Johanensburg – At least two people have been mugged inside the Edgars store in the Joburg city centre in recent weeks.

Pearl Govender says she was robbed of her handbag, containing her identity book, purse, house keys, cellphone and bank cards.

Her R16 000 wedding ring was also taken.
For more http://www.iol.co.za

Two sisters from Dunoon were repeatedly raped at gunpoint during a two-hour ordeal on Sunday morning while their elder sister was forced to watch.

When the Cape Argus visited their one-roomed shack, the younger sisters – aged 25 and 29 – were too traumatised to talk.
For more http://www.iol.co.za

Kaizer Chiefs defender Tsepo Masilela says that they are ready for the Nedbank Cup Final against SuperSport United in Durban on Saturday.

Masilela tells Chiefs’ official website about his feelings ahead of playing in his first domestic final: “I will be playing in my first domestic final and I am excited about it. It has always been my dream growing up to play in such games.

“It is a very important game for the Club and we want to give a good account of ourselves.

The defender feels that being crowned League Champions recently will take nothing away from them focussing on winning Saturday’s Cup Final.

“It will be a different ball game on Saturday. We are professionals and we just have to go out and do what is expected of us.

“It has been a wonderful experience for me winning a League title in my first season after coming back from Europe,” he says.

“I would like to thank the technical team, my team-mates, the supporters and everyone for the support. My family too has been very supportive.

“It is my wish to win more Cups with the Glamour Boys going forward,” Masilela adds.

For more http://www.kickoff.com

By Obakeng Maje

Mahikeng-North West Department of Education MEC Louisa Mabe announced that the department will build few schools for farm students.

“Mega Farm schools will help to reduce more challenges the department experience. Many pupils especially from rural and farm areas walk long distance before they reach their schools” Louisa Mabe said.

Mabe said this will make education and learning to be more conducive.

“We tabled our budget vote to the provincial government and we so adamant that our objectives will be reached. We know challenges encountered by teachers whereby a teacher expected to teach maybe five classes alone, so that denies other students in the maintime as they will be sitting around with nothing to do” said MEC.

According to Mabe, schools will consist of hostels where pupils will be in-house.

“Even though our budget is not that enough, we will try our level best to improve education in the province” she said.

However other political parties in the provinces does not share the same sentiment with MEC as the say education system in the province is rotten to the core.

Democratic Alliance Sello Motshwenyane said the department’s plan won’t work as that happened before.

“The department of Education strategic plan is not a solution. They did the same at a school between Vryburg and Delareyville,but that never help” Motshwenyane said.

The department will build boarding schools and said all temporary teachers who are teaching Mathematics and Physical Science will be employed in permanent basis.

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The quality of electricity, network expansions and roll out of electrification projects are to feature prominently in the meeting between North West Premier Thandi Modise and Eskom to be held in Mahikeng today.

Electrification is part of the Strategic Infrastructure Programme (SIP) 4 and one of the deliverables that Premier Modise wishes to see accelerated and visible delivery to unlock economic development in the province.

Premier Modise will later in the day also meet with Harmony Gold Mining to discuss among others its social contribution and its Kalgold D-Zone Pit option for Strategic Water Resource Management.

North West Premier Thandi Modise is to address the main service of the Zion Christian Church (ZCC) mass prayer meeting to be held at the Huhudi Stadium in Vryburg on Sunday.

Thousands of congregants from around the North West Province, Northern Cape, Gauteng including other provinces from around the country are expected to be part of the weekend mass prayer meeting hosted by the North West Provincial Government as part of moral regeneration. The sermon at the main service is to be delivered by His Grace, The Right Reverend Bishop Dr Barnabas Lekganyane.

The provincial authorities are satisfied that joint safety operational and contingency plans that are in place will ensure that there is no opportunistic crime and that roads are safe for usage by all road users.

Motorists who will be driving vehicles to the event are advised to arrange co-drivers and to rest after every 200 kilometers and or two hours of driving to avoid fatigue.

Members of the public are advised that road closures will be maintained along Mosiapoa, Eli Mabusela, Segawana and Mokgosi streets around Huhudi

  Stadium as from Friday afternoon.

 Motorists are requested to cooperate with traffic officials and to obey signage that will direct them along alternative routes to demarcated parking reserved for the various types of motor vehicles.

 ZCC marshals will be deployed to guide motorists on how to park vehicles for swift movement in and out of the parking areas.

Premier Modise wishes congregants who will be travelling to the event safe travel and appeals to residents of Vryburg to extend their warmest welcome and hospitality to them.

Roads in the North West Province are a lot safer after 120 000 potholes and 800 kilometers of tarred road were repaired on the public roads network in the past six months.

Briefing provincial stakeholders on the Strategic Infrastructure Programme (SIP) 4 at the Special North West Premiers Coordinating Council(NWPCC) held in Mahikeng this week, South African National Roads Agency (SANRAL) as the implementation agency highlighted that it had thus far spend 

 R73,1 million on routine road maintenance across the province.

 SANRAL projected that it would have spend a further R71,9 on rehabilitation of the road infrastructure by November this year.

Other projects for implementation under SIP-4 include the resuscitation of rural towns of Groot Marico, Mahikeng and Taung, rollout of 289 public works projects and 30 additional roads projects. 

