NORTH WEST PROVINCE: – The police in the Province will leave no stone unturned in their quest to bring down the level of crime across the Province this festive season. Police Contingencies will be deployed in most of the hot spots, main roads and highways in the major towns and cities of the Province. 

 “Since the launch of Operation Festive Season (Operation Duty Calls) on 15 October 2012, the following successes have been achieved throughout the North West Province: A total of 5169 arrests were made for the following crimes: 94 arrests for murder, 79 arrests for attempted murder, 6 for culpable homicide, 30 for aggravating robbery, 3 for car hijacking, 43 for house robbery, 51 for business robbery, 33 for public violence, 216 for rape, 18 for sexual assault, 46 for crimen injuria, 7 for child abuse, 6 for kidnapping,1 for abduction, 1449 for assault GBH, 340 for assault common, 467 for burglary,70 for stock theft” Colonel Lesego Metsi said.

 “The Provincial Commissioner Lieutenant General Zukiswa Mbombo indicated that there are a number of areas of concern, looking at the broader crime picture in the Province and more focus will have to be given to Crimes against Women and Children, Rape, Aggravating Robberies, Burglaries and Assaults with Intent to Course Grievous Bodily Harm, which seem to be dominating the crime picture” He said.

“We are going to deploy members to work with various stakeholders as we always do during this period of the year and we are appealing to all our communities, visitors, tourists and road users to be patient, always  be vigilant and co-operate with the law enforcement officers who will be deployed on various roadblocks and Crime Prevention operations throughout the festive season,so that we all enjoy a crime free holiday” The North West Provincial Commissioner Zukiswa Mbombo said.

 The Provincial Commissioner would also like to thank all the citizens of this Province for the social partnership forged with the police in the Province and support given throughout the year 2012 and beyond.

She further would like to wish all a Merry Christmas and Prosperous 2013.   

By Obakeng Maje

Vryburg- A 52 year old man sentenced to life in prison at Vryburg Magistrate Court for raping a minor North West Police said.

Hendry Standstill Seitshegetso,52 was found guilty after he raped his stepdaughter. “According to the girl Seitshegetso started raping her back in 2004. It is said that he will sexually abuse her and buy her silence by offering her R15-R20 so that she does not tell anyone” Colonel Lesego Metsi said.

The ordeal will take place while a 11 year-old girl mother still at work. The Vryburg Magistrate Court imposed a life imprisonment sentence on the culprit.

“The mother reported the matter to the police, who apprehended the 52 year-old stepfather on charges under the Criminal Law Amendment Act 32/2007 section 3” He adds.

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Zeerust:The police in Zeerust have made a breakthrough following the arrest of one of the three most wanted suspects in the Province. The arrest was made by the task team that was appointed by the Provincial Commissioner to probe these cases.

“The arrest was made following intensified operation by the team last night. A 20 year-old suspect was the only remaining suspect to be arrested following the arrest of his two partners in crime who were arrested last month” Colonel Lesego Metsi said.

“The three are positively linked  to the spate of high jackings, murders, attempted murders, kidnapping and rape cases that took place in Zeerust and Madikwe since November 2011 to October 2012.  The  modus operandi used by the suspects in a number of the cases was that they allegedly high jacked  their victims, most of whom were couples at  secluded  and strategic points,rape the female partners and then murder the couple” He continues.

In some of the cases the victims were kidnapped and raped by their assailants.  In the last case a similar modus operandi was followed, a couple was high jacked and the boyfriend managed to escaped while the suspects raped the girlfriend before killing her.

All the murdered victims were shot at.

The 20 year-old has been on the run since the arrest of his friends and finally now have to face the full might of the law to where his fate will be to be determined.  

The suspect is also linked to other rape cases in the area and is soon expected to appear before the Zeerust Magistrate Court.

Meanwhile police will be conducting DNA analysis to determine if they are not linked to other cases.  

The Provincial Commissioner Lieutenant General Zukiswa Mbombo had since applauded the members for a job well done .

BY Obakeng Maje

The School Governing Body of Mafikeng High in its extraordinary meeting held on Thursday 13 December 2012 resolved to concur with the recommendation of the disciplinary panel that a 37 year old female educator be summarily dismissed.

The SGB rejected the letter of resignation dated 10 December 2012 that the educator had submitted to the school management after she was served with summonses dated 5 December 2012 to appear before a disciplinary panel on Tuesday 11 December 2012 to answer to charges of:

• ·         Failure to disclose the progression of the relationship from a professional to a deeper personal level to the principal and or parent of the learner

In our view, the resignation letter submitted by the said educator was an attempt to avoid disciplinary action as it ignored the 1 month notice period that educators employed by the SGB have to serve in terms of their employment contract.

We hold a strong view that any reasonable person would have welcomed the opportunity to clear their name instead of resigning after a disciplinary process had been initiated.

We wish to take this opportunity to express our disappointment that the educator in question betrayed the trust of the school and parent of the learner and conducted herself in a shameful and unbecoming manner and in violation of the South African Council of Educators Code of Professional Ethics.

