5 in court after KZN beheading

Johannesburg - Five people appeared in the Chatsworth Magistrate's Court on Monday for the murder of a woman in the town last week, KwaZulu-Natal police said.

Nusumuzi Jabulani Gumede, 30, Sibonakaliso Zaba Mbuli, 32, and three teenagers aged 16 to 17 appeared. The matter was postponed to 1 September for a formal bail application, police said.

KZN protesters arrested for blocking N3

Durban - Ten people have been arrested in protests in Mooi River calling for the removal of a KwaZulu-Natal mayor. The protesters blocked part of the N3 passing Mooi River on Monday , police said.

Police spokesperson Thulani Zwane said the 10 were expected to appear in court on Tuesday. The protesters had been calling for the removal of Mooi Mpofana local municipality Mayor Ntombi Mpangase.

The protests started on Friday, but died down over the weekend. They erupted again on Monday.

"The situation is still tense and police are monitoring the situation," said Zwane.

KwaZulu-Natal co-operative governance and traditional affairs spokesperson Lennox Mabaso said in a statement the department had sent "a high level rapid response team to the municipality to end the protest action which is blocking traffic on the N3 highway near Mooi River".

KwaZulu-Natal Road Traffic Inspectorate spokesperson Zinhle Mngomezulu said officially the road was not closed, but that protesters had closed it. She said a joint command centre had been set up, but that comment needed to be obtained from the police.

'Dr' Pallo Jordan: Why I did it

Johannesburg - Pallo Jordan is considering a lengthy retreat from public life following the furore triggered by the revelation that he possesses neither a doctorate nor a university degree, City Press reports.

This week the former Cabinet minister told City Press: “Now, maybe, I should retire from public life and sit it out.” In the exclusive interview, Jordan spoke matter-of-factly of the tragic circumstances in which he was first referred to as Dr Jordan.

That was in 1982, in a report about the letter bomb that killed the academic and journalist Ruth First in Maputo. It appeared in the authoritative newsletter Africa Confidential and noted that “social scientist Dr Pallo Jordan” was also injured in the blast.

Mamphela Ramphele abandons debt

                                                                                                         Mamphela Ramphele

Johannesburg - Former Agang leader Mamphela Ramphele allegedly moved to cash in shares worth R10m to pay Agang debts and staff salaries, but later reneged, saying she needed to protect her assets, City Press reports.

Ramphele left the party with a trail of debts totalling millions, and now angry suppliers are taking her and the party to court to recover their money. Ramphele, however, denies being personally liable for Agang’s debts.

One of the suppliers, Tracy Tarry, whose firm Red Cherry Events Managements is owed R750 000, said she facilitated talks between Ramphele and investors who were interested in buying some of Ramphele’s Mediclinic shares. Her family holds shares worth R30m in trust.

Free State woman, handicapped son hit by truck

Johannesburg - A woman died and her handicapped son was seriously injured when they were hit by a truck in Bloemfontein, Free State, on Sunday, paramedics said.

"A report from the scene indicates that the mother was pushing her son in a wheelchair to church when they were hit by a truck," Netcare 911 spokesperson Chris Botha said.