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

Johannesburg – The people of Africa must reject any idea from outside the continent which would lead to regime change in an African state, President Jacob Zuma said on Saturday.

“Through the AU [African Union], the peoples of Africa must reject any idea from outside the continent which seeks to foster an agenda of regime change,” Zuma said at the University of Fort Hare’s East London campus.

In a speech prepared for delivery at the university’s Organisation of African Unity (OAU) 50th anniversary lecture, the president said the replacement of democratically elected governments on the continent must be rejected.

“We must do everything we can to prevent Africa from being cheaply auctioned as a result of the ineptitude and lack of united action and resolve on the part of some of its leaders in safeguarding its vital territorial and sovereign interests,” Zuma said.

The mandate of the OAU had been to deliver African unity, freedom, independence, economic emancipation and development.

Hope

The achievement of these objectives still continued today under the banner of the AU.

The AU replaced the OAU on 9 July 2002. The OAU was founded on 25 May 1963.

Zuma said Africa was no longer a place devoid of hope as was believed in the past, with it now being one of the world’s prime regions of economic growth.

“Africa is one of the fastest growing regions in the world. It is no longer characterised as hopeless, but rather as a continent of hope and opportunity,” he said.

The economic emancipation of the continent, as envisaged by the OAU and AU, could be best attained through economic integration.

This would enable Africa to grow its markets, allow for more diversification, and encourage the optimisation of resources.

Integration would help lower transport costs, and ensure people, goods and services were able to move effectively and efficiently across the continent.

For integration to be achieved, providing the needed infrastructure was critical.

“Roads, bridges, rail lines, pipelines, power plants, ICT connectivity, cables, ports, and water-ways are the underpinning arteries of growth,” Zuma said.

Africa’s people, including those who lived outside its borders, also had to recognise that they needed to contribute to its development.

“Beyond this, Africa cannot develop if the continent is not peaceful, and there cannot be peace without development as the two are indivisibly intertwined,” Zuma said.

“The peace and security efforts that the African Union is championing in the continent are important and should be supported by every member state.”

Zuma said Africans should continue to think globally, beyond the confines of the continent.

“We want to be part of the UN Security Council. We want to see an urgent transformation of global economic institutions such as the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund,” he said. SAPA

Johannesburg – Police have seen a trend emerge where more children were being killed by their mothers, The Sunday Times reported.

Family violence, child protection and sexual offences unit operational head Brigadier Bafana Linda told the newspaper, “We are seeing more children dying at the hands of their mothers.

“This is extremely worrying. How do the police prevent a child from getting killed in the place where they are presumed to be the most safe?”

The unit secured 499 life sentence convictions over the past financial year alone, Linda said.

A World Health Organisation study released in May stated that 1018 child murders took place in South Africa in 2009, the newspaper reported.

Over a third, 35.5%, were killed by an acquaintance and nearly 30% by their mothers.

Nearly half, 45.9%, took place in a public space, 34% in the victim’s home, while girls were more likely to be killed at home than boys.

Of the children murdered, 43% were cared for by single mothers and 29.8% by both parents.

SAPA

By Obakeng Maje

Potchefstroom-A taxi overturned leaving many passengers injured on Friday, just 30 km from Potchefstroom on N12.

Er24 allegedly attended to the scene after a driver of a minibus taxi lost control of his taxi.

“Passengers were strewn around and some suffered fatal injuries” reported Er24 in Potchefstroom.

The cause of the accident is not yet known and police investigations continue.-TDN

Follow us on Twitter@Taung_DailyNews or @IceT_ 

Absa Premiership

Full Time: Polokwane City 1-0 Mamelodi Sundowns

Date: 26 October 2013

Venue: Peter Mokaba Stadium

An own goal from Tebogo Langerman produced the shock result of the weekend as Absa Premiership rookies Polokwane City beat Mamelodi Sundowns 1-0 in a league match at the Peter Mokaba Stadium on Saturday night.

The opening 45 minutes was a half dominated by the Tshwane giants, but they failed to make their pressure tell and were punished for their wastefulness in front of goal in the final minutes of the half.

The visitors made their intentions clear early on as Khama Billiat let fly with a free-kick in the first minute of the match, but Modiri Marumo made a rather comfortable save.

Sundowns next decent opening on goal came 20 minutes later when Bongani Zungu met a cross with a powerful header, but his attempt was well-saved by Maruma.

In the 28th minute Zungu was in the thick of the action again with a thunderous long range effort, but it too was saved by the Polokwane keeper.

