by a neighbour,” hesaid. – Sapa

Call for actionCELL C chief executive AlanKnott-Craig has warned oflegal action if the telecomsregulator does not cut mobiletermination rates by the end ofthe year, according to a reportyesterday.

“I will use everything in mypower to get Icasa (theIndependent CommunicationsAuthority of SA) to do its job,”Knott-Craig told Business Daynewspaper.

“We have to protect ourcompany and the industry. It isalso in the interest ofconsumers.” – Sapa

Signs of timesTHE TSHWANE metro wasordered yesterday to stopremoving old street names inPretoria for the time being.

The Pretoria High Courtinstructed the metro to refrainfrom removing street namespending the finalisation of anongoing adjudication process.The court also ordered that theold names back be put back.

Civil rights groupAfriForum brought theapplication, arguing that thechange would causeinconvenience to people. – Sapa

There was no jackpotwinner. The estimatedjackpot for Tuesday’s drawis R11 million. Last night’s payouts: Match 5 R255 392 4 + PowerBall R17 354Match 4 R3683 + PowerBall R383 Match 3 R172 + PowerBall R19 1 + PowerBall R11

10 13 26 28 39 2

RELIEVED: Durban pensioner Thembekile Shange’s electricity was disconnected last week after she received twoexorbitant bills of close to R18 000 and R19 000 owed to the eThekwini municipality. The power was reconnected afterThe Independent on Saturday highlighted her plight. PICTURE: SANDILE MAKHOBA

SARAH-JANE BOW

Bid to involve taxi industry in Highway crime fight

Booze ban:Fans wouldstampedeNONDUMISO MBUYAZI

THERE would be a stam-pede if the multitude ofDurban rugby fanswere expected to drink

alcohol only inside liquor out-lets, police have said.

In a statement released onThursday, Sharks managementsaid it would be business andbeers “as usual” for rugby fansat this afternoon’s clash withthe Cheetahs.

The management said pa-trons and supporters will beable to bring alcohol into theouter fields precinct during to-day’s game.

“Going forward, patronsand supporters will still be ableto enjoy having braais and con-suming alcohol on the outerfields.

However, they will have topurchase alcohol from Sharksoutlets on the outer fieldsprecinct.”

Responding to the earlierpurported alcohol ban on theKings Park Stadium outerfields after British citizen BrettWilliams was beaten and killed,allegedly by a group ofdrunken men, provincial policespokesman Colonel VincentMdunge said there would be aheavy police presence at thestadium “as per usual” but offi-cers would not be “huntingdown” rugby fans who con-sumed alcohol on the outerfields.

“The outlets that the rugbyfans buy their liquor from arelicensed,” he said.

“Why than would you arrestsomeone who bought theirliquor from a licensed place?There is obviously not enoughspace in these outlets to accom-modate the fans.

“There would be a stampedeif the thousands of rugby fanswere all expected to consumetheir alcohol inside where theypurchased it.”

When asked if the policewould turn a blind eye to pa-trons drinking on the outerfields, Mdunge said: “If there isany infringement of the law,police will deal with it.

“But they (police) will not behunting down people whodrink on the outer fields.”

The KwaZulu-Natal LiquorAuthority has, however, re-mained adamant on the alcoholban, saying four inspectorswould be deployed at the sta-dium to enforce compliancewith licence conditions.

Board chief executive StellaKhumalo said the inspectors,with the assistance of a strongpolice contingent, would moni-tor all licensed premises withinthe stadium precinct to ensure

that there was no drinking onthe outer fields.

Warning liquor outlets, shesaid the board would not renewtheir licences if they werefound to have transgressed thestipulated conditions.

Khumalo said that while the legislation applied to all en-tities trading in liquor, theboard had held meetings onlywith the Kings Park manage-ment.

“We will be engaging man-agement of Moses MabhidaStadium soon,” she said.

Berea Rovers chairmanWayne Scott said it was sadthat “things had got to this”,but nevertheless the club “to-tally understands what’s goingon” after Williams’s murderand had prepared for extraliquor sales.

It was allowed to sell alcoholonly in a demarcated areaaround its clubhouse.

