Security Overtime Shock

The Witness: "Security overtime shock"
A security guard in the Msunduzi Municipality is earning R20 000 a month in overtime alone.

The IFP late yesterday released details of a salary slip it has in its possession that shows that the monthly net salary of the security officer, whose name it is withholding, is R24 358,54.

According to the payslip, he earned a salary of R11 564,77 and overtime of R20 396,50.

Traffic Laws

The Witness: "Traffic laws
27 Mar 2009"
The Editor

DRIVING on the roads of Pietermaritzburg is hazardous and unpleasant. A growing minority of drivers shows scant regard for other vehicles, barging into queues, jumping red traffic lights, exceeding the speed limit and failing to observe a safe following distance.

Law-abiding motorists will have watched recent coverage of the activity of Johannesburg’s metro police with fascination. The true meaning of zero-tolerance towards traffic violations has become very clear: offending drivers have been arrested on the spot and their vehicles towed away and impounded. Many of them, predictably, have been taxis.

Johannesburg’s police were recently placed under new management and a fresh and uncompromising broom is obviously at work. Reckless disregard for the rules of the road can mean the difference between life and death.

Is it too much to hope that such determination to root out dangerous driving might yet be applied to the streets of the City of Choice?

Blackouts

The Witness: "Blackouts
26 Mar 2009"
The Editor

Once again a significant portion of Pietermaritzburg has experienced a breakdown in the supply of electricity. It has been described by Andrew Layman of the city's Chamber of Business as "devastating" in its effects. This applies to homeowners, as well as to commercial enterprises.

The breakdown has fuelled fresh anxiety about serious problems with this and other infrastructural aspects of the municipality. This is justified by the comment by Phil Mashoko, deputy municipal manager for infrastructure services, to the effect that the current restoration of supply is operating at 50% risk, meaning that if it collapses again there is nothing else to lean on as a standby.

It is becoming increasingly clear that piecemeal repairs are no real solution. What is needed is a major overhaul and renewal in a fundamental way. The extension of services to areas which have not been provided for previously - a policy highly commendable in itself - has occurred while existing ageing facilities have been badly neglected. The result is a crazy mixture of new provision alongside major degradation.

The Msunduzi Municipality has been experiencing at a micro level what the nation as a whole has discovered with Eskom. At least with Eskom, while the same kind of piecemeal tinkering continues, there is a longer-term plan in place for additional facilities that will improve and stabilise supply. The local scene cries out for a similar plan, and the funding and human expertise for it need to be urgently found.

Raelin's murder: Facebook group calls for death penalty

The Witness: "Raelin's murder: Facebook group calls for death penalty
27 Mar 2009"
A Facebook group requesting the reinstatement of the death penalty for the murder of six-year-old Raelin Devnarain has attracted more than 5 300 users in 11 days and is continuing to grow rapidly.

The online group, which was started on March 16, has rapidly gained momentum without much assistance from its creator, Litishia Govender.

Govender has just 168 friends on Facebook, while yesterday the group’s membership tally was up to 5 331.

‘We killed Raelin to silence him’

The Witness: "‘We killed Raelin to silence him’
27 Mar 2009"
Zamo Eric Hadebe and Mzwakhe Lucky Zuma, murderers of a promising, lively boy of six, Raelin Devnarain, and merciless attackers of his mother, Pradantha Devnarain, yesterday admitted that they bludgeoned them in order silence their screams. The men were afraid the mother and child would alert neighbours that they were being robbed.

Jailing them both for life for the murder of Raelin, 20 years for the attempted murder of Pradantha, and 15 years for aggravated robbery, Judge Anton van Zyl said it is difficult to visualise more heinous acts than these crimes.

PMB mayor defends herself

The Witness: "PMB mayor defends herself
26 Mar 2009"
The fall-out from Wednesday’s controversial full council meeting, which saw the IFP call for the removal of Mayor Zanele Hlatshwayo over extravangant spending, continues at city hall.

