The Best Municipality Accredited Level 1 was awarded to Tlokwe Local Municipality at the 2013 North West Govan Mbeki Awards held at the Rustenburg Civic Centre on Tuesday evening.

Toro Ya Africa was also awarded the Best Community Residential Units Category for the housing project in the same municipality at the annual awards ceremony held to honour human settlements stakeholders and contractors who contributed towards the North West Province delivering 14331 housing units and being declared the best performing province in housing delivery across the country during the 2012/2013 financial year. 

“All the recipients of the awards are the honourees and our partners who excelled in making it possible for us to delivery upon our mandate in the past year of providing houses to our people. These are woman and men who have laboured hard, paid attention to detail, loved their output of their work and demanded nothing else but excellence,” praised Acting Premier, Raymond Elisha. 

The prestigious awards seek to promote best practice, create a healthy competition and are used as a monitoring tool to ensure service delivery.

The Provincial department of Human Settlement has set aside a budget of R2 billion to deal with thehousing backlog in the current financial year. The department managed to spent 100% of its budget and was declared the best performing department in housing delivery during the 2012/2013 financial year. 

Acting PremierElisha emphasized that government would need men and woman inside and outside government who are dedicated to build vibrant human settlementsfor the people of the province. 

Also in congratulating winners of the awards, Human Settlement and Public Safety MEC, Nono Maloyi said the people who have won awards are the people who have contributed in the successes of his department.

He promised that his department will continue to lead in providing quality houses to the people of the province through the help of companies that are prepared to do excellent work.

“We hope that the people who have won in these awards will encourage others who are willing to do work with the department that we believe in excellence not shoddy work,” he said.

The Best Finance linked Subsidy Project Category was awarded to Anglo American Platinum (Amplats) Mine for the Seraleng Integrated Housing Development Project.

Synchrocom (Pty) Ltd was crowned the Best Informal Settlement Unpgraded Project Category for the Boitumelo Extension 5 Bloemhof housing develoipment Project while Godieral Civils scooped the Best Rural Housing Project award for construction of 500 units in Dryhaarts and Myra in Taung.

Best Enhanced Peoples Housing Project was awarded Tlhabangani Trade Enterprise for housing development in Welverdien and Ga-Motlatla.

Best Woman Contractor Category awarded to Lebo Aaron of L& R Welding and Tools Suppliers for housing development project in Manthe and Tlapeng in Taung

She has established her company L&R Welding and Tools in 2003 with the intention to make phased transition from leisure industry marketer to Contraction Company.

She has done 250 units of houses mostly in the Dr Kenneth Kaunda District Municipality.

“Winning this award for me it means it is another step in the right direction.

It’s tough in the contraction industry especially if you are a woman but for me so far so good,” she said.

Another winner, Cecilia Thomas, 28, was crowned a Best Youth Contractor of Barzani Development, Project Management & Contraction.

Her Company successful contracted 48 units of house in Itsoseng of Ditsobotla Local Municipality.

“Winning is very good for me because it’s an indication that I do have talent in the contraction sector.

I worked hard day and night to make sure that what I give to the people is the best,” she said.

By Obakeng Maje

Taung-A 23 year-old man who was arrested early last year for rape of a 14 year-old girl appeared briefly in Taung Magistrate Court.

Sokhupha(23) appeared before Taung Magistrate Court for raping Matlapaneng-born teenager.

His case was postponed until 15 May 2013 for formal bail application.

“Sokhupaha’s case was postponed yesterday after he acquired a new lawyer” police said.

He was subsequently arrested last year for raping a teen in Matlapaneng village said North West police.

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North West Acting Premier, Raymond Elisha is deliver the provincial government’s message of support at the COSATU-North West 2013 May Day Provincial rally to be held at the Olympia Park Stadium in Rustenburg tomorrow.

The rally to be held under the theme “united working class for a radical economic transformation.” where the Deputy President of the ruling party, Cyril Ramaphosa to commence as from11:00am is expected to attract thousands of workers.

In acknowledging the critical role that workers continue to play in building a prosperous country and economy and wishing workers who will be celebrations workers day across the province a joyous May Day, Acting Premier Elisha said that the celebrations should remind everyone that creating decent work is the most effective weapon in the campaign against poverty and that the challenges of unemployment, poverty and inequality are not insurmountable.

Elisha called for increased productivity and for workers to defend the strength of their unity, the gains of freedom and progressive labour laws, fight corruption wherever it raises its ugly head and the scourge of rape.

North West Acting Premier Raymond Elisha and MEC for Human Settlement

  and Public Safety, Nono Maloyi are to visit the homes of 11-year-old rape victim Odentse Mogale,13 –year-old muti killing victim Neo Ramaswe and the 92-year-old rape victim granny in Mmakau tomorrow morning.

The visits to the crime victims’ homes are to precede the Anti-crime prayer and commemoration service in honour of the late Kgosi Bazabaza Motsepe to be held as from 9:00 am at the Bakgatla Ba-Mmakau Tribal Kgotla in Mmakau.

