By TDN

North West Provincial Government and the North-West University will sign a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on Tuesday to lay a framework for cooperation on diverse areas of interest.

Premier Thandi Modise, who will sign the MoU with North-West University Vice-Chancellor Professor Theuns Elloff, says the partnership will enable her administration to draw valuable knowledge and capacity in various areas of cooperation which include research and development, socio-economic planning, poverty alleviation projects, agricultural development, engineering, indigenous knowledge systems, among others.

“This is part of our efforts to foster partnerships with strategic institutions to achieve our objectives as outlined in the National Development Plan. We are confident that the collaboration with our university will, among others, enable us to fast-track service delivery, improve on issues of social cohesion and empower our citizens to participate meaningfully in the mainstream economy,” said Premier Modise ahead of the signing of the MoU.

The event is scheduled to be held on Tuesday 20 August at 17h30, Mmabatho Hotel School in Mmabatho, Mahikeng.

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Mbombela – Bureaucratic bungling and unauthorised changes to work done are the reasons patients are sleeping in freezing corridors and overcrowded wards at one of Mpumalanga’s biggest hospitals.

Even patients with contagious Xtreme Drug Resistant TB are sharing wards with uninfected patients.

The situation at Rob Ferreira Hospital led to premier David Mabuza calling an urgent meeting with MECs in various departments including health and social development, public works, roads and transport and finance.

For more http://www.news24.com

By Obakeng Maje

Taung-North West police arrested a 23 year-old man after he allegedly broke into a house and raped a 69 year-old woman.

Police said the incident took place at Buxton, near Taung were a man gained entry through a window.

“He allegedly found a 69 year-old woman in the bedroom and raped her. While busy raping her, she wrestled with a suspect and managed to overpowered him and escaped” sergeant Kealeboga Molale said.

Molale said a woman screamed for help and her neighbour came to investigate.

The neighbour allegedly searched the house after a suspect allegedly tried to strangle the victim.

“The suspect was allegedly hidden under the bed after he realised that his bubble was bursted” Molale said.

A 23 year-old man was dragged out of the bed and left embarrassed like confused dinosaurs fleeing Jorrison Park.

He was arrested after the police were called and will appear tomorrow at Taung Magistrate Court for rape and house breaking.

Police investigations continue.-TDN

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Johannesburg – Following his side’s comfortable 2-0 victory over Burkina Faso on Saturday, Bafana Bafana coach Gordon Igesund says he is delighted with the ever-increasing pool of talent in South African soccer.

Igesund handed three players debut starts, with Marc van Heerden, Bongani Zungu and David Mathebula all included in the starting line-up for the friendly which formed part of the inaugural Nelson Mandela Sport and Culture day at FNB Stadium on Saturday.

“I was able, without any fear, to put a few fringe players in so that I could have a good look at them,” Igesund said after the game.

“I got a good idea of where we are with certain players.

“We’ve got a lot of talent in this country, we have a lot of talent playing overseas.”

Goals from Siphiwe Tshabalala and Luyolo Nomandela reversed Bafana’s fortunes, after they lost by the same scoreline to Nigeria just three days prior.

Igesund added he was pleased with his team’s performance, particularly after their lackluster defeat on Wednesday, and said the result would give the team a timely boost ahead of their crucial 2014 World Cup qualifier against Botswana in three weeks’ time.

South Africa must claim either a draw or a victory over Botswana, and hope that the Central African Republic (CAR) beat Ethiopia to put themselves in contention to make it through to the next round of qualifiers for the World Cup in Brazil next year.

“Leading up to our game against Botswana, this was a good confidence booster for the players,” he explained.

“We created a lot of chances. We scored two and created a lot.

“But the most important thing for me is that we’re creating chances. I think we passed the ball much better today and we kept the ball much better.”

Igesund said players challenging for a place in the national team for the Botswana qualifier would find it difficult, as the pool of new talent meant that no-one in the national set-up would be guaranteed a place in the squad of 23.

“Going into the game against Botswana, I’ve left out some very good players.

“It’s going to be a tough fight for players to get into the squad for the Botswana game and that bodes well for us.

“We all know the importance of the game against Botswana and I will select a team that will go and win that game.”

Bafana struggled at times to wrap-up the result, following a positive start, but Nomandela sealed the victory in the 90th minute, leaving Igesund happy with the win, but not completely satisfied.

“It is a bit frustrating at times because everybody knows, when you’re 1-0 up, anything can happen,” Igesund said of a one goal lead.

“You could end up drawing a game that you dominated for 90 minutes. But what I’m pleased about is that the players responded very well to it.

“From our Nigeria game to now, you could see that the players were trying to be a bit more patient in the last third of the field.

“But when you’re creating 10 to 15 chances in a game, you can say that you’re doing something right.”

SAPA

Johannesburg – The family of slain baby Jordan Leigh Norton have criticised the ‘confession’ of convicted mastermind Dina Rodrigues, the Sunday Tribune reported.

“She can rot in hell for all I care,” Vernon Norton, the grandfather of the murdered baby told the newspaper.

