Johannesburg – Head coach Gordon Igesund hopes for a repeat of Bafana Bafana’s Africa Cup of Nations (Afcon) victory in 1996.

South Africa are again hosting the tournament in 2013, after Libya withdrew due to political unrest in the country, with Bafana having lifted their only Afcon trophy as hosts 16 years ago.

“If you go to ’96, it was magnificent,” Igesund said on Tuesday.

“We want to emulate that now. We want to get into the semi-finals, and the final, and do well. I believe we have the players to do that.”

Igesund said his main task in the build-up to the event was to reduce the size of the national squad.

“The league has been really exciting which means now my job is becoming very tough. The squad I have of 35 has to be cut down,” he said.

“After the game against Malawi, our preparations will really begin.”

Igesund assured that there was still a chance for players to cement their places in the final squad.

“Because of the fact that we have a match against Malawi, then a three-day break and then another camp, I can’t call one squad for this and one squad for the other.

“So that is why I have called up a squad of plus-minus 30 players and keep on changing them.

“I would also like to give some of the players who have recently returned to action after injuries, a chance to prove themselves.”

At this stage, Igesund said he had an outline of the core group of players he would use for Afcon, but the selection of the final team would present a challenge.

“We never said it was going to be an easy task. It’s going to be a difficult task.

“Right now I’ve got a (confirmed) squad of about 16 or 17 players and I need to make sure of the other group of players.

“It would have been nice to work with the players every single day.”

Igesund expected little known Cape Verde, their opponents in the opening match at FNB Stadium on January 19, to pose a difficult challenge.

“Cape Verde are not going to be a walk in the park. Twenty of their players are playing in the league in Portugal. We need to know a lot more about them.”

South Africa will play three warm-up matches against Malawi in Durban on December 22, Norway in Cape Town on January 8, and Algeria in Soweto on January 12. – Sapa

The ANC in Limpopo and Western Cape will be allowed to hold their provincial nomination conferences again on Wednesday, ANC secretary-general Gwede Mantashe said in Johannesburg on Tuesday.

The provinces’ conferences collapsed amid disruptions at the weekend.

“The (National Executive Committee (NEC)) decided that both of these conferences will be held on Wednesday…,” said Mantashe.

If they fail to hold successful conferences they would forfeit their right to nominate candidates in that way, and will have to nominate candidates from the floor at the African National Congress’s 53rd national conference in Mangaung later this month.

Six NEC members would be sent to the Western Cape and six to Limpopo to facilitate the conference reruns.

The NEC would also attend the nomination conferences so they could readily confirm nominations.

Branches which had problems had also been directed to rerun their branch general meetings (BGMs) and had until Friday to do so. This applied only to branches which had been directed to rerun.

“So we are not having an open season for BGMs… only those BGMs that have been directed to rerun,” said Mantashe.

At the weekend conferences, party members were meant to select candidates to stand for leadership posts at the ANC’s elective conference in Mangaung.

Mantashe said the North West’s nominations were considered finalised.

He condemned an attack on North West provincial secretary Kabelo Mataboge and hoped the police would bring the culprits to book.

These were part of resolutions taken at a special NEC meeting in Tshwane on Monday.

Mantashe said the ANC was “more than ready” for Mangaung. – Sapa

Head Coach, Stuart Baxter said the focus of everyone at Naturena has to be on the Absa Premiership encounter against Ajax Cape Town at Peter Mokaba Stadium on Tuesday, 04 December 2012.

The Phefeni Glamour Boys return to action after a free weekend due to PSL cup fixture and face a daunting task against Ajax Cape Town on Tuesday and Orlando Pirates over the weekend.

“The game against Ajax Cape Town is a double tough game for us. It is important that both our eyes are fixed on the first game and that is a focus for now. We cannot afford to think about the game over the weekend.

It can be a bit of distraction when you have a game ahead of the derby which makes the game at hand even more important and tougher. I have to continue addressing this with the players as we continue to prepare for Ajax game,” said Baxter speaking to kaizerchiefs.com on Monday morning ahead of team’s departure to Polokwane.

“Ajax has had a tough ride that saw changes in the coaching personnel. They will be optimistic coming to Peter Mokaba following their last win against Chippa United. They have good players who can rise to the occasion on any day.

