A thousand youth volunteers from across the North West Province are to give disability centres a makeover. The cleaning and painting of Ikalafeng and Folang Disability centres is part of the Proud to Serve Youth Campaign to be launched in Kanana Township outside Klerksdorp in the North West Province today.

In appreciating the enthusiasm of the youth involved in the Proud to Serve Youth campaign 

led by the Youth Development Support in the Office of Premier and the National Youth Development Agency, Premier Thandi Modise has called the campaign it to be sustained as it affords youth with the opportunity to emulate patriotic and historic sacrifices of the 1976 youth generation.

The Campaign is part of the June Month programme aimed at promoting good citizenship and social cohesion amongst young people.

The programme is also aimed at acknowledging youth contribution in the transformation of South Africa, highlighting programmes for youth development in the province, educating youth about the history of the country and communicating government strategies on promoting youth development.

The programme for the day includes a memorial lecture by the Planning Commissioner in the Office of the Premier, Darkey Africa on the role of the National Development Plan in addressing youth unemployment will be held as at the City of Matlosana Municipality Auditorium in Klerksdorp as from 5:00-6:00pm 

 The Provincial event to celebrate Youth Month 2013 under the theme:“ Working together for youth development and drug free South Africa” 

to mark the 37

th Anniversary of June 16 Soweto uprisings is to be held at the Mmabatho Stadium in Mahikeng next week on Saturday the15th.

Two officials involved in the capture of nine elephants in Tosca near Vryburg have been placed on precautionary suspension, the North West provincial government said.

Spokesman Lesiba Moses Kgwele said an independent investigation commissioned by conservation and tourism MEC Motlalepula Rosho had recommended that the officials be charged for violating norms and standards outlined in the National Environmental Management Act, when they allowed hunting of adult elephants that had calves.

“The two allegedly captured the elephants on March 12. Four elephant calves were taken to the Eastern Cape. Two of the elephants were culled during the process,” said Kgwele.

One elephant was unaccounted for and two had been hunted.

He said Rosho also announced the withdrawal of the permit issued for exporting elephants to the Eastern Cape.

“In terms of the position adopted by Rosho’s department, the calves which were translocated have to be returned, as arrangements have been made for them to be placed with adoptive parents in Limpopo.”

Kgwele said hunting permits for big protected species in North West would no longer be issued in regions but at a centralised point.

A provincial committee would be mandated to issue all environmental-related permits.

This was to curb illegal hunting in the province.

He said application for hunting would still be received at regions but issued by the provincial committee.

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

Bloemfontein – A school teacher has been suspended for alleged racism and displaying offensive material, including the old South African flag, in his classroom.

According to a report via ENCA, the South African Human Rights Commission and the Free State education department were investigating the claims.

It comes after two white pupils told their father how a teacher allegedly abused their black classmates.

A visit from the Education Department brought a Wilgehof Primary School teacher’s day to an abrupt end.

Howard Ndaba of the education department said: “We have suspended the teacher, with immediate effect. This is to allow the process of the investigation to take place without any impediment.”

The SAHRC said pupils were warned not to talk to investigators if the principal wasn’t present, forcing the commission to conduct one-on-one interviews with affected children.

Both the department and the commission hope to conclude their investigations in the coming weeks.

The school principal has declined to comment.

Association of Mineworkers and Construction Union (AMCU) has threatened to embark on a protected strike on Wednesday next week, should Lonmin fail to declare it the majority trade union at the mine.

The decision was taken on Wednesday night at a mass meeting attended by union president Joseph Mathunjwa. He says they will inform Lonmin of their decision and give them a 40 hour notice to respond to their grievance. Should this fail, production will be brought to a halt.

Mathunjwa has re-iterated a call for the rival National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) to vacate their offices at the mine, but adds that this is a separate issue.

Mathunjwa says, “We will take this opportunity until Tuesday, if there’s no agreement, and then we will be in a position to serve the employer with the 48 hours that our members will be embarking on a protected strike, which will start on Saturday morning. The issue is about recognizing AMCU as the majority union at Lonmin Platinum. It’s not a part of the demand to close NUM offices. The agreement will stipulate the processes of what right should a union be given.”
For more http://www.sabc.co.za

Thousands of mineworkers are drowning in debt as garnishee orders mount up and banks and loan sharks call in high-interest repayments in an already explosive situation.
Trade unions claim that more than half of their members in the platinum belt are struggling to get out of debt and have judgments against them – forcing their employers to deduct debt repayments before paying salaries.
For more http://www.timelive.co.za

The South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC) is pleased to announce that SABC Sport has secured a limited free-to-air broadcasting rights package from SuperSport International for three major sporting events, namely Cricket’s ICC Champions Trophy 2013 tournament taking place from the 6th until the 23rd of June 2013, the Rugby Championship, as well as the Castle Lager Inbound Test Series, which includes the Springboks, taking place from the 8th until the 22nd of June 2013. 

In terms of the Cricket, as per the sub-licence agreement, the SABC will broadcast live all 3 matches of the Proteas in the group stage, as well as one semi-final and the final match live.

The SABC will have specific television programming, which will feature daily highlights of all the other matches in the tournament. SABC radio station, 2000 FM will carry all the cricket matches live, with updates and scores on other SABC ALS radio stations.

With regards to rugby, as part of the sub-licencing deal with SuperSport, the public service broadcaster will broadcast matches on radio and television. The TV deal allows the SABC to broadcast delayed matches after the final whistle and live coverage on radio. This applies to the South African inbound Tests only. 

The coverage of these events will ensure that sports lovers of the diverse codes will have a front seat row to all the action.

Hlaudi Motsoeneng, SABC Acting Chief Operations Officer said, “With these events happening around the same time, we made a decision that we would try our best to get these broadcasting rights, as the nation of South Africa, with its diverse sporting tastes, deserves the right to watch their favourite sporting teams. We believe that the public will also enjoy the high-quality programming that has been put together to support the respective tournaments”.

Happy Ntshingila, CEO of SuperSport International said, “We are pleased to have concluded an arrangement with the SABC regarding this content on commercial terms which are satisfactory to both parties”.

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

Johannesburg – The suspension of four health directors in Gauteng was welcomed by the DA on Wednesday.

“This is long overdue, as there was a damning forensic audit on this depot last year,” DA spokesperson Jack Bloom said in a statement.

“It appears that we have been grossly over-paying for medicine in Gauteng, and there have been recurring supply problems of essential drugs,” he said.

Earlier on Wednesday, the department announced that a chief director, two directors, and a deputy director had been suspended on full pay for alleged fraud.

They were suspected of misconduct in the department’s medical supply depot, following an investigation led by the office of Premier Nomvula Mokonyane.

Health MEC Hope Papo said the department was ready to begin disciplinary hearings.

“We are very serious about exorcising the rot in the department, and I have asked my staff to ensure that the process for disciplinary hearings is commenced shortly.

“We do not want to have suspended people receiving full pay while sitting at home,” he said in the statement.

– SAPA