The South African Football Association (SAFA), in conjunction with the 2010 FIFA World Cup Legacy Trust, has launched the most significant development programme in the history of South African football – the SAFA Under 13 and Under 15 Boys and Girls League.

The move marks the beginning of the implementation of a critical component of the SAFA Technical Master Plan – the building of a rich and robust talent identification and development pipeline. 

This U-13 and U-15 League programme was made possible through the funding provided by the 2010 FIFA World Cup Legacy Trust.

The leagues will kick off in all of the Association’s 311 Local Football Associations (LFA) in May this year. Several coordinators, who are currently being trained, will be responsible for the roll out of the programme in their respective LFAs.

Coaches and talent scouts will select LFA teams which will participate in regional competitions followed by Provincial competitions in September 2013.

Provincial U-13 and U-15 teams will participate in National Competitions in December 2013. In the process, 1000 boys and 1000 girls who show potential will be identified and put through high performance tests conducted by our high performance universities.

The President of SAFA, Kirsten Nematandani said the launch of this programme was historic in the long term successes of our national teams.

“This is the first phase in the implementation of our Technical Master Plan which is intended to enable us to reach our goal in the next decade of being consistently in the Top 3 in Africa and Top 20 in the World,” said Nematandani.

“A decade is both a long time and a very short time as well. The FIFA World Cup tournament to be held in Qatar in 2022 is just under 10 years away, and if our plan is to find success, it must be seen there if not before.”

Dr Danny Jordaan, the Chairperson of the 2010 FIFA World Cup Legacy Trust, stated that this was the project in which the Trust invested the most funds during the first round of allocations.

“The Board of Trustees was excited to note that SAFA prioritised the U-13 and U-15 leagues for girls and boys as a key element of the Technical Master Plan that was unveiled a few weeks ago. The Board was unanimous in their view that this focus will provide a solid foundation for meaningful development and transformation of the game, thus the lion share of the distribution of funds in this first allocation was directed to this initiative,” said Dr Jordaan.

“The Board of Trustees wanted to see a programme that will make an impact on the development of football and that will see the national teams improve their standing on the continent and in the world in the next 10 years. This is therefore the start of a tough, but exciting journey for South African football but the Trust will be there to support SAFA every step of the way.”

By Obakeng Maje

Potchefstroom-The ghastly discovery today of another burned-down shack included an unfortunate victim.  

This tragic accident happened last night around 8pm in the informal extension 11 of Ikageng, near Potchefstroom. “According to witness reports who phoned the Tlokwe Municipality emergency services at that time, the Fire brigade only arrived around 12pm and the Ambulance services 45 minutes later” said DA MP Juanita Terblanche.

“As the municipality who previously had the fastest response times to emergencies to being 4 hours late is shocking to say the least” Terblanche said. This most certainly cost the life of one of our cities residents, whose name cannot be released due to the family not being notified yet, and is not the first fire in extension 11 this year.

The DA will request an investigation into the efficiency of the Tlokwe Municipality emergency response times and the reasons behind it.  

“This should never have happened nor happen again” yelled DA.

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By Obakeng Maje

Taung-A 80 year-old woman who was raped by unknown man in Mokasa 2, near Taung in stable condition.

A woman was raped in the early hours of yesterday after unknown suspect forcefully entered her house.

“Police are looking for an unknown man who forcefully entered the house of granny in Mokasa 2 near Taung” captain Makau said.

He allegedly entered through the kitchen and assaulted her said police.

“He raped the old woman and set the house on fire afterwards. Police investigations continues.

A woman was taken to local hospital for medical attention.

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Johannesburg – The African National Congress Women’s League (ANCWL) intends approaching the Equality Court after protesting teachers displayed a pair of panties they said belonged to Basic Education Minister Angie Motshekga.

“The ANCWL noted with dismay disturbing media reports about some Sadtu members publicly displaying a piece of underwear attributed to Basic Education Minister Angie Motshekga during last week’s protest march,” Limpopo ANCWL secretary Maleke Mokganyetsi said in a statement.

“They must face the full wrath of our criminal justice system.”

Describing the South African Democratic Teachers’ Union as “counter-revolutionary”, Mokganyetsi said protesters who displayed the panties in Pretoria on Wednesday had to be condemned.

