By Obakeng Maje

Kimberley-Police have released an identikit of the suspect who allegedly attacked and hijacked a Kimberley couple during the early hours (02:30) of Tuesday morning. 

“It is alleged that the attack took place at the intersection at Regiment Way and Du Toitspan” colonel Priscilla Naidu said.

Police said the suspect is about 30-40 years old and is about 1.6m in height. 

“He is slender build and is a black male, fair in complexion.  The man wore a woollen hat and has most of his upper teeth and a few bottom teeth missing. He is fluent in English and Afrikaans” she said.

The couple allegedly stopped at a red robot when suddenly an unknown person opened the back passenger door and attempted to get in. The surprised woman driver, accelerated but the vehicle stalled and the suspect managed to get into the vehicle” police said. 

Naidu said a scuffle took place inside the vehicle between the intruder, the lady and her male passenger.  

“The couple were threatened with the screwdriver and ordered to drive towards Cassandra. The couple were robbed of their personal belongings”. 

“The woman crashed her car into a pole but was forced to continue driving.  The man eventually got off and left” police said.

Police would like to warn the drivers that as soon as they get into their vehicles, they should ensure that all their doors and windows are locked. 

“Unsuspecting criminals hover around intersections as well as quiet stop signs.  Drivers and passengers should be alert and always look around for any suspicious person or movement”.  Police said if you feel threatened or have doubts about anyone, rather drive through (only if the road is clear) and report the matter to the nearest police station.

Anyone who can assist police in identifying the suspect is asked to contact D/Constable Gweneth Paulsen at SAPS Kimberley on 053 8329969 or 0823020407. “All information supplied to police is considered as confidential” Naidu concludes.

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Pretoria – President Jacob Zuma has arrived at the Medi-Clinic Heart hospital, where former president Nelson Mandela is being treated.

Zuma’s vehicle drove into the hospital’s Park Street entrance shortly before midday on Thursday.

The elder statesman was spending his 34th day in hospital for treatment of a recurring lung infection.

Four police officers and a hospital security guard were manning the entrance on the busy street. All vehicles entering the facility were searched.

Several journalists were milling around near the entrance, with two cameras recording activities.

Zuma was also at the hospital on Wednesday, after which he said Mandela was responding to treatment.

SAPA

A team of highly skilled and experienced administrators is to be deployed to the North West Province to assist the Provincial Administration with its local government turnaround strategy.

In committing to the support for efficient and effective governance during her meeting with the Provincial Executive Council (Exco) held in Mahikeng on Wednesday, Minister of Public Service and Administration, Lindiwe Sisulu described local government in the province as being in a “desperate state”.

The deployment of the team as from next week and Minister Sisulu’s undertaking to assist with unblocking of Special Investigating Unit processes to ensure that corruption that was uncovered in municipalities is dealt with decisively was welcomed by Exco during the engagement 

.Premier Modise and Exco also called on the Minister to investigate why law enforcement agencies have delayed to act on investigation reports on fraud and corruption that were handed over to them.

 “Those who think that the state is their till /cash box have to be brought to book and every cent stolen from the public purse recouped. Properties will have to be repossessed and perpetrators blacklisted from the employ of the state and or doing business with the state if we are to win the war against the scourge of corruption,” emphasised Modise.

Minster Sisulu said that the establishment of an anti-corruption bureau will assist in combating corruption particularly at local government level.

The support team to be led by the Director General for the Department of Public Service and Administration, Mashwahle Diphofa will as per request of Exco also assist the provincial administration with its organisational structures review, speeding up disciplinary cases, and litigations against the state.

It will also assist with the establishment of a fully fledged monitoring and evaluation unit across the province.

Plans to build university are well on track.

The first phase of construction is expected to take place next month. The tender for the project, which closes next Thursday, has been issued.

Northern Cape and Mpumalanga have been earmarked for new universities by the Department of Higher Education and Training.

Several contractors gathered at the Kimberley National Institute for Higher Education on Tuesday for a briefing session on the project.

Willie Potgieter, a member of the project management team said the province was going ahead with preparations for the construction of the university, which will have its first intake next year.