Yesterday’s executive committee (Exco) meeting saw the mayor defend herself, while Deputy Mayor Mervyn Dirks and Councillor Themba Zungu used the meeting to criticise The Witness for its coverage of the municipality.

Hlatshwayo, who did not get an opportunity to speak at Wednesday’s council meeting, had her chance at the start of Exco when a faith-based centre for children in Edendale made a presentation asking for funding to complete its building.

She said that, as fellow councillors could see, there is no money going into a Hlatshwayo trust fund. “The money in the mayoral fund, as set out by legislation, is going to the youth, HIV/Aids projects and children, and there is nothing wrong with giving money to the most disadvantaged.”

Hlatshwayo said that as requests come into her office, she is obliged to consider them and she will continue to do so. “I will not be intimidated,” she said.

Zungu said he was hesitant to speak because it would be reported that his support allowed the mayor to get her way. He added that the ones who say the mayor spends money extravagantly don’t know about the projects she is involved in because it is not reported in the newspaper.

“There is a picture (in the presentation) of the mayor visiting the school. If we take this to the newspaper, I don’t think it will be published.”

When a suggestion came up later in Exco that different units in the municipality should market themselves on their service delivery efforts, both Dirks and Zungu urged the council not to buy space in The Witness. “Buy space in the Sun or Public Eye, not in The Witness; they never say anything positive about the council,” said Dirks.

The mayor came to the defence of the newspaper, firstly saying that when it comes to marketing the services of the different units, “don’t expect the newspaper to do that job for us”. She added that the newspaper has supported her and her programmes to uplift the poor.

Mayor queries Haswell’s sick leave

The Witness: "Mayor queries Haswell’s sick leave
26 Mar 2009"
Msunduzi municipal manager Rob Haswell came under fire once again in an executive committee (Exco) meeting yesterday.

He has been criticised in recent weeks over a number of issues, including his handling of overtime, the rates valuation process and the awarding of a tender of more than R200 million to automate water and electricity readings.

At yesterday’s Exco meeting during a discussion on procurement matters, councillor Themba Zungu called on the procurement unit to buy flowers and a sympathy card for the municipal manager, who has been away from work on sick leave for some time.

However, the mayor pointed out that Haswell cannot be sick because he has been seen jogging near his home every morning.

She suggested The Witness should verify this by sending a photographer to the area one morning.

Attempts to reach Haswell for comment late yesterday were unsuccessful.

Procurement manager Francis Grantham was also cautioned over shortcomings in the running of the supply chain contracts.

Deputy Mayor Mervyn Dirks felt that not enough contracts are going to African people.

Zungu said that the people getting the contracts are those who had benefited in the past. “Those eating are still the same old people who were eating before,” he said.

Hlatshwayo said the shortcomings in the procurement policy and the fact that it does not make provision for co-operatives will be addressed during a policy update and restructuring that is due to take place shortly.

Flying cop ‘eight times over limit’

The Witness: "Flying cop ‘eight times over limit’
26 Mar 2009"
Alexandra Road police officer Inspector Dumisani Mthembu (46) appeared in the Pietermaritzburg Magistrate’s Court yesterday on charges that he drove a car while the concentration of alcohol in his breath was about eight times the legal limit.

Man killed for phones

The Witness: "Man killed for phones
26 Mar 2009"
“I couldn’t cry. I couldn’t think. I just froze in fear,” was how a woman from Azalea, near KwaPata, recounted the invasion of her home in which her husband was shot dead while she was locked in the bathroom — and all for two cellphones.

'Hlatshwayo must go'

The Witness: "'Hlatshwayo must go'
26 Mar 2009"
Thando Mgaga

Knives are out for Msunduzi Municipality Mayor Zanele Hlatshwayo. The IFP in the council yesterday called for Hlatshwayo to be removed as mayor on a motion of no confidence, citing the mayor's alleged extravagant expenditure of public funds on her office's projects, amounting to R7 million.

