Free State – Free State male nurse Michael Moema was on Wednesday acquitted on two charges of rape by the Bloemfontein High Court.

Judge Faan Hancke acquitted Moema, who was accused of raping a terminally ill cancer patient at the National Hospital in Bloemfontein.

The judge held there was a possibility the cancer patient was not raped.

There were tears of joy out in the public gallery, where some of  Moema’s colleagues were seated.

An emotional Moema said outside the court he was very relieved. He said the allegation that he raped the patient was “a pure lie and that you cannot mix a lie with the truth”.

“I’m very relieved,” he added. – Sapa

By Obakeng Maje

Bafana Bafana Coach Gordon Igesund yesterday admitted himself in hospital suffering from severe abdominal pains.

Initial tests showed that the Bafana coach might be suffering from appendicitis.

Dr Ephraim Nematswerani who is attending to coach Igesund said so far he had detected that the national coach might be having appendicitis.

“Thorough and further investigations are being carried out to confirm the diagnosis. We are however, confident that he will be back on his feet soon. It is nothing too serious,” added Dr Nematswerani.

SA Jazz legend Abdullah Ibrahim is visiting Kimberley’ Beaconsfield Community hall at 12 (noon) today (Wed 13. 2013) with Japanese artists.

Ibrahim and the Japanese entourage will jam with local cultural activists/artists at the Beaconsfield hall starting at noon today.

Entrance Free.

The Tlokwe municipality’s finances are on a “progressive path”, despite irregularly spending of millions in the 2011/2012 financial  year, it said on Tuesday.

“The irregular expenditure or unauthorised expenditure incidents  do not necessarily mean that money was misused, but only that certain supply chain procedures were not followed,” spokesman William Maphosa said in a statement.

The municipality was responding to the Democratic Alliance citing an auditor general report, which found the North West municipality had irregularly spent R143 million while under the administration of former mayor Maphetle Maphetle.

On Monday, DA leader in the North West Chris Hattingh, said now that the party was running the Tlokwe municipality it would clean up its finances and focus on delivery.

“Dramatic increases in irregular and unauthorised expenditure, as well as material under-expenditure, have become endemic in the North West province, plagued by years of the ANC’s factional infighting in a quest for power and control over financial resources,” Hattingh said.

The AG’s figures showed that under Maphetle R152 million was spent without authorisation, and a further R2.8 million was wastefully spent. In addition, the municipality under-spent its budget by R48 million.

The AG found a total of 63 problem areas in the municipality’s finances.

“As a consequence, service delivery was negatively affected, the  AG found,” Hattingh said.

“In most cases, 60 percent of the delivery targets set for the municipality were too vague for the AG to verify.”

The municipality said the DA had not fully interpreted the report.

“What the DA is not disclosing is the fact that the AG has also pronounced an unqualified audit for the municipality’s 2011/2012

finances, the period before the DA had hardly dreamt of assuming administrative power in the local council,” Maphosa said.

He said the municipality had established a public finance committee and had staffed the supply chain unit.

“Once these processes are finalised, this municipality will consistently maintain a clean audit, and indications are that this will have been achieved already by next year,” said Maphosa.

Maphetle was replaced by the DA’s Annette Combrink in November last year, after warring factions within the African National Congress filed a motion of no confidence in him.

The ANC in Tlokwe said it would have Maphetle re-instated, with several ANC members already tabling a motion of no confidence in Combrink.

On Monday, President Jacob Zuma and deputy ANC president Cyril Ramaphosa visited the area for talks with members of the divided city council. – Sapa

Johannesburg – Vehicle manufacturer Daimler Chrysler’s chief executive officer Trent Barcroft was in hospital after he was shot at during a robbery in Midrand, Gauteng police said on Wednesday.

“He was with his wife, who was unharmed. He was shot in the stomach… the attackers took jewellery, cellphones and the wife’s handbag,” spokeswoman Captain Kym Cloete said.

The two were on their way home when the attack happened on Tuesday.

