Potchefstroom-The African National Congress in the North West welcomes the legal action by the Speaker of the Tlokwe Municipality, to challenge the outcome of an illegal Tlokwe Municipality Council meeting called by members of the opposition supported by expelled members of the ANC, to remove the Mayor of the Tlokwe Municipality, cde Maphetle Maphetle.
The legal case will be heard by the North Gauteng High Court, in Pretoria.
“The ANC supports the legal action because we believe that the opposition together with the former ANC councillors violated the South African Constitution, together with laws governing the conduct of meetings in the Council” ANC NW spokesperson Kenny Morolong said in a statement.
“It is our firm view that the decision by the Tlokwe Municipality Council was irregular and intended to tarnish the good name of the ANC and that of Cde Maphetle Maphetle” he said.
Morolong said the opposition pre-occupation with and hatred of Cde Maphetle Maphetle overshadowed their ability to perform their responsibilities as public representatives, thereby violating the laws of our country and undermining the rules and procedure of the council.
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COSATU in Western Cape is outraged at the assault on the busker in the City of Cape Town.
“This brutal assault is a sad indictment of a City that tries to project itself as a caring City.”
“The City seems to care about the rich and city communities, but have little regard for the people from the Cape Flats” Cosatu provincial spokesperson Tony Ehrenreich said.
Ehrenreich said the effectiveness of the Metro Police in this instance must be judged in relation to the attitude of its political leader in the City.
“JP Smith has proven himself to be unable to address the very basic safety issues of the City. He is the person who wasted loads of the City money on buying a machine that tells you where the bullet was shot from. When the community told him the shot was fired where the body was, he seemed surprised” Cosatu Spokesperson said.
Ehrenreich said Smith as a “Member of the Mayco of Council” has distinguished himself with his incompetence at an operational level, as well as at a leadership level.
“No wonder then that the people who he leads acts in such a desperate manner to deal with community matters. JP Smith has instructed the police officers to treat the busker in that uncivilized manner, as he felt his authority was being undermined. When I had once pointed out his inadequacies in Council he threatened to unleash the Police upon me, as if it is his private army” said Ehrenreich.
“This attitude is however symptomatic of the DA, which has no regard for poor people or how to engage them respectfully. It is this attitude where political leaders of the DA treat people’s frustrations with disregard that leads to desperate acts of poo throwing”.
Cosatu urges JP Smith to be suspended from leading the Municipal Police until a full investigation is completed into this whole sordid affair, and they said he should also be investigated for complete incompetence in the face of a spiraling safety crisis on the Cape Flats.
(Edited by Obakeng Maje)
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The South African Students Congress (SASCO) encourages all prospective students to apply for academic admission in institutions of higher learning for the 2014 academic year.
“We make this clarion call informed by the persistent reality that some matriculants mistakenly wait for the release of final matric results before applying for academic admission” Sasco secretary-general Themba Masondo said.
Masondo said in most instances, students who fail to apply on time become unnecessary victims of academic and financial exclusions.
“Our experience has been particularly painful for brilliant poor students who seek admission in health sciences and engineering but failed to apply on time.
Students must plan ahead by applying for academic admission, financial assistance and accommodation as early as now! Most universities will be closing application by end of July/August this year—some faculties such as health sciences close earlier than other faculties” he said.
Students do not have to wait for matric results before they apply for academic admission.
Sasco call on everyone who knows any prospective student (particularly current matric students) in their family or community to make an extraordinary effort to ensure that their applications are submitted on time.
“We hope for the speedy finalisation of the Central Application Office by the Department of Higher Education and Training (DhET).
We make this call to all prospective students cognisant of the fact that submitting an application for academic admission/financial assistance does not guarantee all applicants access to higher and further training” Masondo said.
We are fully aware of the many structural and systemic challenges facing South Africa’s post-schooling sector said Sasco secretary-general.
Academic capping and lack of political will by the ANC led government to provide free education are amongst the major challenges which continue to deny our people the right to education.
“Through SASCO’s Right to Learn Campaign and the Free Education Campaign, we will continue to fight and defend the right of the working class child to free quality higher education and further training” he concludes.

(Edited by Obakeng Maje)

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Orlando Pirates winger and fan favourite, Tlou Segolela, is expected to stay on with the Buccaneers this coming season, according to the club’s PRO, Mickey Modisane.



Segolela’s contract with Pirates ended at the end of June, which means that at present he is a free agent. However, the speedy winger is still training with the Bucs squad, while his agent, Tim Sukazi, and the club’s management continue to engage in new contract negotiations.

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Itumeleng Khune had an outstanding season in 2012/13 campaign. He was named as the PSL Footballer of the Year, PSL Players’ Player of the Season, PSL Goalkeeper of the Season, Kaizer Chiefs Player of the Season and Chiefs Players’ Player of the Season.

As captain of the Amakhosi, he guided Chiefs to a league and cup double season.
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News coming out of the Moroka Swallows camp is that former Kaizer Chiefs and Orlando Pirates midfielder Gert Schalkwyk is likely to sign for the Birds after impressing Zeca Marques and his technical team.



Schalkwyk started training with Swallows last week in an effort to resurrect his ailing career and it seems as though he could get the chance to play in the PSL again next season.
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A depleted 20-man squad would acquit themselves well in the Southern African Cosafa Cup, Bafana Bafana head coach Gordon Igesund has said in Johannesburg.

“I am familiar with the ability of all the players in the Bafana contingent and have full confidence in their ability to hold their own against any opposition they might encounter in Zambia,” said Igesund shortly before the team’s departure for Lusaka today.

The coach remained upbeat and was imbued with characteristic confidence, despite the team being decimated by the refusal of some PSL clubs to release their players for the tournament.

