News snippets from around the world

Police failed to stem sharp rise in serious crime in last Q 2020

The quarterly crime statistics for October to December 2020, show a rise in murder, rape and assault cases. This is a bleak picture compared to the drop in crime recorded during the hard lockdown. Police Minister Bheki Cele said that the figures showed gaps in policing and SAPS would have to pull up its socks to address the problem. (Source: www.dailymaverick.co.za)

NPA is ready to proceed with Zuma’s corruption trial

The National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) has refuted the Jacob Zuma Foundation’s statement, which accuses it of postponing the former President’s corruption trial. Zuma faces charges of racketeering, two counts of corruption, one count of money laundering, and twelve counts of fraud relating to 783 payments he allegedly received in connection with the controversial multi-billion-rand Arms Deal. In a statement issued last week, the foundation says that it doubts that the state has ever been ready for trial. However, the NPA says the matter was last postponed to Tuesday, pending the challenge to the racketeering charges by Thales. It says that when Thales lost its challenge and decided not to appeal it, it paved the way for the trial to proceed. NPA Spokesperson Sipho Ngwema says the state is ready to start the proceedings and has indicated its earliest preferred date for trial and Thales has done the same. (Source: www.sabcnews.com)

Gauteng to review its booze regulations to curb ‘drinking sprees’ and crime

Gauteng premier David Makhura says the province is looking at tightening the sale of alcohol regulations beyond the current Covid-19 regulations. Makhura, who was speaking during the official handover of 55 high-performance vehicles to police last weekend, said alcohol was one of the contributing factors to crime in the province. (Source: www.timeslive.co.za)

To stop climate disaster, make ecocide an international crime

The Paris agreement is failing. Yet there is new hope for preserving a liveable planet: the growing global campaign to criminalise ecocide can address the root causes of the climate crisis and safeguard our planet – the common home of all humanity and, indeed, all life on Earth. Nearly five years after the negotiation of the landmark Paris agreement to limit greenhouse gas emissions and associated global warming to “well below 2.0C above pre-industrial levels and to pursue efforts to limit the temperature increase even further to 1.5C”, we are experiencing drastically accelerating warming. 2020 was the second warmest year on record, following the recordsetting 2019. Carbon in the atmosphere reached 417 parts per million (ppm) – the highest in the last three years. (Source: www.thegaurdian.com)

Costs of protecting yourself against crime must be tax deductible, says lobby group

High walls, security cameras, burglar alarms, electric fences, razor wire, armed-response services and home insurance: a lobby group has launched a campaign for all these expenses to be deducted from tax. TLU SA said last week that it wants a change to section 23(b) of the Income Tax Act, which prohibits South Africans from deducting security expenses from income tax — even though companies can deduct these costs. (Source: www.heraldlive.co.za)

State says it has 217 witnesses ready to testify in the Zuma-Thales corruption case

The State says it has lined up 217 witnesses in the case involving former President Jacob Zuma and French arms company Thales. Zuma and Thales face corruption, money laundering and racketeering charges linked to the multibillion-rand arms deal. Zuma is facing 16 charges of fraud, graft and racketeering relating to a R30 billion purchase in 1999 of fighter jets, patrol boats and military equipment from five European arms companies. He allegedly took bribes amounting to R4 million from one of the firms, French defence giant Thales at the time when he was deputy president. Judge Nkosinathi Chili at the High Court in Pietermaritzburg last Tuesday said the matter was certified as trial-ready. (Source: www.ewn.co.za)

New Mexico begins construction of new state crime lab

The US State Department of Public Safety announced last week that construction of the new $21.9 million forensic laboratory has begun in Santa Fe and is expected to be completed by fall 2022. The new facility will support New Mexico law enforcement and criminal justice agencies and court systems by analysing forensic evidence collected at crime scenes and provide testimony in court. The 44,000-square-foot lab is being built on a state-owned lot in northeast Santa Fe. The new lab will be more than four times the size as the current one, which is 50 years old. Officials said the new facility will have new equipment and space for future growth. (Source: www.durangoherald.com)

Port Elizabeth has a new name: Gqeberha

The decision was officially approved and gazetted by sports, arts and culture minister Nathi Mthethwa last week. Another major name change will see the town of Uitenhage changed to Kariega, while the Port Elizabeth Airport will now be known as Chief Dawid Stuurman International Airport. (Source: timeslive.co.za)

