4 NEWS TUESDAY MAY 20 2014 The Star
BONGANI HANS
MORE than 1 500 unused andspoiled ballots papers havebeen found in Pinetown.
The papers were foundabandoned at a municipalitybuilding, which had been usedas a voting station.
The National FreedomParty (NFP) in KwaZulu-Natalsaid while nothing could bedone about yesterday’s discov-ery, 12 days after the elections,it cast suspicions over the fair-ness of the results.
NFP member Sbu Gwalasaid he had been tipped off
about the box. “There wereother boxes, which were col-lected soon after we made thediscovery,” Gwala said.
Independent Electoral Com-mission (IEC) spokesman Tha-bani Ngwira said concernsabout the papers were baselessand did not affect the results.
NFP councillor WisemanMcoyi said IEC provincial headMawethu Mosery shouldexplain how the papers hadbeen abandoned.
Ngwira confirmed that theballot papers should have beentaken to the warehouse forsafety.
JOYCE [email protected]
ONE HOUR. Four hundred andseventy food parcels. Thousandsof desperate miners.
This was the scene thatplayed out in Marikanayesterday as variousorganisations got together toprovide relief to striking NorthWest platinum miners.
In 2012, Marikana was thesite of fatal clashes between thepolice and striking miners.
A green tarpaulin laid infront of the Amplats Khuselekamine was covered with clothes,food and nappies.
“Amazing eh? But it’s notenough,” said Reverend BrianSmith of Northfield MethodistChurch in Benoni, one of the
main organisers of thecampaign to give food parcelsto miners on strike.
Behind Smith stood a queueof more than 6 000 hungrypeople. But Smith’s church, Giftof the Givers, the DemocraticLeft Front, the MarikanaSupport Campaign, the SocialistWorkers Party UK and thepublic had brought just 470 foodparcels.
“It’s better than nothing,”said a striker who helped set outthe parcels.
Within just another hour, allthe goods were gone.
The queues looked like theyhad not moved at all.
A local leader of theAssociation of Mineworkersand Construction Unionundertook to get the names of
people, in order, in the queue. This food parcel effort was
due to continue today.The initiative began a week
ago, started by the GautengMiners Strike Community andRehad Desai, of the MarikanaSupport Campaign and directorof the documentary Miners Shot
Down.
Other community leaders,churches and the public wereasked to donate funds topurchase mealies, sugar, meatand cooking oil for the strikingminers on the platinum belt.
More than R320 000 worth offood parcels were delivered tovarious Impala mines andAmplats’s Khuseleka mineyesterday.
Northfield MethodistChurch had pledged to keep
giving food parcels for the nextthree months at least, saidSmith, who was inspired to takepart in the campaign afterwatching Miners Shot Down.
“There are people (in thestrike) who are hungry. Whywould we choose not to feedhungry people?” Smith said.
He added he was horrifiedthat miners had been killed bypolice officers at Marikana.“In an unprotected strike youcould lose your job but youshould not lose your life,” hesaid.
The workers have been onstrike for four months now.
With no wages coming in,the strikers and their familiesdepend on such donations.
“Gift of the Givers give foodto keep the strikers strong,” said
Tebogo Madikwane, a minerwatching over the queues.
In the queue stood both menand women, many of whomwere holding young children.
Some had brothers, sons orhusbands working in the mines.
Others had family memberseither injured or killed on themines.
Since then, the mines hadnot given the families money ascompensation.
“No one’s working at home,”said Christina Lehihi, whosehusband died at a mine.
“I have three boys, two girlsand two grandchildren. Howwill I buy food and pay for themat school? What must I do?”
Lehihi was too far back inthe line to receive anything.“I want that food tomorrow. We
are hungry,” she said.Many moms with babies on
their backs needed food andmilk formula.
Right now, one mother said,they fed their babies by addingwater and sugar to mealie meal.
Their bodies had “diseases”so they did not breast-feed theirbabies.
“Food for the babies. They’renot suffering like the others,”she said, clutching a bag ofnappies.
When all the donations hadbeen handed out, the trucksdrove away and the tarpaulinwas folded up.
Then the crowds broke out oftheir orderly lines, pushing pastthe red tape keeping them inplace to descend on a small boxof old shoes.
THE DA’S GAUTENG caucuselected John Moodey as itsleader yesterday.
“I am proud to serve thecitizens of Gauteng ascaucus leader in theprovincial legislature,”Moodey said.
“The 23-member caucusaims at continuing to play a
leading role as thealternative government andhold the ruling party toaccount on matters thataffect Gauteng.”
Moodey has been anMPL since 2004.
Former DA youth leaderKhume Ramulifho waselected unopposed as
caucus chairman.“Moodey and
Ramulifho bring with them a wealth of expertise,having served at thelegislature in previousterms,” the party said in astatement.