“We already have existing infrastructure which we need to add-on, hence the contractor who will be appointed next month will start working on the first phase of the existing buildings.

“Things are different in Mpumalanga, we still need to do an environmental assessment before anything else,” Potgieter said. He said they have a business plan which showed construction of a central campus square, “which is our primary mandate to get the ball rolling.”

He said the new university will have three campuses, which will face the square.

The central campus will comprise of the existing old William Pescod building.

Potgieter said the central campus square, which will be built on the famous Ernest Oppenheimer Gardens, will have a nice prominent beacon, which will be the main focus of the university. Regarding sporting facilities, Potgieter said there was an agreement with Kimberley Boys High School management to share their facilities, next to Bishop’s Avenue.

He said the successful contractor will have three years to complete the phase one.

“We have already identified local contractors for landscaping and electricity, but we will make sure, as per specification, that issues of gender, youth and locality are adhered to in the project.” The university is expected to accommodate 80 students in the first year.

The name selection committee is expected to announce the name for the new university soon.

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

Bafana Bafana coach Gordon Igesund admitted that expectations were high from the public for his makeshift squad.

Bafana Bafana takes on Namibia in their opening match of the tournament on Saturday and Igesund hopes that despite having just two days of preparations, the players will do well.

“I only met some of the players today (Wednesday). This is a completely new team and we have only two days of training before our quarterfinal match. It is not ideal, but we have to get the best out of the situation that we are faced with,” he said.

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

Pretoria – Self-confessed dagga-smoking AbaThembu King Buyelekhaya Dalindyebo said on Wednesday he is not perturbed by being constantly associated with the illegal smoke.

“[Smoking] dagga is a cultural behaviour. I am a Rastafarian by nature,” he told reporters at the Union Buildings in Pretoria.

“That [association with dagga] should not surprise you.”

The outspoken king said former president Nelson Mandela was “looking good”.

He visited the anti-apartheid icon at the Medi-Clinic Heart hospital in Pretoria on Tuesday.

“The visit was brilliant. Madiba is looking good. He hasn’t been talking but I got some good gestures from him. He hasn’t been able to smile, I got that little smile from his face which I appreciated very much.

“It was a blessing to me,” he said.

Dalindyebo said “so much was being done to keep Madiba alive”.

The 94-year-old former president was admitted to the hospital on 8 June with a recurring lung infection.

Touched us

On Wednesday, New York University students paid a visit to the hospital.

“His influence and what he stands for has touched all of us,” said Curtis Outlaw.

The students are in the country for a month to study education and social reforms. They lit candles near the wall filled with messages and well wishes for Mandela.

The anti-apartheid icon was spending his 33rd day in hospital.

Outlaw said he was inspired by Mandela and all he had accomplished.

“I look at him as an inspirational individual. From him I have learned that with perseverance, anything can be accomplished,” he said.

Crystal Soto said it was very important for them, as social welfare students, to visit the hospital and see what the country had been saying about Mandela.

“As educators, it is also important to study who he is and what he has accomplished as a person,” she said.

The students said it was significant for them to show respect for the sacrifices Mandela had made, to ensure peace and unity in the country.

SAPA

Johannesburg – Former ANC Youth League leader Julius Malema will lose another property when his house in Flora Park, Polokwane, goes under the hammer in two weeks’ time, The Sowetan reported on Thursday.

Auctioneer Aaggie Stroh, of Eli Stroh Properties, said the house was expected to raise between R1m and R1.5m.

“I can confirm that Malema’s house at 23 Mopani Street at Flora Park will be on auction on July 23.”

He said the house was “very nice and clean” but the economic climate could affect its value.

The SA Revenue Service (Sars) has attached properties owned by Malema in order to recoup R16m he owes.

His household goods were sold for R54 000 in February and in mid-May his incomplete mansion was sold for R5.9m, R2.3m more than he paid for it in 2009.

In June a farm belonging to him was sold for R2.5m.

Stroh was unable to confirm whether another house of Malema’s in Seshego, Polokwane, where his grandmother lives, would also come up for auction.

Malema is expected to launch his new political party, the Economic Freedom Fighters, at Constitution Hill later on Thursday.

Source: http://www.news24.com 

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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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