Johannesburg – The African National Congress is not in a state of turmoil, secretary general Gwede Mantashe said on Monday.

“Rectification is not turmoil,” Mantashe told reporters in Johannesburg.

“When you correct your organisation you are not in turmoil; it means you are in a phase of strengthening the organisation. Strengthening the organisation is not a once-off activity, it’s an ongoing process.”

This followed the decision by the ANC national executive committee to dissolve the ANC Youth League’s NEC and the Limpopo provincial executive committee (PEC).

The decision was taken at a three-day NEC meeting held in Irene, south of Pretoria at the weekend.

Mantashe said the fact that the ANC could identify areas where there were problems and confront them reflected a healthy organisation.

“A sick organisation runs away from problems and digs its head in the sand… the ANC doesn’t do that.”

Mantashe denied that dissolving the ANCYL NEC and the Limpopo PEC was a purging exercise.

“The Mangaung conference has come and gone… we don’t go around purging people,” he said.

“You cannot be flat-footed and do nothing when things go wrong, because you fear that you will be seen as purging.”

He said the dissolving of the ANCYL leadership was as a consequence of its continued ill-disciplined behaviour that brought the organisation into disrepute on numerous occasions.

An interim team would be selected and put in place by the national working committee.

The task team, which would be called the national task team (NTT) of the ANCYL, would take over responsibility of the league’s NEC.

“It (the NTT) will be young people. You (are) not going to find people with grey beards like me there,” said Mantashe.

“(The NTT) will work on rebuilding the youth league and also trying to give us a face that will appeal to young people… you don’t need to be rowdy to lead the youth league.”

He said knowledge needed to be a key component of leadership.

The NEC had instructed that all processes be stopped immediately with regard to the pending provincial and regional conferences of the ANCYL.

Some were trying to rush these conferences, and members were being bought so that leaders could be elected.

“We can’t have a leadership that is instant,” said Mantashe.

“The… difference between filter coffee and instant coffee is quality.”

ANCYL deputy president Ronald Lamola had been leading the ANC’s youth wing since its leader Julius Malema was expelled from the party last year.

Last week, in an interview with Sowetan newspaper, Lamola said the ANCYL’s leadership would quell the anarchy which characterised it last year.

He said the ANCYL was going to toe President Jacob Zuma’s line.

Mantashe said it was important for the ANC to sort out problems otherwise “your house will collapse on you”.

“We want a youth league of the ANC that appeals to the young people in society and unfortunately society doesn’t forget and say ‘no you behaved in a particular… way before Mangaung and now you have changed’ and they forget,” he said.

Mantashe said the structures of the ANCYL needed to be rebuilt.

The Limpopo PEC was dissolved for having “un-ANC behaviour and institutionalised factional conduct”.

It would be replaced with an interim structure that would be given nine months to work towards convening a provincial conference.

A list of the provincial task team was being decided during a meeting on Monday. A provincial general council would be held in Limpopo on Sunday.

Mantashe said there were a number of issues in the province in which there was no leadership, but there were groupings, and the ANC was paying the price.

“These issues cannot go unnoticed by the ANC,” he said.

Mantashe said dissolving the PEC would not affect government positions.

Provincial chairman Cassel Mathale is also the Limpopo premier. – Sapa

Two women shot dead, Premier calls for threats of violence against women to be kept in check

Threats of violence against women who have been granted protection orders still needs to be kept in check and evaluated to prevent violent incidents that results in them being killed by their estranged partners, North West Premier Thandi Modise said in condemning the fatal shooting of a mother and her daughter in Lethabong near Rustenburg over the weekend .

“The threat that necessitated the protection order should not be underestimated by authorities to ensure that the complainant’s safety is to a certain extend guaranteed. Where possible, guns which have claimed lives of estranged lovers and partners have to be confiscated. The rate at which guns are used to kill women by their partners is unacceptable,” stressed Premier Modise.

According to police, the 44-year-old mother and her daughter, 28, were at home when the man broke in around 3:00 am on Saturday. A quarrel ensued. The man ,30, took out a firearm and allegedly shot his girlfriend in the stomach and chest.

The mother was shot three times, twice in the chest and once in the chin when she tried to intervene.

Modise called on the public to assist police locate the whereabouts of the suspect who is still at large.

Spokesperson of the South African Police Service- North West, Brigadier Thulane Ngubane confirmed that police are investigating a case of murder and possession of an unlicensed firearm

.  

Kimberley – A Northern Cape teenager appeared in the Kimberley Magistrate’s Court on charges of raping a nine-year-old boy.

Gopolang Riet, 19, was denied bail and will remain in police custody until his next appearance in April.

The State, on Friday, alleged that Riet raped the boy several times in the ABC Cemetery and at Ottoskopje Mine in Galeshewe earlier in February.

Knysna – A 42-year-old police sergeant has been arrested for allegedly shooting and wounding a motorist in Knysna, Western Cape police said on Monday.

Captain Bernadine Steyn said a man reversed his bakkie from a pavement into the road, in front of an oncoming green Mazda bakkie on Sunday evening. The Mazda driver stopped and got out.

“The owner of the Mazda bakkie, who is an off-duty sergeant based at Knysna, allegedly took out a firearm and shot the victim in the chest.”

The man was taken to a hospital in George in a stable condition. The policeman fled the scene, but was arrested later. He was expected to appear in the Knysna Magistrate’s Court on Tuesday.

Steyn said the firearm used had been stolen earlier that evening from the Knysna police station. The circumstances surrounding the theft were being investigated. – Sapa

The ANC has dissolved its Limpopo’s provincial leadership, secretary general Gwede Mantashe said on Monday.
  
