The North West Provincial government in its effort to overcome challenges related to the management of cases within departments is to empower departmental coordinators on coordination of Hotline cases. The two-day empowerment session hosted by the Office of the Premier as coordinator of Hotline cases in the province is to be held at Elgro Hotel in Potchefstroom as from Thursday.

Officials from departments nominated to expedite National Hotline cases are expected to be empowered on investigation of white collar crime including strategies on how to deal with fraud and corruption from a legal and investigative perspective, techniques and a guide to financial crime that include corruption, bribery and money laundering.

Premier Thandi Modise has consistently called for an onslaught against Corruption and for it to be uprooted as it has a negative impact on development, democracy, human rights and governance.

“We call on members of the public toreport incidents of Fraud and Corruption to the National Anti Corruption Hotline on 0800 701 701 as it undermines the gains of the democratic state and poses a serious threat to democratic governance. It negatively affects poverty alleviation efforts, human security and the delivery of government services, and thereby violates the rights of the people,” appealed Premier Modise. 

The workshop is to be facilitated by the Office of the Public Service Commission, the Directorate Forensic Management Services in the Office of the Premier and other internal and external stakeholders.

Nwest upbeat about Danish donor funding for Taung irrigation project 

 The North West Provincial Government is upbeat about the R4 million Danish funding that the Presidency has secured for development of Taung Agriculture College as a centre of excellence for irrigation training.

Premier Thandi Modise has expressed optimism that the donor funding will assist in the repositioning of Taung Agriculture College as a centre of excellence in irrigation technology in line with its agro-ecological zone.

The establishment of a provincial task team led by the Provincial Department of Agriculture and Rural Development supported by the Presidency, in collaboration with Greater Taung Local Municipality and the Department of Social Development, Women. Youth and People with Disability and the appointment of the Agriculture Research Council as an implementing agent were supported by the Provincial Executive Council (Exco) in its meeting this week.

Exco in its meeting held on Wednesday approved the initiative by the Presidency and allowed the Provincial Task Team to engage further in terms of business development and drafting of the Memorandum of Understanding for stakeholder formulation. 

  Twenty-nine students are admitted for the Diploma in Agriculture specialising in Irrigation at the college. The qualification was approved by the South African Qualification Authority in 2011.

The funding follows a visit by Deputy President Kgalema Motlanthe in 2011 to evaluate measures on how government could as part of its War on Poverty Programme intervene in depressed areas of Taung to alleviate poverty.

Moroka Swallows coach Zeca Marques says that his team is up for Saturday’s Soweto derby against neighbours, Kaizer Chiefs.

Swallows host the log leaders at the Dobsonville Stadium in their Absa Premiership outing tomorrow, and although Chiefs are experiencing a rich vein of form, it will count for very little in the derby.

Marques said that their 2-1 loss to Chippa United on Wednesday has motivated the players and they are looking to bounce back against the Amakhosi. He said that they are aware of the fixture’s importance and adamant on collecting the three points.

“The players are ready and up to the challenge of facing Chiefs. You have seen how Chiefs have performed this season. They have shown the character of a great team but my players know that after losing five games in a row, we were in a bad position and they don’t want to go back there so their focus is on winning against Chiefs now. They are equal to the challenge,” said.

The weekend’s Absa Premiership Soweto derby will be played at the Dobsonville Stadium, with the game scheduled to start at 18:00.

For more www.soccerladuma.com

Last season Moroka Swallows finished their Absa Premiership campaign in second place, losing out on the final day of the season to eventual champions, Orlando Pirates. Their top eight finish saw the Dobsonville-based side go on and clinch the 2012/13 MTN8 title.

Swallows have struggled to find consistent form since their MTN triumph, however are determined to secure a top eight finish this season and go on to defend the MTN8 in the 2013/14 campaign.

On Saturday Swallows take on log leaders Kaizer Chiefs at the Dobsonville Stadium and will be aiming for a win as they look to move into the top eight. Currently sat in ninth place on the PSL log, a win should, depending on the other results, see them move up the table.

Swallows captain, Lefa Tsutsulupa, says that they are targeting a top eight spot and will need to snatch points from their cross-city rivals on the weekend.

“We know Chiefs are a good team and they are on top of their game, but at this point we need all the points we need so that we can finish in the top eight and go all the way to defend our trophy.

“We have to fight hard for that and the players know it and on Saturday they will be fighting for those all important three points. We have objectives and unfortunately for Chiefs  we have to defend our trophy for next season and end up as high as possible,” Tsutsulupa explained.

For more www.soccerladuma.com

Kaizer Chiefs have extended Reneilwe Letsholonyane, Tefu Mashamaite and Bernard Parker’s contracts with the Naturena-based club.

