Eastern Cape

Man shot as M'sane taxi feud erupts
By Matt Ramsden, Crime Reporter EAST LONDON -- Friction between rival Mdantsane taxi associations boiled over into violence yesterday ahead of a handover of a new rank by municipal officials. One man was shot in both legs and more than 100 shots...

Police come under attack in troubled Majola area
GRAHAMSTOWN -- Police are adopting a policy of zero tolerance in the troubled Majola area of Port St Johns where whole villages have been burnt to the ground by feuding factions. In a new twist, police have come under attack at least four times. ...

Fort Hare threat to put up barricades
By Zama Mpondwana EAST LONDON -- Staff, students and workers at Fort Hare have threatened to start barricading the Alice campus from early today to prevent three top management members from entering the campus, the Fort Hare Transformation Forum ...

Border Technikon decision today
By Bongani Siqoko EAST LONDON -- Border Technikon students and staff members will know today when the institution is to be re-opened. This morning the technikon council will meet behind closed doors to come up with a decision on the future of t...

Digby Koyana to retire after 39 years
UMTATA -- The head of the department of criminal and procedural law at the University of Transkei, Professor Digby Siqhelo Koyana, yesterday announced his decision to take early retirement after 39 years of what he described as "hectic" service to...

Ft England doctor dies on G'town road
GRAHAMSTOWN -- Police are looking for the alleged hit-and-run killer of Fort England Psychiatric Hospital's principal medical officer, Dr Jack Smailes. Smailes, 62, was hit while riding his daughter's scooter just outside Grahamstown at 4.30pm y...

Airlines doubt need for revived Bisho airport
By Matthew Hattingh EAST LONDON -- Plans by the Eastern Cape government to revive the moribund Bisho Airport are unlikely to get off the ground because of the proximity of the airport here and the small demand for a service between Bisho and the ...

MEC promises to unlock EC agricultural potential
By Eric Naki Political Correspondent BISHO -- Agriculture and Land Affairs MEC Max Mamase has promised to unlock the province's agricultural potential -- by placing special focus on specific projects and deploying trained and skilled people to de...

New NP loses EC 'engine' as Nel resigns
BISHO -- New National Party Chief Whip in the Eastern Cape Legislature Billy Nel, believed to be the party's "engine" in the Border region, has resigned to pursue his business ventures. This was seen as a final nail in the coffin for the ailing N...

Evicted farmworker appeals to law
By Simpiwe Piliso EAST LONDON -- A local farmworker and his family are taking legal action against a farmer after being handed an eviction notice to vacate the property they have lived on for 21 years. Trayishile Khetshese, who has worked on Hap...

SANDF major faces corruption charges
PORT ELIZABETH -- A major in the South African National Defence Force accused of selling classified army information to crime syndicates, appeared briefly in court on a charge of corruption yesterday. Major Hermanus Smith was caught in a police t...

W'strand residents to repair roads
By Zindzile Aries EAST LONDON -- After several failed applications made by the Winterstrand residents to the Amatola District Council to repair damaged roads in the area, residents have decided to do the work themselves. All 65 house owners in t...

Real sex about democracy, prof tells Scifest
By Adrienne Carlisle GRAHAMSTOWN -- ''Sex is like taxes. Both destroy monopolies and you can't get away from either.'' This is according to London University College genetics professor Steve Jones, for whom sex is not an act or an interaction, b...

For the record
MR NJ BOTHA, chairman of the governing body of Voorpos Primary School, says Nathan Mbayo was handed a letter addressed to his parents stating that he would be taken to the Cambridge police station if he arrived again at the school without his fees...

Four gambling spots closed
QUEENSTOWN -- Four illegal gambling parlours here have been closed down by police, with a stern warning that future offenders could expect strict police action. South African Narcotics Bureau head Danie van Niekerk confirmed yesterday that the ow...

Runaway girls tracked down in Cape Town
Crime Reporter EAST LONDON -- Two runaway Clarendon High School girls were last night on their way back home after being tracked down by a private investigator in Cape Town. Jayne Reeves, 16, of Beacon Bay, and Erika Wertlen, 15, of Bonnie Doon,...

14 Apla members for EL hearing
By Bongani Siqoko EAST LONDON -- The TRC amnesty hearing involving 14 operatives of the PAC military wing, the Azanian People's Liberation Army (Apla), has been scheduled for next week. TRC media liaison officer Phila Ngqumba said the hearing wo...

IEC sets budget for voting personnel
By Lucas Mati EAST LONDON -- The government has set aside a budget for the Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) to employ staff who will serve at voting stations during the June 2 general election. IEC Eastern Cape electoral officer Bongani Fi...

Amnesty for officer who leaked Sebe info
EAST LONDON -- The Truth and Reconciliation Committee's amnesty committee yesterday granted amnesty to an ex-Correctional Services department officer for his role in the springing from Middledrift Prison by the security police of feared ex-Ciskei ...

More cash for investment programme
BISHO -- Economic Affairs, Environment and Tourism MEC Enoch Godongwana announced yesterday that his department's Investment, Marketing and Industrial Promotion programme had been given a 60percent increase in the 1999-2000 financial year. Godong...

2000 celebration to start in July
PORT ELIZABETH -- The millennium is to be celebrated in the Eastern Cape from as early as July and the party will go on throughout the year 2000, if the Eastern Cape Tourism Board (ECTB) has its way. Speaking at the launch here of its plans for t...

R34m for traditional leaders
BISHO -- Local Government, Housing and Traditional Affairs MEC Sam Mazosiwe yesterday reduced the chances of a rift between traditional leaders and the government when he announced salary adjustments during his budget speech. Mazosiwe said his de...

