Woman bites off rapist's tongue
22/05/2008 11:05 - (SA)

Thabisile Khoza

Barberton - A woman bit off a rapist's tongue when he tried to kiss her.

The man stabbed her in the shoulder to force her to let him go and then fled.

The woman placed the tongue in a plastic bag and took it to the Barberton police station in Mpumalanga.

"She came in at about 03:00 carrying a white packet half a tongue in it," said station spokesperson, Constable Jabu Ndubane.

The 34-year-old woman said she was attacked after leaving a night vigil near her house in Extension 9 of Barberton.

A man followed her she said and the suddenly grabbed her and forced her to undress.

"She said she didn't resist and did everything he forced her to do because he was holding a knife," said Ndubane.

The man raped her and then complained when she didn't respond.

"He accused her of lying there like a dead person, so she explained that she didn't have any feelings for him because he never romanced her. That's when he put his tongue in her mouth and she bit it," said Ndubane.

The rapist stabbed her in her right hand shoulder to force her to let him go and then ran away.

The tongue will be sent to Pretoria for forensic tests.

In the mean time, anyone who knows of a man in the Barberton area who is nursing an injured tongue is asked to call the Barberton police on (013) 712 1448.

Attacks subside in Gauteng
21/05/2008 14:09 - (SA)

Johannesburg - The xenophobic attacks in Gauteng appeared to have subsided, a provincial spokesperson said on Wednesday.

However, KwaZulu-Natal police are monitoring a possible outbreak of attacks there.

"There are no new reports of attacks," said Thabo Masebe, deputy director of communications for the provincial government.

"Our sense is that the situation is under control, but we will continue to monitor the areas and take action when necessary."

This would include watching developments on trains following a warning that commuters could be targeted.

People burnt alive

However, a Sapa staffer in Sebokeng said some shops there had been looted earlier on Wednesday.

On Monday police said 22 people had died since the violence began in Alexandra last week and spread to informal settlements on the perimeter of Johannesburg.

Masebe attributed the "calm" to the combination of police intervention and co-operation from the communities wracked by the violence, which saw people being burnt alive and homes and businesses destroyed.

Authorities are currently also working on maintaining food supplies for the thousands of people displaced by the violence and discussing finding alternative temporary shelter for people seeking refuge at police stations.

Police spokesperson Director Govindsamy Mariemuthoo said that over 300 people had been arrested so far and he would release updated figures on the number of people killed later on Wednesday.

Earlier, he said three people were shot and wounded at Phomolong in Tembisa on Tuesday night. They were taken to hospital. Their nationality has not yet been established, he said.

A crowd also had to be dispersed in Kya Sands on the West Rand.

Mariemuthoo said one shack was set alight in Gugulethu and one in Ramaphosa on Tuesday night.

The crisis has displaced hundreds of foreigners causing them to run for cover at police stations, churches and shelters with some even seeking government assistance to return back home.

Earlier, the safety and security ministry said it had asked the SA National Defence Force to help supply equipment, but not troops, to help control the attacks.

Safety and Security spokesperson Trevor Bloem said: "There has been no special request in terms of manpower, however, there are efforts for the military maybe to assist in terms of equipment. We are not asking the military to send troops out to these areas."

The KwaZulu-Natal government said an attack on a tavern owned by Nigerians in Durban's Umbilo was political, not xenophobic.

At least 150 people turned on the tavern owners on Tuesday night and a local hostel has decided not to admit foreigners.

KwaZulu-Natal's Safety and Security MEC Bheki Cele accused the Inkatha Freedom Party of being behind the attacks, allegedly involving residents from the Dalton Road men's hostel.

A large contingent of Metro police and officers from the SA Police Services were monitoring the situation.

YOu have to be kidding me......

'We're waiting on Mbeki'
21/05/2008 08:44 - (SA)


Erika Gibson, Beeld

Johannesburg - The army was on standby on Tuesday to help combat violence in xenophobic hotspots in Gauteng, but can do nothing unless instructed by President Thabo Mbeki.

A meeting between representatives of the police and the South African National Defence Force (SANDF) ended without an agreement on Tuesday.

According to Beeld sources, an official request by the police to defence force chief General Godfrey Ngwenya was handed to the presidency on Monday afternoon.

Mbeki's spokesperson, Mukoni Ratshitanga, told Beeld's Abigail Isaacs shortly before the paper went to print that he had no knowledge of such a request.

Mbeki heading for Tanzania

Meanwhile, Mebki leaves on Wednesday morning for Tanzania for the first meeting of the African Union's committee of 12 heads of state, Sarel van der Walt reports. He will be accompanied by Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Aziz Pahad.