The audio-visual material that the parent discovered on the cellphone of the learner when she retrieved her children’s cellphones prior the commencement of the examination was overwhelming for us to arrive at the verdict of guilty and the sanction to outrightly dismiss the educator.

Though the parent had lodged the complaint on the 20 October 2012,We had agreed with the parent to hold back disciplinary proceedings so that they did not affect the learner’s performance in the exams and marking of exam scripts by the said educator.

We are confident that together with the parent we have acted in the best interest of the learner as he has managed to pass Grade 10 and will be proceeding to Grade 11 next year.

We view in the strongest terms the betrayal of trust which has also robbed the learner of his childhood, In addition to the psychological counselling that he has been undergoing, we will appeal to the MEC for Education and Training, Louisa Mabe for her department to assist the learner move into a learning environment that will assist him heal.

We wish to comment the parent for her vigilance that led to the discovery of the material that dates back to last year when the learner was 15 years old on the learner’s cellphone .

We appeal to parents to take interest in what is stored on their children’s cellphones and with whom they are chatting on social network platforms such as facebook, Mixit etc.

We wish to commend the South African Police Service Child Protection Unit on the swift arrest of the educator who spend last night in jail and is due to appear  in the Mmabatho Magistrates Court this morning.

We have reason to believe that more than one learner might have been molested by the said educator since she joined the school last year and appeal to past and current learners of our school to come forward  with information that might assist police in their investigations.

Those with information in this regard are advised to contact the investigating officer Warrant Officer Motiki @ 073 183 6892.

For our part, we will share our report with all relevant authorities including the South African Council of Educators, National Association of School Governing Bodies (NASGB), Federation of Governing Bodies of South African Schools (FEDSAS),Governor’s Alliance etc. to ensure that the educator in question is kept as far from learners as possible.

In recognising that the educator in question was not a qualified educator and was therefore not registered with SACE, the SGB has further resolved to take the drastic step to terminate three contracts of educators who are not registered with SACE. Contracts will only be renewed when proof of registration is produced when schools reopen.

The SGB is taking steps to urgently advertise the vacancy that arose as a result of the dismissal of the educator to ensure that there is no class without an educator when schools reopen.

Though we admit that our impeccable reputation has been brought into disrepute by the conduct of the educator who manipulated and took advantage of a minor, we will do everything in our power to reclaim our proud record of serving our community with honour and integrity over the past 80 years.

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BY Obakeng Maje

BRITS- The police are investigating a murder, two counts of attempted murder and business robbery cases following the death of a 65 year-old Gerald Rudolf North West police said.

Rudolf was running a business at Geluk near Brits.

“According to the information three armed robbers  brandishing firearms surprised the butchery owner whilst in their shop with his 31 year-old son and their a 32 year-old female employee last night at about 20:00” Colonel Lesego Metsi said.

“It is alleged that the deceased was busy preparing to close for business when the suspects entered the butchery and started demanding money. The suspects allegedly shot  and killed the owner, and his son was shot on both legs whilst the female employee was shot on the shoulder” He adds.

The owner was certified dead on the scene of crime and the two injured were taken to Brits hospital.

The suspects allegedly took a briefcase containing undisclosed amount of cash, 9mm pistol, bank cards and cheque books.

They allegedly got away with the deceased`s Toyota Corolla.

During preliminary investigations at the scene police  found the stolen car abandoned 2 km away from the scene and four people who were seen nearer were held for questioning and released after they could not be linked to the crime scene.

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The reported stolen items were not found and the suspects are still at large.

Johannesburg – ANC heavyweight and National Planning Minister Trevor Manuel has warned against a purge of leaders who appear not to “toe a particular line”, as the party gathers for its national conference starting on Sunday.

The party “should treasure leaders who could best contribute to the continuity of values and history. If it did not, it would weaken itself”.

The tradition of the ANC drawing on the “skills and acumen of the brightest and best among us should be sought out again”.

“To contribute, an individual does not necessarily have to be in the top six, but the ANC shouldn’t eject skills from the leadership cadre.”

Manuel’s comments come on the eve of the ANC’s Mangaung conference, with the party deeply divided over those who want President Jacob Zuma to serve a second term, and those pushing for Deputy President Kgalema Motlanthe to replace him. Manuel made it clear that he would not be drawn into discussing camps, slates or his preferences.

“I do not see the difference between various slates as representing diametrically opposed policy platforms. There appears to be little that separates slates on policy, so we are down to personalities…”

The Mangaung conference, rather, should focus on accountability of leaders, jobs and unemployment, inequality, corruption, mass migration into urban areas and the challenges these raised.

“Slates tend to distort the attributes of individual members. The problem is that exceedingly talented individuals could be overlooked for people who have a popular appeal.”

Provincial general councils during the nomination process had tended to focus on individual slates. In the absence of developing policy nuances, this appeared to be “quite out of character” with what the ANC had been in the past, he said.

