Johannesburg – The SA Football Association are still hoping to iron out their differences with the government over the proposed commission of inquiry into match-fixing even though a meeting scheduled for Thursday at Fifa’s headquarters in Zurich was cancelled on Wednesday.

Safa president Kirsten Nematandani earlier confirmed he was to jet out of the country on Wednesday night for talks in the Swiss capital, after Sports Minister Fikile Mbalula indicated he was unhappy about Safa’s insistence on an independent, rather than a judicial, commission. But Nematandani had to change plans late on Wednesday after being told the meeting was off as, according to an email correspondence seen by The Star, Mbalula’s office had failed to con firm in time with Fifa if the minister would be attending.

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North West University, Mahikeng campus rector, Prof Dan Kgwadi, has called on youths to take education as the answer to their future dreams and be part of a collective striving for excellence in nation building.

Addressing youths during the launch of Letlotlo Foundation, an education initiative to promote learning and teaching in Ramatlabama village recently, Kgwadi said: “Communities should support pupils as it takes a nation to educate an individual.”

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The DA in the Madibeng local municipality has expressed anger against the national Treasury and the opposition party has demanded answers for the withdrawal of R111m as equitable share for implementation of service delivery improvement by the municipality.

DA provincial media manager Tiaan Kotze said Madibeng mayor Poppy Magongwa, had recently delivered her Medium Term Revenue and Expenditure Framework Budget for 2013-14 in which she informed the special municipal council meeting about a letter received from National Treasury that an amount of R76m would not be paid as equitable share.

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The man accused of stoning Happy Sindane, 29, to death near a tavern in Tweefontein J Village near KwaMhlanga on Monday, was not asked to plead when he appeared in the KwaMhlanga Magistrate’s Court yesterday.

Simon Kleinboy Mthimunye, 58, who faces a murder charge, appeared in the crowded courtroom wearing a green T-shirt and smiled all the time.

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N’Djamena, Chad – African heads of state on Wednesday refused to recognise rebel leader Michel Djotodia’s self-appointment as president of Central African Republic, calling instead for the creation of a new transitional body to guide the country to elections.

The decision, taken at a summit of leaders from the central African region, further isolates Djotodia, who led thousands of insurgents into the former French colony’s crumbling riverside capital Bangui on March 24, ousting president Francois Bozize.

“It seems impossible to us to recognise a man who has appointed himself,” Chadian President Idriss Deby said following the summit in Chad’s capital N’djamena.

Deby led troops into the Chadian capital and seized power in 1990. He has won four elections since then. Bozize himself seized power in Central African Republic in 2003.

African and Western leaders have already condemned the rebellion in the mineral-rich but chronically unstable nation. The African Union suspended Central African Republic and imposed sanctions on Djotodia while Washington said he was not a legitimate leader.

Djotodia has already tried to contain international condemnation by creating a transitional government headed by a civilian prime minister, Nicolas Tiangaye, and promising elections in three years.

A spokeswoman for Djotodia said earlier she hoped the new leadership in Bangui would get regional backing.

“What we want is support from the African Union and ECCAS (the 10-nation Economic Community of Central African States) for all of our plans to restore peace in the country… We need legitimacy,” said Anne Victoire Yakossobe.

But Deby said the summit had instead called for the creation of a transitional institution that would draw up a new constitution and prepare for elections within 18 months.

“We have in mind a college, a sort of executive that will be elected by all the social actors. This college will designate its president, which will be the president of Central African Republic,” Deby said.

The decisions of the summit were greeted with cautious optimism by Central African Republic’s political opposition, which has rejected the new government, saying it is stacked with Djotodia allies.

“We are waiting for the (regional) ministers to come explain the mechanisms that will be put in place. We want to know how this is going to work on the ground,” opposition spokesperson Edouard Kouyamounou told reporters.

Though organised by regional states, the summit included a delegation led by South African President Jacob Zuma, who is under growing pressure at home following the deaths of 13 South African soldiers during the March 24 onslaught.

The withdrawal of South African forces, in the country under agreements with Bozize, had been a demand of the rebels during peace talks with the government in Gabon earlier this year.

However, Pretoria sent reinforcements to Bangui as the rebellion built up last month.

Those soldiers will now return home, Deby said.

“President Jacob Zuma announced to us his decision to withdraw South African troops, who had come to Central African Republic in the framework of a co-operation agreement,” he said.

The killing of its soldiers has prompted questions about South African’s role in the country, and how a military training mission there became entangled in an internal conflict.

South African media reports have suggested the soldiers were defending South African mining interests, but officials in Pretoria have denied this. They say the presence of the 400 South African troops was covered by a 2007 bilateral defence accord with Bozize. – Reuters

A memorial service to honour Riflemen Karabo Edwin Matsheka and Vusumzi Joseph Ngaleka, two of the thirteen members of the South African National Defence Force who were killed by rebels in the Central African Republic is to be held as from 2 pm at the Mmabatho Civic Centre on Thursday 4 April 2013.

North West Premier Thandi Modise who visited the Matsheka family to convey the condolences of the provincial government on Tuesday will deliver the keynote speech at the official memorial service.

Gospel Singer Winnie Mashaba who is a goodwill ambassador supporting Premier Modise’s discretionary projects is to visit the family prior her free of charge performance at the memorial service hosted by the provincial government in partnership with the Provincial legislature and the South African National Defence Force. 

In recognition of 28-year- old Rifleman Matsheka’s gallantry, Kgosi Jeff Montshioa of the Barolong Boo-Ratshidi Traditional Council has allocated a burial site at Maphacwe Cemetery reserved for Barolong Boo-Ratshidi Chiefs and the honour that his funeral service on Saturday will be held at the Tribal Kgotla.