The whippery has yet tobe announced. – Sapa
OUR BLOOD IS BLUE: DA leader Helen Zille and new caucus leader John Moodey are mobbed by excited residents after addressing them in Ennerdale, south of Joburg. PICTURE: BONGIWE MCHUNU
Moodey picked by Gauteng DA
UNSURE: NFP councillor Wiseman Mcoyi wants the IEC to answer forthe surfacing of 1 500 unused ballot papers. PICTURE: JACQUES NAUDÉ
MOLOKO [email protected]
AGANGSA leader MamphelaRamphele has backtracked onthe names of members shewanted to represent the partyin Parliament.
The Star has learnt thatRamphele was forced toinclude her deputy president,Andries Tlouamma, on thelatest list of new MPs after hehad threatened court action.
On Thursday, Ramphele hadannounced she was handing
over the party’s “parliamen-tary reins” to chairman MikeTshishonga and national youthco-ordinator NyamekaMguzulo.
“Nyameka and Mike willcontinue to fight for our princi-ples and to achieve our mani-festo within the (National)Assembly,” said Ramphele.
She added she was taking
a break from active politics andwould not be going toParliament.
The next day, Ramphelevacillated and sent a letter tosecretary of the NationalAssembly Masibulele Xaso thatexcluded the name of23-year-old Mguzulo.
The former Cape Town ANCYouth League member will be
replaced by Tlouamma. Tshishonga, former deputy
director-general of the Justiceand Constitutional Develop-ment Department, remains onthe list.
Parliament’s spokesman,Luzuko Jacobs, confirmedyesterday that Ramphele’sletter had affirmed Tshishongaand Tlouamma as the
incoming Agang MPs. The Star first reported on
Thursday that Ramphele hadtried to prevent Tlouammafrom going to Parliament.
This was despite the factthat Tlouamma was second on the party’s list of candi-dates for Parliament after Ram-phele.
Initially, Ramphele told
senior party leaders she did notwant to go to Parliament. Butshe backpedalled after itemerged from the electionresults that Agang had securedtwo seats, saying she would begoing to Parliament with CapeTown lawyer Andrew Gasnolar.
This sparked ructionswithin Agang, with the Gauteng branch passing a
motion of no confidence inRamphele.
“She just did not have theenergy to fight the court battle.Andries was certainly going to interdict her,” said aninsider, who did not want to benamed.
Tlouamma confirmed yes-terday that he was going to Par-liament. Tlouamma refused to
comment on whether he’d con-sidered court action againstRamphele, but said the Gau-teng structure had agreed towithdraw the motion of no con-fidence. “She remains partyleader while we prepare for theelective conference later thisyear.”
Agang spokesman MarkPeach said a process was stillunder way to determine whowas going to Parliament.
“I am not in a position to saywho is going to Parliament andwho is not going,” he said.
Agang officials play musical chairs as party leader vacillates
FREEDOM Front Plus leaderin Gauteng Jaco Mulderannounced his retirementfrom active politics yesterday.
“After many discussionswith my family, friends androle-players over a period oftime I have come to theconclusion that the mostappropriate time would benow, following the electionsand before the new term takes
effect,” Mulder said.“I have for the past 20
years vigorously served theparty and the cause for whichthe FF Plus has stood, sinceFebruary 2003 as leader of theparty in Gauteng and later as amember of the Gautenglegislature.”
Mulder will not be takingup the party’s seat in theprovincial legislature. – Sapa
Gauteng FF+ leader retires
Unused ballot papers cause a stir
Not enough but better than nothing as NGOs donate food parcelsTHE SA DEMOCRATIC Teach-ers Union has expelled its pres-ident, Thobile Ntola.
He was suspended last yearafter allowing Cosatu generalsecretary Zwelinzima Vavi toaddress a union gathering inPort Elizabeth.
At the time, Vavi was stillunder suspension. Cosatu liftedhis suspension earlier this year.
Ntola told the SABC yester-day his expulsion was part of apolitical conspiracy to silencehim.
“I knew from the very begin-ning even before those ‘wishywashy’ investigations started…I knew it was just to justify howthey can take me out of theorganisation,” said Ntola.
The provincial union said itwould fight his expulsion,
while the National Union ofMetalworkers of SA also criti-cised the decision to expel him.
Sadtu has been divided withregard to Vavi – who was sus-pended for having an affairwith a junior employee – withsome factions calling for hisremoval, while others arealigned to Ntola. – Sapa
Sadtu boots out president
‘CONSPIRACY’: Thobile Ntola
Outrage over infant abuse7-week-old baby’s ribs broken, knee fractured, brain injuredVUYO [email protected]
A7-week-old infant hasthree broken ribs, afractured knee and
brain injuries.He is recovering in an
undisclosed place of safety asit is believed his parents areresponsible for his injuries.