He said the club would ad-vise people in writing thatdrinking in public is not per-mitted.

“The signs are up,” he said.

SEE PAGE 6

Drinking on outer fields okay

IOS helps Durban pensioner turn light onNONDUMISO MBUYAZI

A DURBAN pensioner who re-ceived two exorbitant electric-ity bills last month was forcedto cook on an open fire for 10days after the city disconnectedher electricity.

The power was reconnectedon Thursday after The Inde-pendent on Saturday high-lighted Thembekile Shange’splight, prompting an interven-tion by city manager S’bu Sit-hole. “My electricity was dis-connected last week on Monday

and I had to start a fire outsidemy house every day to cook,”said Shange, who has been inand out of hospital after herhealth took a turn for the worsesoon after receiving the firstbill. Shange was twice admittedto hospital after complaining ofheart palpitations.

Speaking from her UmlaziK section home, the 73-year-olddiabetic grandmother said shewas still making inquiriesabout the two accounts foramounts of about R18 000 andR19 000 when the service was

abruptly cut. Shange’s nightmare began

early last month when she re-ceived the first letter, which in-dicated that she had an out-standing bill of R17 962.

Her shock was exacerbatedwhen the second bill was deliv-ered two weeks later, reflectinga sum of R18 962 owed.

The amounts she reportedlyowed were 36 times more thanher usual monthly bill, whichshe said ranged between R300and R500.

Soon after her electricity

was disconnected, the paperbrought Shange’s plight to Sit-hole’s attention. He immedi-ately contacted the city’s headof electricity, Sandile Maphu-mulo, who instructed his unitto investigate the bill.

Maphumulo said the cityhad decided to reconnect theelectricity, pending an investi-gation of the two amounts.

Shange expressed her grati-tude to the paper. “It is allthanks to you guys that mypower is back on and I can cookmy morning porridge again.”

‘Considerable force’ neededfor beheadings, court toldCONSIDERABLE force isneeded to behead someone, theDurban High Court heard yes-terday.

Pathologist NonhlanhlaShamase – who carried outpost-mortems on four men for-mer Blue Bulls flankerPhindile Joseph Ntshongwanaallegedly killed – told the courtthat to chop a head clean off, anattacker would have to cutthrough skin, muscle and bone.

Three of Ntshongwana’s al-leged victims were decapitated.

Asked by prosecutor ReaMina whether the head of oneof the murder victims “was at-tached to the trunk only by twostrands of skin”, Shamaseagreed.

Asked how much forcewould have been used in the at-tack on Thembelenkosini Ce-bekhulu, who was 1.69m talland weighed 83kg, she said: “Itwould have been quite a consid-erable force since the neckbone was severed.”

Apart from being chargedwith murdering Cebekhulu inMontclair on March 20, 2011,Ntshongwana is also accused of

murdering Paulos Hlongwa inLamontville on March 22, 2011,and Simon Ngidi in Umbilo onMarch 23, 2011.

The fourth victim, whosedecomposing body was discov-ered near a railway line 500mfrom Ntshongwana’s home onApril 1, 2011, appeared to havebeen beaten with a blunt in-strument.

Ntshongwana is also ac-cused of kidnapping and rap-ing a woman on November 28,2010, and faces a charge of as-sault with intent to do grievousbodily harm.

Shamase said the dimen-sion of the wounds on three ofthe bodies were compared withan axe police brought her forcomparison.

“The dimensions of thewound matched the axe,” shesaid.

Under cross-examinationfrom Ntshongwana’s advocateThemba Mjoli, she concededthat while she had measuredthe length of the wounds, shehad not measured the axe.

The trial continues on Mon-day. – Sapa

Gasa’s lover given car,money, friend claimsFROM PAGE 1

Gasa’s associates have saidthat during the short-lived rela-tionship, the businessman hadgiven the man one of his cars.

One of his mother’s friendssaid the young man had beenseen driving the car in theGroutville area but the familydidn’t think much of it, assum-ing it belonged to one of hisfriends.

A long-time business associ-ate of Gasa said he was “openlygay” hence his separation fromSinenhlanhla.