Speaking during the full council sitting, IFP councillor Candy Seymour said the expenditure had exhausted the budget by mid-year and that Hlatshwayo has refused to account for the expenditure on her January trip to the U.S.. "We can no longer accept or condone the extravagant and arrogant behaviour of the mayor. She is extravagant in that the budget set for mayoral projects in 2008/2009 budget was set at R3,16 million, but that was soon more than doubled to R7 million. Our mid-year budget review indicated that R6,97 million had already been spent, with more than R4 million spent in December 2008 alone," said Seymour.

Seymour said that Hlatshwayo gets her way supported mainly by Deputy Mayor Mervyn Dirks and executive committee (Exco) member Themba Zungu. Outlining Hlatshwayo's extravagance, Seymour said that the mayor spent R1,5 million on a Christmas party for the elderly in December. She said the party was attended by fewer than a thousand people.

"As if all these millions were not enough, the mayor's office requested a further R19,76 million for the remainder of the year. If this is approved, this would then add up to R26 million on mayoral projects for the year. As one ANC councillor said to me: 'The mayor's office is eating all the money', and what a feast it is," said Seymour.

Seymour's motion was supported by the DA after the party requested a caucus on the matter. The ANC rubbished Seymour's motion, saying that it was mere electioneering ahead of the April 22 elections. Dirks disputed the R19,76 million claimed by Seymour to have been requested by the mayor's office.

Councillor Henry Ngubane (ANC) said the motion was an election ploy and that he and other councillors have confidence in the mayor.

"I am shocked. I didn't know the IFP would stoop this low. This is electioneering. Such issues [funds for mayoral projects] were discussed at Exco and accepted. All of sudden because it's election time such things come up," said ANC councillor Pops Chetty.

Hlatshwayo told The Witness that Seymour's claims are personal attacks on her. She challenged Seymour to make the claims in public and questioned whether her allegations would stand in a court of law.

She said that she does not have control of the budget - that was municipal manager Rob Haswell's responsibility. "I do not just take money," said Hlatshwayo. "The mayoral projects are approved by both Exco and full council. The authority I have is on giving donations and I can only give a maximum of R500." She said she had reported her trip to the U.S. to Exco.

Electricity: why city can't cope

The Witness: "Electricity: why city can't cope
26 Mar 2009"
The electricity woes the city has faced over the past few days are the legacy of years of neglect of the city's infrastructure as a result of competing needs after Msunduzi Municipality became responsible for supplying services to extended areas.

Woman loses R2 000 in ATM scam

The Witness: "Woman loses R2 000 in ATM scam
24 Mar 2009"
They dress the part, swipe your card and withdraw your hard earned money in broad daylight.

Video footage of the ATMs on the second floor of Northway Mall exposed an ATM card theft syndicate — and according to the mall’s management, this incident is a clear indication that they know what they’re doing.

Alarm as city power cuts out

The Witness: "Alarm as city power cuts out
24 Mar 2009"
While a tenuous power supply could be leaving parts of the city vulnerable to outages of massive proportions, residents have been warned to cut back on their power consumption as much as possible to ease the load on the ailing system, which failed on Monday night.

Power to those parts of the city affected was restored last night, easing the mass panic that ensued yesterday after a rumour circulated that the electricity would be off for up to four days.

Phil Mashoko, deputy municipal manager for infrastructure services, quashed the rumour, but admitted that the power supply to the parts of the city that went down yesterday is now operating at 50% risk, meaning that it if goes down, there is no replacement and nothing to use as standby.

“If it faults, we have a big problem,” said Mashoko.

The Witness

The Witness: "Car flew over teen's head
23 Mar 2009"
Sixteen-year-old Joel Gray narrowly escaped death after a vehicle driven by a policeman flew over his head and landed in the front garden of his friend’s house in Jesmond Road on Saturday

The Witness

The Witness: "Town planning: Board upholds appeals after four-year battle
23 Mar 2009"
A group of Prestbury residents, many of them pensioners, have won a four-year battle with the Msunduzi Municipality over town planning violations that saw the municipality allow two industrial-type businesses to be established in a residential area.

The Town Planning Appeals Board has upheld the residents’ objection and found the municipality’s decision to allow the businesses to continue to be a flouting of the province’s town planning ordinances.

