Way back in May, her ex-boyfriend, Nico Venter, was arrested by the police. He was then released on R10 000 bail. This left relatives and friends angry and unhappy.

Johan Smit was a bit more down-to-earth. When commenting on the bail, he said:

“People say you are innocent until the court finds you guilty. I assume if he has not been convicted yet, I must accept the court’s decision”.

We discovered that Nico Venter was questioned by police on March 12 and that later in March he was asked to go back to the police offices. On legal advice he refused and was arrested later that day. He was later released to appear in court.

The following day we are told that the police are searching for a second suspect. They did not name the suspect or provide any other information. Now, months later, a second arrest is yet to be forthcoming.

A week or so later on March 21 it was reported that super-sleuth Brigadier Piet Byleveld had been called in by local police to assist in the case. He has not discussed why he was being brought into the case.

What is strange to me is that Nico Venter was granted bail and then Piet Byleveld is brought in on the case. I have a number of questions:

Surely someone suspected of commiting such a gruesome murder would have bail denied?

Why is Byleveld being brought in AFTER the arrest if they have their man?

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1. No progress on the Anike Smit murder investigation? There has still been absolutely no word by the police...

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In December 2005, Andries Mashele’s wife told him that she was leaving him. He was so enraged that he took his gun and murdered his wife and 4 year old son. He then turned the gun on himself, but survived.

Now Judge Ronel Tolmay of the Pretoria High Court has convicted him without ANY jail time at all!

Mashele got 10 years imprisonment, suspended for 5 years. He also has to complete 800 hours community service and to pay his deceased wife’s family a mere R2000.

The judge said that he was not the kind of individual who should be removed from society.

This judgement is disgusting and is typical for the ridiculous overly-liberal ‘justice’ system we have in place now.

Justice is not meant to be about the offender, it is about giving redress to the victims. In this case the living victims are the friends and family of Sibongile Mahlangu, and his four-year-old son, Theo. What sense of hustice do these victims feel?

Andries Mashele deprived TWO people of their lives, one of which was an innocent child. No matter what his motives were, he deserves to lose his liberty – at least for an extended period of time. THAT would be justice!

What does it take these days for murderers to get any length of time in prison?

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Vuvuzelas have been shown a red card by European football’s ruling body amid fears they could damage the game’s “magic”.

Uefa says the plastic trumpets drown out supporters and detract from the emotion of the sport.

The noisy horns became a hallmark of the World Cup in South Africa, producing a monotonous backdrop during every match.

But they will not be allowed in stadiums during Champions League, Europa League and Euro 2012 qualifying matches.

Uefa says it has taken the decision to “protect the culture and tradition of football in Europe”.

Read more about it: Sky News

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There are two prongs in the attack against the freedom of the press and our right to information.

The first attack comes in the form of ‘The Protection of Information Bill’ which is going before parliament soon. This bill would give the power to heads of government agencies to classify whole swathes of information on the grounds that it was in the “national interest”. This would then make disclosure of this related information a criminal offence punishable with up to 25 years in prison.

The second attack comes in the form of the proposed ‘Media Tribunal’ which would make South Africa’s press answerable to parliament. They would also have the power to censor anything they deem inappropriate.

The most worrying aspect of these attacks are their vague language which could incriminate anyone who challenges what the ANC deems to be bad. This is almost exactly what happened in the old Apartheid government with all its control and powers of censorship.

If this Bill passes and is enacted, we WILL see a time where any criticisms of the President or ANC leaders will be illegal, much like in other third world dictatorships around the world.

One has to wonder how this attack on the South African Constitution and Bill or Rights can be allowed. The Bill of Rights is clear on this:

16. Freedom of expression

The right in subsection (1) does not extend to
propaganda for war;
incitement of imminent violence; or
advocacy of hatred that is based on race, ethnicity, gender or religion, and that constitutes incitement to cause harm.

In South Africa, two systems are already in place for handling complaints about the media. Complainants can pursue a court case, or take up a dispute with the ombudsman. The ANC argument is that very few complainants go to the courts because they can’t afford to do so, but it’s the government’s responsibility to reform the courts, and to make them accessible to all.

If we want to continue living in a free and democratic society we all need to oppose this attempt to hijack our liberties and force South Africa down the path that others like Zimbabwe have trodden.

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Engela van der Spuy, 67, who lived in Attie Street in Booysens, contacted Beeld after she watched the strange set of lights on Thursday night for the second consecutive night.

“I’m not saying it’s green little space men,” said Van der Spuy. “We just really want to know what it is.”

Van der Spuy for the first time saw the UFO on Wednesday night shortly after sunset in the western sky.

“I couldn’t make out the shape of the object because the three lights were too bright, but it almost had a heart shape because there were two lights on top, a blue light on the left and an emerald green light directly next to it, on the right side, with a big bright white light underneath it which shone straight down,” she said.

Read the whole article at: News24.com

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Heads I win, Tails you lose.

Give me your savings & I will place them in risky investments. When they fail its your loss but I’ve still had my pay & bonuses & lose nothing.

Give me your pension pot. Again I will risk your cash but pay myself huge wages & bonuses before I top up your pension pot.

You take out a business loan & pay me lots of interest. When the economy gets tight I will pull all those loans & sink your business. But at least my capital will be safe.

Take out an account & give me your earnings, I will invest that money & use it to underpin my business. Hit hard times or make a mistake & I will bill you huge amounts for computer generated letters.

If things really go pear shaped I will go to the government & get them to underpin my pay & bonuses with your taxes.

I want to be a banker.

- EricC, Manchester, UK

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Paul was born in England, and lives in Germany, is now a citizen of Spain.