Ratshitanga could not say on Tuesday afternoon who would stand in for Mbeki. He did, however, confirm that the acting president would have the authority to call in the army if necessary.

The meeting between police and the SANDF in Johannesburg on Tuesday came after police commanders had apparently pleaded with the defence force for help since the beginning of the week.

According to Beeld sources, police have not had enough resources - such as vehicles, weapons and patrols - at their disposal since the attacks began.

The deployment of the army could have begun on Wednesday, had the order been approved by the president.

Only the president, according to Article 201 of the Constitution, can authorise the army to work together with the police.

Show of force

Army units whose soldiers are deployed must get their orders from the defence force's joint operations centre.

According to informed sources, the army's planned actions will revolve around a show of force and military presence to make combating the violence easier for the police.

The police have requested planes, soldiers and armoured vehicles, among others.

1 dead, 2 critical in fresh attacks
20/05/2008 11:16 - (SA)

Johannesburg - One person died and two were critically injured in fresh xenophobic attacks in the Joe Slovo informal settlement in Boksburg on Tuesday, the Ekurhuleni metro police said.

Spokesperson Zweli Dlamini said the violence began on Monday night when foreigners were kicked out of their shacks and attacked.

The shacks were then set alight.

"Hundreds of foreigners are now housed at the local community centre. The number is rapidly escalating and we might have to look for another shelter."

They have been provided with food, blankets, healthcare and security.

Dlamini said another area hit by attacks was the Gugulethu Everest informal settlement in Springs.

"People were assaulted there - yet it was not as bad as the other areas. They ran away to the Springs police station."

No case open

Police were now monitoring the situation in both areas.

Meanwhile, KwaZulu-Natal police say xenophobia is not an issue in KZN.

Superintendent Vincent Mdunge was on Tuesday responding to reports in the Mercury newspaper that a group of Mozambican nationals were assaulted at the weekend in what they described as a xenophobic attack.

"There has been no official case of any xenophobic attacks anywhere in KZN," Mdunge told Sapa.

The newspaper reported that the Mozambican group were at a home in Cato Manor on Saturday night when the incident took place.

"They came in with knives and called us Amakwerekwere (foreigners) and told us we must go back to Mozambique," alleged victim Pedro Langu said.

"They started hitting us and one of them punched me in the mouth. They also took a DVD player, television and cellphone," he told the newspaper.

Cato Manor police Captain Robert Mbambo told the Mercury that more than 10 foreigners had arrived at the Cato Manor police station on Sunday.

"They said they had been attacked by South Africans. I told them they must open a case so we can deal with the matter. But then I had to leave the station because it was the end of my shift," said Mbambo. "I do not know if they opened any case."

Repeated attempts by Sapa to contact the community's ward councillor Bhekisisa Richard Mngadi and Captain Mbambo were unsuccessful.

Man dies for hiring foreigners
20/05/2008 08:49 - (SA)


Johannesburg - An Actonville businessman has been killed after being accused of hiring foreign workers, the Sowetan reported on Tuesday.

The man, the owner of a construction company in Benoni, had his house set ablaze by a mob who accused him of not hiring local people.

He was killed in the early hours of Monday.

Actonville police spokesperson Constable Godin Nyathi said the man died inside his burning house.

He said the group that attacked the man came from the local hostel and from the Emlotheni and Emandleni informal settlements.

Wow where to start….. Well VJ has made me very proud & very happy.

Ok here let me try start at the beginning:

A group of his friends were doing first aid & invited him to join them for a few lessons well that was the beginning of him finding his calling in life, he has decided to become a paramedic, since he made the decision I have see a totally different side to my son.

He studied really hard & used most of the family as patients & got 90% on his level one exam. His instructor has seen the potential in my son & has him working this is great & he even gets paid to do it.

Since finding his calling he has become responsible & it feels like he has grown up over night. He is even doing his school work on his off days with out moaning “ oh yeah da mama is happy”.

As to the rest of us there is not much news….my foot is still very painful since my bike accident & the medial aid refuse to pay for anything to be done on it for a year. Darn sharks!!!! Daniel passed his fist term even with all the bunking he has been doing…..Keira & Steffy are doing great Steffies speech is finally getting better I was really worried about it .

Gb is a beautiful as ever should be seeing him this weekend cant wait.

Work yeah its still here, since I have gotten back from leave I have not had time to think there is just so much to do & so little time to do it. Sure things will calm down once all the new systems are in place.