News today: ‘Apartheid to blame for JHB fire’, ballistics expert debunks Meyiwa gun theory, and more

News today includes Minister Lindiwe Zulu saying apartheid is to blame for the JHB CBD fire, and families of the 76 killed in the fire have been urged to identify their loved ones.

Meanwhile, a ballistics expert debunked the gun testimony heard during the Senzo Meyiwa trial.

News today, 2 September

Spring is here! (But not technically…) In today’s weather update: fire danger warnings, sunburn risk, and why Spring only starts on 23 September.

Full forecast here.

Stay up to date with The Citizen – More News, Your Way. Here’s your easy-to-read selection of our top stories.

Joburg CBD fire ‘the ‘result of apartheid’

Social Development Minister Lindiwe Zulu says apartheid is to blame for a blaze that ripped through a building in the Johannesburg CBD.

At least 74 people, including seven children, and more than 50 others were injured when a fire broke out at the five-storey housing facility in the city.

Addressing the media at the scene of the tragedy on Friday morning, Zulu claimed apartheid laws had created the environment that sparked the disaster.

READ: ‘Whether we like it or not, this is the result of apartheid’ − Lindiwe Zulu on Joburg CBD fire

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A VIEW OF THE WEEK

After cold, dark nights and weather as dull as an ANC statement, spring brings hope eternal.

When I was young it signalled the start of a season of joy, sun, sea and the circus. But the circus came early this week when politicians descended on the scene of a tragic fire in Johannesburg.

The blaze, which guttered a five-storey building in the CBD, killed more than 74 people and left dozens injured.

READ: SA is literally burning, but we have the wrong people at the stake

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‘9mm cartridge can’t fit in revolver’

The firearm that killed former Bafana Bafana captain Senzo Meyiwa might not have been a revolver, the Gauteng High Court in Pretoria heard on Friday.

Meyiwa’s longtime friend, Tumelo Madlala, previously testified that the gun used by the intruder had a wheel, which implied that the firearm was a revolver.

Warrant Officer Cornelius Roelofse, who works for the ballistics unit of the South African Police Service (Saps), testified as the state’s latest witness in the trial.

READ: ‘9mm cartridge can’t fit in revolver’: Ballistics expert debunks Meyiwa gun theory

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Families urged to identify loved ones

The Gauteng provincial health department has urged families who lost their loved ones in the Johannesburg Usindiso Building fire to go and identify them at the Diepkloof mortuary from Friday.

At least 74 people died in the tragic incident when a fire broke out in the building on Thursday. Among the deceased were 12 children.

The department said at least 10 people were burnt beyond recognition, and it will use other means to identify them.

READ: Families of 74 killed in Joburg fire urged to go to Diepkloof mortuary to identify loved ones

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Lauren Dickason trial

Former South African doctor Lauren Dickason was found guilty of murdering her three young daughters in the High Court of Christchurch on 16 August after a month-long trial which left jurors in tears.

On Friday morning, Justice Cameron Mander set the other’s sentencing date for 19 December.

The 42-year-old Dickason, who has been held at Christchurch’s Hillmorton Hospital in a secure psychiatric unit since her arrest, was not required to appear in court.

READ: Lauren Dickason trial: Sentencing date set for SA’s killer mom

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In other news today:

• • 18 suspects killed in shootout with police in Limpopo
• • ‘SA will remain one country’ until DA ‘gets it’ – Cabinet reacts to Western Cape powers bill push
• • Durban man sentenced for sending voice note inciting violence
• • Joburg inferno hell: Babies thrown out of hijacked building to escape fire

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Yesterday’s News recap

READ: JHB CBD fire, ‘Cheers Derek’, Ace’s ACT, Mkhwebane out & Gcaleka in?