Speaking to Business Day two weeks ago, Motlanthe said that should he not be voted back into a leadership position in the party and government, he would like to go back to working on the political education of Congress of SA Students (Cosas) activists.

Having served as secretary-general of the party for a decade, Motlanthe’s solid theoretical acumen and intimate knowledge of the ANC and its organisational challenges is widely recognised.

Manuel said the training of cadres was “an investment in leadership” and should not be “overlooked in highly factionalised environments. Talent should always supersede camps”, he said.

“It would be a profound tragedy if the skills of (Motlanthe) are no longer available as part of the skills set that the national leadership of the ANC collectively possesses.”

Manuel called for a “framework of accountability” as the basis from which leaders should be elected. Too little was currently asked of elected ANC leaders in this respect, he said.

“It would be better (if) the ANC focused on frameworks in terms of which it could hold those deployed into government accountable.

“If the ANC believes that a large conference such as this would be able to hold people accountable for the technical functions that they will perform in government, it would repeat a huge mistake.”

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ANC Provincial secretary in the North West, Kabelo Mataboge has been suspended. This comes as tension mounts in the provincial leadership, ahead of the Mangaung elective conference this coming weekend.

The SABC’s political editor, Abbey Makoe says this is an indication of deep internal rifts within the organisation.

Meanwhile, disgruntled ANC members in the North West will today be in the high court again after filing an interdict preventing registered provincial delegates from attending the Mangaung elective conference on Tuesday.

The move comes as the party’s secretary- general, Gwede Mantashe announced that the provincial nomination processes were legitimate. The North West high court in Mahikeng rolled over an interdict application of more than 700 disgruntled ANC members to today.

 The disgruntled members claim to have been left out and their views, on who should be in the ANC top six, post Mangaung not taken into account.

They also accuse the party’s Provincial Executive Council, including Mataboge, of allegedly allowing unlawful nomination processes to continue. The group’s spokesperson, Xolile Nxume, says they are very disappointed at the way in which the processes were conducted.

Meanwhile, provincial ANC spokesperson Kenny Morolong says the ANC is shocked and disappointed with regard to the step the members have taken. Morolong says they are to verify whether people involve in the action are staunch members of the ANC or not.

There is grass growing in the middle and either side of the rutted, winding trail next to the shoulder-length fence that separates South Africa and Botswana.

The stony, rudimentary track – marking a patrol route flanking the border – shows definite signs of neglect, with some of the grass growing on the side of the trail.

Cattle, donkeys and goats grazing freely on either side of the fence enjoyed the free movement, often slipping through the wobbly fences into either country.

As the traveller edges closer to the Makgobistad border entry point into Botswana, the signs of neglect become pronounced, with holes all along the derelict, wobbly fence.

The locals here, west of Mafikeng in North West, tell stories of stolen cars wending their way into Botswana from South Africa as well as similar illegal movements by people.

Stock theft is another sore point.

About 75km from Mafikeng, Logagane village is next to Dikhukhung village in Botswana.

A local chief in Logagane, Peter Sekwenyane, expressed concern to a team from The Star over cross-border stock theft: “Stock theft is rife and my worry is that if boundary fences are not patrolled and fortified to deter this, then the country might as well stop talking about controlling diseases carried by animals.

“People are also illegally jumping fences because the legal entry point is very far and a tollgate charge of 120 pula (R130) payable by motorists entering Botswana is also too expensive.

“Both Botswana and South Africa need to sit down and seriously find a way to amicably solve our problems.”

Meanwhile, in Makgobistad, Chief Sandylands Motseoakhumo said that apart from stock theft, there had been other serious crimes including illegal goods and stolen vehicles crossing the border, via the fences.

“There’s a lot of criminal activities happening which police and (the) authorities will only notice or become aware of if they were patrolling our boundaries. Border crimes are bound to happen where there is a lack of policing and this is the situation in our area,” he said.

North West police spokesman Brigadier Thulani Ngubane agreed that stock theft was a problem, caused in most cases by stray livestock grazing along the borderline. He added that water was stolen in South Africa because of a shortage in Botswana.

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An ANC North West official was shot dead outside his house in Klerksdorp on Friday morning, said police.

“No other people were injured in the shooting. A murder docket has been opened,” said Brigadier Thulani Ngubane.

Police were still at the scene.

North West premier Thandi Modise identified the victim as Obuti Chika, the party’s regional secretary.

“Police (should) not leave any stone unturned until those responsible are brought to book,” she said.

Modise said a number of officials in the province had been the target of violent crime in the past few weeks.

“The provincial government wants to know who is behind these assassinations (and attempted assassinations),” she said. 

Meanwhile the ANC Secretary General Gwede Mantashe told The New Age Business Briefing delegates on Friday morning that materialism is affecting the ANC to an extent that people are prepared to kill others.

Mantashe said materialism and eagerness are to be blamed. He was speaking in Mangaung ahead of the 53rd ANC elective conference expected to start on Sunday.