Having received a bye into the quarterfinals, would Bafana open their programme with a game against Namibia on Saturday afternoon.

Victory would mean Bafana coming up against either hosts Zambia or Mozambique in the semi-finals next Wednesday, with the final due to take place on Saturday, July 20.

While a game against 2012 African Nations Cup champions Zambia might appear the more daunting obstacle, Igesund said he was not jumping the gun and looking at a potential semi-final at this stage.

“Namibia have two good victories – over Mauritius and the Seychelles – already under their belt in earlier Cosafa Cup matches and it would be foolhardy to take them for granted,” Igesund said.

“What is more, they recently held the current African Nations Cup holders, Nigeria, to a 1-1 draw – and that is sufficient warning to avoid any complacency.”

There was not a great deal separating Bafana and “The Brave Warriors”, as Namibia were known. In previous international matches, South Africa had won twice, lost once and two games ended in draws.

Bafana’s final contingent was unrecognisable from the squad initially announced and, in some instances, Igesund had had to find further replacements for his replacements.

As the Cosafa Cup was not being played on dates assigned by Fifa for international matches, the original Bafana squad did not include overseas-based players.

Igesund’s first-choice appeared to be the strongest-available from those players who plied their trade in the PSL – with the notable exception of Orlando Pirates players preparing for their crucial African Champions League encounter against Leopards FC of the Congo.

The Bafana coach wanted to use the Cosafa Cup as part of the preparation for the critical World Cup qualifying game against Botswana early in September.

Instead, the squad did not include a single player in the starting line-up from the last World Cup qualifying game, which ended in a 2-1 defeat against Ethiopia.

Igesund, however, had been loathe to criticise the PSL clubs and said, according to the rules laid down, “it was within their right” to withhold the release of players for the Cosafa Cup.

“What is more, it gives the newcomers who will now get the opportunity of playing at international level, the chance to make their mark as permanent Bafana fixtures in the future.”

Central defender Bevan Fransman, would be joining the Bafana squad in Zambia only after the Namibia match as he was required by SuperSport United for their pre-season friendly against Manchester City on Sunday.

– Sapa

South Africans view the police service as a corrupt institution in the public sector, a report by Transparency International revealed on Wednesday.

In the Global Corruption Barometer 2013, released this week, South Africa was among 36 countries in which the police was seen as the most corrupt institution.

About 83 percent of South Africans believed that police were corrupt. Thirty-six percent admitted to having paid bribes to police.

An average of 53 percent of people sampled during the surveyed globally said they had paid a bribe to police.

The survey was conducted among 114,000 people in 107 countries. It showed corruption was widespread.

In South Africa, 1000 people from urban areas were interviewed.

Corruption Watch executive director David Lewis said the findings confirmed that the increase in corruption was “not a mere perception”.

“We solicit public experiences of corruption and we are getting a significant number of reports of bribery and other acts of corruption, especially from poor communities,” Lewis said.

He said Corruption Watch had received over 4200 complaints on corruption and related matters since its launch in January 2012. He said half of these focused on the abuse of public power and resources, by both the private and public sectors.

Around the world, the survey showed that 27 percent of the respondents had paid a bribe when accessing public services in the last 12 months, revealing no improvement from previous surveys.

Nearly nine out of 10 people surveyed said they would act against corruption, and two-thirds of those who were asked to pay a bribe had refused.

Of the 107 countries, 20 countries viewed the judiciary as the most corrupt. In these countries an average of 30 percent of the people who had come in contact with the judicial system had been asked to pay a bribe.

About 54 percent of the people surveyed globally considered their government to be ineffective in fighting corruption. This lack of confidence in government efforts had grown compared to people’s views in the 2010/2011 survey, where 47 percent of people felt their government was ineffective in fighting corruption.

However, two in three people (67 percent) around the globe believed ordinary people could make a difference in the fight against corruption.

Almost two-thirds (64 percent) of the people around the world thought that personal contacts were important to get things done in the public sector.

This went up to 80 percent in Israel, Italy, Lebanon, Malawi, Morocco, and Russia.

– Sapa

Potchefstroom-The ANC served court papers on 48 Tlokwe municipal councillors on Wednesday, following mayor Maphetle Maphetle’s unseating, the DA said.

North West Democratic Alliance leader Chris Hattingh said the documents were served on 26 ANC councillors, 19 DA, and two Freedom Front Plus councillors, and one of the Congress of the People.

Maphetle and Tlokwe speaker Barei Segotso filed the papers in the High Court in Pretoria.

Hattingh said the DA would respond to the application on behalf of its councillors, and was considering a counter-application.

“While we proceed with our efforts to end Maphetle and his former mayoral committee’s illegal occupation of the municipal offices, we will also continue with our planning and endeavours to have the Tlokwe municipality restored back to delivery mode.”

On Monday, African National Congress North West acting secretary Gordon Kegakilwe said the party had filed papers.

The ANC wanted last week’s council meeting, at which DA councillor Annette Combrink was voted in as mayor, nullified. The ANC did not recognise Combrink as mayor and said Maphetle still held the post.

Combrink was voted in as the new mayor last Tuesday, the second time since November, unseating Maphetle.

Hattingh said at the time that 29 councillors of all parties, including the ANC, unanimously voted to return Combrink to the position of mayor.

Last Wednesday, the North West ANC’s provincial disciplinary committee expelled from the party 14 of its councillors who voted to unseat Maphetle. They were also removed as Tlokwe councillors.

At a provincial working committee meeting in Potchefstroom on Monday the ANC appointed six new proportional representation councillors for the municipality.

By-elections would be held soon to elect new ward councillors.

Sapa