“We refer to the short-sightedness and stupidity of a female-dominated union that humiliates and suppresses other women.”

The Sadtu protest was a call for the resignation of Motshekga and her director-general, Bobby Soobrayan.

A photograph of the large panties shows them being stretched across a piece of wire. The slogan “Puluma ya Angie” is written in black pen across the front of the garment.

“We are very much disappointed in those who are supposed to teach our children about sexual violence and gender discrimination, but opt to promote it in our streets,” said Mokganyetsi.

Sadtu spokesperson Mugwena Maluleke said earlier this week that the union was non-sexist and promoted equality.

“We therefore cannot condone such an act,” Maluleke said. – Sapa

By Obakeng Maje

Taung-North West police are investigating a case of alleged rape and arson after a woman being allegedly raped in Mokasa 2, near Taung according to reports.

The ordeal took place on Saturday morning after suspect broke into the victim’s house.

According to our eyewitness, a woman was saved by neighbours after they heard her screaming.

“A woman was allegedly raped and the suspect set her two-roomed house on fire” said our mole.

“She was rescued by neighbours who heard her screaming for help”

“The neighbours broke the window to rescue her from a blazing fire” he said.

North West police spokesperson, captain Pelonomi Makau could not confirmed the incident.

“We haven’t received any information regarding the incident, but I will personally investigate the incident and take it from there” Makau said.

Kgomo said police arrived on the scene at around 08:45am yesterday.

It is alleged that a perpetrator also tried to break into other two houses, but failed.

A woman was taken to a local hospital for medical attention and a suspect still at large.

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North West Acting Premier Raymond Elisha has called on woman to consider carefully  places they go to for entertainment and their safety when they leave such places as trends indicate that most perpetrators  of sexual violence target women who are from shebeens and or pubs. This follows the arrest of man for raping a 33 year-old woman in Koster over the weekend. In condemning the alleged rape incident, Elisha urged real men to stand up to be counted against the scourge of rape by supporting the one million signature Anti-rape campaign launched by Premier Thandi Modise in partnership with the National Interfaith Council of South Africa(NICSA-North West Chapter).  According to police,the victim was on her way home from a tavern in Bodigelo Section near Koster  at around 2:30 am on Friday when she notices that a man was following her.The man then allegedly stuck the woman’s head with a stone and forced her to a nearby stadium where he raped her and thereafter took her home where he raped her again.

The woman came forward to the police after the incident and the 36-year-old suspect was subsequently arrested.

He is due to appear in the Koster Magistrate’s Court on Monday to answer to charges of assault, abduction and rape 

Following hot on the heels of the success of the inaugural Kalahari Desert Speedweek at Hakskeenpan last year, the organisers have added another event with a twist this year.

The ground-breaking Kalahari All-Tar Speedweek, which started on Saturday, is under way at the Upington Airport, with its incredible 5.5km runway. The four-day event will end tomorrow, and will be the first all-tar event of its kind in South Africa.

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

Kasienyane was courageous unifier and not a tenderpreneur-NW Acting Premier Raymond Elisa

The life of former MEC for Health and Social Development and Chairperson of the 

Economic Development, Environment, Conservation and Tourism Portfolio in the North West Provincial Legislature, Onewang Rebecca Kasienyane was colourful, impeccable life and that of a courageous unifier and not that of a tenderpreneur, Acting Premier Raymond Elisha said in his moving tribute at her funeral in Lokaleng village in Taung over the weekend.

Acting Premier Elisha reminded thousands of mourners who came to pay their last respect on Saturday that during difficult times, it was a sin to steal, to lie and to conduct ourselves contrary to virtues, values and traditions of the African National Congress. But today, the conviction that “

no government can rightly claim authority unless it is based upon the will of the people” has been replaced by the neglect of communities as business and comrades are engaged in a bitter war for State tenders, as if South Africa is a tender state and the strategic objective of the ANC is to issue tenders.

“Comrades and friends, a few months from now the nation will be going to the polls. The first question we need to ask ourselves is whether we can unite society and rally it behind our programmes when unity evades us. No other force, even at the height of apartheid oppression, no enemy came between us. Surprisingly, we continue to call for “UNITY IN ACTION, A PEOPLES’ CONTRACT, WORKING TOGETHER WE CAN DO MORE” when deep under the belly of the night, like the biblical Nicodemus we plot the downfall of one another, instead of fighting poverty, unemployment and inequality as the new enemy,” Elisha emphasised.

