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Durban - Police on Wednesday arrested two police officers and a local community newspaper employee in connection with the hostage drama at Pinetown Police Station where one of the country's most wanted serial killer was killed by a police sniper.

After investigating for two weeks, it became clear to police that Casper Kruger had inside help when he took two police officers hostage.

According to information from a source known to the Witness, Kruger had obtained a firearm from the community newspaper employee. It is believed that he had smuggled it in with food that he had brought to Kruger, who was in custody for a hijacking two months ago.

However police have declined to reveal details fearing it might jeopardise their investigation.

Police spokesperson Superintendent Phindile Radebe on Wednesday confirmed that two police officers and a civilian were arrested in connection with the hostage drama. She said they will appear on Thursday at the Pinetown magistrate's court on charges of corruption and defeating the ends of justice.

The hostage drama began at 20:30 on April 9, when a police officer went to inspect the holding cells.

Kruger killed instantly

It was then that Kruger, who was in custody, produced a firearm and shot the officer in his wrist. He then shot another officer in his back and took a third hostage. Kruger then held the three officers, two of whom were bleeding in his cell.

Police managed to persuade him release one of the injured police officers however he thereafter became aggressive. The task team was called in and a police sniper fired one shot which instantly killed Kruger.

It is believed Kruger mislead police when he was arrested by giving his name as Jacques du Plessis, fearing that they might linked him to his history of prison escapes as well as previous crimes which include a triple murder in the early nineties.

He was convicted for the three murders which police believed he committed as a hate crime against homosexuals.

Shortly after his three death sentences were converted to a life imprisonment sentence, Kruger had smuggled a blade into his holding cells at Johannesburg magistrate's court and sawed his way out.

Kruger had also escaped from Pretoria Central as well as a clinic.

Police have not yet released a statement confirming that Kruger was indeed one of South Africa's most wanted serial killers.

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Cape Town - Eskom will not exclude the other designated groups, apart from black people, from the company's affirmative action process, in spite of a decision by the Cape arbitration court and statements made by the trade union Solidarity.
In an Eskom statement on Tuesday via J Ramages Attorneys to Die Burger, sister publication of Fin24, the company said the decision of the Cape arbitration court in the case between the coloured engineer Leon Christiaans and Eskom had been taken out of context.

The statement said Solidarity's claim that Eskom would henceforth give black people preference over the other designated groups was a distortion of the court's decision.

"Solidarity's representation of the case was misleading from the outset. The trade union said Eskom offered the position of project engineer to Christiaans. The court rejected this claim.

"Solidarity furthermore argued that the appointment of a black engineer was unfair discrimination. The arbitration court rejected this claim too."

Eskom said the trade union suppressed the true facts. "The court's decision was that the black engineer was better trained than Christiaans and also had better leadership and supervisory skills than Christiaans.

"In addition, black people at Eskom in the Western Cape are in the minority compared with coloured people. No black people are employed in the department concerned."

Eskom said the black engineer's appointment was in line with employment equity practice and Eskom's policy on employment equity.

"The law requires that designated groups must be equally represented. Eskom will continue to practise its policy on employment equity."

Solidarity spokesperson Dirk Hermann said Christiaans's case would probably be referred for review to test certain constitutional principles of the judgment.

"Contrary to what Eskom argues, Christiaans is the better candidate for the position.

"He has more experience, has been better trained and been registered for many years with the Engineering Council. The black engineer has only recently been registered for the first time with the council," he said.

Hermann said Christiaans had also fared better in the interview than the black engineer. But the interview panel did decide that the black engineer had better supervisory skills.

"Solidarity will refer the case for review because the arbitration court's decision benefits black people as a collective group and did not assess the individual in the case,"' Hermann said.

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The last time petrol was over R6 a litre was in October last year. In November 2005 the price dropped from R6.03 a litre to R5.72 inland.

On Monday, oil prices set a new record of $71.40 a barrel on worries about falling US gasoline stocks and the possibility of attacks by the US against Iranian nuclear facilities, reports AFP.

At the close, Brent North Sea crude traded for $71.12 a barrel, up from the closing level on Thursday in London of $70.57, but down from an intraday high of $71.40.

On Monday, New York's main contract light sweet crude for May delivery was up 50c at $69.82 a barrel from its close of $69.32 in US trading on Thursday, but on Tuesday oil prices extended gains to approach record highs amid heightened supply worries.

Geopolitical risks

Analysts said oil prices were likely to climb as long as geopolitical risks linked to Nigeria and Iran posed threats to supply at a time when global demand remains strong and supplies remain tight.

Light, sweet crude for May delivery rose 30c to $70.70 a barrel in Asian electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract on Monday jumped $1.08 to settle at $70.40 a barrel, a record close.

Oil prices were approaching the intraday record high of $70.85 set on August 30, when Hurricane Katrina lashed at the US Gulf Coast and wreaked havoc on the region's oil industry. The contract closed that day at $69.81.

The oil price then dropped sharply to $55 in February, but has been climbing continuously since then.

The production of Nigerian crude are being hampered by militants stopping the transport of at least 500 000 barrels a day.

This could have a significant impact on the oil market because Nigeria is the world's 12th biggest producer of oil, and the biggest African exporter of crude to the US.

Although there hasn't been any disruption to Iran's oil exports, problems could occur should the UN impose sanctions on one of the world's biggest oil producers.

Iran remained defiant on Tuesday, saying it will not be bullied by the US into dropping its nuclear program, reports CNBC Europe.

Under-recovery 30c

The pump price of 93-octane inland is currently R5.61 a litre. The latest recorded under-recovery, the amount by which the price is to be increased in May, is 30c - unless there is a significant drop in the oil price.

The effect can however be softened if the rand strengthens significantly against the dollar. Analysts expect the rand to strengthen from last week's R6.14/$ on the strong gold price.

On Tuesday, the gold price came within $2 of $620 an ounce as investors bought into safe-haven commodities amid concerns over Iran, and as the oil price reached record highs.

An analyst expects the rand to strengthen to between R6.08 and R6.15 to the dollar this week, but this can change should the euro win further ground against the greenback.

In international trading on Monday, already the rand traded at R6.10/$ after the euro climbed to $1.2236.

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