London – Beyonce treated her crew to a £17,000 party to thank them for their hard work during her London concerts.

The 31-year-old singer splashed out on alcohol aplenty for her backing dancers at the Champagne bar at the Andaz Hotel in Liverpool Street, east London, on Sunday night (05.05.13), following the conclusion of her sixth show at The O2.

A source said: “Beyonce wanted to say thanks to all of the backing dancers, crew and everyone else involved with putting on the six shows.

“Between the lot of them they managed to drink their way through more than £17,000-worth of booze in just a few hours.

“They got stuck in as they knew they had a few days off afterwards. They were still in there at closing time at 4am.”

Despite the big night out, Beyonce still has gigs to play on her ‘Mrs. Carter Show World Tour’ including the last of three dates in Manchester, North West England, tonight (09.05.13) and another show in London on June 1, but she was keen to let her crew indulge after the “pressure” of preparing for her London concerts.

The source added to The Sun newspaper: “They are only part-way through her ‘Mrs. Carter’ tour, but the pressure was on in London and she was chuffed they all helped her put on a good show.” – Bang Showbiz

Manchester United on Thursday confirmed that David Moyes will succeed Alex Ferguson as manager of the club.

Moyes’s departure from Everton was announced earlier in the day and United subsequently revealed that he has been awarded a six-year contract at Old Trafford.

“When we discussed the candidates that we felt had the right attributes, we unanimously agreed on David Moyes,” said Ferguson in a statement, the day after he announced his decision to retire after 26 years in charge.

“David is a man of great integrity with a strong work ethic. I’ve admired his work for a long time and approached him as far back as 1998 to discuss the position of assistant manager here.

“He was a young man then at the start of his career and has since gone on to do a magnificent job at Everton. There is no question he has all the qualities we expect of a manager at this club.”

Moyes, 50, has been at Everton since 2002 and will take over from Ferguson on July 1.

“It’s a great honour to be asked to be the next manager of Manchester United,” he said in a statement released by his new employers.

“I am delighted that Sir Alex saw fit to recommend me for the job. I have great respect for everything he has done for the football club.

“I know how hard it will be to follow the best manager ever, but the opportunity to manage Manchester United isn’t something that comes around very often and I’m really looking forward to taking up the post next season. – AFP

Johannesburg – Transnet, South Africa’s state-owned port and railway operator, has 15 days to respond to an 85.5 billion rand ($9.5 billion) lawsuit brought against it by pensioners, according to the applicant’s attorney.

“The application was served on all relevant parties by May 7,” Wynanda Coetzee, a lawyer at Pretoria, South Africa-based Geyser & Coetzee Attorneys, representing the pensioners, said in a phone interview today.
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Johannesburg – There is no rift between ANC secretary-general Gwede Mantashe and President Jacob Zuma over the recent Gupta aircraft saga, Mantashe’s deputy Jessie Duarte has said.

“We sit here, and we know what is going on, and you might say: ‘Yes, but you must protect them’. No, hell no.

“If there’s a rift, there’s a rift, but there is no rift,” Duarte told Sapa in an interview this week.

“The problem, I think, is that the media tries to create (a rift).”

Reports this week claimed Mantashe and Zuma had “fallen out” over the landing of a private aircraft chartered by the Gupta’s, with wedding guests on board, at the Waterkloof Air Force Base on April 30.

The incident was reportedly the final straw for Mantashe, who had privately expressed concerns that the family wielded too much influence in government and African National Congress affairs.

Mantashe released a statement calling on those responsible for authorising the aircraft to land to explain how they reached the decision.

Some media apparently considered the statement proof of a rift between the two leaders.

However, Duarte said the ANC’s top leaders met every Monday and discussed such issues. Even though the statement was issued in Mantashe’s name it was an ANC statement.

“We talk to each other. We say this is the issue, this is the problem, this is the way forward. We agree.

“… Surely a statement of this nature could not go out if there wasn’t consensus among the top six, (which) there was on the matter,” she said.

Duarte said the so-called rift existed in the minds of journalists.

