Month: April 2024

WINDHOEK: A former police officer attached to the Women and Child Protection Unit in Keetmanshoop is set to plead guilty to the murder of his ex-girlfriend, in the Windhoek High Court on Tuesday.

The accused, Brian Plaatjie appeared briefly before Judge Dinah Usiku on Monday. His lawyer, Boris Isaacks indicated that Plaatjie will be pleading guilty. He is accused of fatally stabbing Yvette Louw, the mother of his two children, multiple times during the period 25 to 26 June 2021. The deceased, according to the indictment was at home with her then boyfriend, enjoying a meal when Plaatjie stormed in.

The State further alleges that the deceased’s boyfriend was also stabbed multiple times but survived the ordeal. Plaatjie is said to have reported the matter to the police himself and the victim died shortly after arriving at hospital. The accused faces six charges – housebreaking with intent to murder and murder, attempted murder, two counts of contravening a protection order, assault by threat and malicious dama
ge to property.

It is alleged that Louw had ended the relationship with Plaatjie two years before her murder and subsequently moved out of the home the two shared.

‘Due to ongoing assaults and threats by the accused, the deceased applied for and obtained a final protection order against the accused on 07 August 2020, which was valid until 07 August 2022. During the evening of 07 May 2021 and in contravention of the order, the accused arrived at the deceased’s residence and insulted and threatened her with violence. This caused her to flee and seek shelter at a neighbour’s house. He damaged her television set and left the scene,’ the indictment states.

Louw, according to the State opened a criminal case regarding the incident, leading to Plaatjie’s arrest. He was released on bail and went to the deceased’s house on the evening of 25 June 2021, when he allegedly pounced on her and her boyfriend.

Source: The Namibia Press Agency

The Department of Women, Youth and Persons with Disabilities has raised concerns about the economic consequences of teenage pregnancy in the country.

Women, Youth and Persons with Disabilities Minister, Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma, said the phenomenon of teenage pregnancy has devastating social and economic costs.

‘Early pregnancy in South Africa forces many girls to drop out of school and trap others in a cycle of poverty and leaves most stigmatised by society for being teenage mothers or forced into early marriages,’ Dlamini-Zuma said.

Dlamini-Zuma said the country continues to show the highest rate of teenage pregnancy globally, with nearly one in four girls falling pregnant before the age of 20 years.

Dlamini-Zuma said South Africa has recorded an estimated 150 000 girls between the age group of 10 and 19 years old, falling pregnant in the 2022/23 financial year.

‘What is particularly disheartening is that individuals who became parents during this period were hardly teenagers, with some cases reported co
nstituting statutory rape. The phenomenon of teenage pregnancy has devastating social and economic costs.

‘Early pregnancy in South Africa forces many girls to drop out of school and trap others in a cycle of poverty and leaves most stigmatised by society for being teenage mothers or forced into early marriages,’ Dlamini-Zuma said.

The Minister reiterated that working together with both public and private sector stakeholders to act against those who continue with the act of impregnating teenage girls by reporting them to law enforcement authorities is the first step towards ending teenage pregnancy, while providing psycho-social support is particularly important.

She said the prevention of teenage pregnancies will contribute to the promotion and protection of the rights of the girl child, among others.

Dlamini-Zuma also emphasised the need for coordinating and redirecting efforts to the hardest hit areas, with a specific focus towards prevention, early intervention, and impactful evidence-based programmat
ic interventions.

Comprehensive gender-based violence prevention strategy

Dlamini-Zuma said government has developed a Programme of Action (POA) aimed at tackling the issue of teenage pregnancy by implementing a Comprehensive National Gender-Based Violence Prevention Strategy (CNPS).

Through consistent outreach programmes focusing on young mothers, Dlamini-Zuma said government, working with stakeholders, has put together tailor-made stakeholder programmes that are focused on the prevention of teenage pregnancy.

These include Ezabasha Dialogues and Risiha-Community Based Prevention, and social behavioural change programmes, which include ChommY and You Only Live Once (YOLO) programmes, which educate young people between the ages of 15 and 24 years about HIV and Aids, substance abuse, teenage pregnancy and being agents of social change.

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Dlamini-Zuma reiterated government’s calls on families, communities, religious and traditional leaders to support the Sexual Re
productive Health Rights (SRHR) of teenagers to prevent unintended/unwanted pregnancies.

Source: South African Government News Agency

KEETMANSHOOP: A one-year-and five-month-old baby girl reportedly drowned in a 20-litre container of water at Rosh Pinah on Saturday.

Namibian Police Force (NamPol) crime investigations coordinator for ||Kharas region, Deputy Commissioner, Nikodemus Mbango in a crime report on Sunday said the incident occurred on Saturday between 12h00 and 13h00 in the Tutungeni residential area at the mining town.

The deceased was identified as Valentina Mazambo and her next of kin are aware of her death.

Meanwhile, police at Keetmanshoop are investigating a rape case after a 56-year-old man allegedly raped a 21-year-old woman who is his son’s girlfriend.

The incident happened on Sunday morning between 01h00 and 02h00 at the Kronlein residential area, when the suspect unlawfully and intentionally had sexual intercourse with the complainant at his place of residence without her consent.

