By Obakeng Maje

Kimberley-Police are investigating a case of dealing in dagga after a 23 year old male was arrested on Thursday at approximately 01:00am. 

The Kimberley Flying Squad pounced on the suspect while he was traveling in white Inyathi Taxi approximately 5km outside Kimberley on the Boshoff Road. 

“The taxi was travelling from Kwa-Zulu Natal and during it’s search the police found a green suitcase containing dagga” Lieutenant Sergio Kock said. 

“The suspect admitted ownership for the bag and witnessed while the police confiscated several bags of dagga from his luggage” Kock said. The dagga has an approximate street value of R60 500,00 and weighs 12,10kg. 

The suspect is originally from Ladysmith in Kwa-Zulu Natal and is currently being detained at Kimberley SAPS cells. 

“The Kimberley Cluster Commander Major General Jean Abrahams lauds the members for their vigilance which led to the excellent arrest. The focus is to send out a message to persons who traffic drugs from other provinces into the Northern Cape that they will definitely be stopped in their tracks and put behind bars where they belong.” 

The police requests that all information in this regard please be forwarded to Detective Constable Albert Mathebe at 053 838 4100. 

The suspect should be appearing before the Kimberley Magistrate Court soon. The investigations continue. 

The National Energy Regulatory of SA (Nersa) said the communities’ low turnout at their public hearing in Kimberley on Tuesday was not cause for concern.

Less than a 100 people attended the hearing, organised by Nersa to get public inputs in the proposed 16% annual electricity increase by Eskom for five years. The Northern Cape leg of the nationwide hearings was held in Kimberley’s Christian Revival Church.

Chairperson of the electricity subcommittee Thembani Bukula told The New Age the relatively small turnout was not an indication of mistrust of the Nersa process.

“In the past we did come to their defence when it comes to electricity increases. The poor come first and we need to protect them,” said Bukula.

“In some areas we even went to the extent of calling for the public hearings on weekends, but people will always have an excuse not to attend. We are glad that the people who pitched up this morning are actually leaders in their respective organisations, they therefore represent the majority out there,” he said.

Before the start of the hearing, Numsa members picketed outside the hall, calling for Nersa to reject Eskom’s proposal.

“It’s Numsa’s view that Eskom’s application, if approved, will lead not only to job losses but also general price increases.

For more details go to http://www.thenewage.co.za

Johannesburg – Fedusa and Saptu have asked Higher Education Minister Blade Nzimande to include them in the committee on transformation of the higher education sector.

“We believe that the minister would make a strategic error if he continues with the current structure of the committee,” Federation of Unions of SA general secretary Dennis George said in a statement on Thursday.

“Although we are glad that trade unions are involved, we believe that the current composition is not representative of university staff holding positions at our universities.”

SA Parastatal and Tertiary Union (Saptu) general secretary Ben van der Walt said his union should also be represented in the committee, as it was a majority union and an important stakeholder at various institutions.

“We are an inclusive union and we have proven ourselves to have truly transformed.

“We represent academics and support staff at universities, and our members represent the demographics of our country. We pride ourselves in our diversity,” he said.

On Wednesday, Nzimande said he had set up a transformation committee for universities, nearly five years after a probe sparked by a racist incident in the Free State.

Part of the committee’s job would be to review initiation practices at universities.

The probe into discrimination in universities was conducted after a racist incident at the University of the Free State (UFS) in February 2008.

A video emerged of UFS employees undergoing an initiation, which included having to get on their knees and eat food which had apparently been urinated into by male students at the Reitz men’s residence.

George said the only way to deal with this issue was by being inclusive.

“By not including all parties, the committee might become simply irrelevant. The results of the investigation, as well as the eventual impact of recommendations will then certainly be compromised,” he said.

Fedusa and Saptu sent a letter to Nzimande with their request. They offered to, if necessary, meet Nzimande. – Sapa

By Obakeng Maje

Swartkopfontein-North West police nabbed close to 14 illegal immigrants at the Swartkopfontein Border post on tuesday for entering the country illegally.

Police said the 14 illegal immigrants are originally from Zimbabwe and they range from a 4 year-old to 44 year-old respectively.

“Police were patrolling the area when they realised a minibus was overloaded. They stopped it and conducted a search,and they discovered that most of occupants have no legal documents to be in the country” Brigadier Thulani Ngubane said.

“Only nine people out of possible 25 have legal documents. Those who did not have were arrested” he said.