The Soweto giants confirmed on their official Twitter account that the three players have extended their respective deals.

Letsholonyane and Parker have both, respectively, signed new three-year contracts, while Mashamaite has agreed to a two-year deal.

Chiefs tweeted, “Reneilwe Letsholonyane has renewed his contract with Kaizer Chiefs and will stay for a further 3 years!”

“Tefu Mashamaite has renewed his contract with Kaizer Chiefs and will stay for a further 2 years!”

“Bernard Parker has renewed his contract with Kaizer Chiefs and will stay for a further 3 years!”

Letsholonyane and Parker’s deals were set to expire at the end of the current season and although their futures have been in doubt of late, the two South African internationals have pledged their futures to the club.

For more www.soccerladuma.com

Rustenburg – Residens of Ikaneng, near Rustenburg, were protesting over service delivery on Friday, North West police said.

Captain Aasje Botma said people were marching to a local councillor’s home to hand over a memorandum.

“Police are present at the march. No violence was reported, but we continue to monitor the situation.”

The organisers of the protest could not immediately be reached for comment. – Sapa

Pretoria -So-called “Modimolle monster” Johan Kotze believed his marriage was holy, the High Court in Pretoria heard on Friday afternoon.

Clinical psychologist Tertia Spangenberg told the court Kotze believed his sexual relationship and marriage to Ina Bonnette was sacred.

For more www.iol.co.za

Cape Town – Knysna businessman Adrian Wilson-Forbes was acquitted on all 79 charges against him in the Western Cape High Court sitting in Thembalethu, outside George, on Friday.

The charges had included statutory rape, abduction, indecent assault, trafficking persons for sexual purposes, and making child pornography.

“It’s been a very punishing and very gruelling time and I now have to try and rebuild my life,” Wilson-Forbes, 60, said when leaving court.

In her judgment, Judge Patricia Goliath slammed the primary witness’s evidence describing Wilson-Forbes as a pimp, saying the primary witness and the accused had clearly defined roles in their relationship.

“The accused made use of the sexual services offered by the primary witness and the primary witness offered the sexual services. Both of them were untruthful,” Goliath said.

Now 23, the primary witness said that when he was 11-years-old he was abducted and sexually assaulted by Wilson-Forbes, who then allegedly asked him to procure young girls for sexual purposes. He claimed he did this on three occasions.

Photographic evidence submitted by the State showed Wilson-Forbes in a compromising position with an eight-year-old girl during an incident on March 29 last year.

Wilson-Forbes claimed he was set up by the primary witness, who held him at knife-point and took photographs of him and the girl under duress.

He denied all allegations of sexually assaulting the primary witness and two other witnesses during incidents that allegedly took place in 2001/2002.

Goliath said “the court remained in the dark” as to what had really happened during the incident in March last year and neither version was corroborated by the eight-year-old girl.

She said the State had to prove its case beyond reasonable doubt.

“The version of the accused is improbable, but can the court find it is so improbable that it cannot be reasonably and possibly true? It would be improper for this court to reject the accused’s version and convict him.”

With regard to the earlier incidents, Goliath said there was no conclusive evidence as to the ages of the alleged victims at the times the alleged incidents took place.

Adjourning the case, Goliath said the request for indemnity for the primary witness was refused. – Sapa

Butterworth – A newspaper report on a police-assisted birth in the Eastern Cape led to the mother being arrested on Friday for an eight-year-old murder, police said.

Captain Jackson Manatha said the woman 32, allegedly killed Busisa Ntwanambi, 22, on Christmas day in 2005 at the Yako informal settlement outside Butterworth, apparently in a fight over a man.

The victim died on the scene and the attacker disappeared before the police arrived, said Manatha.

On Thursday, the investigating officer of the case read a newspaper report about a woman being assisted by police to give birth at the Philippi East police station in Cape Town.

“The detective warrant officer remembered the identity of his suspect and he contacted his counterparts in Cape Town who arrested  the woman and kept her in custody for murder,” said Manatha.

The woman was arrested on Friday morning and will appear in the Butterworth Magistrate’s Court on Monday. – Sapa

The ethics and integrity committee of the Confederation of North and Central American and Caribbean Football says its former president and secretary general enriched themselves through fraud during their terms with the organization.

The committee presented an extensive report Friday on the activities of former President Jack Warner and former Secretary General Chuck Blazer at the CONCACAF congress in Panama City, also attended by FIFA President Sepp Blatter.

Committee member David Anthony Cathcart Simmons said “our information shows that they committed fraud.”

      
-Sapa-AP