“The PEC [provincial executive committee] has been dissolved for  displaying totally un-ANC behaviour and institutionalised factional  conduct,” Mantashe told reporters in Johannesburg.
  
“[It will] be replaced with an interim structure that will be given no more than nine months to work towards convening a provincial conference.”
  
A list of the provincial task team was being decided during a meeting on Monday. A provincial general council would be held in Limpopo on Sunday.
  
The decision to dissolve the PEC was taken at a three-day national executive committee meeting in Irene, south of Pretoria at  the weekend.
  
Mantashe said there were a number of issues in the province, which involved MECs and mayors who did not hold the same views as the PEC being removed.
  
It showed there was no ANC leadership in the province, there were groupings, and the ANC was paying the price.
  
“These issues cannot go unnoticed by the ANC,” he said.
  
Mantashe said dissolving the PEC would not affect government positions.
  
Provincial chairman Cassel Mathale is also the Limpopo premier.
  
“The PEC is elected in the inner conference of the ANC. That PEC  is not government, so we’ll dissolve the PEC not government,” he said.
  
The NEC also dissolved the NEC of the ANCYL.
  
“[This is] as a consequence of its continued ill-disciplined behaviour that brought the organisation into disrepute on numerous occasions,” Mantashe said.
  
“An interim team will be selected and put in place by the NWC [national working committee].”
  
Mantashe said the NEC had instructed that all processes be stopped immediately with regard to the pending provincial and regional conferences of the ANCYL.
  
Some were trying to rush these conferences so that leaders could  be elected.
  
“We can’t have a leadership that is instant,” said Mantashe.
  
“There is a difference between filter coffee and instant coffee.”
  
Mantashe denied that dissolving the ANCYL NEC and the Limpopo PEC was a purging exercise.
  
“The Mangaung conference has come and gone… we don’t go around  purging people,” he said.
  
“You cannot be flat-footed and do nothing when things go wrong.” – Sapa

Head Coach Stuart Baxter called for his players to improve if they are to stand out and be counted in the Nedbank Cup.

The Briton was speaking after goals in each half from Sthembiso Ngcobo and Kingston Nkhatha helped the Glamour Boys beat Polokwane City to progress to the next round of the competition.

Baxter made six changes to the team that started against Orlando Pirates in the previous league fixture, starting with the likes of Sthembiso Ngcobo, Siyabonga Nkosi, and Kaizer Motaung JNR.

“I am pleased that we have progressed to the next round of the competition. I would like to congratulate Polokwane City for the job well done. They showed a clear intent to win the game.

“I was not pleased though with the manner in which we played. I felt that we lost shape at times and a couple of guys struggled with cramps during the course of the game. It was not a good performance from us. The players also know that they are capable of doing better than they did on Saturday. We will have to improve if we are to stay in the competition.

A select group of fans once again displayed unbecoming fan behaviour when they booed Siyabonga Nkosi whose brilliant pass created the first goal.

Baxter was not pleased with the behavior of the fans; “Fans are entitled to have their opinions known because they pay a lot of money to travel from all corners of the country. They expect that their players will be on top of their game at all times.

“I feel though to target one player is working against the team. I also do not think the fans who are booing their own players are Kaizer Chiefs fans.

Kaizer Chiefs fans rally behind their team through thick and thin. Siya worked hard for the team just like other players did. This can crush the confidence of a player and which means we have a player less to select.

It is now a challenge but if this trend of booing players continues it can be a big problem as it has the potential to act against us.

I would like to once more join the Club in calling our fans to be patient with the players. There is a lot we can achieve if we are united.

There will be another change in Gordon Igesund’s defensive line-up for Bafana Bafana, after a Soccer-Laduma source close to Orlando Pirates explained that Siyabonga Sangweni has been ruled out with injury.

The 31-year-old centre back missed out on his side’s 1-0 win over Zambian side Zanaco this weekend, due to the fact that he was struggling with his knee, and it is thought that he aggravated the injury on Friday.

Despite missing that game, Bafana coach, Gordon Igesund, had informed the media that he expected Sangweni to be fit for the match against Central African Republic later this month, however that is no longer the case.

Sangweni himself has now confirmed to Soccer-Laduma that he will not be turning out for the national team because of the aggravated injury. According to the source, the defender has been training alone the last few days and he will not make the trip to Cape Town.

With regards to who will fill the void set to be left by Sangweni, sources at Kaizer Chiefs have revealed that defender, Erick Mathoho, is due to be called up as his replacement.

Mathoho, 23, has been in fine form for the Amakhosi so far this season, and may well start alongside his teammate, Morgan Gould, in the centre of Bafana’s defence against CAR.

Soccer-Laduma earlier reported that Kaizer Chiefs defender Tsepo Masilela has been ruled out of the Bafana Bafana clash with a calf injury, being replaced by Mamelodi Sundowns’ Tebogo Langerman.

For more details go to www.soccerladuma.com

The Nedbank Cup last eight draw has dished out some interesting clashes, as teams inch ever closer to the final round of this cup competition and the R7 million prize money on offer!

The quarter-final will see a number of interesting encounters, including current ABSA Premiership leaders Kaizer Chiefs travelling to the Free State to face Bloem Celtic!

The full last eight draw is as follows:

Tembu Royals/Maritzburg United v SuperSport United

Mamelodi Sundowns v Platinum Stars

United FC v African Warriors

Bloem Celtic v Kaizer Chiefs

What are you thoughts on the quarter-final draw? Share you views on Express Yourself!

For more details go to www.soccerladuma.com