 Minister of Transport, Ben Martin as the Minister responsible for SIP-4 urged provincial government departments and municipalities to continue to engage and mobilise other stakeholders such as traditional leaders, local businesses, youth and women organisations, individuals and communities to support and participate actively in all SIP-4 projects,“All stakeholders should exercise leadership within the remit of their responsibilities to avoid duplication and overlaps. Our responsibilities are indivisible. When one sphere fails to carry it mandates, it affects the others – and we all fail,” emphasised Martin in calling for cooperation.

 Martins said that emphasis should be placed on outputs that will contribute towards government’s efforts to address the triple challenges of poverty, unemployment and inequality.

 “Our people cannot eat our egos. We have to put them aside to accelerate service delivery. Development should not be skewed to an extent that other parts of our province feel neglected and unloved” emphasised Premier Thandi Modise in calling for unity of purpose.

“Projects at various stages of implementation in the province under SIP 4 are aimed at acceleration investments in road, rail, bulk water, water treatment and transmission infrastructure, enabling reliable supply and basic service delivery, facilitating development of mining, agricultural activities and tourism opportunities and opening up beneficiation opportunities,” highlighted Modise.

In responding to Kagiso-Molopo Mayor, Councillor Motshwari’s plea for investigation of shoddy work on the infamous Tlakameng road, Premier Modise said that province will not hesitate to take action against companies that do not complete projects including blacklisting those that deliver sub-standard work.

The province needs to change its tourism image as platinum and chrome as natural resources have not yielded economic benefits for a “knowledge economy” or for the cultural heritage to be preserved.

This was the view of Tlhako Ya Pele Cultural and Heritage Institute director and senior researcher, Otsile Ntsoane, in an interview with The New Age following the Tourism Indaba which ended in Durban last week.

“We need to ask ourselves about the future of tourism in the coming 20 years based on community tourism beyond bed and breakfast establishments.

“Culture will play a significant role in shaping worker behaviour, business and ethics of political character. As a province we should consolidate the cultural heritage sector as an industry, hence the North West Tourism motto of Taking Pride in our Heritage should be taken seriously,” Ntsoane said.

He said the provincial government needed to communicate the criteria to roll out “effectively” the National Planning Commission’s objectives and its relevance to the economy.

“The important objective is to have a strong team at top political leadership. This will consolidate economic plans beyond political alliances and skills development for both young and old within government and the private sector to bring a new culture of entrepreneurship, social trust and responsive citizenship,” Ntsoane said.

North West Parks and Tourism Board marketing manager, Mpho Motshegoa, said: “We need to get a better sense of how to incorporate the aspect of heritage tourism. There must be a deliberate focus to promote heritage.

For more http://www.thenewage.co.za

Acting local government and traditional affairs MEC Paul Sebegoe said the department has partnered with MDB Solutions, a debt collection company, to analyse municipal books to draw up an accurate list of debtors.

Presenting his budget vote at the provincial legislature last week, Sebegoe said five North West municipalities (Ventersdorp, Naledi, Lekwa-Teemane, Tswaing and Mahikeng) had benefited from revenue enhancement projects to improve their financial stability.

He said the department intended to aid municipalities in 11 key areas of revenue management strategies involving legal matters, meter installations, data management, meter readings, billing, receipt management, credit control, debt management, indigent management, customer care and service departments.

“The five municipalities have made progress in implementing key elements for improvement with rates and taxes and service charges.

“To date, Ventersdorp municipality is at 73% and Naledi municipality has made a significant improvement from 46% to 72%,” he said.

“To maintain this improvement, a revenue enhancement project forum has been established with the primary objective of ensuring municipalities share best practices and that excellence is replicated.

“This forum is tasked with reconciling and clarifying disputes around government debt,” Sebegoe said.

He said the Mahikeng municipality was identified as a pilot site for the project and intensive data cleansing, debts/credit control management and customer care activities would be undertaken free for a period of six months.

Sebegoe recently invoked Section 139 (1) (b) administrative intervention in the Matlosana, Maquassi Hills and Ditsobotla municipalities.

The section states: “When a municipality cannot or does not fulfil an executive obligation in terms of the constitution or legislation, the relevant provincial executive may intervene by taking any appropriate steps to ensure fulfilment of that obligation, including assuming responsibility for the relevant obligation in that municipality to the extent necessary.”

For more http://www.thenewage.co.za

Two men have been killed in an apparent mob justice attack at the Selokong informal settlement in Wonderkop, Marikana, North West police said on Tuesday.

Around 11pm on Monday a crowd of residents accused the two men of committing theft and other crimes in the area, Brigadier Thulani Ngubane said.

Police arrived to find one man dead and another badly burnt, but still alive.

“The deceased’s clothes were burnt and he was allegedly set alight with tyres,” Ngubane said.

The second man was taken to hospital, where he died on Tuesday morning.

Ten people were arrested in connection with the crime on Monday night. They would appear in the Marikana Periodical Court on Wednesday on charges of arson and murder.

Ngubane said the killings were unrelated to issues connected with Lomin’s Marikana mine, where 44 people were killed in strike-related violence in August.

-Sapa