Buhlebakhe Khomo appeared in the Hammarsdale magistrate’s court on Thursday.
Image: Lwandile Bhengu
Family members of the man accused of killing six people in Mpumalanga, outside Pietermaritzburg, say he must be convicted if he is guilty.

Buhlebakhe Khomo appeared in the Hammarsdale magistrate’s court on Thursday where he faces six counts of murder, six counts of attempted murder and one count of robbery under aggravating circumstances.

Khomo was arrested in connection with the murders of six people, five from the Msomi family, who were gunned down while watching television in their home on December 11.

His brother, Fanana Khomo, told journalists outside the court that if his brother was guilty the law must run its course.

“The justice system must play its part and the perpetrators must be brought to light and if it is my brother who committed the crime, then he must be convicted. That’s all we’re saying, he must be convicted,” Fanana said.

“We feel very bad about what happened and we continue to grieve with the Msomi family. It’s unfortunate that when we come here it looks as if we are also here to fight them but we are not.

“We are not here to oppress anyone, we’re here to listen and find out what happened because this is an issue that affects everyone,” he added.

Fanana said his brother, a father of four, worked as a truck driver to support his family.

“This thing that happened has disrupted his ability to work and everything has been put on hold … What needs to be done must be done,” he said.

Khomo also faces a charge of being in possession of a suspected stolen vehicle.

He was arrested on this charge on December 20 and was later linked to the murders.

He will be back in court on January 17.

A KwaZulu-Natal taxi driver has been hailed as a “hero” after he helped a woman give birth in his taxi on Wednesday.

According to the provincial health department, the 31-year-old taxi driver, Nhlonipho Zulu, was about to finish his shift when an eight-month pregnant passenger told him she suspected she was about to go into labour.

Zulu was travelling between Nongoma and Hlabisa at the time and had to drop off two other passengers before rushing the pregnant mother, in her early 20s, to the nearest clinic.

However, upon examining her, nurses allegedly disputed that she was about to go into labour.

They stand accused of not only being dismissive and using rude language, but also refusing to call an ambulance, instead telling the taxi driver to take the pregnant woman to Benedictine Hospital about 30km away. The KZN health department is aware of the allegations and has ordered an investigation.

Zulu recalled how the hysterical mother begged him to stop the taxi and help her give birth.

“I was trying to ignore her pleas, and instead get her to hospital. But she let out a loud cry and said, ‘My baby is coming out … my baby is coming out … I can feel the head…’ She was literally begging me to stop and help her.”

Zulu said he stopped the taxi, and switched on the internal lights near the sliding door.

“I made her lie on the seat, and indeed I could see the baby’s head coming out. She asked me if I had a knife or pair of scissors so I could cut her, so that the baby could come out, because she kept on pushing, yet it wouldn’t.”

However, she kept pushing until the baby eventually emerged.

“I caught the baby and placed it on the seat. I asked her to sit still and ensure that the baby did not fall.”

Zulu drove for another kilometre, until he saw a few local homesteads, where he sought help.

“Fortunately, there were some elders who were able to cut the umbilical cord. By the time I took her to hospital, the baby was wrapped up in a blanket.”

The department said both mother and baby are in a stable condition at Benedictine Hospital.

Health MEC Nomagugu Simelane-Zulu has ordered an investigation into the allegations of rude and improper conduct by nurses at Buxedene Clinic, who allegedly turned the pregnant mother away.

“ I am extremely concerned by this turn of events,” she said. “Clearly, something has gone horribly wrong when a person in such a delicate life-and-death situation is subjected to this kind of treatment.

“Frontline health-care workers must always remember that they have a responsibility to save lives.

“I have instructed the head of department, Dr Sandile Tshabalala, to provide an urgent report that must address the alleged misconduct in this case, and indicate what consequence management measures will be applied.”

She lauded Zulu’s efforts.

“What Mr Zulu did is nothing short of heroic. He could have just left her at the clinic and continued minding his own business.

“But instead, he forgot about all his commitments and stayed the course until the very end.

“And, anything could have happened while he was rushing her to hospital, even a possible loss of life.

“We are also thankful to the family that responded to his further efforts for help, after he had helped deliver the baby,” said Simelane-Zulu.

Bandile and Asanda Xulu outside their grandmother’s home in eMpolweni, near Pietermaritzburg, which collapsed after being hit by a tornado in November.
Image: Sandile Ndlovu
At least 44 people were killed, 193 injured and 30,000 affected by storms which wreaked havoc in KwaZulu-Natal between November 2019 and January this year.

