The ANC in North West is proceeding with disciplinary charges against its suspended provincial secretary Kabelo Mataboge.

ANC provincial spokesperson in North West Kenny Morolong said yesterday Mataboge had been formally charged by the provincial disciplinary committee.

However, he was unable to give the date for the disciplinary hearing against Mataboge. He said the matter was between Mataboge and the provincial disciplinary committee.

He did not disclose the nature of the charges. Mataboge was put on suspension shortly before the ANC’s national conference in Mangaung in December last year.

He was prevented from attending the conference because of the disciplinary action against him.

Before Mangaung Mataboge and provincial chairperson Supra Mahumapelo were at loggerheads over their support for Deputy President Kgalema Motlanthe and President Jacob Zuma respectively.

Their differences spilled over into the nominations conference where the two leaders held parallel meetings in different venues in the province to nominate their preferred candidates to lead the ANC.

This led to an intervention by the ANC in Luthuli House which instructed the two parties to have one nominations conference.

Mahumapelo and Mataboge have not seen eye to eye for some time. The faction led by Mataboge suspended Mahumapelo a few months ago prompting the ANC’s national executive to intervene.

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Registration started in earnest at the North West University, Mafikeng campus, yesterday, with aspiring students thronging the institution in their hundreds, ready to start their new journey in higher education.

The university structured its registration plan in such a way that students registered in their respective faculties to avoid congestion and long queues at the admission centre.

University communication officer Phenyo Mokgothu said they expected all first-year students to have registered by Thursday.

“Registration will run until Friday for all first-year students. All other returning students will register from Monday next week. Our target is to have the orientation week running from January 28 to February 7 so that new students are given a proper induction on how campus life and higher education in particular are run at this institution,” he said.

He urged all students to utilise the registration period fruitfully to avoid last-minute disappointments.

“Students are urged to register early because our spaces are limited. This also applies to the issue of accommodation. We operate on a first come first served basis. Late applicants will have to look for alternative accommodation outside campus.”

In the past the university has approached property owners to book accommodation for students but Mokgothu said the number of students had kept on increasing and not everyone could be guaranteed accommodation in such facilities.

“Like other campuses across the country, we have accommodation challenges but we are trying our best to build our own structures on campus, but for now students will have to seek for places to rent outside campus,” he said.

Some of the students said their first experience of university had been confusing but they hoped to adjust quickly.

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A few weeks after four infants died at George Masebe Hospital in Bakenburg, Mokopane, the hospital is in the news again after six doctors quit the facility for unexplained reasons.

The hospital gained notoriety when the four babies died on January 4 while six doctors had gone on Christmas leave.

It is not clear whether their departure last week were linked to the deaths of the babies but sources at the hospital said two were unhappy with their accommodation.

“The doctors complained about the poor state of residences for doctors at the hospital. Sometimes they were forced to drive at night to their own houses far away from the village.

“Their departure has nothing to do with the deaths of the babies,” said a source in the administration unit of the hospital.

The two doctors, who could not be reached for comment, had not left the province but joined other hospitals. Provincial health department spokesperson Sinenhlanhla Gumede said yesterday: “I am not prepared to answer to rumours about the departure and accommodation of doctors.

“We have nine doctors at the George Masebe and they are working.”

On the other hand, doctors belonging to the Cosatu-affiliated South African Medical Association, who had been volunteering their services at the hospital after the deaths of the babies, have left.

Dr Phophi Ramathuba, association chairperson for public sector doctors, told The New Age the association withdrew its members because the six doctors who had been on leave from the hospital had returned.

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The High Court in Johannesburg is scheduled to hear an urgent application on Wednesday to grant miners access to Harmony Gold’s Kusasalethu mine hostel.

The Association of Mineworkers and Construction Union (Amcu) and workers will apply to regain access to the mine’s hostel, after they were locked out on January 3.

On Tuesday, Judge Ndawoyakhe Tshabalala asked what the urgency of the application was, since Harmony Gold had offered to transport miners home.

Ivan Miltz, for the miners, argued that their livelihoods were affected and many of them were “put up in a tent”.

The court heard that the replying affidavit was handed in late and Tshabalala had not had time to study it.

On January 3, miners were told the mine had been shut down until further notice, in order to review operations after several illegal strikes.

