Lunchtime news: Dewani improbabilities highlighted

JUDGE Jeanette Traverso asked the public gallery in the Western Cape High Court to keep quiet - while the court heard an application by the legal team of Shrien Dewani as to why he should be discharged. 

 

Dewani has been charged for conspiring to kill his wife Anni, while they were on honeymoon in Cape Town in 2010. 

 

Defence lawyer Francois van Zyl is arguing that the material contradictions in the State's case cannot be explained away. 

 

Dewani was extradited to South Africa in April, following a legal battle by local authorities that lasted some three years.  

 

According to Dewani's legal team, the State has relied heavily on a fictional story to prove their case.

 

Van Zyl pointed out that the three co-accused contradicted each other's version of events. 

 

Taxi driver Zola Tongo changed his version after seeing CCTV footage which showed he had been caught out on a lie, the court heard. 

 

Questions are also being raised about why Tongo could at first not remember the names of the co-accused. 

 

Van Zyl said throughout Tongo's testimony, he maintained that Shrien wanted his business partner killed and not his wife. 

 

The defence lawyer now insists it's all a made-up story to incriminate his client.

 

 

THE High Court in Johannesburg has heard that South Africa has 200 national key points. 

 

This emerged in the case brought forward by the Right2Know Campaign and the SA History Archive - who want the police to reveal the national key points under the Promotion of Access to Information Act. 

 

While applicants say they are receiving an increasing number of complaints from the public about the secrecy surrounding national key points being used to undermine the right to protest in public spaces, the State is arguing that disclosure of the list will put the country's security and defence at risk. 

 

National key points are protected from being photographed or identified as such, and are understood to include military installations and services or factories which are considered strategic.  

 

In 2012, a request made to the police for a list of key points was refused.

 

FANA Hlongwane, former advisor to the late minister of Defence Joe Modise, will have to testify in front of the Seriti Commission of Inquiry on the 11 and 12 December. 

 

He was expected to testify today about the controversial multi-billion rand arms deal, but asked for a postponement. 

 

His legal advisor Advocate Francois van Zyl told the commission that Hlongwane is willing to cooperate. 

 

"We have arranged that tomorrow the Commission will provide us with a list of documents they intend to use," van Zyl says.

 

 

 

 

OPPOSITION political parties will meet deputy president Cyril Ramaphosa in Johannesburg shortly after 14:00 today, following another tumultuous week in Parliament during which the peace agreement collapsed a mere 24 hours after it was agreed upon in Cape Town. 

 

DA parliamentary leader Mmusi Maimane and EFF leader Julius Malema are among those expected to attend this afternoon's meeting, with reports that opposition leaders are holding their own meeting prior.

 

 

A US company that helps students prepare for their final Grade 12 tests, has gone to new lengths to teach Maths. 

 

They are using a photo of Kim Kardashian's famous behind and Justin Bieber's head. 

 

A circle has been photo shopped over the rear end of Kim to work out Pie, while Bieber's head serves as a graph.