Cape Town cop commits suicide

A Cape Town policeman shot dead his girlfriend and committed suicide in Mfuleni early yesterday evening. It is reported that the officer was attached to the Crime Intelligence Unit. Police spokesperson Billy Jones says the 31-year-old constable was not on duty when he shot his 22-year-old girlfriend with his private firearm at her house in Mfuleni. She died on the scene. The policeman fled to his own home where he shot himself in the head. The Independent Complaints Directorate will investigate the tragedy.

In Khayelitsha, police have appealed for assistance from the public in the search for a five-year-old boy who went missing from the vicinity of his home in the Green Point informal settlement early on Monday evening. Jones told NewsFlash little Spenathi Loliwe can be described as very dark of complexion, slender, with brown eyes and short black hair. Jones says Spenathi is small for his age and was wearing a grey jersey and long green pants when he was last seen. Anyone with information can call Crime Stop on 08600 10111.

Makeshift hearses on the increase on national roads

It is reported that coffins, suitcases and cadavers are often part of the luggage in vehicles and trailers on the country's roads. The makeshift hearses on the N1 and N2 are on their way to cemeteries in the Eastern Cape and various other destinations over weekends. A traffic official says over holidays and long weekends, as many as 15 bodies are transported by family members and most of them are taken to the Eastern Cape. A manager of a funeral parlour says families are often forced to do this because they don't have enough money to pay an undertaker.

Taxi driver killed in Khayelitsha

Three men killed a 44-year-old taxi driver inside his taxi in Khayelitsha last night. It is reported that Adolphus Zitha was instructed by the armed men, who were passengers in the taxi, to stop the vehicle in Walter Sisulu Drive. They then began shooting at Zitha while they got out of the taxi. Zitha sustained several gunshot wounds to his body and died on the scene. Police spokesperson, Billy Jones, says that the motive for the attack is unknown, and a case of murder has been opened. Anyone with information, is asked to call the Crime Stop number of 08600 10 triple 1.

The Bush Radio Newsroom

In the pic: (seated) Nadia Samie and Lunga Guza. (standing, L to R) Megan Hartogh, Busisiwe Mtabane and Bronwen Heather Dyke.

Life in a newsroom is always a frenzied one. The newsroom at Bush Radio, based in Cape Town, South Africa, is no exception. The five people who make up the newsteam are constantly governed by time and driven by a constant stream of deadlines.
As a community organisation, Bush Radio exists to serve the community. Therefore, the newsteam’s most valued source of information is the woman/man on the street.

At least 80 percent of each news bulletin is made up of local news.
Probably one of the biggest differences between commercial media and community media is that the former will source the story from the top down, while the latter will tackle the same story at grassroots level, and then approach the top echelons (be it government or business) and ask what is being done about the problem.

The Bush Radio newsroom currently comprises of a trainee news editor who is a Journalism graduate from the Cape Peninsula University of Technology (CPUT), a reporter who is a Journalism graduate from Rhodes University in Grahamstown and three interns (2nd year journo students) from the Cape Peninsula University of Technology (who are required to complete a one-year internship in order to complete their National Diploma in Journalism).
Nadia Samie
Trainee News Editor

We value your input. Want to comment? Drop the newsroom an email to news@bushradio.co.za or to find out more about the Mother of Community Radio in Africa, log onto www.bushradio.co.za.

No more squatters allowed in District Six

The City of Cape Town says it will not allow any more families to build shacks in District Six. City police removed two families, who tried to move onto the land near the CBD over the weekend. They reportedly wanted to join the 35 families who were relocated there from a nearby settlement known as Beverley Hills. The city has repeatedly said that the move is temporary and that plans are already in place to build a shelter for them in Delft. The squatters will be moved early next month.

Nyanga kids take to the streets

By Megan Hartogh

Numerous township streets were closed to traffic yesterday, as almost 200 children from Nyanga took to the streets to play cricket. The cricket game, which is the first of many to be played over the next six weeks, was organised by a group of teenagers from the area. The teenagers from Nyanga Cricket Club and Nyanga Chrysalis Community Club say that these matches are being done in an attempt to steer children away from crime and help them take an interest in the game.

Cape Town surfer survives shark attack

Yet another surfer has been attacked by a Great White shark off the Cape coast. Twenty-year-old Stiaan van Zyl of Tokai near Cape Town was bitten on the right foot at the popular Uilenkraalsmond holiday resort near Gansbaai. Van Zyl was wading chest deep into the sea when a three-metre shark grabbed his foot, lifting him out of the water and shaking him like a rag. The shark suddenly let go and Stiaan managed to reach the shore where bystanders rushed to his aid. He has been admitted to the Groote Schuur Hospital where his Achilles heel tendon was stitched up in an emergency operation.

ANC leadership row deepens

Intelligence Minister Ronnie Kasrils has warned that the e-mails doing the rounds about an alleged conspiracy involving the leadership of the ANC should be ignored. Kasrils compared the e-mails to the practices of the apartheid era Stratcom. Kasrils gave little detail about the e-mails in a public statement, but Intelligence Inspector-General Zolile Ngcakani has been tasked to investigate their origin. The intrigues around the country's intelligence community and the struggle over the presidential succession within the ANC has necessitated another extension of the investigation that started with a probe of unlawful surveillance of businessman and leading ANC figure Saki Macozoma.

