All roads lead to Klerksdorp as tourism stakeholders gather to mark World Tourism Day tomorrow.

The province was chosen as this year’s host province and build-up activities to the big day started with a student seminar in Potchefstroom yesterday.

World Tourism Day is commemorated under the auspices of the UN World Tourism Organisation annually, to celebrate the socio-economic milestones of tourism under a particular theme.

This year’s activities will focus around tourism and water, and protecting our common future and comes as a result of the UN declaration of 2013 as the International Year of Water Cooperation.

Provincial economic development and tourism spokesperson Dumisa Seshabela said the event seeks to address environmental sustainability.

“Environmental sustainability is one of the millennium development goals and water is a major resource towards this.

“Besides the fun aspect water provides, activities lined up will also highlight the tourism sector’s responsibility to the wider sustainability objectives.

“This sector uses a significant amount of water and the idea is to encourage all South Africans and tourism stakeholders to play a role in contributing to responsible water use through the implementation of responsible tourism practices and fostering water conservation,” Seshabela said.

She added that the student seminar that took place this week targeted final year and postgraduate students from various universities to present their research findings on tourism-related topics.

“Today, Minister for Tourism Marthinus van Schalkwyk will host a business breakfast event with the provincial tourism industry players to engage on how the tourism sector can remain competitive and sustainable through the implementation of sustainable water management practices.

“This will be followed by a public lecture the minister will deliver in Klerksdorp later in the day. The subject of the lecture is informed by this year’s theme,” Seshabela said.

The main celebrations will be held at Water Paradise tomorrow to cap off what Seshabela said had been a busy tourism month.

“The day’s activities will include a formal event where the Minister will launch a legacy project before people engage in a variety of water activities,” she said.

At the opening of Tourism Month on August 28, van Schalkwyk said: “As we proceed to the last leg of our tourism month activities in the province, we encourage all South Africans to take a short-left and have fun with water as they explore our beautiful country.”

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

Johannesburg – The chairperson of Azaadville’s community policing forum, west of Johannesburg, has been shot dead, Kagiso police said on Thursday.

“Yesterday [Wednesday] at about 1pm a chairperson of the Azaadville Community Policing Forum was robbed and shot in a business robbery at his shop in Chamdor next to Kagiso,” Warrant Officer Solomon Sibiya said in a statement.

Sibiya identified the man as Ishmael Shaik.

Eye witnesses were said to have seen more than six men arriving in two cars.

It was believed four people entered a shop on Jacob Street, Chamdor near Kagiso on Wednesday, and demanded money from the shop owner at gun point, Sibiya said.

“When the deceased resisted he was shot in the head and chest. An undisclosed amount of cash was stolen. The suspects thereafter fled the scene in two vehicles.”

The deceased, believed to be in his thirties, was rushed to the local hospital where he later died.

“One person was arrested and has been taken in for questioning,” Sibiya said.

Police were hunting for 10 people believed to be linked to the robbery and murder.

SAPA

Pretoria – Economic Freedom Fighters leader Julius Malema said on Thursday he realised his supporters would be severely punished if they took land without compensation.

“We know once we take this land forcefully, they will use the economy to fight us,” he said in Pretoria.

Malema was speaking outside the Theo van Wijk building at the University of SA (Unisa) after management denied him and his supporters access to the hall.

He told the large crowd which had gathered to listen to him that Africa was rich, while its occupants were poor.

He said the Europeans on the continent were richer than the natives.

“That has to change. If you take the land, you take everything that comes with it. You take the seed. It won’t be the Indian Ocean in Africa, it will be the African ocean,” he said.

He told followers to tell those who said they were punishing the wrong people that a wound did not rot in Sesotho.

He sought to assure white people that genocide would not be committed to get the land back, and said they were brothers who had a right to live in the country.

“No white men must leave their land because they are forced. You’re our brothers, but we can’t have greedy brothers. We want a peaceful process. Those who have taken our land must not be arrogant,” he said.

He encouraged whites to agree to land distribution without compensation, and not to listen to the African National Congress as it could not guarantee their safety.

Anger boiling

The safety of whites was in the hands of the black majority.

“Anger is boiling inside. One day, people will rise and claim the land and it will not be controllable,” he said.

He said the question of what the people would do with the land should not be an issue, as Africans had worked the land long before being colonised.

Whites had only brought ways of working the land faster.

“We were also mining in Mapungubwe and trading with Asians long before,” he said.

Malema criticised the university’s management for denying him entry into the hall, and said he was one of its registered students and had a right to be there.

