Twelve people were injured when their taxi overturned on the N12 near the Putfontein off-ramp on the east of Johannesburg on Saturday, said emergency workers.

Netcare 911 spokesman, Chris Botha said it was unclear what led to the accident.

“Paramedics arrived at the scene and found the crumpled remains of the taxi obstructing the highway,” he said.

“After triaging they found that one person had sustained critical injuries, the other eleven commuters sustained injuries ranging from serious to minor.”

The critically injured patient was airlifted to the Charlotte Maxeke hospital while the others were transported by ambulance to a nearby hospital. – Sapaj

Johannesburg-Kaizer Chiefs George Lebeses first goal of the season was cancelled out by substitute Mame Niang as Kaizer Chiefs were held to a 1-1 draw by the University of Pretoria in an Absa Premiership match played at the FNB Stadium on Saturday night. 

Chiefs had their first real chance of the match in the 13th minute when AmaTuks failed to clear a corner and the ball fell to Willard Katsande who shot straight at keeper Washington Arubi from inside the box. 

13 minutes later, after great combination play between Siphiwe Tshabalala and George Lebese, the latter unleashed a low shot with his weaker right foot which went wide of the target. 

In the 37th minute of the match the visitors had their first real opportunity when a well worked set piece from AmaTuks resulted in Thabo Mosadi piercing through the Chiefs defence and unleashing a low shot which Chiefs keeper Itumeleng Khune parried away, but it fell to Bongani Zungu who blasted high in front of an open net. 

Chiefs took the lead with arguably one of the seasons best moves so far. 

Bernard Parker won the ball for Chiefs in the middle of the park and released Tshabalala who then carried the ball forward and swiftly passed to Reneilwe Letsholonyane and the Bafana Bafana midfielders through ball to George Lebese in the box who collected, turned and coolly slot beyond Arubi in the 55th minute. 

Nine minutes later AmaTuks found the equaliser when Chiefs failed to clear a cross into the box and substitute Mame Niang beat Khune with a low shot from eight-yards out. 

The home side had an opportunity to reclaim the lead when Lehlohonolo Majoro found some space and dazzled his way through the Tuks backline but his his shot was well saved by Arubi from close range in the 68th minute. 

Tshabalala then opened space for himself on the left channel and unleashed a shot with his left foot from outside the box which Arubi parried out for a corner. 

The draw means that log leaders Chiefs are now just a point ahead of their arch rivals Orlando Pirates on the standings. 

Kaizer Chiefs (0) 1 (Lebese 55) 

University of Pretoria (0) 1 (Niang 64) 

Teams: 

Kaizer Chiefs: Khune, Gaxa, Mathoho, Mashamaite, Masilela, Lebese (Ngcobo 74), Katsande, Letsholonyane, Tshabalala, Majoro, Parker (Nkhatha 74) 

AmaTuks: Arubi, Sibande (Niang 46), Matsi, Mphahlele, Monyai, Kaibe, Ngoma, Ketjijere, Lubelo (Sekotlong 68), Mosadi, Zungu (Mutizwa 81)j

Goals by Alje Schut and Katlego Mphela, on either end of the break, were enough for Mamelodi Sundowns to beat Bidvest Wits 2-0 at the Bidvest Stadium on Saturday night to see the Brazilians secure their second consecutive Absa Premiership victory.

After stretching their unbeaten run to five games, Mamelodi Sundowns were hoping that their renewed form under Pitso Mosimane would extend to a win against Bidvest Wits.

The opening 15 minutes past by with little action in front of goal, with the exception of Ryan Harrison having to pull off an impressive reflex save from a Tebogo Langerman strike.

Matthew Pattison nearly put his former club a goal behind when he shot at goal in the 19th minute, but his effort went narrowly past the far post.

A goal did arrive, on the other end of the field, when Alje Schut did well to rise above his markers and header in an impressive strike off a 22nd minute corner-kick.

The hosts were left breathing a sigh of relief when Oftense Nato saved their blushes when he cleared the ball off the line from a chipped ball into the box.

Ten minutes before the break, Nyasha Mushekwi was chasing down a goal effort, but Harrison did well to rush off his line and slow down the attack, resulting in Oftense clearing the effort.

Antonio Habbas opted for change at the start of the second half by bringing on Mzikayise Mashaba in place of James Mayinga.

Sundown’s suffered an early blow, just five minutes later, when their goalscorer couldn’t continue playing and he was replaced by Wayne Arendse due to injury.

The game seemed to have been ‘killed’ off when Katlego Mphela doubled their lead in the 67th minute.

The Clever Boys weren’t too sharp on their possession, when they gave it away in the middle of the park, which allowed for the substitute Richard Henyekane to slice a ball to Mphela, who made no error in slotting it past the onrushing goalkeeper.