The couple, a 26-year-oldfather and 25-year-old mother,were arrested on Saturday andappeared in the Benoni Magis-trate’s Court yesterday, wherethey faced charges of childabuse and assault with intentto do grievous bodily harm.
The Benoni couple werereleased on R3 000 bail each,sparking outrage from childprotection organisations.
The pair, who cannot benamed as this would identifythe child, were arrested aftermedical staff at Linmed Net-care Hospital, who had beentreating the child forbronchiolitis on May 7, alerted
authorities to the infant’sinjuries.
According to NGO Women& Men Against Child Abuse(WMACA) – who are workingclosely with the police officershandling the case – when doc-tors X-rayed the little boy’schest, they picked up threehealing rib fractures.
An MRI revealed freshbleeding and bruising on thebrain, bleeding in the retina ofone eye, and a knee fracture.
“We are outraged at thebrutality of this crime againsta tiny, helpless baby,” WMACAdirector Miranda Jordan-Friedmann said.
“Too many toddlers andsmall babies are dying at thehands of their own parents.And if they are not killed,they are left brain damaged,”she continued.
Gauteng provincial policespokesman Lieutenant-Colonel Lungelo Dlamini con-firmed that the couple hadappeared on the charges.
The matter was postponedto July 11 and the baby hasbeen taken to a place of safety.
Dr Efrat Barnes, a generalpractitioner and expert doctorfor the Teddy Bear Clinic – anNGO that deals with abused
children – said the most signif-icant injury was the headinjury, and it was indicative ofphysical abuse.
“That kind of injury wouldimpact the development of thebaby and his being able tofunction normally, and it couldlead to an impaired mentalability,” Barnes said.
She said: “The child wouldpresent with delays in walk-ing, and the injury to the ribscould have caused a rupture inthe lungs. The injury to theknee could lead to permanentdisability but that’s the least ofthe problems at this stage.
“The injury to his brain iscatastrophic.”
Barnes said the injurieswere common in a “shakenbaby syndrome” case, wherethe child’s caregiver shakesand injures the child, leadingto extensive head trauma.
The impact often causesbleeding in the retina, a dam-aged spinal cord or neck, andbone fractures.
“When parents take thechild to the hospital, they oftensay the child fell from thechanging table, which isalmost impossible.
“For a child to sustain suchinjuries there needs to be a lotof impact. It’s not minor,”Barnes continued.
Childline director Lynne
Cawood said the organisationwas deeply concerned thatvulnerable children were hurtin such terrible ways.
“It’s such an unthinkablething. Thank you to the peoplewho detected it and took thenecessary steps. Child abuse isnever an isolated incident,”
Cawood added.Jordan-Friedmann said
they were seeing, far too often,the abuse of small children atthe hands of young parents.
“We need to urge families,extended families and commu-nities to support these par-ents, who are obviously strug-gling to cope with a very
young baby,” she said. The Star was unable to
reach the couple or their legalrepresentative at the time ofpublication.
TANYA FARBER
A HORRENDOUS act ofviolence against a child.
That’s how Childlinedescribed the case of a 28-year-old man charged withattempted murder. Heappeared in court in BeaufortWest, Western Cape,yesterday.
While the case has beenpostponed, with a bailapplication scheduled fornext week, the victim – a 2-year-old boy – is still fightingfor his life after undergoingemergency surgery.
The boy and his mother,who is the girlfriend of thesuspect, were held captive intheir home in MandelaSquare on Thursday while the
perpetrator allegedlytortured the boy for several hours in front of his mother.
Police spokesman MalcolmPojie said the toddler had“bite wounds on his body,while his feet were burntwith boiling water.
“He had also been slappedand kicked in the head andhad been forced to eat hisown faeces”.
Pojie said it was also clearfrom forensic investigationsthat the perpetrator hadplaced a brick on the boy’schest and then repeatedlyjumped on it.
“It could be that drugswere involved – but we don’tknow yet for sure,” said Pojie.
He said another member
of the SAPS went to visit theboy in hospital yesterdaymorning and that he was stillin a serious condition.
He said it was uncertain atthis stage whether the boywould undergo furtheroperations as the firstoperation was an emergencyone.
Malose Langa, anacademic at Wits Universitywho has studied modes ofmasculinity and their role inpsychology, said: “We don’tyet know the merits of thiscase, so it is difficult for oneto speak specifically about it.
“But in more generalterms, it often happens that aman feels emasculated by abreak-up and then punishes awoman by hurting her child.”
THE INJURIESDoctorspicked up: 1 Three healing rib fractures.2 Fresh bleeding andbruising on the brain with an MRI.3 Bleeding in the retina 4 Knee fracture
● Graphic representation of injuries, notactual baby
1
2
4
3
Toddler bitten,kicked, slapped
The injury to his
brain iscatastrophic