A man arrested for possession of cocaine at Cape Town Airport

Western Cape police say they arrested a 38-year-old Peruvian man for the possession of cocaine at Cape Town International Airport yesterday. The cocaine was estimated to have a street value of 350-thousand rand. Police spokesperson Bernadine Steyn told NewsFlash the arrest followed an investigation by the Organized Crime Investigation Unit after they received a tip-off. The man arrived on a flight from South-America and was carrying ninety Cocaine bullets in his stomach that were medically recovered and seized.

Race row still raising concern

The race row in the judicial system still raises concerns. The Cape Bar Council has joined others in the legal fraternity by expressing concern about the lack of resolution in the recent race row. Ashton Schippers, Chairperson of the Cape Bar Council says the council had referred the racism allegations to the Chief Justice for consideration and appropriate action. Meanwhile Acting Judge Tandazwa Ndita who claimed that she wanted to quit soon after taking up her appointment because of racism and sexism in the judiciary has withdrawn her compliant to the Cape Law Society. Ndita’s racism issue is left unresolved.

Reaction to suspension of top officials

The Democratic Alliance says reports that Intelligence Minister Ronnie Kasrils has suspended two top officials from the National Intelligence Agency are cause for grave concern. DA chief whip Douglas Gibson said that the two officials’ suspension for allegedly ordering the illegal surveillance of ANC heavyweight, and close loyalist of President Thabo Mbeki, Saki Macozoma, illustrates yet again how infighting within the ANC is threatening to undermine national security. Gibson says the conduct of NIA Director General Billy Masethla must be urgently investigated, to determine whether he sanctioned illegal activity of this sort.
Meanwhile the African Christian Democratic Party calls on Intelligence Minister Ronnie Kasrils to explain what steps are being taken to ensure that the use of state resources for unauthorized surveillance do not occur in the future. ACDP spokesperson for Justice and Constitutional matters, Steve Swart, says they have just learned that NIA Director General Billy Masetla is suspended. Swart says they will be taking the matter in Parliament

Winelands toll road approved

Residents of Somerset West near Cape Town are studying the impact of a toll road on the N2 highway, approved by the Minister of Environmental Affairs and Tourism Marthinus van Schalkwyk. If the toll road is built, together with the proposed toll road on the other Cape Town highway, the N1, it will mean that most people will have to pay to get in and out of the city. In Somerset West, Van Schalkwyk has recommended that part of the new road should include a 150 metre long underground tunnel, to avoid the community of Helderzicht being split in two.

Armed robbery in Woodstock

By Nadia Samie

An armed robbery occurred outside the Woodstock Day Hospital in Mouintain Road, Woodstock on Thursday afternoon. One of the robbers was allegedly shot by a hospital security guard. A woman, Faieza Wyngaard, and her nineteen-year-old daughter Fatima, were held up at gunpoint by two robbers after they withdrew ten thousand rand from the Absa bank in Victoria Road. The incident occurred at around 1pm. Wyngaard spoke to Bush Radio, at Woodstock Day hospital, where she works. She says that she suspects the teller who gave her the money may be in on the robbery, as he had made her wait for an unreasonably long time once she had requested the cash. She also alleges that the robber knew exactly where on her body the money was. Although Woodstock police had arrived on the scene, they waited for a full hour to interview Wyngaard.

Car free day today

By Megan Hartogh

Today has been declared National Car Free Day. Minister of Transport, Jeff Radebe, announced this in an attempt to encourage the use of public transport. Between 6 A.M and 9 A.M, as well as between 4 P.M and 6 P.M today designated vehicles will use bus and taxi lanes only. The route from Mitchell’s Plain to Cape Town will also be closed to cars. This route starts in Mitchell’s Plain, into Vanguard Drive and continues on the N2, before joining the Main Road in Mowbray.

New waste drop-off facility in the city

By Lunga Guza

The City of Cape Town has announced that a new waste drop-off facility has been opened. The new site is situated off Princess George Drive in Wynberg, between the electricity service offices and the Bonnytown house school. The waste drop off facility will operate between 7:30am and 5:30pm, from Monday to Friday. It will also be opened on public holidays. Co-ordinator for Planning and development for City of Cape Town Stephen Morkel says people in Wynberg and the surroundings will have easy access to the drop facility, the services of which will be free of charge.

Public servants in court for fraud

By Busisiwe Mtabane

At least sixty-five public servants in the Western Cape will appear in the Athlone District Court today to face charges of defrauding the social grant system. Peter Bishop from the Special Investigating Unit says the officials were arrested after an interdepartmental initiative was launched to rid social grant system of unscrupulous beneficiaries who illegally benefited from the money meant for the poor.
Social development Minister, Zola Skweyiya has vowed to continue to clamp down on corrupt operators involved in crimes against the social grants system.

Nursing bill comes under the spotlight

By Bronwen Heather Dyke

The nursing profession has once again come under the spotlight. Parliaments portfolio committee on Health is currently engaged in hearings concerning the implementation of the Nursing Bill. The purpose of the hearings is to engage with the relevant stakeholders concerning certain provisions within the bill. The Bill’s objective is to serve and protect the public when accessing health services provided by the nursing profession as well as to make provision for acceptable nursing care. The Society of Nursing Practitioners has reportedly opposed the bill because of its proposed licencing fees as well as registration periods. There has also been dissatisfaction regarding the lack of reference made to Midwives, who are internationally recognized as a distinct profession.