For the residents, the issue highlights the flaws and inconsistencies in how the municipality manages town planning in the city.

The Witness

The Witness: "Haswell attacked over roll
23 Mar 2009"
Msunduzi Deputy Mayor Mervin Dirks criticised municipal manager Rob Haswell and city real estate manager Blackie Zwart over the latest property valuation roll, which he described as a mess, at a packed meeting at the Northdale Civic Centre on Thursday night.

The buck stops with the municipal manager he said, "and the whole community knows how [the] municipal manager treated us in the past".

The Witness

The Witness: "Muggers kill soccer player
23 Mar 2009"
LOCAL football team Maritzburg City is mourning the loss of mid-fielder Khumbulani Luthuli, who was stabbed to death by muggers in Deanery Lane in the early hours of Saturday morning.

The Witness

The Witness: "Eastwood anc, YCL reject their councillor
19 Mar 2009"
ANC and Young Communist League (YCL) members in Eastwood have joined residents there in their quest to remove Ward 34 councillor Mzwakhe Dladla, allegedly for failing to deliver on the needs of residents.

Dladla (ANC) is accused by residents, the YCL and some of his party supporters of nepotism, favouritism, treating residents with disrespect and failure to bring development, such as housing, to ward 34.

The Witness

The Witness: "Anger over unpaid debts
18 Mar 2009"
A PIETERMARITZBURG businessman whose brother is the director-general of the national Health Department has been accused of alleged financial mismanagement by those he contracted to stage a TB awareness play.

The Witness

The Witness: "Body: police seek identity
18 Mar 2009"
Police are trying to identify the battered body of a young woman, found on Tuesday near the Slangspruit Primary School in Edendale.

The Witness

The Witness: "Accused caught on CCTV
17 Mar 2009"
Forty minutes before she was found stabbed to death in a toilet at Gani’s Flats in Pietermaritzburg on February 24 at 10.30 am, CCTV video footage captured mother of two Fiona Khader (27) entering the block with her mother-in-law, Romila Singh (55) Singh stands accused of her murder.

The Witness

The Witness: "Woman killed after fight with relative
17 Mar 2009"
THE police are on the hunt for a 25-year-old man in connection with the murder of an Msunduzi municipal employee who was stabbed on Monday morning at her home.

The Witness

The Witness: "‘Job seekers’ tie up man (72) for R8
16 Mar 2009"
ROBBERS tied up a 72-year-old farmer with an electrical cable before robbing him of his wallet and electronic appliances in Balgowan on Sunday.

James Mounter was robbed by two men at his Oakley farm home in the Balgowan area.

A total of R8 in cash, a hi-fi receiver, a Pioneer DVD player, a satellite decoder and a Nokia 5140 cellphone were taken from Mounter’s house on Sunday.

The Witness

The Witness: "Papli accused denies guilt
16 Mar 2009"
Pietermaritzburg salesman Nivesh Doodla (26) pleaded not guilty in an emotionally charged high court yesterday to the murder of his girlfriend, Gail Papli.

She was stabbed to death on February 10 last year. In a statement, he described her death as a “tragic accident”.

The Witness

The Witness: "Funeral: Family bury boy as mother still lies unconscious in hospital
15 Mar 2009"
While a young Northdale mother, Pradantha Devnarain, lay unconscious in the intensive care unit of a city hospital yesterday, her family and friends were sadly saying their final farewells to her son, six-year-old Raylin, who was bludgeoned to death with a hammer at his home on Friday last week.

The Witness

The Witness: "Hunt for six-year-old’s killers"
THE key to solving the brutal murder of six-year-old Raylin Devnarain and the attack on his mother, Pradantha Devnarain (28), is gardener Zamo Eric Hadebe, the police have said.

The Witness

The Witness: "Congolese man killed in Imbali
15 Mar 2009"
A refugee leader in the city has called for calm following the brutal killing of a Congolese man in Imbali on Friday night, during which he was offered no help from locals.