Henyekane tried to turn goalscorer when he flung in an effort at goal, but it was an ambitious strike which sailed over the crossbar with just eight minutes remaining as the game ended 2-0.

Bidvest Wits: (0) 0

Mamelodi Sundowns: (1) 2 (Schut 22’, Mphela 67’)

Teams:

Bidvest Wits: Harrison, Gumede, Pattison (Fanteni 87’), Nengomasha, Kadi, Vilakazi, Sweswe, Seedat, Nato, Mayinga (Mashaba 45’), Chapman (Jayiya 70’)

Sundowns:Sandilands, Langerman, Nyandoro, Mabaso, Schut (Arendse 50’), Zwane (Kekana 71’), Mushekwi (Henyekane 59’), Mphela, Laffor, Pelembe, Mwanjale

Former President Nelson Mandela had gallstones removed on Saturday morning and was recovering from the successful procedure, the presidency said.

“This morning (Saturday) the former president underwent a procedure via endoscopy to have the gallstones removed,” spokesman Mac Maharaj said in a statement.

“The procedure was successful and Madiba is recovering. The medical team decided to attend to a lung infection before determining when to attend to the gallstones.”

Maharaj said tests done after Mandela was hospitalised on December 8 revealed a recurrence of the lung infection and that he had developed gallstones.

He said doctors gave no indication when he would be discharged.

Mandela, 94, was flown to Pretoria from his home in Qunu, in the Eastern Cape.

Mandela’s hospital stay is his longest continuous period in hospital since 2001, when he underwent seven weeks of radiotherapy after being diagnosed with prostate cancer. He was 83 at the time.

In January 2011, Mandela was admitted to a Johannesburg hospital for an acute respiratory infection. He had contracted tuberculosis while in prison.

Eyewitness News reported on Thursday that Mandela was not receiving treatment at 1 Military Hospital at the Thaba Tshwane Military Base in Pretoria as had been widely reported after Defence Minister Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula’s interview on Monday.

Mapisa-Nqakula spoke to reporters outside the hospital after seemingly visiting Mandela there.

Since Friday morning, the number of journalists kept increasing at Mediclinic Heart Hospital in Pretoria as details of the reported new hospital filtered through.

The presidency said it had not been the government’s intention to mislead the public or the media.

Maharaj said he had only stated Mandela had been admitted to a Pretoria hospital.

“It is not part of any strategy or tactic by government to mislead the public. We have never had that intention. We know to keep to the facts and we’ve been rigorous,” he said in an interview on Talk Radio 702. – Sapa

By Obakeng Maje

North West Premier Thandi Modise has expressed a concern about the spate of armed robberies around the Brits area and called on communities to work closer with the police to intensify crime prevention efforts.

Premier Modise’s call follows the recent incident in which the owner of a Brits butcher was shot dead and two people wounded at the shop on Thursday.

“The tragic incident reminds us of the one in which we lost one of our outstanding sportsmen and boxing champion, Corrie Sanders during an armed robbery at a restaurant” said the Premier in wishing the injured pair a speedy recovery.

According to police three armed robbers entered and demanded money while Gerald Rudolf, 65, his son, 31, and a female employee were closing up at 8pm on Thursday and allegedly shot and killed Rudolf.

The robbers shot his son ain both legs and a female employee in the shoulder before fleeing the scene with a briefcase containing an undisclosed amount of cash, a 9mm pistol, bank cards and cheque books.

The y reportedly drove off  in Rudolph’s Toyota Corolla, which was found abandoned about 2km away.

Rudolf was declared dead on the scene while his son and the woman were taken to Brits Hospital.

By Obakeng Maje

Mahikeng- North West police in Lomanyaneng are investigating a culpable homicide case after a driver of a light motor vehicle died after his vehicle overturned.

“The accident happened yesterday afternoon Thursday at about 17:30 along Mahikeng/Lotlhakane road” Colonel Lesego Metsi said.

BY Obakeng Maje

LICHTENBURG:– Police in Itsoseng near Lichtenburg recovered  thirty herds of cattle that was reported stolen from Verdwaal since last Monday North West police said.

“The stock was yesterday found kept in a kraal at (Venter Silo),Bodibe village outside Itsoseng” Colonel Lesego Metsi said.

 “The owner of the kraal was arrested after he failed to convince the police when questioned as to how did he came to possess the cattle and why is he keeping them in his kraal” Headds.

The suspect is expected to appear briefly before Itsoseng Magistrate Court on charges of possession of suspected stolen Stock and Stock Theft on Tuesday.

