Emotions ran high at the commemoration of North West police officers who died in the line of duty between April 2012 and March 2013. Families cried uncontrollably remembering their loved ones who were honored for their bravery.

Petunia Lepaaku whose husband Sello Lepaaku died during the marikana massacre said she is happy that their loved ones haven’t been forgotten and they are remembered for the heroes that they were.

“After everything that happened I have seen that the South African Police service loves us and that the country is behind us,” said Lepaaku The provincial commissioner Zukiswa Mbombo said with sadness and bereave at the commemoration of the fallen heroes

“We did not just lose colleagues we lost heroes and the families have lost their pillars of strength. I want to convey my heartfelt condolences and say the officers did it with pride and bravery,” said Mbombo.
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The ANC Youth League regional task team (RTT) in Ngaka Modiri Molema has pledged its support to candidates aligned with ANC provincial chairperson Supra Mahumapelo, as the party’s provincial general council (PGC) draws close.

The PGC will choose new leadership that will constitute the provincial executive committee and early indications are that Mahumapelo could emerge even stronger than before.

RTT spokesperson Bongile Mokhoanatsi said the youth league would rally behind Mahumapelo to lead the province for another two-year term.

“As we approach the elective PGC of the North West province we align ourselves with the ANCYL PTT on its call to support cde Dakota Legoate as ANC provincial secretary.

“We believe that he is one of our own; he is swelling from the ranks of the ANCYL in the province. Cde Legoate is a former youth league leader in the province and we want to believe he understands the ANC better and he will be able to assist the ANC in the province,” Mokhoanatsi said.

Legoate is closely linked to Mahumapelo and if he succeeds, he would take a position once occupied by Kabelo Mataboge, neutralising potential opposition in the process.

“We also call for the support of cde Suzan Tsebe for the treasurer’s post. Her track record in the organisation speaks for itself. She has been instrumental in the women’s league in the province,” Mokhoanatsi added.

Tsebe is the current ANC Women’s league Leader in the province. She will replace Philemon Mapulane, who joined the party’s national executive council.

On the two remaining members of the incumbent PEC, Mokhoanatsi said: “Once again we pledge our unwavering support to the chairperson of the ANC in North West, Ntate Supra Mahumapelo to steer this ship until 2015, and we support cde Gordon Kegakilwe as the deputy secretary until the end of office term.”

The RTT castigated ANC councillors at Ngaka Modiri Molema district municipality for defying leadership.

“We firmly believe that the ANC should take a stand on its members who continue to defy its decisions and seek to bring the name of the party into disrepute.”

The youth league in the region will engage with the IEC regarding public representatives who were deployed to Ngaka Modiri Molema by the ANCYL in the region, with a view to recall those individuals serving their own interests,” Bongile said.

The hardening of attitudes to those opposed to the leadership of Mahumapelo would likely continue and the absence of members from the provincial executive council could also increase tension between party and government.

The PGC will take place towards the end of this month at a venue still to be confirmed.
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Fifty youths received their certificates after completing a one-year construction course in which they majored in different trades.

The course came as part of the provincial social development department’s implementation of the national youth service programme directed at reducing unemployment among young people in impoverished villages in the province.

The department paid about R3m for the duration of the programme and youths who benefitted were drawn from Koffiekraal, Brakkuil and Uitkyk in the Moses Kotane local municipality.

The young people attained NQF Level 3 certificates in building and civil construction. They took up trades like brick making, brick laying, plastering, painting, paving, tiling and carpentry.

Business-related courses that will help the youth join the construction industry as service providers were also offered on the course.

Courses in enterprise development and construction contracting were offered where the youth were trained on how to meet tendering and legal requirements, financial management, business management and understanding the construction environment.

At their graduation ceremony held in Mogwase on Monday most of the beneficiaries thanked the government for giving them a chance to learn skills that would help them find and create employment.

One of the beneficiaries, Thapelo Mangena, 28, from Koffiekraal outside Zeerust said he felt indebted to the department for allowing him a lifetime opportunity to get construction skills.

Mangena, a father of one, has been depending on piece jobs to earn a living.

“We are now ready to enter the labour market. We are still awaiting registration of our cooperative. However, at the moment we are renovating two blocks of classes at Matiki Primary School here in Koffiekraal,” he said.

“This opportunity has made me appreciate that young people should start using their hands to do something meaningful and stop stealing.”

Provincial social development MEC Collen Maine, congratulated the graduating youths and said the programme would continue in other municipalities.

“Currently 50 young people from the Naledi local municipality are undergoing training on furniture making and construction. Another 50 young people from Tlokwe local municipality are being trained on building, civil construction and end user-computing. We are doing this so that our young people become future employers and be the change agents in the communities they come from.”