‘The victim is in a relationship with the suspect’s son, who was arrested on Thursday and is in custody at the Keetmanshoop holding cells
. The suspect took advantage of his son’s absence and committed the act on the victim, who came to visit the boyfriend from Aranos. The suspect and the son are living at the residence,’ said the commissioner.

Mbango added that it is further alleged that the suspect gave the victim a knife to stab him to death otherwise he would stab her, which frightened the victim and submitted herself to the sexual intercourse.

The suspect is yet to be arrested.

Source: The Namibia Press Agency

Schools in the Cape Winelands and Overberg Education Districts, and the Helderberg basin area in the Western Cape have been closed on Monday due to the severe storm warnings for these areas.

The decision followed a Level 9 warning for damaging winds and rain in many parts of the province, issued by the South African Weather Service (SAWS).

Western Cape Education MEC, David Maynier’s spokesperson, Kerry Mauchline said the department’s default position is always to keep schools open but is mindful of the severity of the warnings in place, including a level 9 warning for the Overberg and southern Cape Winelands.

‘We have not taken the decision to close these schools lightly: we have done so out of an abundance of caution to protect our learners and school staff. It is always better to be safe than sorry.

‘So far, we have already received reports from a number of schools that have been damaged by high winds, and our infrastructure team is currently assessing the damage. The closure will be in effect only for
Monday, 8 April 2024, at this stage [and] the schools affected will communicate to parents in this regard,’ Mauchline said.

Mauchline added the department may also close selected schools on an ad hoc basis if damage to a school building requires to.

She said the department will reevaluate the weather on Monday to determine whether any closures are necessary on Tuesday.

Source: South African Government News Agency

South Africa has welcomed the adoption of a United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) resolution regarding the occupied Palestinian territory, including East Jerusalem.

According to reports, the resolution covers the rights of the child and inclusive social protection; the right of the Palestinian people to self-determination; human rights in the occupied Syrian Golan, and Israeli settlements in the occupied Palestinian territory, including East Jerusalem, and the occupied Syrian Golan.

The resolution called for ensuring accountability and justice. It was passed with 28 of the council’s 47 Member States voting in favour, 13 abstentions, and six against.

The countries that abstained from voting on the resolution were Albania, Benin, Cameroon, Costa Rica, the Dominican Republic, France, Georgia, India, Japan, Lithuania, Montenegro, the Netherlands, and Romania.

The Department of International Relations and Cooperation (DIRCO) has since described the move as ‘historic’.

‘This is the very first time that t
he UNHRC has taken action on the unprecedented human tragedy taking place in Gaza, where at least 32 975 Palestinians have been killed, including more than 14 500 children, since Israel launched its onslaught over 180 days ago,’ the statement read on Monday.

In calling for accountability and justice, the department said the resolution emphasises the need to ensure that all those responsible for violations of international humanitarian law and international human rights law are held to account.

It also highlights the need to ensure the provision of an effective remedy for all victims and the need to pursue practical steps to prevent future violations and international crimes.

The department stated that the resolution acknowledges the significance of the order issued by the International Court of Justice (ICJ) regarding provisional measures in the case brought by South Africa against Israel concerning the application of the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide.

South Africa,
the department said, believes that it is only through ensuring accountability and justice that the impunity accorded to Israel that has entrenched the ongoing unlawful occupation can finally be brought to an end.

‘It, therefore, remains crucial that Israel respects and implements the ICJ’s orders, together with United Nations Security Council resolution 2728 (2024) demanding an immediate and lasting ceasefire, which resolution A/HRC/L.30 will no doubt contribute to its securing.’

During the debate on the resolution, South Africa’s Permanent Representative, Ambassador Mxolisi Nkosi, stated: ‘The international community can no longer choose to apply a parallel system of international law to Israel, nor can we be complicit in facilitating its actions. For international law to be credible, it must be uniformly applied and serve the victims designed to protect.’

Source: South African Government News Agency

President Cyril Ramaphosa concluded a working visit to Kigali, Rwanda, at the weekend.

The President visited the country as part of the commemoration of the 1994 Rwandan genocide which claimed the lives of approximately one million women, men and children in the Central African country.

‘[On Sunday] President Ramaphosa, joined fellow Heads of State and Government, the Chairperson of the African Union Commission and the President of the European Council, well as other dignitaries, including Former Heads of State and Government and First Ladies, for a wreath-laying ceremony at the Kigali Genocide Memorial.

‘This was followed by a National Commemoration Ceremony at the BK Arena. The ceremony marked 30 years since the Genocide against the Tutsi, which began on 7 April 1994,’ the Presidency said.

Upon arrival on Saturday, President Ramaphosa held a bilateral meeting with Rwanda’s President Paul Kagame at the Kigali Convention Centre.

‘The two leaders held extensive discussions on rekindling the once very stro
ng political and economic ties.

‘The discussions also focused on the importance of joint efforts and cooperation in finding a peaceful solution to ending the conflict in the Eastern region of the Democratic Republic of Congo,’ the Presidency said.

Source: South African Government News Agency