The prayer and commemoration service for divine intervention is also aimed at mobilising the community for a partnership against crime which in recent months have claimed the lives of 11-year old rape victim Ofentse Mogale and 13-year-old muti killing victim Neo Ramaswe. Another crime victim in the area was a 92-year- old granny who was repeatedly raped by a parolee.

The service at which Acting Premier Elisha is to deliver the keynote address is also intended at praying for peace and unity within the community and promoting harmonious relationship between the community and the police which is at its all time low given escalating crime in the area.

Premier Thandi Modise has called for united action against crime and the scourge of rape and for crime prevention efforts involving Community Policing Forums, Street committees and neighbourhood watch to prioritise elderly women and orphans who are staying on their own.

In response to the Premier’s call, the province has started with distribution of a crime prevention safety kit that includes whistles and pepersprays to elderly women and intensified mobilisation for the one million signature anti-rape campaign.

Rustenburg – 

Police did not foresee the reaction of protesting Lonmin miners to the deployment of barbed wire, the Farlam Commission heard on Monday.

Maj-Gen Charl Annandale, who led the police special tactical operations team, said no one considered the possibility that the miners would see the situation as an attempt to encircle them.

It was therefore not anticipated that the miners would try to breach the barbed wire or run ahead of the path of police Nyalas deploying the wire.

The commission is holding public hearings at the Rustenburg civic centre into the events at Marikana on August 16.

On that day, 34 striking miners were shot dead and 78 wounded when the police opened fire on them while trying to disperse a group gathered on a hill near the mine.

In the preceding week, 10 people, including two police officers and two security guards, were killed in strike-related violence near the mine.

Evidence leader Geoff Budlender said evidence suggested that deployment of the wire took about nine minutes.

“Did no one say: ‘If it takes a long time to roll out the barbed wire some protesters might run out, in front of (it)’?”

Annandale said this was the first time he had heard that it took nine minutes to unroll the wire.

“In the past 17 years, on the basis of experience gained in police operations… and also on the basis of my personal experience of 30 years, people would (normally) move away from an obstruction of this kind.”

He earlier denied the plan intended to encircle the miners with the wire.

Budlender cited evidence from two policemen involved in the wire  manoeuvre, who seemed to think encircling was the aim of the exercise.

He quoted national police commissioner Riah Phiyega’s testimony,  where she repeatedly spoke of plans to “encircle” protesters.

Ishmael Semenya, for the police, said the word did not refer to the use of wire, but to the action of surrounding protesters with police members.

Earlier, the commission heard that a police decision to end the gathering of striking Lonmin miners at Marikana was taken before the fatal shooting.

Budlender said this emerged in a Joint Operations Centre (JOC) briefing held at 1.30pm on August 16.

Provincial police commissioner Lt-Gen Nosaziso Mbombo took the decision and communicated it to her deputy the night before.

Annandale said he could not comment on the discussion between Mbombo and her deputy Maj-Gen William Mpembe.

Budlender referred to a video clip and press cuttings about the situation at Marikana before the 1.30pm meeting.

The video shows Mbombo talking at a press briefing in the morning, saying police would ask protesters to disperse, and adding: “Today we are ending this matter”.

In the press clippings, police spokesman Captain Dennis Adriao is quoted as saying: “Today, unfortunately, is D-Day”.

Police had expected the miners to disarm on August 16, after Association of Mineworkers and Construction Union president Joseph Mthunjwa urged them to do so.

In the event, the protesters did not heed Mthunjwa’s advice. Budlender said in other evidence before the commission there were indications police only intended to move in on protesters, referred  to as “stage three” of the plan, if the risk of violence escalated.

“In the event, a decision had already been taken to implement stage three, even though no escalation had taken place… that was a deviation from the original plan.”

Annandale said crime intelligence reports, although vague, implied the situation had escalated.

The hearings continue. – Sapa

Durban – A year after his teenage daughter died during a bizarre “exorcism”, a south Durban man has married a woman charged with her murder.

Sinethemba Dlamini, 15, was found dead at her uMlazi J-section home in March last year. Her body had been disembowelled and her intestines were found lying next to her.

For more www.iol.co.za

Johannesburg – The military is not aware of any permission granted for the Gupta family to use the Waterkloof Air Force Base in Pretoria, SA National Defence Force (SANDF) spokesman Siphiwe Dlamini said on Tuesday.

“As far as I know, no permission has been granted to a private citizen to use the base. It is a military base and a national key point used by government and its guests.”

For more www.iol.co.za

Johannesburg – The military is not aware of any permission granted for the Gupta family to use the Waterkloof Air Force Base in Pretoria, SA National Defence Force (SANDF) spokesman Siphiwe Dlamini said on Tuesday.

“As far as I know, no permission has been granted to a private citizen to use the base. It is a military base and a national key point used by government and its guests.”

For more www.iol.co.za

Northern Cape 

An elderly woman was stabbed to death when she tried to defend her dog, who minutes earlier attacked a 17-year-old in the street.

The Jack Russell cross-breed was also killed while the alleged attacker later stabbed his 36-year-old uncle in the hip after the uncle confronted him about the stabbings.

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