The North West Premier Thandi Modise has expressed concern regarding shooting incidents around mining communities that claimed the lives of two men including an AMCU regional organiser that also left two women injured on Saturday.

“We condemn in the strongest terms possible these senseless attacks. Though nothing suggest that the two incidents that occurred near Anglo Platinum’s Khomanani mine and Nkaneng informal settlement near Marikana are connected, we wish to reiterate our earlier appeal for calm and call on police not to rest until those responsible for the callous murders are behind bars,”

Premier Modise appealed to members of the public in the said communities to come forward with information that might assist police in their investigations.

“The faceless instigators of violence within these communities have to be unmasked and brought to book soonest so that violence does not become a way of life in these communities,” Modise emphasised.

According to police, a group of armed men, wrapped in blankets and wearing balaclavas, stormed into a shack in Nkaneng informal settlement and allegedly asked the two brothers – who were twins – about the whereabouts of another man.

North West Police Spokesperson Brigadier Thulane Ngubane said that when the brothers said they did not know the man, they were shot.

“One of the twins who was shot two times died on the scene, while the other died on arrival at the Andrew Saffy hospital. Two women who were in the shack at the time of the shooting were wounded.One was shot in the thigh while the other was hit with a panga. They were taken to hospital and discharged on Sunday,” said Ngubane.

He said that as police made their way to the scene of the shooting, they met a group of people in the Wonderkop area who started shooting at them.

The “bullying” Gupta family tried to muscle their way into getting diplomatic passports.

The “bullying” Gupta family tried to muscle their way into getting diplomatic passports.

It is one of the many outrageous demands the Guptas have made on the government of President Jacob Zuma: that the Department of International Relations issue the three brothers, Ajay, Atul and Tony, with diplomatic passports. The request, made last year, was rejected by the department.

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

North West Premier Thandi Modise says the greatest gift any mother, particularly those in their old age deserves is to be loved and cared for. In calling for a give-back to mothers and for their protection against all forms of violence in her special message for Mothers Day celebrated today the world over, Premier Modise said that mothers are God’s greatest gift to mankind.In wishing mothers the world over a joyous day, Premier Modise said that without a mother any child and home is poorer.“Their love nurtures, their teachings lay the foundation upon which teachers and the whole of society builds. Their tenderness everyone misses even when they have grown old. Their empathy soothes because they care deeper. Though others might desert us, their hopes and dreams for us are higher, their deeper love guarantees no betrayal. We all feel safer in their loving arms, comfortable on their bossom even in our old age,” said Modise.In calling for intensified action against the scourge of rape which in recent months have claimed elderly women as victims, Premier Modise said that heartless criminals who have no regard for human life and respect for women, girl children and the elderly should have no place in society.“Elderly women deserve to age gracefully and their valuable lives protected against all forms of violence and not to be robbed of their dignity or be defiled by perpetrators of sexual violence some of whom are old enough to be their great grand children,” she added. 

Rustenburg-A North West regional organiser of trade union Amcu was shot dead in Rustenburg on Saturday, eNews Channel Africa reported.

According to the report, police said four men approached the Association of Mineworkers and Construction Union (Amcu) official at a tavern near Amplats’ Khomanani shaft.

The man, who cannot be named until his family have been told of his death, was reportedly shot four times.

He was expected to testify before the Marikana Commission of Inquiry into the deaths of 44 people killed in violence related to a strike at Lonmin’s Marikana mine in August last year.

SAPA

Johannesburg – The DA has stood for the truth and reconciliation in South Africa, the party leader Helen Zille said on Saturday.

“We have always stood for truth, freedom and reconciliation. We fought apartheid, and we are working tirelessly now for a better future for South Africa,” Zille told a Democratic Alliance rally in Mzimkhulu in KwaZulu-Natal.

Zille commended local councillor Jabulani Chiya who left the African National Congress and joined her party.

She said there were many people like Chiya across the country who wanted their lives to improve.

“They want the best for their families and children. But many of these pioneers are intimidated and are told that if they do not vote for the ANC they will be betraying the history of the struggle for freedom,” she said.

“That is why the DA recently launched the Know Your DA campaign to tell South Africans that supporting us is no betrayal of the past.”

Zille reminded the crowd that “a man of principle”, Archbishop Emeritus Desmond Tutu, recently wrote an opinion piece carried by the Mail&Guardian in which he said he would not vote for the ANC at the next election.

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Following losses for Orlando Pirates and Platinum Stars, Kaizer Chiefs have managed to put one hand on the league trophy on a Saturday where they didn’t even have to take to the field.

Dikwena were unable to find their way past a motivated Golden Arrows, but only had themselves to blame after spurning a number of chances in the rain.

Siphiwe Sithole and Norman Smith struck in each half and although Robert Ng’ambi pulled a goal back, it was not enough for Stars.

In Soweto, Orlando Pirates enjoyed the better of play against fellow giants Mamelodi Sundowns but a stoppage-time diving header from Alje Schut saw Pirates go down 1-0.

