By Obakeng Maje

Taung-Three police officers have been charged with assault for allegedly using excessive force after a scuffle with one of their own.

The incident happened right at Taung Police Station on Saturday morning around 01:30am.

According to information, an off-duty police constable Sheperd Malekanyo,27, was allegedly driving home in the early hours when he came across a man known as Kagisho allegedly assaulting his girlfriend Keleabetswe Sebakeng,31, of Nommer 1, near Taung.

Malekanyo allegedly stopped and mediated between two lovers.

“I was driving home to Modimong village with other passengers when I came across two lovers fighting. I stopped and asked what’s the problem, and the female pleaded with me to call her sister to come and pick her up” Malekanyo said.

It is alleged that Keleabetswe Sebakeng called her younger sister, Yvonne to come and fetch her using Malekanyo’s phone.

“I was called by my sister who said Kagiso(alleged lover) is beating her up and she need to opened an assault case. I rushed to the scene and found rre Malekanyo and urged him to take us to the police station” Yvonne Sebakeng said.

An off-duty police drove both victim and suspect along with Yvonne to Taung police station for help.

Three police who handled the case allegedly asked the suspect and victim what’s the matter and they both said they want to open a case against each other.

Police who their names are known to us, allegedly ordered Kagiso to remove his belt and shoe lace as he was arrested for assault.

Malekanyo said he tried to explain the situation to both warrant officers and constable, but did not buy his story.

A 27 year-old sister told our crew that however both Keleabetswe and Kagiso did not opened a case against each other after they reconciled.

“I introduced myself to three officers and tried to explain the situation, but three officers displayed impetinent behaviour” Malekanyo said.

According to eyewitness, Ikageng-based police was allegedly man-handled and assaulted with bare hands by cops.

“We were in the car waiting for Malekanyo to come, but we were so suprised seeing three cops assaulting, kicking and impeded him” Tshepo Moepeng said.

Yvonne Sebakeng said she only saw police pushing and man-handled Malekanyo while yield at him to get out of the police station.

North West police spokesperson sergeant Kelebogile Moiloa said they have not received a charge of that matter, however cases involving police are handled by IPID.

“We have not received any complain for that magnitute, but that case will be transferred to IPID department” sergeant Kelebogile Moiloa said.

Police allegedly finally let Malekanyo off, but according to information, they followed him barely a 1km away from police station.

“They came with police van and blocked my way. They were very truculent. They removed my belt, shoe lace and ordered me to drive back to the station” he said.

Malekanyo said three officers allegedly assaulted him further and was detained for three hours with no formal charges against him.

“I was locked up in holding cell without being formal charged. They meted me with a verbal charge saying I disturbed police on duty” he said.

Malekanyo was allegedly released at 04:30am by police and after the ordeal he decided to open an assault case against police.

Our crew will keep you posted after the alleged blowbeat suffered by Malekanyo and our attempt to get three cops side of their story was futile as Taung Police Station phone rang unanswered.-TDN

Follow us on Twitter@Taung_DailyNews or @IceT_

Rustenburg-North West Premier Thandi Modise has called for an independent investigation into the accident in which one mineworker was killed and three others were injured at Lonmin’s Marikana platinum mine on Saturday.

“In conveying our condolences to the family of the mineworker who lost his life in the accident and wishing those injured in the accident a speedy recovery, we wish to acknowledge the mine’s commitment to investigate the incident, but insist that an independent investigation by the Department of Mineral Resources will be more credible to assure us that there was no negligence or failure on its part to adhere to set occupational health and safety standards.” said Premier Modise.

Premier Modise added that though Lonmin’s safety results have been impressive over the past few years, having recorded the lowest industry fatality frequency rate compared to its peers in the platinum industry, every incident presents an opportunity to learn and implement corrective action to mitigate the reoccurrence of such incidents because one death of a miner on duty is a death too many.-TDN

Follow us on Twitter@Taung_DailyNews or @IceT_

Premier Thandi Modise says that the depth of commitment displayed by all involved in the teaching and learning process gives her confidence that North West Province would not only consolidate and sustain the improvement in matric results it has recorded over the past few years but that it would increase its pass percentage in this year’s examination.

