The Republic of South Africa’s government produced their State of the Nation Address on Thursday evening. The speech was received at Cape Town’s City Hall. President Cyril Ramaphosa says that having a job does not only provide an income – it is fundamental to people’s sense of self-worth, dignity, hope, purpose and inclusion. He goes on to say that from the depths of deprivation and inequality, we have worked over 30 years to ensure that all South Africans have an equal chance to prosper. It is not enough to recognise the injustices of the past; we need to correct them.
We set up the Investigating Directorate as a specialised and multi-disciplinary unit within the National Prosecuting Authority to investigate corruption and other serious crimes. Great progress has been made in bringing those responsible for state capture to justice. More than 200 accused persons are being prosecuted. More are under investigation. Stolen funds are being recovered.
Provincial traffic officers while conducting stops and checking vehicles on the N2 along Borcherds Quarry in Cape Town, confiscated 50,000 mandrax tablets. The mandrax tablets have an estimated street value of R3 million and the bust took place on Wednesday. The provincial MEC for Mobility, Ricardo Mackenzie says a provincial traffic officer became suspicious while inspecting a light motor vehicle and discovered a significant amount of mandrax tablets being transported in the boot of the vehicle. Last month an estimated R90 million worth of drugs from the Western and Eastern Cape were destroyed by SAPS in Cape Town. The drugs destroyed include tik, cocaine, and mandrax.
On Thursday the man accused of killing Firdous Kleinsmidt from Mitchells Plain appeared in the Magistrate Court. Lorenzo Brown made his second court appearance. The young girl was killed by a stray bullet at her school Ieglassi Nieyah Primary School in Beacon Valley on January 30. The Cape Argus reports that the National Prosecuting Authority said that the accused had abandoned his right to apply for bail. Cape Flats Safety Forum’s Lynn Phillips says she welcomed Brown’s decision to abandon bail. She thinks that he thought of his safety after the protest that happened. Now this is a challenge for communities to be assertive with regards to retaliation from certain gangs, and that is an issue. He was wanted and the community need to be very vigilant. The case has been postponed until March 28 for further investigation. Brown’s mother says that she didn’t raise a gangster. Her car was set alight by community members. She says that she worked 15 hours a day, seven days a week to provide for her family and look at what Pagad did to her house and her car. Those things don’t belong to Lorenzo. She worked hard for and earned these things with blood, sweat and tears.
Capetonians gave the National Palestinian Soccer team a warm welcome as they arrived at the Cape Town International Airport on Thursday. Thirty-one players reached our shores for the two matches on the 11 and 18 of February at Athlone Stadium. The team are staying for 10 to 12 days and tickets are available from Checkers, Shoprite, Spar or Ticketpros.co.za. Prices ranging between R80 - adults, R50 - under 15 and R120 – grandstand, while kids under three enter for free.