“Every day we live with the reality that a very new life was taken away by a selfish woman for her own self-indulgence.”

Her statement is contained in an affidavit filed at the Supreme Court of Appeal in a failed bid to apply for special leave to appeal her life sentence.

The application was dismissed last month.

In her most recent affidavit, Rodrigues said she had “immaturely” decided the baby – born to her lover Neil Wilson from a previous relationship – would condemn her to a life of “continuing emotional turmoil and unhappiness.

“Looking back now, with the wisdom of hindsight and with the advantage of more experience in life, I realise that I was simply experiencing the unsophisticated emotions of an immature and inexperienced woman, adult in body, but not in mind.”

Rodrigues paid accomplices R10 000 to gain access to the infant’s parental home by means of a fake courier delivery on 15 June 2005. 

The baby was then stabbed in the neck and suffocated with a pillow.

SAPA

CAPE TOWN – The Western Cape government will divert R6-million from education to the City of Cape Town to use it in efforts to curb gang related violence, premier Helen Zille and mayor Patricia de Lille said on Sunday.

…we will never successfully tackle gang violence if the gang members responsible for violent acts and criminal behaviour are not brought to justice and put behind bars.

“This budget will have to be diverted from other priorities in education. The City of Cape Town together with the Western Cape government, met with residents in Manenberg on Thursday evening to discuss new steps that could be taken to meet the safety concerns of the educators of shut schools,” the DA leaders said in a joint statement.

They said the provincial government and the city had limited powers in the fight against crime and violence but would continue to play their respective roles.

“Both the Western Cape government and the City of Cape Town have no powers when it comes to investigating crimes and securing convictions in a court of law,” they said.

“While we are doing everything possible to make communities safer through crime prevention programmes, we will never successfully tackle gang violence if the gang members responsible for violent acts and criminal behaviour are not brought to justice and put behind bars.”

Gang-related violence has been on the rise in areas such as Manenberg, which has affected learning. Members of the community have also been caught up in the crossfire.

As part of a plan to combat the violence a commission of inquiry has been established in Khayelitsha.

Among efforts to fight the violence they sought to pass a Safety Act, conduct policing needs and priorities, watched briefs and formed partnerships.

They appealed to the SAPS to deploy additional resources to Manenberg, particularly during this increasingly violent time.

“We also repeat our calls for President Jacob Zuma to authorise the employment of the SANDF in gang hotspot areas,” they said.

-Sapa

Johannesburg – The Democratic Alliance has received documentation related to the implementation of e-tolling in Gauteng following a request to the SA National Roads Agency Limited (Sanral), the party said on Sunday.

“The DA has received Sanral’s contract documentation on e-tolling in Gauteng,” transport spokesperson Ian Ollis said in a statement.

“Delivery of the documents follows the DA’s successful request for Sanral’s e-toll contract documents via a Promotion of Access to Information Act (PAIA) application submitted in June 2013.”

Sanral had agreed to provide all 5 848 pages of the contractual agreements, he said.

Still missing

Upon receiving the documents however, Ollis said three items from the 65 item contract tender register were missing.

These were the financial memorandum of the tender documentation and two items of the electronic toll collection (ETC) submission.

“The DA will request that Sanral provide the outstanding documents without delay or additional costs,” he said.

The party would study the documents, and specifically scrutinise Sanral’s monthly financial obligation to the ETC, the collection fees structuring, how transgressors would be prosecuted, as well as an opt-out clause for e-tolling in Gauteng.

Ollis said the DA maintained that e-tolling in Gauteng must be scrapped as it would not benefit the people of the province, and hit the poorest hardest by increasing the price of doing business.

This would result in food price increases and inevitably would undermine economic growth and job creation.

The police have built a case against Oscar Pistorius as a trigger-happy gunman prone to violent outbursts.

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This is the central theme of their strategy against the Blade Runner, who will be back in court tomorrow.

Pistorius’s past boasting of being a crack shot and threats to “break people’s legs” could come back to haunt him because the prosecution will now rely on former girlfriends and associates in an attempt to expose his “aggressive character”.

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

Polokwane – Limpopo’s new Premier Stan Mathabatha will suspend some of his provincial heads of departments tomorrow after his predecessor, Cassel Mathale, failed to take action for more then seven months. Some staff members could also face criminal charges.

According to the Sunday Independent, charges have already been formulated against some staff. In the past two weeks, Mathabatha has met with Public Service and Administration director-general Mashwahle Diphofa and national police commissioner General Riah Phiyega to discuss the charges. These include fraud, corruption and maladministration.

Phiyega’s spokesperson Solomon Makgale confirmed that Phiyega had been in Limpopo and that the Hawks were part of the investigations.

Mathabatha’s spokesperson Kenny Mathivha would not confirm which heads of department would be suspended, but said: “Big fish would be charged.”

“We will be charging heads of departments who have flouted the rules, who have been found to have transgressed in a lot of things.”

“We are tightening the screws, when we charge them, if they have to go they have to go for good.”

Monday’s suspensions come just one month after Mathabatha fired eight of the province’s 10 MECs and reshuffled the remaining two. 

News24