BY Obakeng Maje

Bafana Bafana will take time off their busy schedule on Saturday, 05 January 2013 to visit the Heerengacht Absa Centre where they will meet some of the clients there. The team leaves their hotel at 09h30 and will spend about an hour at the branch.

Bafana Bafana will then move to the Red Cross Children’s Hospital in Rondebosch to spend some time with the kids from 11h00.

In the afternoon the national team will have a training session at a nearby gymnasium (the session is not open to media).

On Sunday, Bafana Bafana will have a light training session at the Sea Point Promenade starting at 11h00, and will then have the afternoon off.

Please note that the Norway national team is expected to land in Cape Town tonight (Friday, 04 January 2013) at 21h45.

They will train at Ajax Cape Town’s Ikamva Grounds on Saturday, 05 January from 17h00.

BY Obakeng Maje

The National Executive Committee (NEC) of SAFA met to consider the report on match fixing as prepared by the FIFA investigators, as well as the report of the SAFA Emergency Committee of the 16th December 2012.  This meeting was followed by a briefing to the Honourable Minister of Sport and Recreation, Mr Fikile Mbalula, where the NEC outlined to the Minister the proposed course of action to be followed in light of the report.

Given the significance of the findings of the FIFA investigators, the investigation process that follows must be procedurally fair and sound to ensure firm outcomes.  Therefore, the NEC took a number of critical decisions:

1. To refer the match fixing report in its entirety (including requesting additional information from FIFA where necessary) to the appropriate SAFA Standing Committees for analysis, action and appropriate recommendations to the NEC at its next meeting.

2. Refer all decisions in respect of the match-fixing matter for processing by the appropriate bodies. In this regard, the CEO will address all staffing matter and the NEC will process matters concerning the CEO and any other NEC Members.

3. To ensure appropriate resources are apportioned to the tribunal that will be set up and in this regard work closely with government as communicated by the Minister.

These decisions will ensure that the process moves forward properly and speedily and allow due process in dealing with all parties concerned.

In taking these decisions, the NEC is cognisant of the fact that it is also important for the Association to allow proper due process for all those implicated in the report.  It is also clear, the NEC affirmed, that it is not possible, without further rigorous investigation, to assign guilt or to exonerate any of those named in the report.

The President of SAFA, Mr Kirsten Nematandani, stated that: “We are determined to ensure that this report receives the critical attention that it deserves and that anyone found to have transgressed will be fully prosecuted, both in terms of FIFA and SAFA codes of conduct, as well as through the criminal justice system, if necessary.  It is critical that the integrity of the sport must be without question.”

Acting CEO, Dennis Mumble, stated that, “as the Accounting Officer of the Association I will ensure that we provide all the operational support necessary to ensure that those who have committed any wrongdoing are appropriately disciplined.  I too will continue to cooperate fully with any investigation into these matters, so that all details can be uncovered.”

JOHANNESBURG – Limpopo police on Friday said a doctor from the province was facing two counts of rape and indecent assault.

It is alleged the suspect raped two women in his surgery.

Police said one patient claimed the suspect forced her to have sex with him as part of her treatment and that a second victim came forward with similar allegations soon thereafter.

Police spokesperson Hangwani Mulaudzi said the trial was continuing at the Thohoyandou Magistrate’s Court.

He said police were hopeful they would get two rape convictions for both women.

For me details go to http://www.ewn.co.za

By Obakeng Maje

Vryburg- A Zambian woman arrested after Laptops worth R36 000 found at her house North West police said.

Police received a tip-off from unknown person informing them about the woman who is allegedly in possession of stolen goods NW police spokesperson said.

“Police found five laptops at the house of a 42 year-old woman and she alleged that she kept the computers as an assurance from people who owe her” Aafje Botman said.

One of the laptops was linked to the house robbery that took place in Vryburg and she was arrested.

She will appear at Vryburg Magistrate Court on Monday for being in possession of stolen goods.

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By Obakeng Maje

Marikana- North West police arrested three suspects for business robbery took place in Rankelenyane village.

Police were called after three suspects stormed into a Chinese shop and demanded cash.

“Police received a tip-off from unknown person that the robbery is in progress. Police acted swiftly and the robbers flee the scene when they saw the police” Aafje Botma said.

“The police gave chase and two suspects were arrested in the process. Two firearms and ammunitions were recovered” She said.

Other suspect was later arrested after he hide at the nearest mountains.

“He allegedly hijacked a car and it was found next to the hills” Botma said.

Police cornered him after a back-up and another firearm was recovered.

The suspects appeared at Rustenburg Magistrate Court today for bail application.

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North West Premier Thandi Modise says her office will award bursaries to deserving learners, specifically those intending to study science, mathematics and commerce. The North West achieved an 82.2% matric pass-rate.

Modise says it is possible for the province to improve its matric results, as long as education stakeholders commit themselves to making it a reality.

“We are interested in the skills which are scarce in this province which make us underperform. That is in accounting and all the financial disciplines. It is in engineering, medicine, and because we are an agricultural province, it is in agriculture. I did challenge the provincial government to produce 90% or more. It is possible.”

