Johannesburg – Five provinces have recorded a drop in their share of the country’s population in the past 12 years, the SA Institute of Race Relations (SAIRR) said on Wednesday.

Although the country’s population had grown by 18 percent, the Eastern Cape, Free State, KwaZulu-Natal, Limpopo, and North West all currently contributed smaller numbers to the total population than they did in 2001, the SAIRR said in a statement.

“In 2001, KwaZulu-Natal held the biggest share of the total population but is now second to Gauteng,” researcher Thuthukani Ndebele said.

“The Northern Cape’s change in proportion was highest, although it still contributes the least to the whole population.”

The institute obtained the figures from the national census conducted by Statistics SA in 2001 and the 2013 mid-year-estimates.

The statistics reveal that the Eastern Cape made up 14.4 percent of the country’s population in 2001. The number dropped to 12.2 percent this year.

The Free State contributed six percent of the country’s total population 12 years ago. It decreased to 5.2 percent in 2013.

KwaZulu-Natal made up 21 percent of the population in 2001 but recorded a 19.7 percent contribution this year.

Limpopo’s population made up 11.8 percent of the total in 2001, and fell to 10.4 percent in 2013.

The North West contributed 8.2 percent of the country’s population in 2001 but experienced a significant drop to 6.8 percent in 2013.

Gauteng, the province with the largest growth population, contributed 19.7 percent of the country’s population in 2001. The number increased to 24 percent in 2013.

The country’s total population had increased to 52,982,000 in 2013. Twelve years ago the figure was 44,819,778.

Sapa

Johannesburg – The Gauteng education department is investigating reported abuse at a school in Soshanguve, north of Pretoria, an official said on Wednesday.

“We have been told that a homework supervisor made a learner eat food off the ground,” department spokesman Charles Phahlane said.

“We will have a clearer picture when we send a team there tomorrow (Thursday).”

Eyewitness News (EWN) reported that the supervisor allegedly took food from the Kutung Primary School’s feeding scheme, placed it on the floor and ordered a Grade Six pupil to eat it in front of the class.

“We are shocked by these allegations. We view such matters in a serious light,” Phahlane said. – Sapa

Johannesburg – A man was killed in an apparent gang-related shooting in Reiger Park, Boksburg, on Wednesday police said.

Desmond Mannetjie Tombeen was walking at 4pm, when three people in a silver-grey Renault sedan opened fire on him, said Lt-Col Katlego Mogale.

One of the gunmen then got out of the car and shot him again.

Mogale said Tombeen was thought to be a member of the Dougens Gangsters. – Sapa

Bafana need victory over Les Fauves to stay on course for a ticket to Brazil for the 2014 World Cup and Parker believes Bafana are capable of winning their match at Stade Ahmadou Ahidjo in Yaoundé, Cameroon.

“We know it is not gonna be easy, because we don’t have a good history playing away from home but I’m sure we can turn things around.

“The coach is always reminding us what we will be up against,” he tells KickOff.com.

He adds: “The whole nation is backing us so we are confident.”

Source: http://www.kickoff.com

Bafana Bafana head coach Gordon Igesund said on Wednesday he was still very much upbeat despite travelling disruptions that saw the team staying overnight in Douala after failing to get the scheduled connecting flight to Yaoundé yesterday (Tuesday).

Bafana Bafana’s plans were thrown into disarray on Tuesday after their connecting flight to Yaoundé was unexpectedly cancelled and had to alter their plans after they could not proceed to their base camp.

This means the national team can only fully train twice – tomorrow (Thursday) and Friday – before the crunch match on Saturday against Central African Republic (CAR).

“Ideally, I would have liked to be on the training field today (Wednesday) but there is nothing we can do, we have to make the best of the situation. The boys will have a light session in the pool as there is no time to arrange a training pitch. 

“Of course, the swimming pool activity was not part of the plan but we have to keep the players busy. That leaves us with two days of training and I cannot blame anybody. These things happen but it would be quite interesting to know what exactly happened,” said Igesund.

 “The good thing is that before we left, I told the players to be mentally strong and expect such disruptions. But we should not take it to head; we must just continue to be strong and know what task lies ahead. If it was not for team manager Barney Kujane leaving ahead of the team, we would have found ourselves totally stranded.”

The Bafana Bafana mentor believes the Lesotho international match, which Bafana won 2-0, in the bigger scheme of things, has become an important factor. 

“Following that match, we now know what we have to do, and we will do the best we can in the remaining two days. It is a setback that we cannot fit in a third training session but it is not a train-smash. The boys are professionals, and being at the end of the season their fitness levels are very high. Now it becomes even more important that we played the Lesotho match because it gives us a lot of ideas on areas to work on,” added Igesund.

The team will have their first training session in Yaoundé on Thursday afternoon (6 June).

Cape Town – The State rejected an accused’s guilty plea for the rape of slain teenager Anene Booysen because it would have implied a lesser sentence, the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) said on Wednesday.

Western Cape NPA spokesperson Eric Ntabazalila said they asked Johannes Kana, 21, to plead to Booysen’s rape and murder on Monday to limit the issues in dispute at a later stage.