No arrests had been made. – Sapa

By Obakeng Maje

South African Football Association (SAFA) has welcomed the eight-year sentence imposed on Phil “Mr Jones” Setshedi for match fixing. He will serve an effective three years in prison, with five years of the sentence suspended for five years.

The sentence was handed down by the Bellville Commercial Crimes Court, in Cape Town yesterday, 12 February 2013.

Setshedi was convicted on 7 December 2012 of contravening section 15 of the Prevention and Combating of Corrupt Activities Act, Act 12 but his sentence was deferred to February this year.

Setshedi was found guilty of an attempt to unduly and improperly influence the outcome of one of the 2011 Vodacom Play Off matches in Cape Town in 2011.

He was arrested on 8 June 2011 after SAFA reported him to the police following representations to SAFA officials in a bid to influence the outcome of one of the matches. This conviction comes out of SAFA’s close working relationship with the Hawks on corruption in football.

Court proceedings commenced at Bellville Commercial Crimes Court in November 2011 and concluded last December when the accused was convicted.

Handing down the sentence, Magistrate Sabrina Sonnenberg said match fixing was against the ethos of fair play and should never be tolerated. She noted match fixing was a growing scourge around the world and therefore the South African Courts needed to contribute to the fight against the disease by imposing harsh sentences which should be a deterrent to other potential match fixers.

SAFA President, Mr Kirsten Nematandani said the sentence of Setshedi would send out a clear message to other would-be corrupt elements that match fixing has no place in our soccer.

“Once again, this sends out a strong warning to anyone who might intend to tarnish the good name of the sport through corrupt and any other unsporting behaviour.

“In accordance with FIFA and SAFA’s zero tolerance to corruption and match fixing, we would like to warn other potential criminals that the long arm of the law would not spare you,” said Mr Nematandani.

Members of the public, players, football administrators and members of the media are encouraged to report suspicious activities in football on the 24 hour anti-corruption hotline number 

0 800 777 228.

PUBLIC Protector Thuli Madonsela is to appear before Parliament to respond to allegations that staff in her Kimberley office are taking bribes from the DA to prioritise certain investigation in Northern cape.

UNDER ATTACK: Thuli Madonsela is to face parliament about allegations of graft in her office. Photo: PUXLEY MAKGATHO

The parliamentary portfolio committee on justice and constitutional development also wants Madonsela to explain claims that she hired consultants to conduct investigations that could have been done by her staff, including a probe of former communications minister Siphiwe Nyanda at a cost of R300000.

These startling allegations are contained in a letter compiled by her former deputy, Mamiki Shai, and several employees who call themselves “concerned staff of the office of the Public Protector”.

They have been sent by anonymous letter to the office of National Assembly Speaker Max Sisulu.

Shai, who allegedly had a frosty relationship with Madonsela, left at the end of last year when her contract expired.

According to the letter certain staff members in the Northern Cape regional office of the public protector are allegedly accepting bribes from the DA in the region to prioritise investigations against provincial government officials linked to the ANC.

DA MP Debbie Schafer said she was aware of the allegations but dismissed them as “lacking substance”.

Madonsela, at a date yet to be determined, would also be grilled by MPs over claims that her office had watered down its investigative report on allegations of maladministration and corruption in the DA-led municipality of Midvaal in Gauteng.

The public protector is also expected to give her side of the story regarding claims that her office procured a case management system that is not working at a cost of R9-million to the taxpayer.

At its meeting yesterday the justice committee decided to invite Madonsela to a formal meeting to answer the allegations against her office.

The committee has also resolved to write to the Public Service Commission (PSC), asking it to indicate if it was within its jurisdiction to conduct a full investigation on the allegations of maladministration in Madonsela’s office.

The PSC and Madonsela’s office are chapter nine institutions that promote democracy and openness in terms of the Constitution.

The auditor-general could also be asked to probe claims that Madonsela’s office violated the Public Finance Management Act when it allegedly procured the services of consultants and to probe its electronic case management system that is said to be dysfunctional.For more details go to www.sowetanlive.co.za

By Staff Reporter

North West Premier Thandi Modise has called on women and girl children to be aware of wolfs in sheepskins. This follows the arrest of a 29-year-old pastors for raping a 17-year-old girl in Phokeng near Rustenburg on Tuesday.