The national youth service programme is a government initiative aimed at empowering young people with skills to deliver developmental services to their respective communities.
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Some of the elderly people at Rotary Old People’s Home in Mahikeng shed tears in appreciation of a visit and gifts from children at the Montshiwa Seventh Day Adventist Church at the weekend.

Kids under the Adventurers and Pathfinders clubs visited the over 20 elderly men and women staying at the centre and held a special singing and prayer service.

Led by their leaders Rosie Sanders and Mpho Maimela, the children also donated toiletries to the elderly people.

Daphney Wrona, 80, said the visit was a special blessing. “Since I started staying here over a year ago, I have never seen such love.

“These kids have really given us a sense of belonging, a sense of reconnection with the outside world and I really appreciate it.”

Wrona also indicated that life at the centre was relatively good and they were happy with the food and care they received.

Another granny, Lene Zyl, 67, said she also appreciated the warmth the kids brought and indicated that such visits should be made more frequent.

“We are so blessed to have a community of church people who could spare their time to be with us. This should be done more often so that we revive the family memories we also used to have back in those days.”

One of the caregivers at the centre, Norah Oepeng thanked organisers of the visit and the donations. “We are very relieved today because some of these elderly people miss their families so much and a mere sight of children gives them great joy.

Some of them have been left here for a long time and their relatives either do not visit or when they do they don’t spend time with them.”

Oepeng added that some of the family members were not supportive enough and sometimes they spent time without sending toiletries for their parents.

“The gifts come in handy and they would give new purpose to most of our elderly people here. It is not every day that they get these things.”
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Johannesburg – A Namibian man was convicted of the murder of two police constables at the Western Cape High Court in Cape Town on Thursday, Western Cape police said.

Police spokesperson Tembinkosi Kinana said Fabianus Philipus was convicted for the murder of constables Pindiwe Nikani and Mandisi Nduku.

The two constables were shot and killed, while on duty at Imizamo Yethu in Hout Bay in October last year.

Nikani died on the scene and Nduku, who was seriously injured, died later in hospital.

Philipus would be sentenced on 18 September.

“We have always maintained that an attack on police officers is an attack on the state. Police officials are there to ensure the safety and security of communities as mandated by the country’s Constitution and not to be targets of heartless killers,” said Western Cape police commissioner Lieutenant General Arno Lamoer.

“Today’s court decision must serve as a good lesson that will send a strong message to other criminals, that the decision to kill our police is wrong on their part,” he said.

– SAPA

Johannesburg – The Eastern Cape health department on Thursday dismissed allegations by the Treatment Action Campaign (TAC) and Section 27 that the province’s health system was collapsing.

“We have studied the report and it is full of deliberate distortions,” said the department’s spokesperson Sizwe Kupelo.

The TAC and Section 27 released a detailed report on the health system in the Eastern Cape, on Wednesday.

Kupelo said the report lied by presenting the public with old problems that had been resolved, particularly the drugs shortage issue.

“The issue of drugs was addressed,” he said.

Kupelo denied allegations that the province had a high staff vacancy rate.

He said the department continued producing nurses through its internal nursing college, and doctors were deployed where they were needed.

The report described hampered service delivery as a result of the poor state of health care facilities.

Six hospitals were being demolished to be rebuilt in Transkei, Kupelo said.

“We are building a gateway clinic at the cost of R38m in Madwaleni near Elliotdale.”

Over 50 officials who were found guilty of corruption were fired last year.

He said a list of officials doing business with the department had been handed over to the Treasury for investigation.

In the report, the organisations identified mismanagement of funds as an underlying problem.

In 2011/2012, the department overspent on its staffing budget by more than R1bn because of higher than inflation increase to salaries and poorly-managed employee benefits.

– SAPA

Johannesburg – The Hawks should be allowed to continue investigating allegations against former Tlokwe mayor Maphetle Maphetle, North West Local Government MEC Mamketse Tlhape said on Thursday.

“The allegations that have been levelled against the then executive mayor Maphetle Maphetle are being investigated by the Hawks branch in Klerksdorp,” Tlhape said in a statement.

“The department recommends that law enforcement agencies be allowed to continue with their investigations and the department observe the processes.”

The DA asked for a forensic probe into irregularities at the municipality last year.

This found that the council irregularly bought Maphetle a R736 000 customised Mercedes-Benz. Maphetle also allegedly abused the Disaster Management Fund and Poverty Relief Fund.

The report recommended that formal disciplinary action be taken against him and other officials.

In May, the DA laid criminal charges against Maphetle, and in June, Public Protector Thuli Madonsela said she would investigate the claims of corruption involving Maphetle.