Miners were denied access to the hostel and many slept outside the gates.

In December, 1700 workers at the Kusasalethu mine had a sit-in demanding that their fellow employees, who had been suspended, be reinstated.

Amcu and the miners had representatives in court on Tuesday.

The application is scheduled to be heard at 10am on Wednesday.

– Sapa

tional Prosecuting Authority advocate Glynnis Breytenbach will continue in Pretoria, on Wednesday.

Breytenbach was suspended last year. The NPA said it was because of her handling of criminal fraud and forgery complaints laid by Imperial Crown Trading (ICT) and Kumba Iron Ore over mineral rights to Kumba’s Sishen mine in the Northern Cape.

She contends it was for her wishing to go ahead with the prosecution of former crime intelligence boss Lt-Gen Richard Mdluli.

NPA director of prosecutions Lawrence Mrwebi spent Tuesday defending a decision to provisionally withdraw charges against Mdluli.

He also had to explain his contention that Breytenbach may be guilty of defeating the ends of justice in a mining dispute probe.

Under cross-examination by Breytenbach’s advocate Wim Trengove SC, Mrwebi had to explain what he based his decisions on.

He was asked about his testimony at a meeting on December 5, 2011, when he met the director of public prosecutions for North Gauteng, Sibongile Mzinyathi.

When Mrwebi said he believed this was a consultation on whether the case file was problematic and if the investigation should be stopped, the hearing digressed into debate on whether consultation also meant a decision and whether agreement had been reached.

Mrwebi said he believed there had been “50/50 agreement” with Mzinyathi.

“We agreed on the problems, not on stopping the prosecution,” he said.

Sapa

Johannesburg – An 18-year-old boy was found in Kutlwanong with his throat slit and the foreskin removed from his penis, Free State police said on Tuesday.

Sergeant Puleng Motsoeneng said the body was found on Saturday by a passerby near the Tshepong mine.

“When he saw traces of blood, he became curious and followed the blood traces. To his dismay, he made the gruesome discovery and found a teenage boy lying in a pool of his own blood still in his school uniform.”

No arrests have been made. – Sapa

By Obakeng Maje

North West Premier Thandi Modise is to lead a delegation from the provincial government that is to engage Lonmin Management on the company’s refinancing process, challenges and responsibilities post Marikana and the Lonmin Renewal Plan.

The meeting that was earlier announced to be held as from 10:00 am today has been moved from Mmabatho to Sun City outside Rustenburg.

Premier Modise will use the opportunity to share the concern of the provincial government regarding decent housing for miners, improving employer-employee relations, mining charter compliance, interventions to improve the relationship with Bapo Ba Mogale Traditional Council and implementation of the Social Labour Plan.

The meeting will also focus on Lonmin’s state of business, safety, operations, its shareholding and care of dependants of employees post Marikana.

Rustenburg, South Africa – Tunisia’s Youssef Msakni scored a last-minute winner with a brilliant curling shot to snatch a 1-0 victory over neighbours Algeria at the African Nations Cup on Tuesday.

The winger cut inside after a quick attack and floated a shot wide of goalkeeper Rais Mbolhi to break the deadlock in the Group D game at the Royal Bafokeng Sports Palace.

Algeria striker Islam Slimani hit the crossbar with a header just before the half-hour mark and Tunisia substitute Hamdi Harbaoui missed a breakaway chance in the 75th minute.

The two North African sides were the last of the 16 finalists to get their campaigns under way in South Africa. – Reuters

Cape Town – Workers in the fruit-growing region of the Western Cape on Tuesday called off a two-week strike for higher wages after clinching a 50-percent hike.

The fruit pickers and packers had gone on strike on January 9 demanding their daily wages be more than doubled.

“The strike has been suspended,” said Nosey Pieterse, general secretary of the hardline Bawsi Agricultural Workers Union.

Workers had wanted their daily wages increased from R69 to R150, but they got R105.

“We are getting better wages. This is the first bite of the cherry,” he said.

The two-week strike had been violent at times, with workers fighting running battles with police during demonstrations.

Police had responded with rubber bullets, teargas and stun grenades to repel stone-throwing protesting workers on the streets of farming towns in the province. – AFP