Paul is famous for his amazing psychic abilities. During this year’s world cup he was able to predict 8 games out of 8 correct.

He became an internet sensation, and even had hes predictions made live on German TV. Many countrys hate him for predicting the other team, but for the Spanish he is another member of the winning national team.

Read more: Bleacher Report

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You may be wondering where all the posts have gone – Paul the octopus etc have all vanished. Yet again the hosting provider moved the site to a new server and something went wrong. This is now the second major problem with a move. Even the backups mysteriously vanished!

The long and the short of it is that everything is missing again and I am NOT going to try finding all the missing posts from the past two months. I am just carrying on from this point on.

Apparently this is the last move and I have put on some other fancy off-server backups in place to prevent this happening again!

So hopefully we can get back to the business of blogging….

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Read more about Nick Vujicic

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By: Antony Altbeker

(To be released in all major bookshops and on Kalahari.net by 24 May 2010)

In June 2005, Fred van der Vyver, a young actuary and the son of a wealthy Eastern Cape farming family, was charged with murdering his girlfriend, Inge Lotz, allegedly bludgeoning her to death with a hammer as she lay on a couch in her lounge.

The case against Van der Vyver seemed overwhelming. His behaviour at the time of the murder appeared suspicious and incriminating, and a letter, penned by Inge on the morning of her death, suggested that the two had been fighting.

But it was forensic evidence that seemed to prove his guilt: his fingerprints were found at the scene, one of his shoes was matched to a blood stain on the bathroom floor, and traces of blood were found on an ornamental hammer that had been given to him by the victim’s parents.

And yet, in one of the most sensational and controversial murder trials in South African legal history, Van der Vyver’s lawyers sought to turn the tables on the police, accusing them of fabricating evidence and lying to the judge.

In Fruit of a Poisoned Tree, prize-winning author Antony Altbeker takes you into the heat of this epic courtroom battle. Altbeker’s eye-witness account of the trial presents the reader with all the evidence and testimony of the trial, while also placing it in the context of a society and a justice system that are
being stretched to breaking point.

It was the most sensational murder trial of the past two decades. For ten months during 2007, Fred van der Vyver stood trial, accused of using an ornamental hammer to bludgeon his girlfriend Inge Lotz to death.

When the trial began in February 2007, a guilty verdict seemed certain: the police had found his fingerprinst at the scene, the alleged murder weapon had been found in his car, and a blood stain on the bathroom floor had been matched to one of his shoes. Yet, after a high-profile trial, in which some of the world’s leading forensic investigators testified, and which cost his family more that R10 million, Van der Vyver was acquitted.

But the story is far from over. It has already attracted the attention of the world’s largest association of professional forensic investigators, the International Association for Identification (IAI). The outcome of the trial, however, was rejected by the family of Inge Lotz, who have only recently withdrawn a law suit against him. Van der Vyver, in turn, is suing the Minister of Police for nearly R50 million, alleging that all the evidence against him was fabricated by detectives.

Acclaimed author Antony Albeker sat through the entire trial and, in Fruit of a Poisoned Tree, he explores the extraordinary circumstances in which the justice system failed both Fred van der Vyver and Inge Lotz. Part courtroom drama, part investigative journalism, Altbeker enters the heart of the challenges confronting the judicial system in South Africa today.

Fruit of a Poisoned Tree is Antony Altbeker’s third book about crime and justice in South Africa. His first, The Dirty Work of Democracy, won the Recht Malan prize for non-fiction and was short-listed for the Sunday Times Alan Paton award. His second, A Country at War with Itself, is widely regarded as one of the most authoritative accounts of the reasons for South Africa’s crisis of violence and of what to do to rectify it.

Praise for Fruit of a Poisoned Tree:

“Fruit of a Poisoned Tree is an important contribution to understanding the textures and dynamics of
certain aspects of South African culture and specifically of the machinations of the criminal justice system.
Altbeker excels in his relentless and meticulous re-arguing of the Lotz murder case, obsessively picking
through evidence and testimonies, like a latterday Sherlock Holmes, and bringing into play not only an
astute judgment of facts and character, but also offering a compelling analysis of the degeneration
of the investigative prowess of law enforcers.

It is a chilling revelation of the rotten state of the administrative capacity and the professional bankruptcy
of policing in South Africa. This is obligatory reading for those interested in the current state of the nation.
It reads like a thriller and is utterly un-put-down-able. It leaves the reader with serious food for thought.
It almost convinces one that fiction has become redundant in this country.”

– Marlene van Niekerk, author of Triomf and Agaat

“It’s a legal thriller, a murder mystery, a social commentary, a bit of history and a travelogue of the
most sensational court case of the past decade. It is exhaustively researched, beautifully written,
totally mesmerising and absolutely riviting. My wife is reading it now
– I’ll have to fix my own dinner for the next few nights.”

- Deon Meyer, author of Blood Safari and Thirteen Hours

“South African literature has not seen true crime of this standard for a very long time.
Antony Altbeker has married an expert’s knowledge of the criminal justice system with a storyteller’s
flair for narrative and suspense. The result is a book that provides rare insight into the often
compromised nature of our courts, yet reads like a high-voltage thriller. If you thought you knew
something about the Inge Lotz murder trial, Altbeker has come, like a master decoder,
to disabuse you of that notion.”

- Kevin Bloom, journalist and author

“Altebeker’s narrative of the Inge Lotz murder trial is both shocking and riveting, and beautifully written.”

- Peter Harris, author of In a Different Time

R195.00 • 978-1-86842-333-0 • April 2010 • TPB • 233x152mm • 320 pages • SA rights

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