This was revealed by the departments of co-operative governance and traditional affairs (Cogta) and basic education during a joint media briefing in the Harry Gwala district municipality on Thursday.

Addressing the media at the Umzimkhulu council chambers, Cogta minister Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma said 445 incidents were reported to disaster management centres in the province from November 2019 to January 9, 2020.

“We have established through evidence on the ground that the province of KwaZulu-Natal has, since November 2019, experienced a number of extreme weather-related incidents including fatal thunderstorms, heavy rainfall, and strong winds.

“The latest incidents occurred during the festive season, as many were preparing to celebrate Christmas and usher in the New Year,” she said.

These were:

• 112 incidents related to strong wind

• 67 related to lightning

• 133 structural fires

• 108 incidents of heavy rainfall

• 19 hailstorms

• 8 drownings.

Dlamini-Zuma, with basic education minister Angie Motshekga and Premier Sihle Zikalala, spent most of Thursday morning visiting some of the 15 schools in Harry Gwala district that were damaged by storms.

Images of firefighters dousing a fire on the aircraft were shared on Twitter on January 9 2020.
Image: Twitter/Mswanyama,KG
An SA Air Force transport aircraft crashed and caught fire during landing on Thursday at Goma airport in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo.

Images shared on social media showed damage to the left wing of the C-130BZ aircraft and there appeared to have been an engine fire.Reuters confirmed the incident via a UN spokesperson.

Videos on social media showed smoke rising from the airplane but two sources at the airport, speaking on condition of anonymity, told Reuters there did not appear to be major damage to the plane.The SA National Defence Force (SANDF) confirmed just before 5pm that one of its aircraft deployed in the DRC as part of the UN peacekeeping mission was damaged after crash landing at Goma on Thursday.

“The C130 from the SA Air Force was on its way back to Goma after delivering logistic supplies at Beni when the incident happened,” the department of defence said in a statement.

“Nobody was injured during the landing and a board of inquiry will be convened to investigate the circumstances surrounding the incident.”

Eskom lost additional generation capacity overnight with breakdowns of over 14,000MW. Emergency reserves are also insufficient to meet the demand for electricity during the day.

Anything above 9 500MW means that Eskom has to resort to emergency power generation: open cycle gas turbines and pumped storage hydro electrical plants. These are very expensive ways of generating power, particularly gas turbines as they require large quantities of diesel. They can only be used for short periods before diesel and water reserves run out.

“As a result we have to loadshed throughout the day until tomorrow. We will give South Africans regular updates about our prognosis for tomorrow and our recovery efforts for the rest of the week leading into the weekend,” Eskm said in a statement.
Stage two loadshedding throughout Thursday and into Friday
Jan 09 2020 07:03

An electricity pylon
(iStock).
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Eskom announces stage two loadshedding from Wednesday evening to Thursday morning
POWER UPDATE: High risk of load shedding on Wednesday evening

South Africans will suffer stage two loadshedding starting from 08:00 on Thursday morning, right through to Friday morning at 06:00.

The system remains severely constrained and unpredictable, the utility said in a statement.

Guide: Find your load shedding schedule
Eskom lost additional generation capacity overnight with breakdowns of over 14,000MW. Emergency reserves are also insufficient to meet the demand for electricity during the day.

Anything above 9 500MW means that Eskom has to resort to emergency power generation: open cycle gas turbines and pumped storage hydro electrical plants. These are very expensive ways of generating power, particularly gas turbines as they require large quantities of diesel. They can only be used for short periods before diesel and water reserves run out.

“As a result we have to loadshed throughout the day until tomorrow. We will give South Africans regular updates about our prognosis for tomorrow and our recovery efforts for the rest of the week leading into the weekend,” Eskm said in a statement.

Eskom has not managed to keep unplanned breakdowns at below 9,500MW – the level at which it is forced to consider loadshedding – for a single day since December 4, 2019.

Unexpected bouts of loadshedding in January – a time of low electricity demand – was triggered by the failure of a conveyor belt feeding coal from Exxaro’s Grootegeluk mine to the Medupi power station in Lephalale, Limpopo.

The 7km-long coal conveyor belt is supposed to transport 4,000 tons of coal per hour to Medupi. The belt first started giving problems in October, when the tail-end of the belt suddenly snapped and twisted, with the weight of the coal damaging the machine.