It is alleged that these people gained entry by jumping a fence.

The driver of a taxi was also arrested.

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Workers at Harmony Gold’s Kusasalethu mine plan to protest on Thursday against retrenchments and a lock-out from hostels.

On January 3, the mine gates were closed and workers were told that the mine was shut down until further notice. About 500 miners were denied access to the hostel. Many slept outside the gates.

The company closed its operations at the end of December, but said it would continue to pay the basic salaries of workers.

According to the company’s website about 5200 employees would be affected if the mine closed permanently.

The Business Day recently reported that workers were given until March 7 to resolve their complaints or face retrenchment.

Harmony CEO Graham Briggs warned in an open letter that roleplayers had 60 days to save the mine.

The letter said murder, violence, intimidation and damage to mine property prompted the decision to suspend operations at the mine near Carletonville.

He told Business Day that no company could operate in such an environment.

Unprotected labour action at the mine in October and December caused huge production losses.

The publication said the mine was expected to report a cash operating loss of R150 million for the December quarter, and a negative cash flow of R252m.

– Sapa

Johannesburg – Sports Minister Fikile Mbabula congratulated Bafana Bafana on Wednesday after the national soccer team secured their first win of the Africa Cup of Nations (Afcon) tournament.

Hosts South Africa beat Angola 2-0 in Durban, climbing to the top of Group A, in their second match of the continental competition at a near-capacity Moses Mabhida Stadium.

“The team show commitment to winning and they are flying the flag high,” said Mbalula, who had handed out the jerseys to the players before the match.

“We are proud of them and will continue supporting them for their upcoming games.”

Bafana Bafana, who had drawn 0-0 against Cape Verde Islands in the tournament opener on Saturday, will face Morocco in their final match of the group stages in Durban on Sunday. – Sapa

Rustenburg – Mineworker union NUM actively participated in peace-making after the death of 34 miners at Lonmin’s Marikana mine, the Farlam Commission of Inquiry heard on Wednesday.

Advocate Karl Tip, for the National Union of Mineworkers, read back from a statement by union member Erick Gcilitshana submitted earlier.

“As with the negotiations concerning the peace accord, NUM had actively participated in the negotiation concerning the strikers’ demands in order to ensure that a solution to the protracted violent unprotected strike was found.”

Gcilitshana was the first witness to be called by NUM. He is the union’s health and safety national secretary.

He was also the chief negotiator during the mineworkers’ strike at Marikana last year.

He said that since the start of the protests, NUM had urged workers to abandon the violent strike.

After deadly strikes claimed the lives of more than 40 people the peace accord between Lonmin, NUM, and fellow unions Association of Mineworkers and Construction Union and Uasa, was signed by all parties on September 18.

According to Gcilitshana’s statement, NUM also helped the strikers’ delegation with figures in wage proposals.

During Gcilitshana’s testimony, the chronological events leading up to the shooting on August 16 were briefly run through.

Tip asked him about the murder of NUM members before the 16th, including that of a man who was shot five times and found near railway tracks, and another whose body was found with a bleached animal skull on it.

“Yes, that’s the briefing we got from the security.”

Gcilitshana could give very little information on these deaths as he was not present at the time and was only informed of the killings by Lonmin security later.

Earlier, the commission heard that wage increases reached outside a bargaining agreement between workers and Impala Platinum had set a precedent for Marikana miners.

“It raised an expectation,” Gcilitshana said.

He testified that a wage increase given to miners at Impala Platinum in April 2012 following a strike was achieved outside a bargaining agreement. This created expectations among workers at Lonmin mines that this avenue would also be available to them.

When Gcilitshana was asked by Tip if he meant workers might also consider an unprotected strike, he answered: “Yes, that’s correct”.

He was also asked, as the chief negotiator, about strikes at Lonmin’s Karee mine in the North West.

On July 21, workers marched to Karee’s head office. Gcilitshana

said he became aware of the strike only later.

Commission head Ian Farlam asked when he was informed of this strike.

For more details go to http://www.iol.co.za

Taung- A 90-year-old woman died while waiting to re-register for her old age grant in Chosen Village, North West, the social development department said on Wednesday.

The woman was in a queue outside the SA Security Agency’s (Sassa) offices when an official noticed something amiss and alerted the woman’s son, said spokeswoman Lumka Oliphant.

He checked and discovered that she was not breathing. Police and paramedics were called, and the woman was declared dead on the scene.