He was not scared of anyone and if the university believed he was there illegally, he should be thrown out.

“There is no one in this campus who can stop me. I will never be scared to stand up for what I believe in. They must tell people the truth if I’m lying and not threaten me with death because I will never retreat.”

He said the actions of university management were irresponsible.

The cancellation was due to threats by members of the SA Students’ Congress to disrupt proceedings.

Manhandle them

Members of the two organisations insulted one another, and a scuffle resulted in Sasco members being injured. Malema encouraged his supporters to protect meetings.

“You must manhandle them if there is a need. Never behave like cowards. Protect meetings, do whatever it takes to ensure [the] meeting goes ahead,” he said, speaking through a loud-hailer.

National Education, Health and Allied Workers’ Union (Nehawu) Unisa chair Ntsako Nombelani accused the EFF of provoking members of Nehawu and Sasco.

He said he did not understand how the meeting had gone ahead following communication with Unisa management about the cancellation.

“We were told yesterday [Wednesday] that the event was cancelled because the people who invited them no longer met the bargaining threshold,” he said.

Nombelani said charges would be laid against the EFF.

Unisa SRC president Brian Mphahlele accused Malema of destabilising education and of not having the best interests of students at heart.

Sasco’s Unisa chair Solly Nkuna said earlier only registered students would be allowed into the ZK Matthews Hall, where Malema had been expected to speak.

“We have vowed to disrupt any talk given by Malema,” said Nkuna.

“We took a position that non-students are not going to enter or participate. We will destabilise everything until such a point that students are the only ones left inside [the hall].”

Not another Zimbabwe

He accused university management of turning Unisa into a platform for unhappy former African National Congress members.

Malema, the ANC Youth League’s former leader, was expelled from the party in 2012.

Nkuna said Sasco had a duty to protect the “rainbow nation” and would not support an organisation that wanted to forcefully grab land.

“The issue must be addressed accordingly. We can’t allow our country to become like Zimbabwe,” he said.

“We won’t support Malema as he talks about grabbing land from the whites.”

EFF supporters sang: “One Zuma, one idiot”, while holding their hands above their heads to represent a showerhead.

“Malema is coming” and “Julius sent us because we are not afraid”, they sang.

SAPA

Johannesburg – The Transport Laws and Related Matters Amendment Act was published in the Government Gazette on Thursday, the presidency said.

The act, also known as the electronic tolling bill, was signed into law by President Jacob Zuma. 

“The President signed the Bill into law on Saturday, 21 September before departing for the United States of America to attend the 68th United Nations General Assembly Session.”

The announcement was made on Wednesday. 

On the same day, Supreme Court of Appeal (SCA) Judge Fritz Brand reserved judgment on whether the tolling of Gauteng’s freeways should be reviewed.

The Opposition to Urban Tolling Alliance brought the appeal in its challenge against the SA National Roads Agency Limited (Sanral), the transport minister, and the Treasury.

In April 2012, the North Gauteng High Court in Pretoria granted Outa an interdict approving a full judicial review before electronic tolling could be implemented. The interdict prevented Sanral from levying or collecting e-tolls, pending the outcome of a review.

In September last year, the Constitutional Court set aside the interim order, and in December, the High Court in Pretoria dismissed the application.

The court granted Outa leave on January 25 to take the matter to the SCA in Bloemfontein.

Sapa

East London – Seventeen men have been jailed for various sexual offences in the Eastern Cape, police said on Thursday.

The sentences were all handed down last week, spokesperson Thulani Mbambala said.

The suspects were aged between 17 and 88.

One of the culprits, 88-year-old Ntakopo Desi from Lusikisiki, was given a 10-year prison term for the rape of a 72-year-old woman.

In another case 48-year-old Mbulelo Ntapo from Butterworth was given a 10-year jail sentence for the rape of a 13-year-old girl.

Lungile Ndululo, 37, from Grahamstown was sentenced to 10 years’ imprisonment for raping a 42-year-old woman.

SAPA

Pic:(By Obakeng Maje)

Pretoria – Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) leader Julius Malema on Thursday ignored a Unisa management decision to cancel his talk at the campus on land distribution, and addressed students outside the hall instead.

“It was an irresponsible act by management to cancel after we had been granted permission. We came here and defied them,” Malema said outside the University of SA’s (Unisa) Theo van Wyk building in Pretoria.

He said the cancellation was due to threats by members of the SA Students’ Congress (Sasco) to interrupt proceedings.

Members of both organisations insulted each other and a scuffle resulted in Sasco members being injured.

Malema encouraged his supporters to “protect meetings”.

