When Nathan van Reenen saw a woman being mugged in Durban he went to her aid, but it was a decision that would prove fatal. ||| Durban - When visiting teenager, Nathan van Reenen, saw a woman being mugged near the Moses Mabhida Stadium, his immediate reaction was to try to nab the culprit.The 16-year-old leapt from the car he was in and chased after the mugger, but it was a decision that would prove fatal. Nathan was stabbed in the neck and died later in hospital.“I guess that is… just who he was. He was always willing to help people out,” his devastated brother, Luke, said on Monday. “He was such a lovely guy, always smiling. People just loved him. He had such a good heart.”Nathan had been in Durban for just a few hours when he came across the robbery in the early hours of Saturday morning. Without thinking, the teenager, who lived in George in the Western Cape but grew up in Durban, raced to the woman’s aid.Her assailant, armed with a knife, stabbed Nathan in the neck, piercing his jugular before escaping along Isaiah Ntshangase (Walter Gilbert) Road.Nathan was taken to Addington Hospital but died from his wound.Luke, whose brother had come to visit for the holidays, said his family was battling to come to terms with the death.“He was in the wrong place at the wrong time,” Luke said. “He should not have tried to stop that guy.“It was a bad decision.”Luke said it was the second tragedy his family had had to endure after his older brother died in a car crash eight years ago, leaving behind his fiancée and then unborn child.“I don’t have any brothers left now. It breaks my heart what happened. I have cried so much I can’t even cry anymore; I have run out of tears,” he said. “After my older brother died, it was just Nathan and I. Now he is gone too. When my older brother died, it broke up our family as our parents got divorced; now this has happened. Why did this happen to our family again?”Luke said Nathan had come to Durban to spend Christmas with him. He was supposed to have arrived from George on Thursday night but he missed the bus.Luke arranged for his brother to get on to another bus, which arrived in Durban on Friday evening.He said he was meant to pick up Nathan from the bus station on Friday but he was in Richards Bay on a pre-planned camping trip.“I was going to pick him up from the bus station and then take him back to Richards Bay with me. However, it began raining so heavily that I asked a friend to pick him up and Nathan was meant to sleep at his place until I arrived the next day,” he said.Luke’s friend took Nathan to his home, dropped off his bags and took him out.After spending a few hours around town the pair were heading back home when they spotted the mugging.Luke said his brother got out of the vehicle he was in and chased down the mugger and tackled him to the ground.“He did not realise the guy had a knife. The robber turned around and stabbed him in the throat - in the jugular,” he said.Luke said his mother, with whom Nathan lived in George, arrived in Durban on Monday. They planned to cremate the body and take his ashes to the family gravesite on a farm near Golden Gate in the Free State. “He came down to have a nice weekend and spend some time with me. We were supposed to have had a good time together and be planning a nice holiday together. Now I am planning his funeral. It breaks my heart,” Luke said.He urged anyone with information on his brother’s murder to contact the police.“I would obviously want people to come forward and describe what the robber looked like to police. He took my little brother’s life like he was nothing. He is gone and now we will never know what type of person he would have turned out to be.”Police spokesman, Captain Thulani Zwane, said investigators attached to the Durban Central police station were appealing to the woman who was allegedly robbed to come forward and report the incident to the police.“Police have not made any arrests at this stage and are appealing to anyone with information with regards to the suspect to contact investigating officer, Warrant Officer Raven Mundhree, of Durban Central detectives, at 031-325 4660 or 082 783 4760,” Zwane said. “Information may also be given to Crime Stop at 08600 10111. All information will be treated with strictest confidentiality and informants may remain anonymous.”Daily News view more