Sassa embarked on a drive in April last year to re-register all social grant beneficiaries, in an attempt to root out fraud in the system.

Oliphant said elderly recipients need not register at Sassa offices.

“The welfare of senior citizens remains a primary concern,” she said.

“That is why we took this decision to re-register them in their own homes. Older persons and their families that are not re-registered will continue to receive their old age grant.” – Sapa

Result: Bafana 2-0 Angola

Date: 23 January 2013

Venue: Moses Mabhida Stadium

Bafana Bafana rose to the occasion as they produced a much-improved performance to beat Angola 2-0 in their crucial 2013 Africa Cup of Nations clash on Wednesday.

The Angolan’s had the first chance of the game three minutes in when Mateus had a crack at goal, forcing Itumeleng Khune into the dive but his shot was wide.

Katlego Mphela responded with a header over the crossbar before Manucho achieved the same feat at the other end moments later.

The South Africans continued to press with Mphela lashing a hopeful shot wide in the seventh minute before Tokelo Rantie was furious after being fouled for a third time. The resulting free-kick was whipped in by Thuso Phala but nobody could get a vital touch.

The hosts were on top, with Dean Furman putting in some telling passes, while Mphela and Rantie combined in the 17th minute with the latter flashing a shot across the face of goal.

Rantie should have done better in the 23rd minute when he was found by Mphela but he again produced a wild finish.

Bafana’s opening goal would arrive on the half-hour mark as Siyabonga Sangweni latched onto the ball at the far post and powered his finish past the goalkeeper.

Another chance arrived four minutes later when a corner was met by captain Bongani Khumalo but his header went just wide.

Khune remained alert at the other end as he came out of his area to head a long ball clear which Manucho was chasing in the 39th minute before Mateus skied a great chance from the edge of the area with two minutes left in the half.

Bernard Parker had a good chance to double the lead in the 44th minute but his effort did not have enough power to beat the goalkeeper as Bafana went into the break with a slight advantage.

Reneilwe Letsholonyane was thrown on for the second period in place of May Mahlangu, but the Angolans started brightly with Mateus picking out Manucho but he hit his shot straight at Khune.

South Africa were soon pushing again though as Furman fired just wide before Rantie was taken off for Lehlohonolo Majoro. The crowd didn’t like it, but the decision paid off just minutes later when the Kaizer Chiefs man chased a ball forward, showed good skill to confuse both the defender and goalkeeper before lashing a low finish in from a tight angle.

The visitors started to show more urgency in attack but couldn’t find their finishing touch as Manucho again fired straight at the goalkeeper.

End-toe-end action ensued in the final few minutes as Angola looked for a way back and South Africa went for a third on the counter.

Majoro saw his lob after bursting forward land on the roof of the goal and Angola were unable to find any late response as Bafana bagged a crucial win.

Bafana: Itumeleng Khune, Anele Ngcongca, Bongani Khumalo, Siyabonga Sangweni, Tsepo Masilela, May Mahlangu, Dean Furman, Thuso Phala, Bernard Parker, Katlego Mphela, Tokelo Rantie.

Angola: Mamona Lama, Marco Airosa, Dani Massunguna, Miguel, Bartolomeu Bastos, Jose Pirolito, Da Costa, Mateus, de Carvalho Dede, Afonso Guilherme, Alberto Manucho, Hermenegildo Da Costa.

By Obakeng Maje

Upington-Police are investigating a murder of a three year old girl who was allegedly murdered by her stepmother in Pabalelo near Upington. 

On Sunday at approximately 18:00 the relatives of the child called the ambulance saying that the child is vomiting. 

Upon arrival,the child has already passed on.

“The police initially opened an inquest docket as foul play was suspected” Lieutenant Sergio Kock said. 

“Further investigations revealed that the child died as a result of head injuries and there is also a possibility of malnourishment” Kock said. 

It is also alleged that the child has been physically abused for a period of time as she had old and new scratch marks on both sides of her neck and chest. 

“All this evidence prompted the arrest of the step-mother who has been taken into custody on Wednesday, at 08:00am by the Pabalelo Detectives” Kock said.

 The suspect will appear at Upington Magistrate Court soon.

 All information pertaining to the case can be forwarded to Detective Constable Barend Keyser at 073 349 4703 or 054 338 3960. All information will be treated with the strictest of confidence. 

The investigation continues.