“You must manhandle them if there is a need. Never behave like cowards. Protect meetings, do whatever it takes to ensure [the] meeting goes ahead,” he said with a loud-hailer.

Provoking members

National Education, Health and Allied Workers’ Union (Nehawu) Unisa chair Ntsako Nombelani accused the EFF of provoking members of Nehawu and Sasco.

He said he did not understand how the meeting had gone ahead following communication with the institution’s management about the cancellation.

“We were told yesterday [Wednesday] that the event was cancelled because the people who invited them no longer met the bargaining threshold,” he said.

Nombelani said they would be laying charges against the EFF.

Unisa SRC president Brian Mphahlele accused Malema of destabilising learning and not having the best interests of students at heart.

Sasco’s Unisa chair Solly Nkuna said earlier only registered students would be allowed into the ZK Matthews Hall, where Malema had been expected to speak.

“We have vowed to disrupt any talk given by Malema,” said Nkuna.

“We took a position that non-students are not going to enter or participate. We will destabilise everything until such a point that students are the only ones left inside [the hall].”

Former ANC members

He accused university management of turning Unisa into a platform for unhappy former ANC members.

Malema, the ANC Youth League’s former leader, was expelled from the party in 2012.

“We realise that Unisa, instead of being an institute of learning, is becoming a platform for those expelled from the ANC,” Nkuna said.

Nkuna said Sasco had a duty to protect the “rainbow nation” and would not support an organisation that wanted to forcefully grab land.

“The issue must be addressed accordingly. We can’t allow our country to become like Zimbabwe,” he said.

“We won’t support Malema as he talks about grabbing land from the whites.”

EFF supporters sang: “One Zuma, one idiot”, while holding their hands above their heads to represent a showerhead.

“Malema is coming” and “Julius sent us because we are not afraid”, they sang.

SAPA

Johannesburg – A 9m-high statue of former president Nelson Mandela will be erected at the Union Buildings in Pretoria, Arts and Culture Minister Paul Mashatile said on Thursday.

“The Union Buildings has for many years been a symbol of white minority domination,” he said in Johannesburg.

The statue of Mandela, who remained an “enduring symbol of our struggle for freedom, democracy, dignity, and equality”, would be unveiled by President Jacob Zuma on 16 December.

The bronze-plated statue was being created by sculptors Andre Prinsloo and Ruhan Janse van Vuuren. Prinsloo said the project had been a life-long dream.

He spoke about the difficulties of capturing Mandela’s image and decisions that had to be made on the pose, expression, and age the statue would depict.

“We decided we would give him a smile,” Prinsloo said.

The statue would capture Mandela as he looked about 10 years after his election as South Africa’s first democratic president.

Prinsloo demonstrated the pose the statue would assume, arms outstretched and one foot slightly forward.

The pose intended to convey “how he embraces the nation”, Prinsloo said.

Transporting the statue

The R8m statue would be transported in four sections on a flat-bed truck and assembled on the lawns of the Union Buildings.

It had to be completed by 9 December to be ready for unveiling on 16 December, Reconcilliation Day.

The statue would be 3m taller than the 6m-high Mandela statue at Nelson Mandela Square in Sandton, Johannesburg.

Mashatile said the statue was part of efforts to establish new symbols to reflect the collective aspirations of South Africans.

“We once more take this opportunity to wish Tata Madiba well as he recovers at his home,” he said.

Thursday marked the 26th day since Mandela was discharged from a Pretoria hospital, where he spent nearly three months being treated for a recurring lung infection.

President Jacob Zuma said in a speech released on Wednesday that Mandela was responding to treatment while convalescing at his Houghton home.

SAPA

Johannesburg – Danny Jordaan and “Shoes” Mazibuko will go toe-to-toe on Saturday in a bid to succeed outgoing SA Football Association president Kirsten Nematandani.

“This is an ironical twist to the elections,” said Nematandani, who has no chance of being re-elected because he did not receive any nominations from the 52 Safa regional associations.

“I cannot deny a pang of disappointment over the turn of events. My objective when I took over as president was to unite the opposing factions that exist in South African soccer and I never wavered on this principle.

“But the job is only half done. Now, it would seem, divisions are again set to escalate. Administrators like Danny [Jordaan] and Shoes [Mazibuko] are both needed in the soccer set-up and should be working together. Not fighting each other for power.”

Mazibuko piloted Nematandani into the post of Safa president four years ago.

Apparently disillusioned by the Transformation Forum group in which Jordaan and Mazibuko were at one time both prominent influences, Mazibuko and a sizeable wing of the organisation became disillusioned with its objectives.