As the half drew to a close the home side started seeing more of the ball and had their first attempt on goal in the 39th minute when Puleng Tlolane tested the reflexes of Kennedy Mweene, but the Sundowns keeper was up to the challenge, making a good stop.

Two minutes later, though, and, very much against the run of play, Polokwane took the lead.

A corner was whipped into the danger area and Tlolane managed to get an effort on goal which Mweene parried away, but saw the ball bounce of Tebogo Langerman and into his own net, 1-0.

The start of the second 45 saw Polokwane playing some enterprising football which resulted in Moffat Mdluli having a shot on goal in the 51st minute, but his effort went narrowly wide of the goal.

Thereafter, it was all Sundowns, but they struggled to make their possession count and were unable to really fashion any decent chances on goal in the second stanza.

Their best chance at an equaliser came in the dying seconds of the match as Billiat let loose with a powerful shot from distance, but he saw his effort stopped by Marumo as the game ended 1-0 in favour of the PSL rookies.

For more http://www.soccerladuma.com

The South African Football Association (SAFA) President has come out in full support of FIFA President Joseph ‘Sepp’ Blatter’s call for a review of the number of African and Asian slots at the World Cup.

Commenting on FIFA President’s proposal that he would like to see the reduction of the number of European and South American teams playing in the World Cup and instead give more places to African and Asian sides, SAFA President Dr Danny Jordaan said he was for the idea.

“I fully support the FIFA President that there should be a review of this matter and that Africa and Asia need more allocation of the World Cup slots,” said Dr Jordaan.

“It is an important matter for debate but we as SAFA fully support the idea. Developing economies should have a lot of say, which is why I am saying this matter must be fully researched and a proposal must be formulated.”

The FIFA President argued that as long as the allocation of slots was miscued, it will remain difficult for African and Asian teams to win the World Cup.

“From a purely sporting perspective, I would like to see globalisation finally taken seriously, and the African and Asian national associations accorded the status they deserve at the Fifa World Cup,’’ Blatter wrote in his FIFA Weekly column.

“It cannot be that the European and South American confederations lay claim to the majority of the berths at the World Cup (18 or 19 teams), because taken together they account for significantly fewer member associations (63) than Africa and Asia (100).

“Africa, the confederation with the most member associations (54), is woefully under-represented at the World Cup with just five places. As long as this remains the case, African sides may never win any intercontinental trophy, regardless of progress on the playing side. This flawed state of affairs must be rectified. At the end of the day, an equal chance for all is the paramount imperative of elite sport,’’ concluded the FIFA President.

South African U20 Women’s national team (Basetsana) kicked off their World Cup campaign on a high by defeating neighbouring Botswana 5-2 in the first leg encounter of the FIFA U20 Women’s World Cup played at Molepolole Stadium on Saturday, 26 October.

Basetsana goals came from Kaylin Swart, Mosili Makhaoli, and Shiwe Nogwana (3)

.Basetsana were dealt a major blow after losing two key players in Robyn Moodaly and Alice Khosa before the break to injuries.

It was the home side that took the lead when Refiloe Tholokele took full advantage of the disorganised South African defence to fire a shot that got deflected off a Basetsana player into goal.

The visitors equalised when they were awarded a penalty and captain, Kaylin Swart made no mistake from the spot.

Basetsana came back from the break looking a stronger side and got in front through a goal by enterprising Mosili Makh

oali.

It then became a Shiwe Nogwana show as she scored a second half hat-trick that took the fighting off the home side.

Basetsana coach Sheryl Botes said she was excited by the win adding she was looking beyond the second leg against Botswana in a fortnight’s time.

“It was an all-round performance by the girls and we hope to finish the job when Botswana visit us for the second leg,” said an excited Botes.

Johannesburg – Forensic auditing is becoming an increasingly dangerous profession, the Saturday Star reported.

Secretary general of the Association of Public Accounts Hlomani Chauke told the paper that the suspected hit on forensic auditor Lawrence Moepi was just “the tip of the iceberg”.

Moepi, the director of forensic company SizweNtsalubaGobodo was shot dead at the company’s office in Houghton last week.

“Nowadays, these kinds of attacks are happening to people who are unravelling corruption and mismanagement of public and private money,” Chauke was quoted as saying.

He said auditing companies were vulnerable because corruption was widespread.

Chief executive of the Independent Regulatory Board Bernard Agulhas told the paper that the lives of many auditors were at risk.

“While we are trying to strengthen the independence requirements for auditors as an oversight body, those that are truly independent now have their lives at risk. If the life of an auditor is threatened, it means the independence of auditing is threatened,” Agulhas said.

He said while the board could not offer physical protection for auditors, they encouraged them to work with the police.

SAPA