Potchefstroom – Tempers flared and there was name-calling on Wednesday among rival parties in the Tlokwe Ward 9 by-election in North West.

ANC party liaison officer Ina Stoltz claimed she had been racially abused by supporters of independent candidate Khotso Ratikoane.

“They tried to provoke me by making racist remarks, but that did not work because I know why I’m here,” she said.

Party officials started calling each other names after the demarcation area outside the entrance to the polling station at the Boikhotso Secondary School in Ikageng, Potchefstroom, was moved.

Stoltz said her opponents seemed to enjoy taunting her, but vowed she would not give them satisfaction.

As the sun set in North West, the number of voters arriving at the school increased.

Supporters of the different parties sang and danced as voters made their way to the hall to make their cross.

The ANC had stationed members at street corners, and they were trying to convince people to vote for the party by telling them they were former president Nelson Mandela’s people and they knew who to vote for.

Two ANC supporters were overheard saying they were waiting for 22:00 to attend a braai hosted by the party.

The ANC in North West said it would hold a victory celebration in Ward 9 on Wednesday evening.

The celebration would be attended by ANC national executive committee deployees to the province and the provincial executive committee.

They would be joined by musicians, DJs and television stars, the ANC said in a statement.

– SAPA

Durban – A witness to the shooting of an IFP supporter told the Durban Regional Court on Wednesday that she had never read the statement she gave to police.

Joyce Mzolo said the police officer who took her statement had “mixed up” everything she told him.

She made this claim when it was pointed out to her that her testimony to the court differed substantially from the statement she had given police.

Mzolo was being cross examined by Simphiwe Moloi, the lawyer for National Freedom Party (NFP) Councillor Mgezeni “Bhungu” Gwala and his son Celimpilo ” Gwala.

They have been accused along with security guard Skhumbuzo Nxumalo of shooting Cebisile Shezi dead on 6 October, after IFP supporters converged on his house near the Thembalihle railway station, KwaMashu.

The group went to the house shortly after Police Minister Nathi Mthethwa addressed IFP supporters at a sports field in A-section KwaMashu, that day.

Shezi was wearing an IFP T-shirt at the time.

Mthethwa had been speaking to IFP supporters in an attempt to reduce tension in the area after the abduction of IFP councillor Themba Xulu.

Xulu was out on bail after he was arrested for allegedly trying to burn down Bhungu Gwala’s house. Xulu’s body was found the next day. He had been shot.

Statement

Originally another son, Bonginhlanhla Gwala, and another security guard, Sibusiso Ncengwa, were also charged with the murder. The charges against them were withdrawn.

Mzolo said had told the court that two people had initially appeared and started shooting on the crowd outside the Gwalas’ house, but in her statement she claimed there were four people, including Gwala’s other son Bonginhlanhla.

In her statement she had claimed that Bhungu Gwala was brandishing a firearm and started swearing at the crowd before the shooting.

However, in her testimony she said that only after the shooting did he emerge and start cursing the crowd.

Asked about the discrepancies, she said: “I never read the statement up until today.”

Asked why she had then signed the statement, she asked: “If a person says I must sign there, then what must I do?”

She denied embellishing her statement to police because she was angry that Gwala had left the IFP to join the NFP.

The trial continues.

– SAPA

A KwaZulu-Natal woman was arrested in a cows-for-sale scam in Soweto, police said on Wednesday.

“The woman told clients that she owned a farm in KwaZulu-Natal and was sellings cows,” police spokesperson Kay Makhubela said.

“She took sums of money ranging from R5 000 to R40 000 from the unsuspecting victims, but never delivered the cows,” he said.

The woman, 41, from Eshowe, KwaZulu-Natal, was arrested after three of her victims tipped off police.

On searching her, police found receipts she was issuing to clients, Makhubela said.

Police believed the scam dated as far back as 2011.

She was believed to have operated in Vlakfontein and Zaccharia Park.

“At one point the suspect took clients who had paid her to Eshowe, but she disappeared before she could hand over the livestock to them,” said Makhubela.

The woman was charged with theft under falls pretences and would appear in court soon.

– SAPA

Johannesburg – Most young South Africans believe the lives of women are getting better, according to a study released on Wednesday.

“It was found that almost two in three young South Africans feel the lives of women in SA were improving,” said consumer insight company Pondering Panda.

It polled 3 258 people between the ages of 15 and 34 across the country, spokesperson Shirley Wakefield said in a statement.

They were asked about their opinion on the lives of women and the importance of Women’s Day.

The survey found that 64% of respondents believed that women’s lives were improving.

About 21% said their lives were getting worse, and 12% believed women’s lives were staying the same.

“There were differences of opinion among both race and regional groups.”

About 68% of black respondents believed the lives of women were getting better, with 51% of coloureds and 44% of whites sharing this sentiment.