Kana pleaded guilty to the rape but not to the murder.

“In the case of Kana, his guilty plea did not correspond with the evidence available to the State,” Ntabazalila said.

“In respect of the rape charge he describes circumstances which only warrant a minimum sentence of 10 years’ imprisonment and not the circumstances as contained in the docket, which warrants a minimum sentence of life imprisonment.”

Denies murder charge

In Kana’s plea, he admitted to leaving a Bredasdorp pub with Booysen and later assaulting her by kicking her and hitting her with his fists. He then raped her.

Ntabazalila said Kana did not say where or how he raped the 17-year-old.

“[I]t is clear from the plea explanation offered in respect of the rape charge that he denies inflicting the extensive genital injuries on the deceased which caused her intestines to protrude from her genital area and ultimately, caused her death.

“He therefore denies that he murdered her.”

The State alleges Kana unlawfully and deliberately sexually penetrated Booysen with his penis or with another object not known to the State, between 1 and 2 February this year, near Kleinbegin, Bredasdorp.

Kana then allegedly used his hand or another object to disembowel her, which resulted in her death at Tygerberg Hospital on Saturday, 2 February.

The matter would now go to trial and the State would use Kana’s admissions as evidence against him.

“This will shorten the trial because the focus of the trial will be on proving the exact circumstances of the rape and the remaining murder charge,” Ntabazalila said.

‘Five or six men involved’

The case was postponed until 9 July for provincial public prosecutions director Rodney de Kock to decide whether the trial should be held in the regional court or the Western Cape High Court.

Two weeks ago the State dropped charges against Kana’s co-accused, 22-year-old Jonathan Davids. At the time, Ntabazalila said an investigation had revealed there was insufficient evidence to secure a conviction.

“We understand the sense of shock and outrage that was induced by the incident. However, as the prosecution, we can only prosecute successfully on sufficient evidence,” he said.

Before she died, Booysen said from her hospital bed that five or six men were involved in the attack. She mentioned the name “Zwai”, which was both the nickname of Davids and another man said to live in Zwelitsha.

SAPA

By Obakeng Maje

Mahikeng-Efforts to reduce perinatal and neonatal mortality received a major boost with the completion of the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) at the Job Shimankana Tabane Hospital, in Rustenburg. 

The 14 bedded unit which has been under construction since August 2012, was built at cost of R8 million thanks to financial injection from Impala. 

“The Unit will officially open tomorrow” Health MEC, Dr. Magome Masike said. 

Masike said The NICU is an intensive care unit specializing in the care of ill or premature newborn infants with low weight or who have a medical condition that requires specialized treatment. 

“The community of Bojanala District has for years functioned with only four public beds forcing the Department of Health to outsource at high cost when the demand upscale” Masike said. The economic hub of Bojanala, Rustenburg is the fastest growing city in the continent. The population growth in this area alone demands continuous improvement and strengthening of the health care system including the development of infrastructure.

The official opening scheduled to start at 09h00 at the Job Shimankane Tabane Hospital.  

Follow us on Twitter@Taung_DailyNews

By Obakeng Maje

Kimberley-The Cell C ‘Take a Girl Child to Work Day’ campaign is in it’s eleventh year and this campaign creates a platform to address the needs and aspirations of girls by opening up a bouquet of career opportunities, inspiring girl children to reach heights of success they never would have dreamed previously possible and to make them aware of the important role they can play in the South African economy.

The 2013 ‘Take a Girl Child to Work Day’ campaign was celebrated nationwide on Thursday, 30 May 2013. 

This year’s theme was ‘empower a girl, empower a nation’. 

The Northern Cape SAPS Provincial Human Resource Development (HRD) in conjunction with the Provincial Human Resource Utilisation (HRU) held a very successful career information sharing session with learners from five schools in the Kimberley area.  

“Brigadier Gilroy Tait ,head of the Provincial HRU welcomed the 15 learners and gave a brief overview of the objective of the campaign” colonel Priscilla Naidu said. 

The SAPS focussed on exposing a “Girl Child’ of different ages to the SAPS and also to introduce them to the different fields of policing within the organisation said Naidu.

The learners spent half a day with the SAPS and the programme included watching a video of the various careers within the SAPS; a display of illegal items that they should take note of; a personal identikit for each child was compiled (with fingerprints). 

Police said the children also witnessed a crime scene simulation.

At the end of the day, each girl received a complimentary parcel which included :

A SAPS lunchbox with a muffin, biltong and juice.

Pamphlets on the rights of children.

SAPS promotional items (included rulers, an educational boardgame, pens) Cell C sportsbag/beanie (sponsored by Cell C)

SAPS Vanderkloof also entertained 22 Grade 6 and 7 from Keurtjie Primary School. “The learners thoroughly enjoyed their educational tour of the police station” police said.      

The campaign affords South African girl children the opportunity to visit the workplace to experience first hand the ‘working world’ and various career opportunities available within the public service sectors. 

This campaign is well supported annually.

Follow us on Twitter@Taung_DailyNews