Meanwhile Higher Education Minister Blade Nzimande says government is putting a lot of effort in increasing bursaries for poor students. Nzimande also says government is working hard at raising the quality of FET Colleges.

The Minister urged school leavers to explore opportunities to study at institutions of higher learning other than universities.

He says school leavers should consider studying at FETs which cater for those who do not pass grade 12.

“Our own view is that the skills that we are short of as a country and in the numbers that we require them can only be acquired through FET Colleges; therefore we would like to see FET Colleges as institutions of choice for many of our youngsters to go and acquire a variety of skills that are only offered at the FET College. Government is putting a lot of effort in raising the quality of FET Colleges as well as increasing bursaries for poor students.”

BASIC Education Minister Angie Motshekga says the country should focus on the number of matriculants that achieved university entrances rather than the few who performed below 40%.

Speaking yesterday at an awards ceremony for the top performers in Gauteng, Motshekga said: “In the whole country there are only 285 candidates that have passed with between 30% and 40%. Honestly, it is not a crisis because we have 300000 candidates that qualified to study for bachelors degrees.

“People should not panic,” added Motshekga, who said her department was left with only 18 months to deliver on the promises she had made in 2011.

At the time, she said the objectives of the action plan to 2014 were :

lIncreasing the number of pupils who pass mathematics and physical science in Grade 12;

lIncreasing the number of Grade 12 pupils who become eligible for a bachelors programme at a university;

lEnsuring that all children remain effectively enrolled in school up to the year in which they turn 15;

lImproving access to quality early childhood development below Grade 1; and

lImproving access to further education and training beyond Grade 9.

At the ceremony, Gauteng MEC for education Barbara Creecy said she was proud that the province had achieved the highest pass rate at 83.9%.

“This year, 71% of learners passed mathematics compared to 61% in 2011, with a 25% increase in distinctions, to 1817. The pass rate in physical science improved by 10%, to 70%.”

Hoërskool Waterkloof in Pretoria was the best performing school in the province.

Creecy also congratulated township schools, especially those in the Soweto area, for improving.

“There is significant and extremely pleasing improvement in the results from what has traditionally been one of our most challenging districts, Johannesburg Central, which includes Soweto.

for more details go to http://www.sowetanlive.co.za

Durban – South African mountainbike ace Burry Stander died in a crash on Thursday, Cycling SA (CSA) has confirmed.

“He was returning from a training ride in Shelly Beach, on the KwaZulu-Natal (KZN) south coast, and was hit by a vehicle,” said CSA spokesperson Mylene Loumeau.

Stander, 25, was fifth in the men’s cross country race at the 2012 London Olympics.

Four years earlier, at the Beijing Games, he had proved his ability when he finished 15th in the cross country event at the age of 20.

The following season he rose to prominence on the global stage when he won the Under-23 title in the Mountainbike World Cup series.

In 2011, Stander became the first South African to win the Cape Epic stage race in the Western Cape, with Swiss partner Christoph Sauser, and the pair defended their title in 2012.

He was married to elite road cyclist Cherise Taylor in May last year, just three months before he narrowly missed out on a medal at the London Olympics.

An emotional Loumeau said Stander, who was raised in KZN, would be missed by the SA cycling community.

“I had seen him come through the ranks since 2006,” she said.

“He was a fantastic role model, and at the same time he was humble at it.”

Gideon Sam, the president of the SA Sports Confederation and Olympic Committee (Sascoc), said he was “shattered” by the death of Stander, a three-time national champion in his specialist discipline.

“Burry was the epitome of an Olympic athlete Ä talented, ultra-competive but at the same time extremely humble and a true gentleman,” Sam said.

“Sascoc, the cycling fraternity, and the entire South African sporting community mourns his passing and sends our prayers to his wife and family.”

Sam said a concerted effort needed to be made to protect athletes using South Africa’s roads.

“I’ve said this time and again but it is really time to work even harder at protecting both our runners and cyclists who use the roads daily to do their training.” – Sapa

Geneva – Last year was one of the deadliest on record for journalists, with 141 killed in 29 different countries and Syria the most dangerous place on earth for reporters, a media watchdog said Thursday.

The Swiss-based Press Emblem Campaign (PEC), which fights for the protection of journalists, said the figure was up by 31 percent on 2011.

At least 37 journalists, among them 13 working for foreign media, were killed in Syria, it said in a statement.

Four journalists are reported missing or detained: Ukrainian Anhar Kochneva, Jordanian-Palestinian Bashar Fahmi, freelance US reporter Austin Tice and another American reporter James Foley, who has contributed video to Agence France-Presse.

The situation in Somalia has deteriorated dramatically, where 19 were killed, said the PEC.

Three Latin American countries followed among the most dangerous places: Mexico with 11 journalists killed, Brazil also with 11

dead, and Honduras, where six journalists were killed.

The Philippines ranked number seven with six killed, followed by Bangladesh and India with four each, said the PEC.

The New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists for its part said last month that 67 reporters were killed in 2012, up 42

percent from the previous year, due in large part to the Syria conflict, shootings in Somalia, violence in Pakistan and killings of reporters in Brazil.

The Paris-based press rights group Reporters Without Borders (RSF) meanwhile put the number of those killed at 88 last year. – Sapa-AFP