Cape Times E-dition

Two dead, two missing as heavy rain causes flooding, mudslides

CHEVON BOOYSEN chevon.booysen@inl.co.za

THE storm that made landfall over the province this week killed two people, trapped children under a bridge, forced residents in Cape Agulhas to evacuate their homes, and badly damaged several roads.

Two people are also missing and 30 farmworkers were evacuated yesterday undertaken in Riviersonderend.

Up to 115mm of rainfall fell in some parts of the province over the past two days, leaving emergency services rushing to save lives and properties.

Tragedy struck Bonnievale in the Cape Winelands when two people died in flood waters when they became trapped in an overturned bakkie owing to the storm. Emergency humanitarian relief organisation Gift of the Givers has since arrived in Struisbaai in Cape Agulhas where they have put out a call for donations following residents’ evacuation to community centres.

“Gift of the Givers teams had prepared an emergency response, loading our vehicles in Cape Town with blankets, mattresses, diapers, sanitary pads, baby porridge, hygiene packs, sanitiser, masks, and bulk food for mass cooking for those affected (numbers unknown as yet), providing meals three times a day for the next few days,” they said.

Donations can be made by visiting https://bit.ly/3vIVadK

The Cape Agulhas Municipality yesterday had to close the Swellendam Road as well as the Stormsvlei Road due to flooding. Those wishing to donate food can drop off non-perishable items at Meals on Wheels at 67A Hoofweg, Struisbaai between 8.30am and 2pm.

Spokesperson for provincial Environmental

Affairs and Development Planning MEC Anton Bredell, JamesBrent Styan, said the storm “continues to move further inland and has caused significant damage and flooding across the Cape Winelands”.

He said one person was missing in Stormsvlei and one in Riviersonderend.

Children who were reported to be trapped under a bridge were found to be safe in a nearby house.

A mother and her three children also had to be rescued in Stormsvlei.

Styan added that yesterday in Robertson and Hermanus 41mm of rain had been measured, while Struisbaai received 115mm of rainfall, Swellendam 45mm and Grabouw 58mm.

In the Cape Town metro, between 6mm and 14mm had been measured, with the Tsitsikamma region having received 48mm by yesterday morning.

The City of Cape Town has implemented measures to mitigate mudslides, flooding, and debris landing on roads.

Transport Mayco member Felicity Purchase, said: “We are concerned about flooding of low lying areas and mudslides as fire destroyed the vegetation.”

A DURBAN man will have to serve his prison sentence for the murder of his friend who he believed had an extramarital affair with his wife, despite his attempts to appeal against his conviction and sentence.

Rajivee Soni was found guilty by the Kwazulu-Natal High Court on six charges including murder.

He appealed against this in the Supreme Court of Appeal which then upheld in part and dismissed in part the convictions and sentences, which included acquitting him of two of the charges he was found guilty of.

According to court documents, Soni had conspired to murder his friend Bhavish Sewram, a medical doctor, having hired hit men and paid a self-confessed drug addict and police officer to kill him as he left his surgery in Pietermaritzburg on May 13, 2013, at about 7pm.

Judge Halima Saldulker’s judgment read: “Little did (Sewram) know that he was to meet an untimely death at the hands of assassins hired to execute him. Sabelo Dlamini, who fired the shots that killed him, and those who waited in the getaway vehicle to drive him away, were arrested, convicted and sentenced for his murder. One would think that Sewram’s family had closure, in that those responsible for his death were held to account and had paid for their dastardly deed. But this was not to be.

“This was only the beginning of a saga which led to revelations of corruption, conspiracies, incitement, defeating the course of justice, and the laying of false charges, all of which eventually culminated in the arrest of businessman Soni for the murder of Sewram.”

Soni faced a charge of murder, three counts of defeating or obstructing the course of justice, assault with intent to cause grievous bodily harm and conspiracy to commit murder.

According to court documents the plot to kill Sewram stemmed from a love triangle after the two men and their wives had enjoyed a friendship of several years.

However, during January 2012 their friendship soured after Soni suspected that Sewram was engaged in an extramarital affair with his wife.

“The State’s principal witness was Sugen Naidoo, who, at the time of the murder, was a policeman serving at the Mountain Rise police station in

Pietermaritzburg. He testified that in 2012 Soni had visited him and in due course recounted that his wife had been having an affair with his friend, Sewram. Soni wanted to teach Sewram a lesson and was willing to pay for this to be done. Naidoo, a self-confessed drug addict and corrupt policeman, was willing to assist Soni and make some money at Soni’s expense,” court documents read.

Soni had paid Naidoo to assist in planting drugs at Sewram’s surgery and to have him arrested for illegal drug possession and in another instance paid a woman who had visited Sewram’s practice to lay a false charge of sexual assault. Judge Saldulker upheld the guilty conviction and sentence of the murder charge.

The conviction on two counts of defeating or obstructing the course of justice was upheld while he was acquitted on a third count of the same charge.

Soni was also acquitted on a charge of assault with intent to do grievous bodily harm and in respect of conspiracy to commit murder. He was found guilty on an alternative charge of incitement to murder.

Soni will serve an effective 23 years and seven months’ imprisonment.

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2021-05-07T07:00:00.0000000Z

2021-05-07T07:00:00.0000000Z

https://capetimes.pressreader.com/article/281517933991953

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