They courted PSL chairman and Orlando Pirates boss Irvin “The Iron Duke” Khoza to stand as a powerful candidate for the Safa presidency.

The move, however, was stymied by the disclosure of a resolution in the Safa constitution that prevents a club owner from becoming president of the national association.

Attempts to scrap the ruling faltered over the fact that it required a two-thirds majority among the Safa regions.

Mazibuko was then launched as the candidate to oppose Jordaan and the existing supporters within the Transformation Forum.

A big question now regarding Saturday’s crucial election centres round whether the considerable support that would have gone Khoza’s way will now align itself to Mazibuko.

Meanwhile, the 55-year-old Nematandani said that after 25 years of service to various segments within the Safa organisation, he did not intend to back out of the soccer set-up.

“Soccer is a significant part of my life and this is not going to change now.

“I will be ready to serve Safa, Caf, and Fifa wherever required.”

SAPA

Cape Town – More than 100 complaints of sexual misconduct were laid against teachers last year, according to the SA Council for Educators [Sace]. 

In its 2012/13 annual report, tabled at Parliament on Thursday, the council said it received a total of 556 complaints for various “alleged offences or breaches” between 1 April last year and 30 March this year.

Of these, 104 were for “sexual misconduct, including rape”.

The council was established in terms of the Sace Act. According to this legislation, no person is allowed to practise as a teacher in South Africa unless he or she is registered with the council.

Other categories of offences listed in the annual report, including the number of such complaints laid against teachers, are:

– Verbal abuse, victimisation, harassment and defamation: 83;

– Fraud, theft and financial mismanagement: 65;

– Racism: two;

– Corporal punishment and assault: 182;

– Unprofessional conduct, alcohol abuse, absenteeism and insubordination: 115;

– Negligence: nil; and,

– Murder: two.

27 teachers struck off roll

The council said 319 of the total 556 cases were “finalised in forms other than disciplinary hearings”.

A total of 57 disciplinary cases were finalised over the 12-month period.

According to the report, 27 teachers were struck off the council’s roll of educators indefinitely.

Yet another was struck off, but may re-apply after a certain period, and a further 28 were struck off, but the striking off was suspended for a certain period.

On the number of appeals received from those struck off, eight were from those struck off the roll indefinitely for sexual offences.

Of the eight, five were finalised and the appeals dismissed. The other three appeals had been postponed.

On dealing with abuse of pupils by teachers, the council said one of the biggest problems was the general lack of co-operation by the parents of the abused children.

Parents’ responsibility

Parents had refused council officials’ access to the abused children.

“In some case, the abusers would end up being referred to ‘as sons-in-law’,” the report states.

This practice had negatively affected the council’s operations.

“[E]ach year we have a lot of sexual abuse cases that are being carried over into the next financial year because they could not be closed.”

It said the battle against the abuse of pupils would not be won “until such time that parents take the responsibility to protect their children and to support the Sace cause”.

SAPA

By TDN

Mahikeng-The process towards the development of a Provincial Teacher Development

Institute to provide continous professional development to teachers has commenced in earnest and is expected to gain momentum with the recent

endorsement it has received from the Provincial Executive Council (Exco).

A R7million project for the renovation of the former Tlhabane College of Education to serve as a site for the establishment of the institute to be supported by 33 District Teachers Centres to serve as local support sites for teachers across the province is in the pipeline.

The site was identified by the Provincial Department of Education as the most suitable as it has enough space for future developments. In addition,the existing buildings used by the former college has hundred and twenty rooms for residence and a number of offices that will as residential facilities and house offices of professional teacher development officials and other relevant staff for the envisaged institute.

The other contributing factor that makes the site ideal is that it is a government property and therefore no cost will be incurred to purchase the property.

“The contribution of all stakeholders in the education sector and the role that the institute and the district centres will play towards meeting the development needs of our teachers through qualification based programmes will go a long way towards improving the quality of our public education system and overall performance that should translate into excellence” said Premier Thandi Modise.

The move to establish the institute follows the Teacher Development Summit that was held in June-July 2009 which laid the basis for a new,

strengthened, and integrated National Plan for teacher development.

The summit itself was inspired by the move to improve the ailing teacher development and training that the post 1994 democratic government

inherited.

The inherited system was characterised by poor teacher education Development and limited or lack of opportunities for quality teacher education, mismatch between demand and production, fragmented approach to

teacher education, and inefficient and poorly monitored funding mechanisms.-TDN

Follow us on Twitter@Taung_DailyNews or @IceT_