The results made a major impact to the title challenge. Pirates, on 49 points with two games to play, are out as they could only collect a maximum of 55 points – one less than Chiefs already have.

The only team mathematically capable of matching Amakhosi is Stars, but they would need a dramatic string of results to occur for them to get back into the race.

Chiefs have two games left and both are possibly tricky against Pretoria opposition in SuperSport United and Tuks – but a single point for the leaders will be enough for them to clinch the crown.

They only way they could lose the title would be to lose both games, while Stars would need to hand Matsatsantsa a significant beating on the final day of the season.

Chiefs have a positive goal difference of 28, 10 more than Stars who are on 18. This means that even if Chiefs lost both of their games, the defeat would need to be quite severe and Stars would need a big win on the final day to edge Amakhosi on goal difference.

At an average goal ratio of 1.55 per game for Stars, a hefty win is unlikely – especially against draw kings SuperSport. Stars’ biggest wins this season were both 4-0 at home to Free State Stars and Black Leopards.

All eyes will certainly be watching events unfold at the Peter Mokaba Stadium on Wednesday as Chiefs host SuperSport at 19:30. The first round match between the two saw Chiefs grab a 2-1 win away at the very same venue in November.

For more http://www.soccerladuma.com

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Johannesburg – More than R7m has been raised towards the R16m former ANC Youth League leader Julius Malema owes the tax man, the SA Revenue Services said on Friday.

“Outstanding is slightly more than R9m,” said Sars spokesperson Adrian Lackay.

The legal process will continue as Sars works on recovering its money, following a court judgment on the matter.

“We will stand by the comment that we will pursue all legal steps to recover what tax debts are still outstanding,” said Lackay.

On Thursday, Malema’s half-built mansion in Sandown, Johannesburg, fetched R5.9m on auction, arranged by a curator for Sars.

Malema has since issued a statement saying he does not know the buyer Norman Tloubatla, CEO of the company Magnified Designs.

“I want to place it on record that I completely have no dealings with the buyer of the house in Sandown, and have no business, personal, or political association with him,” Malema said.

The home had been attached by a court to help cover Malema’s tax bill.

On 19 March his Limpopo farm, worth approximately R4m, was also seized by the Asset Forfeiture Unit.

National Prosecuting Authority spokesperson Medupe Simasiku said at the time that the property was allegedly acquired with the proceeds from fraud, corruption, theft, and money laundering.

The alleged crimes were perpetrated against the Limpopo department of roads and transport, Simasiku said. Alternatively, the property had been used to launder money.

Malema also faces charges of fraud and racketeering related to the irregular awarding of a R52m tender to On-Point Engineers in Limpopo.

A verdict has not been delivered on those charges.

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Welkom – Unity and discipline have helped the ANC to beat its enemies in the past, the party’s deputy president Cyril Ramaphosa said on Saturday.

“Unity and discipline combined constitute the cornerstone on which our movement was founded and sustained,” he told delegates at the rerun of the Free State ANC’s elective conference.

“The conference must lead to unity in the ANC.”

Ramaphosa urged delegates to strive for values supported by the African National Congress’s leaders in the past.

He said members should understand that divisions within the party would inevitably undermine the effective functioning of the organisation to the benefit of its enemies.

Court order

Ramaphosa said the lack of unity and discipline in the province was evident by the court order that declared the Free State leadership illegal in 2012.

“Taking the ANC to court must be discouraged and must end.”

The ANC leader said even the courts themselves had indicated that they did not want to get involved in how the ANC was run.

Ramaphosa said members had to allow the views of the majority and the decisions of higher structures to prevail at all times.

He told delegates the ANC wanted to run its own organisation and invited those members who felt to be outside it, back so that problems could be resolved.

Referring to leadership elections, Ramaphosa said leadership in the ANC must not be seen as a vehicle to self-enrichment.

Negative trends

He said the ANC, due to its popularity, had attracted people who did not share its vision of creating a better life for all.

He said those members were only interested in self-enrichment programmes which came about through corruption, patronage, political killings, careerism, factionalism and ill-discipline.

“We must take bold action to reverse these negative trends.”

Ramaphosa told the Free State members that normal people were not interested in factional battles or who their leaders would be.

“They are only looking for answers on how service delivery could be accelerated [for] water [and] electricity and how their schools could work better.”

Ramaphosa said normal people pinned their hopes on delegates to elect people who were servants of the people, not their bosses.

“Today, go into that booth, choose people you know would deliver what the community wants,” he said.

Conference rerun

A provincial task team was appointed by the ANC’s national executive committee (NEC) in December to rerun the conference after the Constitutional Court held that the province’s 2012 conference was illegal.

A group of six local ANC members successfully challenged the legality of the previous Free State leadership after the last conference.

The group succeeded in getting the Constitutional Court to declare the provincial executive committee’s (PEC) decisions and resolutions unlawful and invalid, because the ANC had not addressed certain irregularities about the conference.

As a result, the PEC was dissolved.

Earlier this week, the provincial task team and NEC members deployed to the province announced that they were ready to rerun the conference.

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