“While the media might die and fall on its sword of sources, I think that, on this one, they have it terribly wrong and there is no evidence that they can prove that what they saying is even right, or correct, or has any merit whatsoever.”

She said the media was trying to create rifts within the party as it had before the ANC’s national conference in Mangaung last year.

“I think it’s a game that is played to divide the ANC,” Duarte said.

It is no secret that the ANC stalwart has a short fuse for the media, and has labelled it “oppositionist” and the enemy.

The relationship “is what it is”, she said.

“Why we (the ANC) are very successful, and why you always get it wrong in the media, of what’s going to happen at every conference of the ANC, is we (are) on the ground and we know what the people are saying, and you are not… You fly in the air and we are very grounded, and therefore sometimes we dismiss you out of hand. Which is a pity,” Duarte said. – Sapa

SuperSport United will be going into the 2013 Nedbank Cup final on May 25 with the aim of defending their title and clinching the cup for a second consecutive year.

However, they will be up against Kaizer Chiefs in the final at the Moses Mabhida Stadium, who have, arguably, been the team to beat in the 2012/13 campaign.

Under coach Stuart Baxter the Amakhosi have been a difficult team to breach, although SuperSport midfielder Mogogi Gabonamong believes that any team is beatable.

He told the Siya crew that they want to hold on to the trophy and to do that, they will have to overcome Chiefs.

“We are the defending champions and we want to keep the trophy, and to do that, we have to beat Chiefs. This is a huge step for us to win two trophies in a row. We respect them but we want to win this trophy.

“We will fight like soldiers to beat them. We value them just like they value us and the 90 minutes will decide the game. But we want to win,” the Botswana international said.
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Kaizer Chiefs will face defending champions, SuperSport United, in the Nedbank Cup final on May 25 and goalkeeper Itumeleng Khune is expecting a tough clash.

Since the cup’s launch in its current format, with Nedbank as the title sponsor, in 2008, Chiefs have never reached the final, which allows the current crop of players under coach Stuart Baxter to re-write the history books.

Khune admits that SuperSport are a formidable outfit, pointing out their success in recent years.

The keeper said, “We haven’t been to the finals of the Nedbank Cup before and we are happy that we are here now and going to face United. They have done very well in the past five years which just shows that they are a good team.”

With the two sides meeting in the Absa Premiership on May 15, the game will be seen as somewhat of a dress rehearsal for this year’s Nedbank Cup final.

Khune added, “It is good that we are playing them first in the league and that will give us the chance to know where they lack and utilise on that, going into the cup final. They are the defending champions and we respect them for that. But it won’t be easy for both teams.”
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Johannesburg – A debate on the use of Waterkloof Airforce Base by the Gupta family will be held in Parliament, the ANC said on Thursday.

“As an open and transparent forum for debate on matters of national importance, Parliament has a responsibility to reflect on this matter in the interest of the people of South Africa,” said Moloto Mothapo, spokesperson for African National Congress Chief Whip Mathole Motshekga.

“We cannot allow a situation whereby our ports of entry and national key points are penetrated with impunity.”

He said the ANC had proposed that the debate be scheduled from 4 to 7 June.

“The motivation for the scheduling of the debate during that week takes into consideration the congested programme of Parliament, due to the stream of budget vote debates currently underway,” Mothapo said.

“It is also envisaged that the government investigation into this matter would have been concluded by that time.”

He said the multi-party chief whip’s forum would consider the scheduling proposal at its next meeting and would make a recommendation to the Speaker of the National Assembly, Max Sisulu.

The Democratic Alliance earlier asked that President Jacob Zuma be present at the debate.

“We urge President Zuma to make himself available for this debate so that he can answer for his role in this saga,” DA Chief Whip Watty Watson in a statement.

“The presidency can no longer remain silent on this matter of public importance.”

He said Sisulu had granted his request for a debate on the matter, and he hoped time would be made available for this as a matter of urgency.

“The abuse of government resources in this scandal has seriously undermined the integrity and security of the state, and Parliament must do everything within its powers to ensure that all those responsible are held to account,” said Watson.