He challenged everyone to tell no lies and claim easy victories by avoiding the basic and relevant question:” What have we done for our people in a province where businessmen use our fellow comrades to derail reconstruction and development?”

“Comrade Ribs fought for justice, access and equality before the courts. She fought for freedom of expression and free press. Yet our victories, the same media, the same courts and our same Black Economic Empowerment interventions have now changed the proclaimed millionaires as enemies of change, using our courts and the media through blatant lies to frustrate change. Tell no lies and claim no easy victories, but this air is eerily cold, “Umoya lo Umakhaza,” as lies are widely spread in order to divide the movement.”

Elisha said that ANC members should be very careful, so that one day they do not replace “Viva ANC with Viva tenders.”

He said that leaders and true revolutionary cadres cannot remain silent when the national transformation agenda is under siege.

“When you embark on your last journey to your Maker, you leave an unanswered question why were comrades Oubuti Chika and Moss Phakwe killed?

You leave us without an answer as to who killed our leaders. The cruelty of nature is that one day the answer will come and the truth will be known,” the Acting Premier stressed.

He said that weaknesses and divisions within the ruling party have left a political space which has now been occupied by opportunists who now claim that Nelson Mandela is theirs. Lies are being told that the ANC is worse than or equal to the National Party.

Elisha said that this is an insult to those who laid their lives fighting for freedom and added that this is nothing but representatives of white minority that are still nostalgic of apartheid, taking advantage of the sickness of the old man as he cannot answer.

He said that there was a need to defend and protect the legacy of Nelson Mandela, Oliver Tambo, Sefako Makgatho, Sol Plaatjie, John Dube, Yusuf Dadoo, Lillian Ngoyi, Sister Barnard Ncube, Ruth First, Charlotte Maxeke and many men and women of the revolutionary movement.

The Acting Premier said that the journey towards a better life has always been fraught with many challenges where our people continue to be ravaged by grinding poverty, widening inequality and growing unemployment.

“The African National Congress is under siege. It is under siege from us as we fan the fires of divisions and pretend to be comrades by words and not by deeds. 

 We continue to fight bitterly for the soul of the ANC as if we ourselves have souls,” he emphasised.

Elisha said that the death of Kaseinyane has left a vacuum when her leadership and guidance is needed much as the ruling party seeks answers to communities on the question as to what it has done for them.

He said that Kasienyane never praised herself nor took credit for the victories of the ANC and never retreated when confronted by difficult conditions but remained true and loyal to the African National Congress and its people.

“You never castigated the African National Congress and turned your back in difficult moments. You knew and understood you would never undermine the importance of workers as a critical tool to crush monopolistic class capital and class inequality, but you never blackmailed the ANC into petty demands and accused it of having turned its back against the poor,” highlighted in conveying condolences on behalf of the provincial government, prayers, words of comfort and sympathy to the Kaseinyane family, her neighbours, community and the people of the North West province and the entire country and all the corners of which she traversed, leading its people to freedom and justice.

He concluded that the coldness of the air shall subside when everyone is free from the mortifications of poverty and the ANC is fully united to claim its better place under the African sun. 

By Obakeng Maje

KLERKSDORP: A 30 year-old man was arrested for allegedly stabbing a 42 year-old victim on Thursday at Kgapamadi informal settlement near Klerksdorp. 

“It is alleged that both the suspect and the deceased had a fight which led to the suspect stabbing the deceased with a knife in a chest” captain Pelonomi Makau said.

The suspect will appear at Klerksdorp Magistrate’s Court on Monday,on charges of murder.

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By Obakeng Maje

Delareyville-North West police arrested four suspects in possession of three sheep carcass. 

“It is alleged that on Friday police acted on a tip-off that one suspect from Ottosdal was delivering stolen sheep to Delareyville” Pelonomi Makau said.  

Police acted swiftly and arrested suspects at their respective houses after recovering slaughtered sheep in their possession. 

They will appear at Delareyville Magistrate Court on Monday on charges of possession of suspected stolen stock.

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