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Johannesburg – The SA Football Association (Safa) executive will meet on Sunday to discuss a Fifa report on match-fixing, Safa spokesman Dominic Chimhavi said.

“The Safa Emergency Committee met on Friday morning to receive the summary report, and to discuss the appropriate action to take,” Chimhavi said by statement on Saturday.

“Given that the full report had not yet been received, and also the complexity of the issues raised in the summary report and their possible implications, the meeting was adjourned to Sunday.”

The report, completed by the former Head of Security for Fifa, Chris Eaton, followed an investigation undertaken by Fifa into pre-World Cup 2010 international friendly matches.

The investigation, which began in March, was instigated at the request of Safa in October last year, when speculation around the matches and the role of a possible international match-fixing syndicate arose.

Eaton addressed whether one or more of the matches in question were fixed, and found compelling evidence to support the theory.

He outlined the workings of a bogus football development company, called Football 4U, which was a front for an Asian-based betting syndicate headed up by now-convicted match fixer, Wilson Raj Perumal.

Perumal and Football 4U managed to infiltrate Safa prior to the World Cup, with an offer to assist with referee development.

The offer included providing Fifa-accredited referees, at their cost, for the friendly matches prior to the Fifa 2010 World Cup.

The report identified various Safa officials who interacted with Football 4U, and Eaton recommended “further examination” of those officials.

“It is apparent from the report that the decision to ask Fifa to investigate this matter was the correct one, as the full extent of the web of international crime is now exposed,” Safa chief executive Robin Petersen said.

“After taking appropriate legal advice and following due process, we will take action against all who are found to have acted improperly or criminally in this matter. We have consistently stated, and now will demonstrate, that Safa will not tolerate corruption of any form, or poor governance around compliance with Fifa and Safa statutes and regulations.”

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Johannesburg – It is clear that Gordon Igesund will find what he deems Bafana Bafana’s best 23 players to represent the country in next month’s Africa Cup of Nations from the 36-man squad he announced this week.

For a change, there hasn’t been a lot of contention about the composition of Igesund’s provisional squad after he, for the first time since taking over the Bafana coaching reins, included men such as Andile Jali and Lehlohonolo Majoro.

Few would have rumbled over the exclusion of Dino Ndlovu and Katlego Mashego – two of Igesund’s many experiments in the past five months – as Igesund has now run out of time and must seek to establish a winning team.

The return of Katlego Mphela to the national team for the first time since June is a major boost, even though at first Igesund had seemed to have forgotten him as he harped on about Benni McCarthy, who is back, Igesund wasting no time recalling him the moment he saw him turn out for Orlando Pirates last week.

This column has previously expressed reservations about Igesund’s admiration of McCarthy, the striker who has been out of shape for the past 24 months and missed the 2010 World Cup as a result.

But I’m afraid we may have to put up with the unpleasant sight of the veteran striker in a national jersey next year – his inclusion in the final 23-man squad seems as inevitable as the outcome of the political leadership contest happening in Mangaung starting this weekend.

Even though McCarthy’s first attempt at staging an international comeback ended in embarrassment when he was substituted nine minutes after coming on against Brazil in September, confirming our suspicions that his initial inclusion had little to do with football and more with public relations, he’s a certainty to add to his 80 caps.

You may recall that McCarthy, following Igesund’s appointment in July, was quick to sing the coach’s praises, stating among others that “players will finally be selected on merit”. We should assume his inclusion in the Bafana training camp that begins on December 27, after having played just two games, has a lot to do with “merit”.

The truth, though, is that in any self-respecting footballing nation, a player like McCarthy would in no way be near a national camp, least of all one which precedes an international tournament.

But we have to accept the fact that Igesund adores him, and, barring injury (which can’t be ruled out for unfit players), will most likely include him in his squad.

In any case, it is Igesund’s head that’s on the block and, if he feels he requires McCarthy’s services to fulfil his tough mandate of leading Bafana to the Nations Cup semi-finals, then so be it.

Coaches live and die by their decisions, and Igesund should be accorded space to make his choices. But where these choices are later proven to defy logic, as was the case with McCarthy’s inclusion in the trip to Brazil, he won’t be spared.

My only gripe about Igesund’s announcement this week was that he intends naming his final squad on December 30. This seems too early for me, coming 20 days before Bafana open the Nations Cup against Cape Verde at Soccer City.

It’s likely that the misfortune of injury could strike (with McCarthy in camp this can’t be ruled out), and Igesund could be forced to call on players who’re already in holiday mode to replace one or two he may want to withdraw.

A slightly bloated squad – of about 27/28 players – would offer more options to the national coach, and definitely encourage competition in the side, with squad members uncertain as to who would be sent home.

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