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Cape Town - Controversial Cape Judge-President John Hlophe is armed and dangerous - at least to springbok.

In an interview published in the Cape Argus on Wednesday, he said he was using his long leave to finish writing his autobiography, and that he had just returned from a hunting trip in the Karoo, where he had shot a springbok.

"Stay away from me," he joked. "My rifle has a range of up to 500m, so don't come within striking distance of me."

Hlophe, who went on long leave after claims that he had failed to disclose business interests, confirmed in the interview that he was involved in two companies.

Plans own brand of wine

However, he said they were both dormant and, because he had not received remuneration from them, he did not require permission from the minister of justice for his involvement.

One was Mandla and Thuthuka, a close corporation he had formed with his son to develop a multipurpose card for students.

The other was Malebo Farmer's Wine, a holding company he formed in April last year so he could cultivate his interest in creating his own brand of wine.

"I don't need anybody's permission to make wine or to drink wine," he told the newspaper


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Vryheid - Robbers cut the soles off an elderly man's feet before forcing him and his wife to put their feet in a bath of boiling-hot water.

Koos van Wyk, 62, and his wife, Martha, 56, the owners of Mgobhozi Game Farm at Gluckstadt near Vryheid in KwaZulu-Natal, were overpowered about 22:30 on Saturday.

Mrs Van Wyk was watching television while her husband was having a bath.

Police spokesperson captain Vusi Mbatha said Mrs Van Wyk heard the front door being forced open and ran to her husband in the bathroom.

Five armed men overpowered the couple, threatened them with firearms and demanded money.

The suspects took R250, six firearms, two sewing machines, a CD-player and Mrs Van Wyk's diamond ring before forcing the couple into the bathroom, where they were forced to put their feet into boiling-hot water.

Flesh found in the house

Mbatha said the robbers probably did this to prevent the couple from going for help.

A police official close to the investigation said the soles of Mr Van Wyk's feet were sliced off before he was forced to put his feet in the water.

"The police found the flesh in another part of the house," he said.

The Van Wyks, who had serious burns, are still in a critical condition in hospital.

Mbatha said they had not arrested anybody yet in connection with the attack.


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Johannesburg - Yet another theologian testified at Jacob Zuma's Johannesburg High Court rape trial on Wednesday, his 64th birthday.

But, unlike others who told the court of false rape accusations by Zuma's accuser, pastor Modianyeo Modise's testimony took a different turn.

He said it "was love at first sight" when the two met at the Wilberforce Theological College in Vereeniging when she was in her first year and he in his final year.

They were inseparable and would take walks in the rain holding hands for all to see and spend as much time together as possible.

"Ja, those were good times," Modise told the court.

He considered it an intimate relationship but they never had intercourse.

However, in a "drastic" incident, Modise went to visit her in her dormitory where she was alone as and the other female students had gone home.

'She was just permissive'

This was against college rules and had led to the expulsion of another pastor who the woman allegedly accused of rape.

"And we had a lovely time together... We were chatting, cuddling, kissing and all the stuff until she suddenly jumped, becoming angry.

"She grabbed everything ... blankets, pillowcases and threw them out with the intention of burning them. I mean she was angry..."

He left to give her time to cool down and spent the night worrying, unable to study.

He had pulled down his pants during the cuddling. "I kissed her, she was just permissive. I cuddled her, she was just permissive. I thought on my own maybe she was enjoying what I was doing," he testified.

"... (it was) when I tried to pull my pants down that she jumped."

Asked by Zuma's counsel Jerome Brauns whether he had intended having sex with her, Modise replied: "That was exactly my intention." In the end they did not have sex.

The next day he was so worried that he did not go to chapel as usual, and looked for the woman the whole morning to talk to her about the incident.

He eventually found her and apologised.

Accused just vanished

She forgave him, they hugged and continued to be the best of friends.

They had no more intimate sessions.

"Nope, I was very, very afraid because by then she was my very, very best friend whom I did not want to hurt."

But then one day the woman just "vanished" from the college and he never saw her again.

Modise testified that he was later informed by Reverend Peete Mbambo, the woman's local pastor, that she had told him Modise raped her.

She never directly accused him of this.

Mbambo is one of a number of witnesses the defence has called in support of its belief that the complainant made false rape allegations in the past.

Mbambo told the court he himself had been accused of raping her.

At the beginning of proceedings, the public gallery sang happy birthday to Zuma and court officials, his lawyers and state prosecutors shook his hand.

When Judge Willem van der Merwe entered the court, he said to Zuma: "Mr Zuma, I hope the next 64 years are better than the first 64 years ... Congratulations."

Zuma, looking bashful, stood up and replied: "Thank you."

He is accused of raping an HIV-positive family friend at his home in Johannesburg on November 2 last year. He claims the sex was consensual.



