Day: June 13, 2022

DURBAN – A 35-year-old man appeared at Pietermaritzburg Sexual Court and was found guilty and sentenced to three terms of life imprisonment for raping minors.

It is alleged that on 11 June 2021, a seven-year-old victim was at her homestead at KwaKhetha Ward in Impendle when her uncle raped her. She informed the family that her uncle abused her when there was no one at home. The case was reported at Impendle police and the docket was transferred to the Howick Family Violence, Child Protection and Sexual Offences Unit for further investigation. The accused was arrested and was remanded in custody until his sentencing.

The investigation by the FCS detectives revealed that the accused also raped his two nephews who broke their silence when police questioned them. On 03 June 2022, the uncle was handed a sentence of three terms of life imprisonment after several appearances at court.

Source: South African Police Service

The Department of Home Affairs will be launching a pilot project to ease the passport renewal process for South African nationals living in the United Kingdom (UK).

The pilot, to be unveiled today, will cover the cities of London, Edinburgh and Manchester.

Home Affairs Minister, Dr Aaron Motsoaledi, said that to deliver this service, the department is extending its partnership with VFS Global to implement the pilot in the UK.

“VFS Global will receive applications for passport reissues at its new centres in the three cities. South African nationals will be able to visit the VFS Global centres to renew their South African passports.

“This is part of the effort to introduce innovative and effective methods of improving service delivery, as the new passport service will accelerate the processing of applications and delivery of completed products to clients in the UK,” Motsoaledi said in a statement.

The service includes the renewal of passport application processing for adults and minors.

The South African diaspora in the United Kingdom can lodge applications at three convenient locations run by VFS Global. The centre in London is located at 66 Wilson Street, London, EC2A 2BT; in Edingburgh at 1 Rennie’s Isle, Leith, Edinburgh EH6 6QT, and in Manchester at 50 Devonshire Street North, Manchester, M12 6JH.

Key benefits for applicants:

• Operating times in London, Edingburgh and Manchester (8:30am to 4pm);

• Dedicated courier service for processed passports;

• Dedicated email for applicant queries;

• Quicker turnaround time for passport renewal;

• Passport photo service also available in London, Edinburgh and Manchester, and

• Application tracking facility with SMS service.

Motsoaledi also noted that the new passport service will advance the department’s movement from manual, paper-based processes to digital systems, for smart, faster and reliable services.

“With this system in place our citizens in the UK will no longer wait for extended periods when renewing their passports. This will also ease space constraints at SA’s embassy in London,” Motsoaledi said.

VFS Global Regional Group Chief Operating Officer, Jiten Vyas, acknowledged the Department of Home Affairs in South Africa for its continued faith in the organisation.

“Our passport and consular services have been growing from strength to strength, and we look forward to bringing those best-in-class services to South African nationals here in the United Kingdom with the opening of these three new centres,” Vyas said.

Source: South African Government News Agency

GAUTENG - The Provincial Commissioner of the police in Gauteng, Lieutenant Elias Mawela has welcomed the arrest of the 31-year-old man who has been on the run after he allegedly killed his girlfriend and an 11-year-old child on 20 March 2022 at Nellmapius. The suspect was arrested yesterday at Lebowakgomo in Limpopo province after he handed himself to the police.

The suspect will be appearing before Pretoria Magistrates' Court tomorrow, 14 June 2022.

Source: South African Police Service

The Office of the Chief Justice (OCJ) says it is investigating a R225 million tender that was allegedly riddled with irregularities.

This after weekend media reports revealed that three former employees of the OCJ, who were privy to the set-up of the tender, recently resigned from the OCJ in order to allegedly illegally benefit from the tender.

“As stated to the Sunday Times, the OCJ is currently in the process of gathering all relevant information relating to the matter and is taking legal advice. At the appropriate time, the OCJ will inform the public on the matter. We can assure the public that the State funds relating to this matter are safe.

“In view of this, the OCJ will not at this stage be making further comments or providing any additional information in this regard,” the OCJ said in a statement.

Meanwhile, the Special Investigating Unit (SIU) has moved to clear the air on media reports that the unit has issued an apology to former National Department of Health (NDOH) Minister, Dr Zweli Mkhize, regarding the Digital Vibes COVID-19 communications tender scandal.

Reports suggested that the corruption busting unit had issued the apology for allegedly failing to transcribe key interviews with witnesses, which led to adverse findings against the former minister.

SIU spokesperson, Kaizer Kganyago, said the article had the potential to “mislead the public” about the current ongoing litigation in the case.

“The review process is ongoing and the parties are responding to each other’s requests in the process. One of the requests to the SIU was to transcribe the recordings obtained during the investigations. The SIU legal team is attending to this request as a matter of urgency to ensure that the outsourced transcribing service delivers timely.

“The 'apology for the inconvenience caused' relates to the process issue and not to 'Digital Vibes', as it appears in the article. The SIU will ensure that there is fairness to all parties, as we all prepare for the review. The SIU will at no stage seek to delay the matter,” Kganyago said.

Source: South African Government News Agency