“Ajax plays the Dutch way with lot of wing play something that they have done for a long time. We will need to up our game and certainly do much better than we did at our last outing against Platinum Stars. The players and all of us are looking forward to this game.

Kickoff for the game is at 19h30.

Cape Town – A well-known doctor is allegedly involved in a child sex ring first exposed by the Daily Voice.

And five people have now been arrested for selling a 13-year-old Atlantis girl for sex – including her own mother and stepfather.

The shocking revelation emerged as the girl’s mother, stepfather and three others appeared in court on Monday charged in connection with the child sex ring.

Three other women were charged with child trafficking at the Cape Town Magistrates’ Court on Monday.

The accused cannot be named to protect the identity of the abused child.

It also emerged on Monday that cops are expected to make more arrests soon – including people from as far as Mossel Bay.

And in a shocking twist, it has emerged that a Cape Town doctor is also allegedly part of the paedophile ring.

The Daily Voice has learned that police are preparing to arrest the doctor – who works at one of the city’s top public hospitals – soon.

Police did not want to reveal more details about the doctor as they fear he could flee the country.

Lotrict, Fortuin and Muller have allegedly confessed to police to selling the young girl to the doctor.

The Daily Voice first exposed the child sex ring last month.

It is alleged the teenage girl’s mother sold her to men, including her stepdad, for sex – sometimes for as little as R20.

The stepfather is accused of raping her, while the women have been charged with selling the girl to men for sex.

The mother was arrested four weeks ago, about a week after the girl told a friend and teacher about her ordeal.

Last week, Table View police arrested the man and three women in quick succession.

The child said the men would have sex with her in bushes outside Atlantis, and sometimes her mother would watch.

The mom was meant to apply for bail on Monday, but due to the other arrests, her bail hearing was put on hold.

Her lawyer Chantall Gillon tried to argue that her bail hearing was an urgent matter.

But Magistrate Zwelindumile Sogwagna said he wanted to try all the accused simultaneously.

“We must deal with all accused as one matter and not start running around,” he said.

For more details go to http://www.iol.co.za

Johannesburg – ‘Why?” This is the question Reshpito Nhanzi of Schaumburg informal settlement in Hartbeespoort, North West, has been asking himself since Sunday morning after discovering his four children dead.

They were allegedly killed by his wife, who later hanged herself a kilometre away from their shack. The youngest child was three months old.

Sonia Covane, 29, who has been married to Nhanzi for 11 years, is believed to have poisoned the children between Saturday night and the early hours of Sunday morning.

Leaving her husband sleeping and the children dead, she had apparently got out of the house, closed the door and walked barefoot and without a jersey or an umbrella for a kilometre in the rain and the early morning chill.

The police said she had stopped in the bushes, took out a belt she had come with and hanged herself.

Nhanzi made the gruesome discovery of the dead children when he woke up on Sunday.

His wife’s body was found a few hours later.

Sitting on Monday in his tiny shack, which had gaping holes in the roof, Nhanzi, who works as a gardener, kept blinking as he spoke, unable to make sense of what could have driven his wife to commit such a deed.

He said they had looked for a suicide note but had drawn a blank.

“I don’t know why she would do that. Why would she not say what the problem was?” the 35-year-old man asked.

Nhanzi and Covane got married in 2001 and had four children: Orzito, 10, Jovase, 7, Moses, 2, and three-month-old Nelson.

The children used to stay in Mozambique with Covane’s family, and Nhanzi said he visited them frequently.

In 2009, Covane came to South Africa to live with her husband.

She had left the children back home and they would both visit them.

Last year, she went to visit them, and returned to South Africa with them in May without Nhanzi’s knowledge.

“I was surprised when I got a phone call at night that she was stuck with the children in Brits, North West, because they did not have transport.

“When I asked her why she had brought the children, she said she could not leave them with her sister any more,” he said.

According to Nhanzi, Covane was a very quiet person, and he doubted if she would have told him if there was something bothering her.

On Sunday at around 4am, Nhanzi said, he was asleep when he heard Covane open the door.

He heard her come inside, then go out again.

Nhanzi said he had woken up around 9am and was surprised that the house was unusually quiet as the children would normally make a noise.

Covane was also not in the house.

The youngest child, who slept with Covane on the other bed, was covered with a blanket.

“I opened the blanket and saw foam coming from his mouth. I touched him and he was cold. I went to the others, who were sleeping on the floor, and they were also cold. When I did not see her in the house, I told myself that she would not kill the children and want to live,” he said.

