Daily news update: KZN – At least 145 cases of political killings, Orania’s municipal pool, and no load shedding for hospitals

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Daily news update: 22 October

At least 145 cases of political killings on record in KwaZulu-Natal

KwaZulu-Natal director of public prosecutions Elaine Zungu says there are at least 145 cases of political killings that are on record in the province.

Briefing the media on Friday, Zungu said the matters were being managed by the organised crime unit, which deals with cases where there has been a death or attempt on the life of a councillor, mayor or any other person who belongs to a political party.

“There are currently 145 political killing cases on record in KwaZulu-Natal. Of the 145 cases, 57 are in court, 31 are decision dockets where investigations are still being conducted. 58 of the matters have been closed for various reasons,” said Zungu.

‘Blatant racism’: Boast of Orania’s municipal pool gets roasted on Twitter

A picture of a municipal swimming pool in Orania left some South Africans fuming on Thursday.

Joost Strydom, the Chief Executive of the Orania Movement, posted a photo of the municipal swimming pool and asked: “How many municipal pools in SA that looks like this?”

The enclave in the Northern Cape is well-known around the world for its whites-only policy.

The controversial South African town likes to sing its own praises but some on Twitter were not going to let Strydom’s comment go unchallenged.

Search for Bokgabo Poo’s missing body parts leads to discovery of another body

The search for Bokgabo Poo’s missing body parts led to the grisly discovery of another body dumped in a dam in Wattville, Johannesburg.

The four-year-old went missing last week, after she went to the nearby park with her playmate.

Her friend told the family that a stranger approached them and sent him to go buy sweets alone. When he returned, both the man and Poo were no longer at the park.

The next day, a woman found Poo’s leg buried in a shallow grave in her yard in Tamboville.

She called the community and alerted the police. The rest of what was left of Bokgabo’s body was found in a nearby veld metres away from the house. 

Health dept promises to exempt more hospitals from load shedding

The National Health department is working toward getting more hospitals exempted from load shedding as Eskom subjects the country to deliberate power cuts.

Following the department’s intervention, the ailing parastatal has exempted 72 healthcare facilities from load shedding.

This is an increase from the 37 since the last public announcement by the Minister of Health, Dr Joe Phaahla, in September.

More exemptions

Health Department spokesperson Foster Mohale more efforts are being made to implement exemption of health facilities in provinces such the Northern Cape and North West as a matter of urgency in line with the commitment made to ensure that no province is left behind.

Player rotation putting a dent in Sundowns’ performances

Many might have expected Mamelodi Sundowns to have a feast of goals against DStv Premiership strugglers Marumo Gallants on Wednesday night, but to much surprise, Downs just managed to net a single goal against Dan “Dance” Malesela’s side.

Sphelele Mkhulise’s goal was enough to steer the defending champions to victory but his coach, Rulani Mokwena, says Sundowns can never be pleased with that kind of a performance.

“In this league if you score one goal and you win, you (ordinarily) should be happy. But because we are Sundowns, we have a certain benchmark and certain standards, we are never satisfied, we want to do better,” said Mokwena.

“We have to try and improve and at the same time keep winning because that gives confidence to the team,” said Mokwena.

Fundiswa: Unathi explains her second name and works her way towards her Doctorate

Time out from her judging duties at Idols SA and her hosting duties at Kaya FM has given Unathi Nkayi time to focus on her studies. The broadcaster recently announced her intentions to obtain her Doctorate by sharing a touching personal story. 

“Fundiswa. My paternal grandfather named me Fundiswa, a name I grew up hating NOT understanding the generational curses he was breaking at THAT moment,” wrote Unathi in her caption. 

“As the only grandchild he named, something I brag about to all my cousins and sisters, I now understand what he was doing for our family. His son and his wife, my parents left SA for 11 years and raised us out of the country for THAT specific reason. Because my grandparents wanted ALL of us to be educated at a time when apartheid wouldn’t allow it for us black people. My parents only saw their parents twice in this time because of THIS sacrifice,” she added. 

“Now I love my middle name… Still hate all the abbreviations, Fura, Mafundi, Fufu, etc, BUT education looks good on me… signed future Dr Nkayi.”