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Cape Town - A 33-year-old Capetonian died on Tuesday after a weekend parachuting accident, the Parachute Association said on Wednesday.

The association's safety and training representative Mark Bellinghan said Sean Newkirk was doing his second static line jump on Saturday when the accident occurred.

A static line jump is when beginners have their parachutes automatically opened when they leap from the aircraft.

"While positioning for the exit outside the aircraft, the reserve parachute deployed and pulled Sean from the aircraft. The static line then activated the main parachute, as it is designed to leisure chairs do. This resulted in two open parachutes," Bellinghan said.

Entangled

According to initial witness accounts, and from an initial equipment inspection, the main parachute was jettisoned at some point. However, part of the main parachute and Newkirk's leg became entangled.

The drag from the jettisoned main parachute pulling on his leg resulted in him landing in a more horizontal position than the desired vertical or standing position. A doctor was first on the scene and a club member with paramedic experience also tried to wholesale pearl jewelry help him.

He died in Cape Town on Tuesday.

Bellinghan will investigate the circumstances of the accident for the Civil Aviation Authority.

In a separate accident on Sunday, a 36-year-old paraglider fell to his death in Nigel, Gauteng when his safety chute failed to open.

Pietermaritzburg - One of three men on trial for the gruesome murder and robbery of a Georgedale couple as well as rape of the woman, has turned State witness in the trial which got underway in the North KwaZulu-Natal High Court on Wednesday.

Bongumusa Mdlalose, 24, is currently on the witness stand giving evidence for the prosecution against his former co-accused, Sibongiseni Buthelezi, also 24 and 21-year-old Brian Buthelezi.

The trio are charged with the murder and robbery of  Unathi Dyantyi and Thopholozi Ngcobo-Dladla who are described in the State's indictment as husband and wife.

The accused also face a charge of raping Dladla with twisted pearl necklace a candle stick and broom handle or alternatively performing an "act of sexual penetration on a human corpse".

Pleaded guilty

Sibongiseni Buthelezi pleaded guilty to the murders, robbery and the alternative sexual offence on Wednesday, but the State declined to accept the facts as outlined by him in his plea explanation to the court and elected to lead evidence in the matter.

At the start of the proceedings, State advocate Denardo MacDonald withdrew charges against Mdlalose and told Judge Leona Theron and assessors that Mdlalose would instead testify for the State.

The State alleges that Unathi Dyantyi died as a result of a "blunt force injury to his head and penetrating (stab) wounds to the neck", and that Dladla died of penetrating wounds to both her lungs, oesophagus, trachea.

Together at shebeen

In his plea to dancing pearl the court Sibongiseni Buthelezi admitted that he and others were at a shebeen in the company of Unathi Dyantyi on October 10 last year and decided to rob him.

He said they had followed him home and en route stopped and searched him but found no money in his possession.

They then demanded that he take them to his home and give them money. They then assaulted him with "open hands and booted feet".

Buthelezi said when they got to the house a woman opened the door.

His companions had continued to assault Unathi who was then also stabbed.

"I took Thopholozi to where he [the husband] was lying...I saw he was dead," he said.

Took kettle, iron, groceries

The trio then took the woman to the other side of the house and began assaulting her.

He then realised she was dead.

It was then that his two companions - who he identified as Sibonelo Kwela and Dumisani Gwala - carried out the sexual assault on her body, he said.

Before leaving the house they had taken items including an electric kettle, iron and groceries.

San Francisco - Microsoft has a new weapon in its internet search duel with Google - full access to Twitter's communications hotbed.

In a deal announced on Wednesday at a technology conference in San Francisco, Microsoft's search engine, Bing, will become a new way to find out cultured pearl jewelry what people are saying in their Twitter messages - also known as "tweets".

Access to the data is considered to be one of Twitter's most prized assets.

Microsoft apparently outbid Google for the right to index and display the tweets almost as soon as they are posted.

A Microsoft executive declined to cultured pearl disclose the financial details of the partnership.

Assuming Microsoft is paying for the indexing rights, it would represent Twitter's first significant revenue since it started in 2006.

Johannesburg - The Road Accident Fund (RAF) is being abused leaving road accident victims in the lurch, said RoadCover which assists victims of road accidents claim compensation from the fund.

CEO Eugene Beck said on Wednesday many accident victims received only a fraction of the amount paid out by the RAF.

The interests of motor accident victims and the taxpayers who ultimately fund the RAF are not always best protected by attorneys, he said in a statement.

"Most lawyers representing claimants from the RAF enter into wholesale pearl jewelry risk sharing agreements (or contingency fee arrangements) with the knowledge that they will receive a percentage of the final settlement.

"Inevitably, some of these lawyers try to push for the highest possible payout, which forces the RAF to defend these claims in court, thereby clogging up the system and leading to lengthy delays in claim settlements."

According to Beck, as the RAF was funded by a levy imposed on the price of fuel, it was taxpayers who ultimately bore the cost of the over-inflated claims.

"In addition, because of the lengthy court process, the legal fees usually end up consuming a large portion of the final claim paid to the victims, who are then left with tin cup pearl necklace less than they would have received had the claim been settled out of court for a more equitable amount."

Beck said the criticism that the fund did not have adequate resources was also somewhat unfair.

"If we could eliminate all of the spurious claims against the RAF, then I believe that the fund would be capable of protecting seriously injured victims with its current resources."

Johannesburg - Three people were arrested in Nelspruit after they were found in possession of leaked 2009 matric examination papers, Mpumalanga police said on Wednesday.

Two matric pupils and a teacher were found in possession of examination papers for Mathematics Paper 1 and 2, Physical Science Paper 1 and 2, and Accounting, said  Captain Leonard Hlathi.

He said one pupil and the teacher were arrested on Tuesday and the other pupil was arrested on Wednesday.

"We have charged them with naughty castles breaching the Control Access Information Act of 2000. They will all appear at the Nelspruit Magistrate's Court on Thursday.

Hlathi said the examination papers were now held as evidence by the police.

Mpumalanga education department spokesperson Jasper Zwane confirmed the arrests. He said the three were in possession of examination "material" that they were not supposed to possess.

"Investigations are ongoing to wholesale pearl jewelry verify the type of material, the spread and if it can be linked to the coming examinations," said Zwane.

Zwane commended the police for their swiftness in handling the matter.

Matric examinations will commence on October 26.