M'sane teacher off to pre-school course in UK
By Zindzile Aries EAST LONDON -- A community and early childhood facilitator for Mdantsane and the surrounding areas, Ms Busisiwe "Nxoyi" Sokopo, has been selected to attend a pre-school curriculum course in the United Kingdom. The High Scope Fo...

Ward still without councillor after 9 months
By Matthew Hattingh EAST LONDON -- Residents of the coastal village of Winterstrand near here are largely without representation at local government level nearly nine months after their former ward councillor resigned. The Amatola District Counc...

Trade union leader mourned
By Zama Mpondwana EAST LONDON -- The general secretary of the National Union of Metalworkers of South Africa (Numsa), Mbuyiselo Ngwenda, 35, who died on March 10 after a short illness, will be buried in Port Elizabeth on Sunday. Cosatu general ...

Blitz nets car parts, 6 vehicles
QUEENSTOWN -- Six suspected stolen vehicles, 12 engines and five chassis were confiscated during a police blitz on an Ezibeleni panelbeater this week. Members of the vehicle branch here, headed by Inspector Winston van der Merwe, seized the vehic...

Lease contract notices served
By Mkhululi Titi QUEENSTOWN -- The Heath Special Investigation Unit (SIU) yesterday started serving notices to 17 southern region property owners for questioning over lease contracts between them and the provincial Education Department. The SIU ...

Bakkieload of dagga seized
QUEENSTOWN -- South African Narcotics Bureau (Sanab) members confiscated 28 bags of dagga and arrested two men outside Whittlesea on the road to Fort Beaufort early yesterday. Detective-Inspectors Johan Potgieter and Riaan Geyer were patrolling t...

IEC orders audit of all local centres
QUEENSTOWN -- Internal auditing at all the provincial local electoral offices is currently being done, following an instruction by the Independent Electoral Commission (IEC). Provincial Electoral Officer Bongani Finca said the auditing was to pre...

Pension paymaster gets 4 years for theft
GRAHAMSTOWN -- Pension paymaster Nixon Booi, 29, was sentenced to four years in prison yesterday for stealing R52775 from the Welfare Department. Booi drew R298000 from a branch of First National Bank here to pay out state pensioners in Bedford. ...

Council plans repeat clean-up campaign
By Sonia Raasch QUEENSTOWN -- The local town council is to embark on an intensive programme aimed at cleaning up the Mlungisi, Victoria Park, Aloevale and New Rest areas. In a report by the health department, tabled before the council's general ...

Stolen cheque: police seek handyman, 46
By Matt Ramsden Crime Reporter EAST LONDON -- Fraud unit detectives are looking for a 46-year-old Fort Jackson handyman who allegedly tried to deposit a R950000 stolen Department of Justice cheque in his business account. Spokesman Eddie Watson ...

Defaulting residents reconnect power
QUEENSTOWN -- The TLC here is concerned about the illegal reconnection of electricity by residents who have been disconnected by the municipality due to money owed to the council. At a general action committee meeting this week, the head of the m...

Petrifying precedent
CRIME BUSTERS by Matt Ramsden EVERY now and again something happens that makes you wonder how on earth things got so bad. On Monday I was told by the boss that we were going to stop reporting run-of-the-mill armed robberies which netted under R...

1100 EL drivers prosecuted
EAST LONDON -- The East London traffic department's recently-appointed special unit to prosecute reckless drivers has initiated 1168 prosecutions in the past fortnight. The prosecutions were for drunken, reckless and negligent driving, speeding, ...

40 Khulanathi pupils due in court today
UMTATA -- More than 40 pupils from the troubled Khulanathi Secondary School are due to appear in the Bityi court today on charges of public violence. They were arrested on Tuesday after teachers at the school were assaulted and taken hostage. Af...

Q'town seeks way out of R35m debt
By Sonja Raasch QUEENSTOWN -- The financially troubled council here, facing a R35million debt, is considering revising an existing drastic action plan to prevent its collapse. At a general action committee meeting of the council this week, town ...

Reservists quit, blame lack of vehicles
By Sonja Raasch QUEENSTOWN -- Police reservists here are leaving the force in numbers due to the alleged inability of the South African Police Service to supply them with vehicles to perform their duties. Statistics show a rapid fall in reservis...

8000 expected at Buffalo bike rally
By Mkhululi Titi QUEENSTOWN -- An estimated 8000 visitors are expected to flock to Aliwal North from today for this year's Buffalo motorcycle rally, part of the town's 150th anniversary celebrations. Aliwal North businesses are anticipating a bi...

Regional courts challenged as 'racist justice'
By Adrienne Carlisle GRAHAMSTOWN -- The future of the controversial Regional Authority Courts (RAC) hangs in the balance this week as a full bench of judges in Umtata considers whether they are constitutional. The case will be argued before the ...

Woman, owner die in shebeen robbery
UMTATA -- A woman was raped before she and her employer were shot and killed in a shebeen robbery at Maqhubini near Qumbu yesterday, police said. Captain Mzukisi Fatyela said four armed men entered the shebeen and demanded money after instructing...

Small farmers owe R10000 in grazing fees
By Mkhululi Titi QUEENSTOWN -- The Barkly East Transitional Local Council has not received any response from the town's small farmers' association regarding its debt of about R10 000 in grazing fees. Town clerk Bruce Ramsay said the 71 farmers a...

Indwe urged to call in SIU
By Mkhululi Titi INDWE -- Eastern Cape Premier Makhenkesi Stofile this week suggested the local council call in the Heath Special Investigating Unit (SIU) to recover municipal funds which have allegedly been misused. Stofile was here to open a R...