Most of the respondents (73%) believed the lives of women were improving the most in Mpumalanga, followed by the Northern Cape (72%), and KwaZulu-Natal (71%).

Most young people questioned (91%) believed it was important to celebrate Women’s Day.

Wakefield concluded: “If the opinion of young people is anything to go by, the lives of the majority of women in South Africa appear to be getting better.”

– SAPA

Two men accused of running an illegal initiation school in Windsorton, Northern Cape, appeared in the Barkly West Magistrate’s Court on Wednesday, police said.

Police spokesperson Priscilla Naidu said Winston Moleleki, 38, was granted R500 bail, while Joseph Makhasane, 24, from Lesotho, was denied bail.

The two were also charged with kidnapping two youths and forcing them to attend an initiation school.

The youths were hospitalised after botched circumcisions, Naidu said at the two’s first court appearance in July.

They would appear in court again on 30 September.

– SAPA

Cape Town – Municipalities need strong political leadership to overcome a myriad of problems, the SA Local Government Association (Salga) said on Wednesday.

Salga chairperson Thabo Manyoni was commenting on the outcomes of the National Council of Provinces local government week.

Municipalities were operating in a space where finances were tight because of the global economic crisis, and where urbanisation was happening at a rapid pace.

“People get more into debt… The majority of people who are coming into cities, they don’t have skills,” said Manyoni.

“Those who are earning less than R3 000, for instance, are people who are spending more on food and transport rather than on shelter, and also on bettering the general conditions of their lives.”

This meant people could not sustain themselves, and it resulted in municipalities themselves battling to remain sustainable because they were not receiving the funds they expected through rates and taxes.

The problem of limited resources was twofold.

“The challenge of resources in terms of human and also capital… human in the sense of having skills and having citizenry who are skilled to sustain themselves, [but] also municipalities having the necessary skills to address challenges by stimulating the economy and maintaining infrastructure,” Manyoni said.

The key to success

Salga said an active citizenry, combined with good leadership, was key to making municipalities operate more successfully.

“People should also get involved in trying to better their lives instead of always having a citzenry that will always be passive, always expecting delivery… It’s an issue of culture.”

The political leadership at municipal level needed urgent improvement.

“I’m referring to political leadership who are interested in the areas in which they are meant to be operating, that is encouraging, that is meeting people instead of outsourcing those political functions and making sure we build communities that are understanding and able to take charge of their lives,” Manyoni said.

He said the lines of communication between municipalities and citizens were not open, which was one of the main causes of spiralling service delivery protests.

“Local government does not communicate adequately. We don’t talk to each other, we talk across each other,” he said.

“Those citizens… they must be able to understand what are the limitations what are the challenges [facing local government] and I think that will assist in minimising protests.”

– SAPA

Cape Town-The ANCYL in the Southern Cape accused the DA on Wednesday of using pupils to promote the party during a by-election.

The ANC Youth League said the by-election in Ward 4 Bitou (Greater Plettenberg Bay) on Wednesday, was being overseen by Western Cape Education MEC Donald Grant.

“This [has] happened in full view of… Grant who is also the Democratic Alliance’s elections co-ordinator,” it claimed.

“As the youth league, we take offence at the use of working class children as DA volunteers when they are supposed to be in class.”

Grant’s spokesperson Bronagh Casey said the claim that the pupils were being used in the “full view” of Grant was false.

“In no circumstance would the [MEC]… support learners taking time-off school to engage in political activities. He condemns such actions.”

The ANCYL said it would not rest until the “opportunistic tendencies of the DA are exposed as a whole”.

– SAPA

Two people were killed and 31 others injured on Wednesday in a multiple vehicle crash involving four trucks, 12 cars, and a taxi on the N4 outside Pretoria, Tshwane emergency services said.

“Of the 31 people, three were critical, nine serious, and 19 were slightly injured,” spokesperson Johan Pieterse said.
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Bloemfontein Celtic coach Clinton Larsen has reiterated that the standard of refereeing in the PSL remains poor. He’s adamant that they were let down by referee Daniel Volfgraaf who officiated during their 1-3 League defeat against Mamelodi Sundowns on Sunday at the Free State Stadium.

Reports doing the rounds are that the PSL intends to charge both Larsen and his Free State Stars counterpart, Steve Komphela, for comments they made against match officials. Komphela lambasted current PSL referee of the season, Victor Gomes, during their 4-1 defeat to SuperSport United on Saturday night at the Lucas Moripe Stadium in Atteridgeville.
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Alleged right-wingers, Johan Prinsloo and Mark Trollip, have entered their second day of a hunger strike at Bloemfontein’s Grootvlei Prison. They stopped eating in protest of their case dragging along.

The two are accused of planning to assassinate African National Congress (ANC) leaders at the party’s Mangaung conference last December. Prinsloo’s health is being monitored because he is a diabetic.
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