EFF SLAMS ‘ANTI-BLACK’ POLICING AFTER KHULI CHANA SHOOTING

Julius Malema’s Economic Freedom Fighters say they are “appalled by reports of the shooting of the young rapper, Khuli Chana”. Police shot and injured Chana in the early hours claiming they had mistaken him for a kidnapper. “This incident is one of many where police, because of their aggressive posture to policing characterised by the ‘shoot to kill’ principle, have made mistakes putting the lives of innocent civilians into danger,” EFF said in a statement. The party also said police had an “anti-black character” where “every black man, particularly in town and in white areas is a permanent criminal suspect”.

JOHANN RUPERT TO FIGHT FRACKING

South Africa’s richest man, Cartier billionaire Johann Rupert, has promised to take a legal fight up to the highest court if the government rushes into granting exploration licences for fracking in the Karoo. A lack of proper consultation with landowners over exploration, he and his legal team argue, has already violated property rights enshrined in the constitution. “We do need electricity. I’m not a troglodyte,” Rupert, who is worth an estimated $6.6 billion, told Reuters this month after mining minister Susan Shabangu made clear she was keen to give the go-ahead. “We just want to know that they are doing it in a safe way,” he said. “If they do not abide by the law and by the constitution then we’ll have to remind them that we do have a constitution.”

ANC DEMANDS APOLOGY FROM US TO SEXWALE AND SA

Prominent South African businessman and former cabinet minister Tokyo Sexwale was arrested in New York after his name was on a list of people banned from entering the United States, the SABC reported, quoting lawyer Lesley Mkhabela. Sexwale was arrested at John F Kennedy International Airport while on a business trip. Some anti-apartheid activists were banned from visiting the United States during apartheid, which ended in 1994. ANC spokesman Jackson Mthembu said the detention was an “affront on the rights and dignity of comrade Tokyo Sexwale [and] necessitates an unconditional apology to him and the people of South Africa from the US administration”.

MODISE: DEATH OF ONE MINER IS A DEATH TOO MANY

An accident at Lonmin’s Marikana mine in which one mineworker was killed and three others injured must be independently investigated, says North West premier, Thandi Modise. She said, while she acknowledged Lonmin’s commitment to investigating the incident, she wanted to “insist that an independent investigation by the department of mineral resources will be more credible to assure us that there was no negligence or failure on its part to adhere to set occupational health and safety standards”. Modise recognised the mine’s “impressive” safety record but said every accident was an opportunity to “learn and implement corrective action to mitigate the reoccurrence of such incidents because one death of a miner on duty is a death too many”.

SLASHING OF LAND CLAIM BUDGET OF GREAT CONCERN

Finance minister Pravin Gordhan, in the medium term budget policy statement, has cut government’s land restitution programme to R2.9 billion, with 397,000 new land claims waiting to be processed. Government has so far only finalised and settled some 59,000 of 77,000 valid claims at a cost of R25.2 billion. “Based on this, government may need as much as R169 billion to settle the outstanding claims,” the DA said in a statement, accusing the rural development department of being “blithely unconcerned”. The party said the restitution and reform process was too slow and that government needed to “back its stated position of support for land reform with the requisite budget”.

KZN POLICE HUNT MAN WHO BEHEADED WOMAN IN KWAMASHU

Police in KwaZulu-Natal are trying to track down the man who allegedly partially beheaded a KwaMashu woman in front of her one-year-old baby. Spokesman Captain Thulane Zwane told the Daily News said he had been on the run since Tuesday. The man was apparently disturbed when trying to cut off the head of Nontobeko Mhlongo. Her one-year-old daughter was found sitting between her legs, crying, on a soccer field in the township’s G-Section. Mhlongo had earlier laid a charge of assault against the man and had also applied for a protection order against the man.

EVENTS BOOST WESTERN CAPE ECONOMY BY R1.3 BILLION

The Western Cape economy received a R1.3 billion boost from major events held in the province, BDlive reported. Finance and economic development MEC, Alan Winde, said large-scale events such as the Cape Town Jazz Festival, the Mining Indaba, the Loerie Awards and Creative Week, the Old Mutual Two Oceans Marathon, the Knysna Oyster Festival, the Cape Epic and the Cape Argus Pick n Pay Cycle tour demonstrated the “diversity of the province’s offering” many of which were held out of season. He said the 19 premier events brought in 196,600 tourists. Cape Town Central City Improvement District — a private-public partnership, said Cape Town takes nearly 50% of the market share of conventions hosted in all of Africa.

HINDU ORGANISATIONS FURIOUS OVER ZAPIRO’S CSA CARTOON

Hindu organisation in South Africa have accused cartoonist Zapiro of “flagrant disrespect and denigration of our glorious Hindu faith”, The Star reported. The cartoon shows the Hindu god of success, Lord Ganesha, wielding a cricket bat and money while two Cricket SA (CSA) officials look set to sacrifice CEO Haroon Lorgat on an altar before the elephant deity. (CSA had earlier suspended Lorgat in order to save India’s SA tour.) The Hindu Dharma Sabha is expected to lay a complaint with the Commission for the Promotion and Protection of the Rights of Cultural, Religious and Linguistic Communities after it was “inundated” with angry calls. DM

Photo: Julius Malema is pictured during an interview with Reuters in Johannesburg July 22, 2013. REUTERS/Siphiwe Sibeko