Pretoria News is a local newspaper circulating in the Tshwane Metropolitan area. Pretoria News covers a range of local news, as well as national and international news, comment and analysis by experts, sport, entertainment and lifestyle.
QUARRY OF DEATH Site fenced off as families bid sad farewell to the boys JAMES MAHLOKWANE james.mahlokwane@inl.co.za JAMES MAHLOKWANE THE GOVERNMENT should do enough risk analysis when providing services to ensure residents do not have to pay with their lives or those of their children, Minister of Public Service and Administration Senzo Mchunu said. Mchunu and Public Works and Infrastructure Minister Patricia de Lille were visiting the two Mamelodi families whose children drowned in a construction quarry last Saturday. The ministers also donated money and groceries to the parents of Siyabonga Mabila, 7, and Tony Lawrence Moore, 4, who will be buried today. Mchunu said he hoped that from this incident, the government and the community would learn a lesson so such incidents could be avoided. He said it could…
MOUNTING PRESSURE Chief justice remains defiant over Israel utterances LOYISO SIDIMBA loyiso.sidimba@inl.co.za OUTGOING Chief Justice Mogoeng Mogoeng defiantly told retired Gauteng Deputy Judge President Phineas Mojapelo that the Palestine-Israel dispute was peripheral and not inherently South African in his response to complaints against him. Pressure has been mounting on Justice Mogoeng to comply with Judge Mojapelo’s Judicial Conduct Committee decision ordering him to unconditionally apologise and retract his pro-Israel views made in June last year. Justice Mogoeng told a webinar organised by The Jerusalem Post that he was under an obligation as a Christian to love Israel and pray for Jerusalem’s peace, which meant that country’s peace. ”If I curse Abraham and Israel, the almighty God will curse me too. I cannot do anything, as a Christian, other than love…
DATA SA gets tough on WhatsApp CHULUMANCO MAHAMBA chulumanco.mahamba@inl.co.za FACEBOOK cannot share any contact information it collects from WhatsApp users in South Africa without first obtaining authorisation. The Information Regulator of South Africa this week said it noted with concern the statement released by WhatsApp, detailing changes that a user would face if they ignored Facebook’s terms by the May 15 deadline. WhatsApp issued a statement on January 15 in which the company informed users that it was preparing a new privacy policy, under which it could share some data, including location and phone numbers, with Facebook and its other units such as Instagram and Messenger. The company insisted that it would always protect users’ personal conversations with end-to-end encryption so neither WhatsApp nor Facebook could see these private messages.…
NO CLARITY ON ALLEGATIONS OF MYSTERY ‘MASTERMIND’ Senzo’s family await justice 7 years on SAMEER NAIK AND KARISHMA DIPA ITUMELENG ENGLISH African News Agency (ANA) SIQOBILE Mthokoziseni looked dejected as she walked out of the Boksburg Magistrate’s Court on the East Rand yesterday. Seeing her brother Mthokosizi Maphisa standing in the dock once again, alongside the four other men accused of murdering soccer star Senzo Meyiwa, had left her shattered. “It’s been a really difficult time for me and my family,” a tearful Siqobile told the Saturday Star. For the last few months, Siqobile has been in and out of court to show her support for her brother who she maintains is innocent. Her brother, along with the four other alleged accomplices – Bongani Sandiso Ntanzi, Muzikawulahlelwa Sibiya,…
FULL BENEFITS Government’s ballooning legal bills THOUSANDS of public servants have been sitting at home for the last year, at a cost of R100 million to the taxpayer. They are on full benefits and full pay pending their disciplinary hearings, but one former senior manager believes they have been suspended to prevent them from blowing the whistle on state capture. This week, Department of Public Service and Administration communications director Moses Mushi confirmed that as of January this year, 6 344 public servants had been suspended “pending disciplinary process at both national and provincial governments”. Disciplinary cases are supposed to be finalised within 21 months according to public service regulations, but many remain unresolved beyond this. The department reported to the Forum of South African Directors-General on Monday this week…
Robberies on the rise in suburb A SPATE of robberies and thefts have plagued the Moot, with two shootings in the past week alone. On Tuesday, Kilnerpark Security received a call that a robbery was taking place at the Vodacom store at the Gezina Galleries shopping centre. “The suspects fled the scene in a white sedan vehicle believed to be a Chevrolet Aveo," said Kilnerpark spokesperson Ancelize van der Kooi. In Johan Heyns Street the suspects fired multiple shots at a member of the public, wounding him in the upper body. Van der Kooi said the following day they received a call from a community member who reported a house robbery. He also stated that two people had been shot. "Kilnerpark Security reaction officers, SAPS and Netcare 911 were dispatched…