“It is critical that the National Assembly be heard on this matter and that public representatives are able to exercise their constitutionally mandated oversight role.”

– SAPA

Johannesburg – Even schools well funded by their pupils’ parents still serve their community, the Constitutional Court heard on Thursday.

“[They] can’t just avoid this responsibility, just because they are well off,” said Steven Budlender in a submission for Equal Education and the Centre for Child Law.

But at the same time, the State had to fulfill its obligation to accommodate all pupils.

“The government must bear the increasing costs for those students if those increasing costs cannot be borne by the school itself,” Budlender said.

His clients, who made submissions as friends of the court, accepted that “in the first instance” the school governing body (SGB) had the right to determine an admissions policy, but in terms of the law the Schools Act gave the education MEC decision-making powers regarding appeals.

Final say on admittance

The case originated when Rivonia Primary School in Johannesburg refused to admit a pupil in 2010 on the grounds that it was full.

The case is expected to determine who has the final say about how many children are admitted to a school and who is excluded on the basis of a SGB’s admission policies.

Budlender said, unfortunately, the basic education minister had not formulated norms and standards regarding schools’ capacity, as this would have helped resolve the issue.

In terms of the Constitution, every child had a right to basic education, but there should also be procedural fairness.

The MEC and head of the education department could only depart from the SGB admissions policy when there was good cause to do so.

If the department wanted a school to have an extra class of 30 pupils, then the department had to shoulder that responsibility in terms of the Constitution, and the department had to provide for extra teachers.

He said the parents’ financial contribution to a school was relevant, but was not the determining factor.

Earlier, Gauteng education department counsel Matthew Chaskalson said the number of applications for Grade 1 pupils in 2010, the year the dispute started, was much higher than any other intake in the preceding decade.

Lowest pupil to class ratio

The department had already provided 1 447 more ordinary class rooms, 300 toilets, and 75 new Grade R classes for over 60 000 pupils in 2010.

It was a “formidable” achievement, but not enough for the number of new applications.

The department could not suddenly build more classrooms, so schools had to use existing facilities as effectively as possible, drawing on under-utilised schools or schools with a greater capacity.

In the case of Rivonia Primary School, it could have taken one more pupil, because it had the lowest pupil to class ratio in its area and other children on the waiting list had already been placed elsewhere.

Protesters outside court

He said many parents were attracted to schools in historically white areas, because during apartheid “Bantu” schools had received only 12% of the budget allocated to white schools.

Control of the benefits of apartheid discrimination could not be retained.

“Schools don’t cease to be a public resource just because parents put money in,” said Chaskalson. “Schools belong to a community.”

Outside the court, Matakanye Matakanye, general secretary of the National Association of School Governing Bodies, told a group of protesters: “We will not stand by when the Constitution of our country is being trampled upon.”

Protesters carried posters demanding an end to what they regarded as racist admissions policies and policies that discriminated on language grounds.

The hearing continues.

– SAPA

Johannesburg – A human skull was found at a house in Kgotsong near Bothaville, Free State police said on Thursday.

Captain Stephen Thakeng said municipal workers found the skull when they were cleaning the house on Wednesday.

The community had asked the Nala municipality to clean a house after its owner had piled up rubbish over the years.

“The house belonged to Mr Butana Isak Kalamane, 67-years-old by then, who was reported missing by his relatives on June 10, 2011.”

He said Kalamane was mentally ill when he went missing. Due to his mental state he used to collect rubbish from dumping sites and piled it inside his house and in the yard.

“Residents asked the municipality to remove the rubbish, because it was rotting and a strong, unpleasant smell was coming from the house.”

The skull was found outside the house among the rubbish.

“The police are still investigating as it is not known to whom the skull belongs. Mr Kalamane’s relatives are also requested to please come forward to help the police with the investigation.”

The skull was taken to a government mortuary in Welkom and an inquest docket was opened, he said.

Sapa

Kimberley – Mystery surrounds the death of a GWK employee, who went missing for two days before his body was found inside a railroad car filled with five tons of maize.

Thomas Papier, 48, was last seen alive when he reported for night-shift duty on Sunday night.
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