A neighbour said Covane kept to herself a lot.

“She would just greet you and that was all. We used to ask ourselves why she liked being on her own. Even when her children played with others, she would always call them to come back home. What happened really hurt us, I could not even work properly after hearing the news,” Eunice Zitha, 44, said.

North West police spokesman Lieutenant Sabata Mokgwabone said they suspected that Covane had poisoned the children.

For more details go to http://www.iol.co.za/

Johannesburg – Convicted murderer student constable Sipho Mbatha was sentenced by the High Court in Johannesburg on Tuesday to 17 years in prison, with five years suspended.

“Five of that is suspended on condition that you are not convicted of any offence ranging from common assault to murder,” ruled Judge Kathleen Satchwell.

Mbatha rose to his feet, looking composed, and was hugged and kissed by his wife.

In August Mbatha was found guilty of killing 16-year-old Thato Mokoka.

Satchwell said there had been no evidence to dispute that Mbatha’s actions were not intentional.

Mbatha shot Mokoka dead in February while the teenager was lying on his stomach outside his grandmother’s house. Police were conducting a raid at the house after Mokoka was accused of being part of a gang terrorising local residents.

Mokoka’s family cried inconsolably outside court.

His great-grandmother said the family would “release” Mbatha, as all was done now. – Sapa

BY Obakeng Maje

Bafana Bafana will play three friendly matches in preparation for the Orange Africa Cup of Nations South Africa 2013.

The African football spectacle takes place from 19 January to 10 February 2013.

South Africa begins the preparations for the tournament with a clash against Malawi at the Moses Mabhida Stadium on Saturday, 22 December.

Kickoff is at 18h00.

The next match will see South Africa hosting Norway on 8 January 2013 at the Cape Town Stadium, with the encounter starting at 20h15.

The last outing before AFCON 2013 will be another international friendly match against Algeria on Saturday, 12 January at the Orlando Stadium in Soweto.

Kickoff is at 18h00.

In the AFCON 2013 tournament, South Africa will open their campaign against Cape Verde on Saturday, 19 January; followed by a clash against Angola on Wednesday, 23 January and in the last group stage match, the South Africans will take on Morocco on Sunday, 27 January.

For the preparations, Bafana Bafana head coach Gordon Igesund will start with a training camp on Thursday, 20 December in Durban ahead of the clash with The Flames of Malawi.

A three-day break will follow after that match, and he will have a training camp that will be held in Johannesburg from 27 – 30 December.

After the New Year’s break, the squad will report back into camp on 2 January 2013 to prepare for the clash with Norway – the camp will go all the way into the AFCON 2013 tournament.

After the clash with Norway, Igesund will announce the final 23-man squad that will represent South Africa at the AFCON 2013 tournament.

“Because of the fact that we have a match against Malawi, then a three day break and then another camp, I can’t call one squad for this and one squad for the other, so that is why I have called up a squad  of plus minus 30 players and keep on changing them. I would also like to give some of the players who have recently returned to action after injuries, a chance to prove themselves,” said Igesund.

“This game against Malawi is like the other five games we have already played, winning and losing is not important. What is key is to give the players one last opportunity to convince me and my technical team that we are making the right choices. Intense preparations will start in earnest when I announce the final 23 players after the match against Norway.”

The Bafana Bafana coach believes this is the time he has been waiting for in terms of moulding the team into what he wants.

“I will have the players from morning to night – and that is the period I will be using to build this team into a unit. You can’t do that when you get a team on the 20th and play on the 22nd. This for me is the most crucial period for us because I haven’t been preparing the team all I have been doing is selecting them and going to play a match. We haven’t been playing any formations, any style, all I have been doing is looking at players, so this period for me is very important,” he said.

Igesund is expected to name his squad for Malawi next week.

By Obakeng Maje

Bafana Bafana head coach Gordan Igesund will address members of the media to a briefing where he will outline his plans ahead of the Africa Cup of Nations 2013 tournament starting in January.

Igesund has mandate to fulfill and with AFCON on few weeks ahead he must come up with a swift plan that will see Bafana Bafana be one of Africa powerhouses.

Details of the Media Briefing:

Date:Tuesday, 04 December 2012

Time:09h30 for 10h00Venue:World of BeerGerard Sekoto StreetNewtownJohannesburg