“We are deeply shocked and concerned that the scourge of rape which has in recent months been a plague in our streets and homes now claims among perpetrators those associated with an institution that we consider sacred and those who are supposed to offer spiritual counselling to victims of sexual offences,” said Premier Modise

The Premier comments the vigilance of members of the community who alerted police of their suspicion after they saw the pastor driving into bushes with the girl who was in her school uniform.

Modise cautions women and girls not accept lifts from strangers or leave their girl children no matter how small with male strangers even in their homes.

According to police, the pastor had been visiting the Perish for a church crusade in Phokeng for the past week.He is said to have prayed for the girl during services and fetched her and her friends to held him clean the church premises at night.On Tuesday, he purportedly offered her a lift to school, which she accepted.”… Instead of driving to school, the suspect turned to the nearby bushes where he allegedly raped the victim,” said Brigadier Thulane Ngubane spokesperson of the North West Police.Ngubane said that the suspect was arrested by police who followed the direction… and they found the pastor sexually assaulting the young teenager in her innocent school uniform.”The pastor would appear in the Bafokeng Magistrate’s Court on Wednesday.Meanwhile, Premier Modise condemned the rape of a 7-year-old girl in Phunong section in Ganyesa Village and called on the community to assist police with information that might lead to the arrest  the perpetrator.In her reaction to this incident, the Premier supported the proposed special offences courts for sexual offences mooted by the Department of Justice and Constitutional Development particularly where there are high incidents.

Modise reiterated her earlier call for united action against the scourge of rape and for efforts to protect women and children against sexual offences to be intensified.

The incident was confirmed within hours of the Premier calling strategies for the prevention of sexual offenses against women and girl children 

 to be reviewed to curb escalating incidents of rape.

According to police, the child was raped by an unknown man while playing alone at a nearby park on Saturday.

Captain Amanda Funani said that the girl’s grandmother had noticed that she was struggling to walk and told her grandmother about the rape when she  questioned her.The child was taken to a local hospital, where a doctor confirmed that she had been raped. Although a case was opened on Sunday afternoon, no one had been arrested by Tuesday morning.

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By Staff Reporter

North West Premier Thandi Modise is upbeat that the first BRICS(Brazil,Russia,India,China,South Africa) EXPO and International Trade and Tourism Conference that her province will be hosting. The four-day International Investor conference is scheduled to commence as from next week Thursday 21st February 2013 at Mmabatho Convention Centre in Mahikeng.

The conference which will create an ideal platform for the public and private sector to network and explore business opportunities with international businesses from BRICS countries is to be held under the theme “Pioneering business and investment opportunities between the BRIC countries and North West province.”

“One of the provincial priorities is to increase investment inflows into the province. Engagements with investors will afford us with opportunities to learn best practices in manufacturing, renewal energy, mining, mineral beneficiation, tourism, infrastructure development and agriculture beneficiation projects,” says Premier Modise.

According to the Premier, besides positioning the North West Province as a preferred investment destination, her province has prioritised the development of these key economic sectors to contribute towards job creation and increase contribution to our Growth Domestic Product (GDP).

Modise said that the province is looking forward to engagement and discussion with our BRIC partners at this auspicious event to further strengthen and solidify close ties in trade, tourism and investment.

About three hundred delegates are expected to converge for the International investors Conference that will be running parallel with the exhibitions that will be showcasing Provincial products and services.

Investors, Exporters, Importers, Investment Promotion Agencies, Tourism Agencies, Companies specializing in Transportation and air and freight transport, road and rail operators, courier companies, finance service providers, banks and the SMME sectors are among those who will also be able to engage in various business to business networking opportunities.

The conference is hosted by the Provincial Department of Economic Development, Environment, Conservation and Tourism (DEDECT) in conjunction with BRICS EXPO (PTY) LTD and in partnership with the Department of Trade and Industries (the dti) and the Department of International Relations and Cooperation (DIRCO)

.Members of the media are invited to cover this historic conference which is a build up to the BRIC Summit to be held.