Another business associatesaid: “I was acquainted withhim and yes he was openly gay.It was not a secret.”

Describing him as a giving,humble and ethical business-man the associate said it wasan open secret that Gasa hadsexual relationships withyoung men, particularly stu-dents.

“He would give them loadsof money,” she said. “Most peo-ple who knew him were awareof his sexual preferences, butthat doesn’t change the factthat he was a generous and

humble man.”A Durban gay socialite said

there is a “large” community ofgay married men who areknown as “after nine”.

The term is coined from theSABC TV mini-series that fol-lowed the exploits of black gaymen in modern society.

It delved into the secret un-derworld of a black gay busi-nessman and his inner strug-gles to find a way to deal withthe torment of revealing histrue sexuality to his wife andfamily.

The socialite said whileGasa had not divulged his sex-ual preferences to the world, healso didn’t hide it, like otherwealthy Durban men who wentto great lengths to portraythemselves as staunch tradi-tionalists who would never en-gage in such relationships.

Seeco said Gasa’s two sonshad attended this week’s courtproceedings. “The sons saidthey had never seen the suspectbefore,” he said, emphasisingthat Gasa’s four children lovedtheir father unconditionally,despite the gay rumours.

Ex-ANC councillor goes to court to stop Vryheid electionSIHLE MTHEMBU

WEDNESDAY’S by-election inVryheid’s ward 22 is underthreat.

Andre Lotter, a former ANCcouncillor in the area, has filedan urgent application with theNational Electoral Court tostop the election from goingahead.

According to Lotter, the pollwould not be fair as he believesthe ANC has been bussing inpeople from as far as Mondlo

and Nongoma to register ille-gally. “The ANC in Vryheid isbeing allowed to get away withcorruption and they are doingso and being helped by the IEC.Over 2 400 people have beenregistered for the voters’ rollwho are not from ward 22 andnothing has been done,” saidLotter.

Commenting on the issueGranville Abrahams, a seniormanager at the IEC, said thatthey were aware of Lotter’scomplaints and were conduc-

ing their own investigation. The ANC in the province

says the accusations are un-founded. ANC provincialspokesman Senzo Mkhize saidthat these were just delayingtactics from a former comrade.

“We have heard the accusa-tions and as the ANC we cannotstop him from following theprocedures he feels are neces-sary to stop the election fromgoing ahead. But we as theANC know this is not true andit’s just tactics to take our

minds off our main goal andwe are not really worried.”

Lotter had resigned from hispost as ward 22 councillor inJanuary citing lack of supportfrom the ANC as well as cor-ruption within the municipal-ity. “I felt like I was not gettingsupport from my fellow com-rades with implementing devel-opment plans and when themunicipality got a disclaimerfrom the auditor-general andthere were millions of randmissing that was the last straw

and I decided to resign from theANC,” said Lotter.

However, he was not able toregister as an independent can-didate due to IEC regulationswhich Lotter labelled “unfair”.

The electoral court is sched-uled to convene on Monday tomake a decision on whether theelection, which is scheduled forWednesday, will go ahead.

Meanwhile, the ANC ispulling out all the stops to en-sure victory over rivals IFP inthe highly contested region.

Salt march is reprisedSTAFF REPORTER

MORE than eight decades agoMahatma Gandhi led thou-sands of people on a 390km saltmarch from Ahmedabad toDandi, on the coast of Gujaratin India.

Tomorrow thousands ofpeople in Durban will embarkon a similar walk, celebratingthe reason for Gandhi’s firstmarch – to stand up for therights of people which inGandhi’s case was to defy thesalt tax imposed by the British

government in India.This is the ninth salt march

in Durban, held by the GandhiDevelopment Trust, and thou-sands are expected to takepart in the up to 22km, non-competitive walk from theGandhi Settlement in Inanda tothe Kings Park Stadium in Dur-ban.

Registration forms for entrywill be available on buses andat the Phoenix Settlement.

For more information con-tact Kidar Ramgobin on081 750 1004.

SIGN OF THETIMES: GaryHarty fromPerfect Signsputs the finishingtouches to oneof the manynotices at theouter fields ofKing’s Park.

PICTURE: ZANELE ZULU