Tlhape said her department also instituted an inquiry into the allegations, in line with its general support mandate.

She said the team probing the matter had concluded its investigation after interviewing a number of officials in the Tlokwe municipality.

“For obvious reasons, as government we could not just fold our arms and turn a blind eye and pretend as if things were normal.

“Our interest as government was to ensure that service delivery was not compromised,” Tlhape said.

The Tlokwe municipality is currently being run by DA Mayor Annette Combrink.

– SAPA

Cape Town – President Jacob Zuma expressed concern on Thursday at tensions between ANC alliance partner Cosatu and its biggest affiliate Numsa.

“We are concerned about the tensions in the federation that is our alliance partner,” Zuma told parliamentary Press Gallery Association members at a lunch meeting at Tuynhuys.

However, Zuma said he was also confident the Cosatu would be able to resolve the dispute with the National Union of Metalworkers of SA (Numsa).

Numsa is involved in a high court battle to have suspended Cosatu general secretary Zwelinzima Vavi re-instated.

The case was indefinitely postponed on Tuesday.

Numsa general secretary Irvin Jim has also threatened not to campaign for the ANC ahead of next year’s elections should the National Development Plan be included in the party’s election manifesto.

Zuma said the ANC had “engaged” Numsa on its comments.

“In so far as the utterances about perhaps not going with the ANC in the elections, I’m sure that people as individuals within any organisation will have their views… We have not engaged those matters from the colleagues who are saying so…,” Zuma said.

“I’m sure when we discuss it again, I don’t think we’ll fail to come to some kind of understanding.”

Zuma said tensions within any organisation were normal.

“There are issues that have arisen, and we believe those issues would be handled and concluded so that the federation is able to move forward,” he said.

“It will be something almost next to impossible that you can have an organisation where at times there are no tensions.”

– SAPA

Three officials of the SA Social Security Agency (Sassa) were arrested for corruption in Piet Retief on Thursday, Mpumalanga police said.

Police spokesperson Selvy Mohlala said they gave unactivated, fraudulent grant payment cards to a woman who posed as an official and visited beneficiaries’ homes on the pretext of verifying them as beneficiaries.

“In the process, she will ask for their Sassa cards and the pin code. She then exchanges the cards and gives the beneficiary the card that is not activated,” he said.

Mohlala said a woman, Thembeni Nene, 48, was arrested in Piet Retief on 6 September after allegedly trying to swap cards at an ATM.

She appeared in the Piet Retief Magistrate’s Court on Monday when the case was postponed to 1 October for further investigation.

Mohlala said grant payment cards and birth certificates had been seized from the three officials’ offices.

They would appear in the Piet Retief Magistrate’s Court on Friday.

– SAPA

Johannesburg – Nurses are usually blamed for the Eastern Cape’s health department’s problems, the Democratic Nursing Organisation of SA (Denosa) said on Thursday.

Denosa is set to join a march, demanding improved services.

“For a long time now, and with consistency, the province has been embattled with, among others, gross staff shortages, shortage of equipment, medication and lack of support for health workers,” Denosa Eastern Cape secretary Koliswa Tota said in a statement.

“As the backbone and face of the health care system, it has become a norm for nurses to get blamed as a result of these challenges.”

Denosa planned to join a march by the Eastern Cape Health Crisis Action Coalition to Health MEC Sicelo Gqobana’s office in Bisho, to hand over a memorandum demanding improved services.

“Having just signed the service charter… which is a commitment to quality public service by both employees and employer, Denosa joins this march in line with its commitment to quality health service and under the spirit of a positive practice environment for health workers to render quality service, which is currently not the case in the Eastern Cape,” Tota said.

Earlier, the Eastern Cape health department dismissed allegations by the Treatment Action Campaign (TAC) and Section 27 that the province’s health system was collapsing.

The TAC and Section 27 released a detailed report on Wednesday on the health system in the Eastern Cape.

‘Distorted’ report

The department’s spokesperson Sizwe Kupelo said the report was full of distortions and old issues, which had been resolved.

“The issue of drugs was addressed,” he said.

Kupelo denied allegations that the province had a high staff vacancy rate.

He said the department continued producing nurses through its internal nursing college, and doctors were deployed where they were needed.

The report described hampered service delivery as a result of the poor state of health care facilities.

Kupelo said six hospitals were being demolished to be rebuilt in Transkei and that a gateway clinic was being built at a cost of R38m near Elliotdale.

More than 50 corrupt officials were fired last year and those doing business with the department were being investigated by the Treasury, Kupelo said.

The report found that the mismanagement of funds was the department’s underlying problem, and that more than R1bn had been overspent by the department in the 2011/2012 financial year.

– SAPA