“We wish all learners who will be sitting for their examinations as from tomorrow the very best and call on them to stay focused and not be distracted from the task at hand. Whatever sacrifices and extra effort they have put to revise will definitely pay off. We believe in them to succeed and make us proud,” highlighted Premier Modise adding that investing in the education of young people as future leaders is key to sustainable development.

The Premier said that the provincial government expects the success of the focus on quality improvement and extra efforts put through the last push revision campaign over the past three weeks to be reflected not only in the results, but also in the skills and competencies of the learners who will be exiting the school system.

The MEC for Education, Wendy Matsemela had recently assured the Executive Council that her department has made all the necessary preparations to ensure the successful administration of the examinations and has gone to great lengths to put in place the required measures to safeguard the integrity of the examinations process.

“It should be all systems go tomorrow. The checks and balances that have been put in place and perfected over the past 19 years should ensure that there are no glitches and no hiccups,” Modise emphasised.

Premier Modise had called for special prayers for matriculants during this weekend church services.-TDN

Follow us on Twitter@Taung_DailyNews or @IceT_

North West Premier Thandi Modise has implored parties involved in wage negotiations at Impala Platinum Mine to return to the mediation process and negotiate in good faith to explore deadlock breaking mechanisms to their current wage negotiation dispute.

Premier Modise said that parties should not to lose sight of the progress they had registered within the mediation process facilitated by the Commission for Conciliation, Mediation, and Arbitration (CCMA) as it is critical towards rebuilding a relationship based on trust and respect and avoiding actions that adversely affect this relationship, 

“The Framework Agreement for a Sustainable Mining Industry should guide the wage negotiation process and adherence to the framework of the law and established structures of collective bargaining. Strengthening the mining sector to set it on a sustainable footing requires management and labour to engage each other to find win-win solutions instead of screaming threats at each other,” she stressed.-TDN

Follow us on Twitter@Taung_DailyNews or @IceT_

Rustenburg-Platinum Stars and their partners ABSA, North West FM and ABI held a hugely successful charity car wash at the BP Garage in Tlhabane on Saturday.

Platinum Stars’ Brand manager Tebogo Mochadibane, Supporters’ Co-Ordinator Aubrey Molobi and Dorothy Thyobeka, Marketing Officer for North West FM, get stuck in to work

A number of fans came out to meet their Platinum Stars heroes and have their cars washed by members of the Dikwena staff and those from our partner organisations.

ABSA have very generously stated that they will double all the proceeds made at the car wash, which will go to needy organisations in the North West community.

“It was a great day out and we were overwhelmed with the support from the community. We wish to thank our partners for giving of their time and also the supporters for helping us to serve our communities,” says Platinum Stars Supporters’ Co-coordinator & Media Relations head Aubrey Molobi.

Meanwhile, Stars will be hosting meetings with the supporters’ club branches in Atteridgeville (starting at 15h00) and Lefaragatlhe (17h00) today.

All supporters are welcome to come and share their views with the club.-TDN

Follow us on Twitter@Taung_DailyNews or @IceT_

Two pedestrians sustained serious injuries when they were involved in two separate hit runs in Pietermaritzburg.

The first reported incident took place on Saturday evening. A 26-year-old woman was found lying on Greytown road in Northdale in a critical condition by pedestrians who then contacted ER24 paramedics.

On arrival, responding crew members discovered that she had sustained injuries indicating that she was struck by a vehicle and dragged underneath it.

The patient showed decreased levels of consciousness and sustained radiator wounds, a compound fracture on one leg, significant road rash and avulsions on her back.

