Daily news update: Malema and Ndlozi’s assault trial, crime stats and Orlando Pirates coach axed

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Daily news update 04 June

Court dismisses Malema and Ndlozi’s discharge application in assault trial

The Randburg Magistrate’s Court has dismissed EFF leader Julius Malema and party MP Mbuyiseni Ndlozi’s discharge application in their assault trial.

This means the assault trial against the two will go ahead.

Magistrate Leland Poonsamy on Friday delivered judgment on the pair’s application for discharge.

An application for discharge is granted in terms of Section 174 of the Criminal Procedure Act if the evidence provided to the court is not sufficient to prove the offence against an accused person.

Magistrate Poonsamy found that the state had submitted sufficient evidence, including CCTV footage, to prove its case against Malema and Ndlozi.

‘All of SA is a crime scene’: Outrage over latest crime stats

Members of Parliament (MPs) have expressed outrage over South Africa’s alarming crime statistics, which showed a sharp increase in murder and rape cases between January and March this year.

Police Minister Bheki Cele and the management of the South African Police Service (Saps) on Friday presented the quarterly crime statistics to parliament’s Portfolio Committee on Police.

The murder rate shot up to 22.2% in the period under review. 6,083 people were killed in South Africa between January and March this year, compared to the same period last year.

The top four causative factors attributed to these deaths were arguments, vigilantism, revenge, or retaliation and robberies.

ALSO READ: Crime stats: 6,000 murders, 10,000 rapes in South Africa, in first four months of 2022  

This is not a UK govt requirement, says embassy on Afrikaans questionnaire for South Africans

The UK embassy in South Africa says it is not a requirement for South Africans abroad to take an Afrikaans test to prove their citizenship before travelling to the country.

The UK embassy was responding to media reports and social media posts about people who were apparently made to write a test in Afrikaans to prove their citizenship before boarding flights to the UK.

Twitter user Ponky shared on Monday that a friend of theirs had just travelled back to the UK from Portugal and said “there is a new requirement for South African passport holders (at passport control) to answer a set of questions written in Afrikaans to prove they are indeed South African.”

Why did Ramaphosa have $4 million cash stashed on his game farm?

Questions have been raised about why President Cyril Ramaphosa had $4 million (R61.8 million) in cash at his Limpopo-based Phala Phala farm when it was robbed by criminals in 2020.

The president has come under scrutiny following the explosive revelations by the State Security Agency’s (SSA) former Director-General Arthur Fraser.

Fraser on Wednesday laid a criminal complaint against Ramaphosa, accusing him of breaching the Prevention of Organised Crime Act by not reporting the robbery.

EFF, DA snatch wards from ANC in by-election

The Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) took over ward 29 from the African National Congress (ANC) in this week’s by-election at Rand West City Local Municipality, Gauteng.

Wednesday’s by-elections held in Northern Cape, Gauteng, Mpumalanga and KwaZulu-Natal saw the EFF and the Democratic Alliance (DA) leave the ANC reeling in Bekkersdal and at ward 4 at Kareeberg Municipality in the Northern Cape.

Fraser’s motives for opening case against Ramaphosa should be interrogated – Presidency

President Cyril Ramaphosa’s office said State Security Agency’s (SSA) former Director-General Arthur Fraser’s credibility and reasons for opening a criminal case against the president should be interrogated.

Ramaphosa on Thursday denied allegations that he engaged in criminal conduct following a robbery at his Phala Phala farm in Limpopo in 2020.

Fraser on Wednesday laid a criminal complaint against Ramaphosa, accusing him of breaching the prevention of organised crime act by not reporting an incident at his Limpopo farm in 2020.

He alleges that criminals entered Ramaphosa’s farm and were caught after stealing $4 million in cash (R61.8 million).

Orlando Pirates axe coach Fadlu Davids

Fadlu Davids’ spell with Orlando Pirates has come to an end after the club confirmed his departure on Friday.

The former Maritzburg United coach leaves the club after almost three years with Pirates, where he has worked with a number of coaches.

Davids worked with the likes of Micho Sredojevic, Rulani Mokwena, Josef Zinnbauer and he now leaves the team after being appointed as co-coach alongside Mandla Ncikazi last season.

ALSO READ: Daily news update: Ramaphosa vs Arthur Fraser, Joburg water shutdown and Senzo Meyiwa trial