‘Etwatwa serial rapist’ strikes again in Ekurhuleni

A man suspected to be Ekurhuleni’s most prominent serial rapist has allegedly struck again. Gauteng police began circulating an identikit of the man on Tuesday, saying he was suspected to be behind several rapes and attempted rape cases reported in the past few days. “Police in Gauteng have mobilised maximum resources in the investigation of a rape that took place earlier in Crystal Park, Ekurhuleni, including offering a cash reward to anyone who can urgently assist with information that could lead to the apprehension of the alleged serial rapist believed to be in his late 20s,” police said in a statement. The man, who has been on the SAPS wanted list for more than eight years, is known to operate in the Benoni, Daveyton, Etwatwa, Putfontein and Crystal Park areas. (Source: www.timeslive.co.za)

Facebook reverses its Australian news ban and restores news pages

After days of negotiations, Facebook has announced that it will restore Australia’s access to news pages following changes in the country’s media code. At issue was a provision in the country’s proposed News Media and Digital Platforms Mandatory Bargaining Code which would force platforms like Google and Facebook to pay news sites for their content. It would also require the platforms to give advance notice about shifts in their algorithms. (Source: www.businessinsider.co.za)

11 arrested in crime-ring bust involving guns, drugs, cars and gold

Guns, drugs and more than $1m in cash, gold, cars and bitcoin have been seized by police as part of a major operation focused on organised crime. Police arrested eleven people who were involved in the Auckland crime ring including those with strong links to the Head Hunters Motorcycle Gang, manufacturing and distributing methamphetamine, as well as their illegal possession of firearms. The four-month-long investigation, dubbed Operation Evansville, run by a joint Tāmaki Makaurau Organised Crime Team, came to an end last week when 21 search warrants were carried out in Henderson, Long Bay, Flatbush and Auckland central. Eleven people were arrested and faced various charges including robbery, unlawful possession of firearms, possession for supply of methamphetamine, manufacturing methamphetamine and money laundering.

Fake news in the time of Covid-19 – postgrad students share their views

The rise of fake news in the Covid-19 era has had terrible consequences already and looks likely to continue to do so. In response, a group of postgraduate students at Rhodes University have developed an educational video that outlines the responsibility of higher education staff and students to address this practice. In the video, these students argue that fake news has as many causes as it does consequences. People who want five minutes of fame in a celebrityobsessed world may simply make up stories, those with an agenda of hate may use such stories to sow division, and various outlets use fake news as the kind of click-bait that generates advertising revenue. The problem is that such stories quickly gain momentum and can drown out fact-based communication. They also contribute to the general anti-science movement which makes it a challenge to address catastrophes such as the pandemic. Their video calls for those who are privileged to participate in higher education to play a particular role in monitoring fake news stories. Students and staff are challenged to bring to their social media engagement the kind of intellectual criticality they have developed for their research endeavours. Link: https://www.youtube.com/ watch?v=lnRWp3QHWfI (Source: www.ru.ac.za)

G4S pushes shareholders to accept Allied offer

In 2020, G4S sold most of its cashhandling business to rival Brinks, but held on to the UK operations with attached pension obligations. UK private security group G4S last week urged shareholders to accept Allied Universal’s £3.8bn final offer after the end of the US bidder’s drawn-out takeover battle with Canada’s GardaWorld. Hostile bidder GardaWorld had called a halt to the contest by telling the UK’s takeover panel it would not increase its December bid of 235p per share for the world’s largest private security company. Allied said on Tuesday that it would not increase the 245p per share offer it announced on December 8, making it the final bid. G4S had backed that offer in 2020 after repeatedly rejecting GardaWorld’s hostile advances, but low shareholder acceptance forced repeated extensions to offer deadlines. (Source: www.businesslive.co.za)

Nkandla campers ‘a security threat’

A security assessment has raised concern about activities outside the Nkandla homestead of former president Jacob Zuma, where “some” armed supporters have been threatening violence should the former statesman be arrested. Sunday World can reveal that Police Minister Bheki Cele was dispatched to Zuma’s home after information emerged that some of his sympathisers – taxi bosses and their drivers – were armed with illegal weapons. The situation, according to a source close to President Cyril Ramaphosa, could lead to bloodshed. (Source: www.sundayworld.co.za)