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Boys drown in dam
JOHANNESBURG - The bodies of two boys have been recovered after they drowned in a dam in Limpopo, while the search for the third child is under way. Limpopo police said the bodies of friends Kotsema Ramaru (9), and Kubu Mashilo (12), were retrieved from Seshego Dam in Polokwane on Saturday and Sunday. Provincial Police Spokesperson Brig Motlafela Mojapelo said: “The information at our disposal is that the boys were swimming and crossing the dam using white foam props as floats, an occurrence which is said to be a usual practice in the area. The unfortunate situation happened when their ‘boat’ capsized in the middle of the dam and both boys drowned.”
Water supply cut
JOHANNESBURG - The Thaba Chweu Municipality has cut off water supplies with immediate effect in Ward 6, at Simile in Sabie, Mpumalanga, after ordering tests to see if it is safe for consumption after rumours about a poisoned reservoir. The municipality’s Ezrom Sekgobela said samples were sent to a Pretoria laboratory on Sunday. Sekgobela said pipes were being flushed as a decontamination measure. The measures were a precaution, Sekgobela said. While the risk was low, and based on unverified rumours from the community, officials ordered the tests in conjunction with the Ehlanzeni district municipality, he said.
Pastor gets life for rape
JOHANNESBURG - A 36-yearold pastor who raped three young girls and sexually groomed five others was sentenced to two life terms on Friday. The Pretoria High Court, sitting in the Benoni Magistrates Court, found Lucky Mfanivele Magagula guilty of three counts of rape, five counts of exposing children to pornography, six counts of sexual assault and four counts of exposing genitals to children and sexual grooming last week. Magagula is a pastor of a church in Barcelona, Benoni, where all his victims lived. The three-year-old girl he raped in February last year stayed close to his house. The child had gone to his house to play with a relative, who is related to him.
CAPE TOWN - A video has surfaced apparently showing a man being assaulted by police officers in the Western Cape. In the footage shared online, a woman could be heard pleading with the officers to let the man go, but they continue to beat him.
“Leave him alone. Stop it. What are you doing? This is police brutality,” she said. The man could be heard saying he had no idea why he was being assaulted as he came to report a missing person.
Events
The sequence of events is unclear. The Independent Police Investigative Directorate (IPID) said the incident was brought to its attention on Sunday and is under investigation.
The Fish Hoek community policing forum (CPF) said on Facebook two of its members had tried to visit the man but were ‘denied access to visit the arrested individual in the cells to establish his wellbeing’.