According to a State witness, the boyfriend of a slain Durban woman arranged her murder so he could claim on her life insurance. ||| Durban - The boyfriend of a Durban woman arranged her murder so he could claim on her life insurance policy - and because she was trying to come between him and his new girlfriend.This is according to a State witness who testified on Monday before the Durban High Court that he and a friend had been hired to kill the woman.Loganathan Naicker, 35, of oThongathi (Tongaat) is on trial for the murder of his girlfriend, Jennifer Pillay, in 2008. The State alleges that Naicker and Pillay were in a relationship and living together and that during May 2008, Naicker decided that Pillay must be killed and approached two men to carry out his plan for a cash reward.The indictment says that on May 21 that year, two men accosted Pillay at her home in Ottawa, near Verulam, and drove away with her in her Toyota Tazz. They took her to sugar cane fields nearby where she was shot dead. The vehicle was later found abandoned. Her body was recovered the next day.The State alleges Pillay and the two men acted with common purpose to kill Jennifer. One of the two men who turned State witness, Sandile Rudolph Ncube, on Monday testified he knew Naicker because they worked in the taxi industry in oThongathi. Ncube said he was a taxi driver and Naicker a taxi owner. He testified that his friend, Mbongeni Mbatha, had approached Naicker for a security job when he saw Ncube chatting to Naicker.“Logan laughed at him and said he’ll find him a job that pays better. Later Logan told me there was a person who needed to be killed. I reminded him of my friend, Mbongeni, who was still available.When all three of them met, Naicker explained his ex-girlfriend must be killed because she was “disturbing him from his current girlfriend”, he said.Ncube said Mbatha asked how much Naicker would pay him, to which he replied R20 000 cash upfront, before the job was completed. Ncube said initially he had been the facilitator, arranging meetings between Mbatha and Naicker and sometimes acting as a translator, but in the end also took part in the crime.He testified that Naicker told them they would find R7 000 in the boot of the Tazz, which belonged to his ex-girlfriend, and that he would later pay the remaining R13 000. However, the plan changed once they had hijacked Pillay and taken her to a sugar cane plantation, as they did not find money in the boot as promised. They had tried contacting Naicker about the money and he apparently said he was busy and later was not answering Ncube’s calls.Daily News view more

Three were arrested at the Durban testing ground in connection with the truck that was involved in the crash on Fields Hill. ||| Durban - Three people were arrested on Tuesday at the Durban testing ground which issued the roadworthiness certificate for a truck involved in a crash that claimed 24 lives.The three men, aged between 66 and 28, face charges of fraud and corruption and are expected to appear in the Phoenix Magistrate's Court on Wednesday.They were arrested at the Phoenix Testing Station by the Road Traffic Management Corporation's (RTMC) anti-corruption unit and the police.The unit's deputy head Jody Pillay said they were arrested during a sting operation. They face six counts of fraud and corruption.Pillay said one of the men was apparently tasked with obtaining business, while the other two would process certificates at the privately-owned testing ground.He said a roadworthy test normally cost R250, but unroadworthy vehicles would be passed as being roadworthy for R450. He said the incident was not isolated.“The problem is countrywide. There are fly-by-nights and there are continual operators. It's all about money. They just want to turn a quick buck.”The three covered their faces with jackets as police escorted them from the testing ground.Pillay said the truck that was involved in the crash on Fields Hill, near Pinetown, on September 5, had been certified at the Phoenix Testing Station.He could not say if any of those arrested were involved in issuing the roadworthy certificate for the truck.The driver, Sanele Goodness May, faces 24 counts of murder after the truck crashed into four minibus taxis and two cars.Pillay said further investigations were underway and that the RTMC would approach the provincial government to have the Phoenix station's licence revoked.He said it was possible that vehicles approved by the Phoenix Testing Station could be recalled to undergo roadworthy checks again. - Sapa view more

The SA Weather Service has issued a flood warning for KZN and other parts of the country as a massive storm makes landfall. ||| Durban - The South African Weather Service has issued a flood warning for KwaZulu-Natal and other parts of the country as a massive storm, bringing with it heavy rains and strong winds, makes landfall on Tuesday.Up to 60mm of rain is expected to pound KZN until Thursday, when there will be light to moderate showers.Meteorologist Wiseman Dlamini said rain was expected until Sunday.“There’s a 60 percent chance of rain (today) and an 80 percent chance (Wednesday).” An estimated 20 to 30mm of rain was expected to fall daily over the next two days. This might result in flooding in some areas, Dlamini said. A statement on the SA Weather Service website urged the public not to try to cross rivers and streams that are in flood, irrespective of whether they are on foot or in a vehicle.The weather system, which will also affect Gauteng and Eastern Cape, will likely be felt during Nelson Mandela’s memorial service today and funeral service on Saturday. William Msimanga, a senior forecaster at the SA Weather Service, said areas of KZN had already received significant rainfall recently so the chance of localised flooding, because of elevated levels of water in the soil, was high.Jason Nicholls, manager of international forecasting at AccuWeather, said the weather system was a “slow moving front”.“Some models show more than 100mm during the two days, but this is probably overdone. More realistic rain amounts look to be around 25mm,” he said.“There is the risk of flash flooding, especially in downpours, which can cause travel problems.“Scattered showers and thunderstorms can persist across the region on Thursday and Friday, but rainfall will be lighter (then), which should lessen the flooding threat.”Metro police spokesman Eugene Msomi said that metro’s Festive Season Management committee (Fesmac) was ready as of on Monday to deal with any sort of disaster during the festive season. Fesmac comprises all major city departments and SAPS. Chief of Durban Metro’s Fire and Emergency department, Mark Te-Water, said they were also prepared for the predicted storm.Daily News view more

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