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Bloemfontein - A possible link between the killing of Matie student Inge Lotz and the mysterious death of Danicha de Villiers at Loch Logan Waterfront in Bloemfontein in 2004 is being investigated.

It is believed police are looking at a connection between Fred van der Vyver, the suspect in the Lotz murder, and Professor Derick Veldman, a friend of Danicha's.

The office of the director of public prosecutions in Bloemfontein is trying to tie up the loose ends of the case of Danicha, who died at the waterfront in Bloemfontein in July 2004.

It is speculated there might be a connection between the two men.

The bloody body of Lotz, 22, the only child of Professor Jan Lotz of Bloemfontein, and Juanita Lotz of Welgemoed, was found on March 16 last year in her flat in Klein Welgevonden on the outskirts of Stellenbosch.

She died of wounds to the head, apparently caused by an ornamental hammer.

Post-mortem results studied

Amanda Bester, a lawyer in the office of the national prosecuting authority, said she had already directed inquiries about certain aspects of the Danicha case that she thought should be investigated.

The results of the post-mortem were studied last week.

Ons Stad, a Volksblad community newspaper, earlier reported that director Attie Trollip, director of the investigative unit in Cape Town investigating the Lotz murder, had confirmed that he was investigating certain possibilities.

He has questioned Veldman at the Central University of Technology.

Trolip also visited Ockert de Villiers, Danicha's father.

Years ago, while he was in matric at Grey College in Bloemfontein, Van der Vyver had visited the De Villiers's home.

According to Rapport, De Villiers said Van der Vyver had been an acquaintance of his son, Jean.

He said Veldman was a self-confessed homosexual.

De Villiers was reluctant to talk to Volksblad, but said there was still no light on the subject.

He didn't want to acknowledge that there might be a link between the two deaths.

Lawyer promises media statement

"The questions we ask are unanswerable at present," he said.

Lotz's mother told Volksblad on Sunday that they had no information and didn't want to comment.

William Booth, Van der Vyver's lawyer, said a media statement would be released on Monday.

He said they would consult with the family and would comment on Rapport's report.


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George - Eight South African women have been locked up in the dungeons of a Mauritius prison for the past eight weeks.

Marius Mey, the fiance of 27-year-old Michelle Roux, one of the women, said: "They have been held in the dungeons for the past eight weeks.

"They don't have beds or linen, they aren't allowed to shower and they have been wearing the same clothes. They have to use a chamber pot for a toilet.

"They are released one at a time to buy food at the prison shop - biscuits and chips," he said.

Die Burger reported recently that the South African women had gone on a hunger strike in protest against the inhumane conditions under which they were being held while the South African government looked on, doing nothing.

Most of the eight women were being held on drug charges after drugs apparently had been planted on them with or without their knowledge, but without their consent.

"They were moved to the dungeons after seven women Mauritian prisoners assaulted Michelle," said Mey.

Druglord arrested

There are about 28 South Africans in Mauritian jails, all of them allegedly for smuggling drugs.

Roux delivered a suitcase - in which 800g of heroin was hidden without her knowledge - on behalf of a friend to someone in Mauritius in June 2003.

She was arrested at the airport in Mauritius.

As a result of her testimony, the so-called friend and a Mauritian drug lord were arrested.

Roux has been kept in custody and still is awaiting trial.

Mey said: "The drug lord threatened Michelle, saying she must withdraw charges, but she refused.

"I have paid thousands of rands for attorneys, air tickets and money into an account for Michelle.

"I have also lost a farm and a house, and I am working 17 hours a day to cover the costs.

'Govt doesn't give a damn'

"The last time South African embassy staff visited these women was in December last year. They don't give a damn about them. The same applies to the Mauritian government.

"Only the British embassy tries to help the South Africans.

"Until recently, I sent my loved one money and e-mails via a person at the British embassy.

"But the authorities have put a stop to that, saying 'the South Africans are enjoying too many favours'," said Mey.

The mother of one of the South Africans being held in Mauritius, who is there at present trying to get bail for him, was in tears on Sunday when speaking to Die Burger.

Her son was forced to swallow heroin bullets in September last year.

Some have been there eight years

"Nobody gives a damn about the South Africans being held here," she said.

"I'm emotionally finished. It's a terrible thing to be in South Africa and being unable to protect your child," she said.

"Mauritius is one very sick island. Wherever I turn, I'm confronted by closed doors," she said.

Some of the South Africans have been in prison for eight years. Sixteen of them have still not been charged.

Once they are charged, it takes another 18 to 24 months for the case to go to court.

"The prison commissioner didn't allow me to deliver letters to two South Africans.

"One was Edward Aimes, who has been in prison for the past six years without once making contact with his family.

"The other is David Hart, who has been here for 2½ years, and who hasn't had any visitors.

"The commissioner didn't provide reasons for refusing me, he just said I could not visit any other South Africans."



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