“Hit and runs are common on this road because there are usually many pedestrians walking along it and some sections of the road aren’t well lit,” said responding ALS paramedic Emmah Boreham.

Boreham added that the fact that it was pay day for many people was also a contributing factor for such incidents.

The second hit and run incident which took place in the wee hours of this morning on College road in Pelham, involved a 30-year-old male.

A 30-year-old man was found unconscious and received breathing assistance, suffered a deep gash on his head and was found to have lost approximately half a liter of blood.

The amount of blood he lost indicated to responding ER24 paramedics that he may have lain on the road for several hours after being hit.

Both patients were transported to nearby hospitals for further treatment.-TDN

Follow us on Twitter@Taung_DailyNews or @IceT_

Mamelodi Sundowns coach Pitso Mosimane says he does not blame Polokwane City for parking the bus to earn their 1-0 win last night.

City handed Downs their first League loss of the season, after an own-goal by Tebogo Langerman in the first half.

Sundowns came into the match off a 7-1 win over AmaZulu, but could not break through the Polokwane defence.

“[Our first loss] had to come sometime, but it is football,” ‘Jingles’ says. “They attacked once and scored. It is sad, but it’s football.

“It was a nice parked bus; you can’t move the bus, but I understand Boebie [Solomons, new City coach] needs the points, and they needed them more than us; that’s why their central defender was man of the match.”

Mosimane says he appreciates that the Brazilians fans were behind his team all the way.

“We didn’t play well on the wings. Our wing play was not very good, but these things happen. Sundowns fans are singing and they understand that we tried.”

For more http://www.kickoff.com

Everything is being done to expedite the financial assistance required to mitigate against the drought conditions they are currently experiencing, North West Premier Thandi Modise assured farmers in a statement issued on Sunday.

“Processes to access the R 400 million emergency relief grant to assist the 23 346 farmers who have applied for financial assistance to safe close to 1 million livestock units across the province are at an advanced stage for relief to be rolled out soon as the impact of the drought has had a devastating impact on crops, livestock and the livelihood of both subsistence and commercial farmers,” Premier Modise highlighted.

Modise said that R50 million of the emergency relief grant that the province expects to be transferred in the next week will be targeted for rehabilitation of water reticulation infrastructure such as boreholes and windmills to alleviate water shortage for human consumption currently experienced in Mamusa, Greater Taung, Kagisano-Molopo and Ditsobotla.

Meanwhile, Premier Modise is scheduled to meet with a delegation of the North West Agricultural Sector Unity Forum that represents North West African Farmers Association, Agri-North West, North West African Farmers Union (NAFU) and Transvaal Agriculture Union (TAU)-Western Region on Tuesday in Mahikeng to address the concerns of the forum regarding the advertised tender process for the provision and distribution of animal feed.

ANC deputy president Cyril Ramaphosa will be hauled before the Marikana Commission of Inquiry chaired by retired Judge Ian Farlam.

He will be asked to explain the alleged pressure he exerted on police, ahead of the killing of 34 miners in Marikana last year.

This week, a transcript of a high-level meeting came to light in which Ramaphosa was further implicated as a force behind the ramped-up police action that preceded the miners’ deaths.

Ramaphosa will have to tell the commission how and why he pressurised Police Minister Nathi Mthethwa into acting against the miners.

Highly placed sources within the Farlam commission say Mthethwa will also be called to testify.

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

Johannesburg – The DA welcomed on Saturday several tribal chiefs from Limpopo as new members of the party.

Democratic Alliance leader Helen Zille said she met and welcomed about 40 chiefs and elders around Maleboho, near Bochum, to the party. She said they had expressed interest in the DA.

“The people of Limpopo are still in need of basic services like water. Many are without those essentials that government is supposed to provide,” she said.

Zille said under the right leadership the province had “great potential”.

“We won a ward here recently and we believe our work and policies will speak for themselves in the province.”

She was confident her party would perform very well in Limpopo in the national elections next year. SAPA