Daily Archives: March 4, 2014

Zille: No DA official will survive MEC’s record


Bloemfontein – No public official in the Democratic Alliance would survive a track record such as that of the ANC’s Free State Health MEC Benny Malakoane, DA leader Helen Zille said on Tuesday.

“Dr Malakoane would be fired,” Zille told party members at the announcement of the DA’s governance plans for the Free State.

Malakoane was arrested in July on charges of corruption and fraud involving about R13m, with five other people.

The charges relate to crimes allegedly committed while Malakoane was the municipal manager at the Matjhabeng local municipality in Welkom.

Zille told the gathering the DA had called for Malakoane’s suspension.

“But in [President Jacob] Zuma’s ANC the corrupt are safe.”
In Zuma’s government, if “number one does not face any charges, why should anyone else suffer?”.

Free State citizens knew about the issues around Zuma and Malakoane because they were in the open.

Zille urged voters to make sensible choices about what they wanted for themselves, their children and others.

Referring to the track record of parties in the coming general election, Zille said the issue was not race-related.

“It is how do we deliver proper services such as water, sewerage, right through to education and health which was of real quality for all people,” she said.

Replying to questions, Zille said the DA was now a governing party and not just an opposition party.

“We no longer call for a stronger opposition,” she said. The DA now said vote for a new government.

This was the reason for the DA’s open candidate lists.

“A new government, who are they? We need all our candidates out there to show people who would lead them,” she said.

The ANC did not tell voters for whom they would be voting.

“They give one name, Jacob Zuma. Look at his record.”
She said that compared to the DA’s open lists, the ANC had a closed, corruptible system, which mostly looked after the leadership’s family and friends.

“Leaders are unknown before elections in the ANC. It depends on the leadership clique at the top.”

Free State premier candidate and leader Patricia Kopane told the gathering the province needed a clean and corruption-free government.

She said that under the leadership of former presidents Nelson Mandela and Thabo Mbeki, South Africa had moved forward.

“The DA wants to continue along that road to make sure that everyone has a chance at success in South Africa.”
Kopane said the Free State had lost 99 000 jobs in the past 10 years.

“We have gone backwards. We are the only province where every year more people are unemployed.”
She said the DA would double its support in the province during the coming elections.

– SAPA

June Steenkamp: Oscar did not look me in the eye


Pretoria – June Steenkamp, the mother of Oscar Pistorius’s dead girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp, said he walked straight past her in court on Monday, denying her the opportunity to look him in the eye.

Speaking to the American channel NBC, Steenkamp said Pistorius never made eye contact with her on the first day of his trial for murdering her daughter.

“He just walked into the courtroom and looked straight ahead. And then he sat down and never looked my way.”

“I wanted him to see me. I’m the mother of Reeva,” said the 67-year-old, who travelled from Port Elizabeth to attend the trial in Pretoria.

She said it was important that he saw her in court. “I can’t explain to you why, that’s what I wanted to do today.”

Steenkamp was not in court on Tuesday. She added that her husband Barry, who suffered a minor stroke last month, could not travel to Pretoria.

She said she had never met Pistorius and that Reeva’s relationship with the double-amputee sprinter was brief.

“I think it was three months.”

“I just want the truth. We want the truth of what happened. Only she and Oscar were there, and she’s not here anymore.”

Pistorius, 27, is charged with the murder of the blonde model, whom he shot in the early hours of Valentine’s Day last year. He claims that he mistook her for an intruder and fired at her through a locked bathroom door.

On Monday, he pleaded not guilty to the murder charge.

His trial has been dubbed one of the biggest in South Africa’s recent history, attracting huge local and international media interest.

Steenkamp said she wanted the truth on what happened on the night her daughter was killed, adding that it was important to forgive the Paralympics gold medal star.

“I’ve got to depend on the justice system that we get justice and we get answers. I’ve got confidence in that.”

“It doesn’t matter what happens to Oscar because my daughter is never coming back.”

But, she said: “It’s actually important to forgive him, for me. Because I don’t want to live with bitterness in my life.”

“I can forgive.”

SAPA

Pistorius gets emotional at graphic evidence


Pretoria – Oscar Pistorius buried his head in his hands and wiped away tears after the North Gauteng High Court in Pretoria on Tuesday heard grisly details of the killing of his girlfriend, the first sign of emotion from the track star in his two-day murder trial.

The Olympian and Paralympian has been largely impassive during the trial for the murder of model and law graduate Reeva Steenkamp in his Pretoria home on Valentine’s Day last year. Pistorius has plead not guilty, saying he shot Steenkamp through a toilet door after mistaking her for an intruder.

He leaned forward in the dock and clasped his head between his hands as lead defence lawyer Barry Roux read out details from the post mortem, including that “some fragments of the bullet” were removed from the 29-year-old’s head.

Roux also heaped scorn on the testimony of neighbour Michelle Burger, who said she heard a scream fade away after the shots, saying that Steenkamp would have “dropped immediately” due to a bullet in the head.

Steenkamp was declared dead at the scene after being hit in the head, arm and hip from three bullets from a 9mm pistol.

Pistorius, dressed a dark suit and tie, later appeared to wipe away tears.

Comparisons to OJ trial

The trial, which could see one of global sports’ most admired figures jailed for life, has drawn comparisons with the high-profile murder trial of American football star and actor OJ Simpson two decades ago.

Burger broke toward the end of her own testimony, following an angry exchange with Roux, who had sought to show she had mistaken the screams of agitated Pistorius for that of a woman.

The court also heard from a another neighbour, Estelle van der Merwe, who testified that she heard what sounded like an argument early on the morning Steenkamp was killed.

“From where I was sitting it seemed like two people were having an argument but I couldn’t hear the other person’s voice,” she said through an Afrikaans language interpreter.

Media warning

The judge also warned the media to behave after eNCA leaked a photo of the state’s first witness, who had asked that her image not be broadcast, another delay to a trial that has already been hampered by late starts and problems with court interpreters.

Judge Thokozile Masipa ordered an investigation after eNCA showed a photo of Burger during the audio broadcast of her second day of emotional testimony.

While the trial is being televised live, a previous court order had ruled witnesses must give their consent to be filmed.

Burger, a university lecturer who testified on Monday that she heard “bloodcurdling” screams from a woman followed by gun shots, had not consented to being filmed and only the audio of her testimony was being broadcast.

The station accompanied the audio feed of her testimony on Tuesday with a picture of her. After prosecutor Gerrie Nel pointed out the leak, Masipa called for a brief adjournment.

“I am warning the media, if you do not behave, you are not going to be treated with soft gloves by this court,” Masipa, herself a former journalist, said when the court resumed.

The station’s head of news apologised, saying in a statement it was a “bad judgement call” to use the photo.

Masipa has also restricted the media from publishing photos of witnesses who have not consented to be filmed.

A separate court ruled last month that the trial should be televised, saying it was vital for impoverished South Africans who feel ill-treated by the justice system to get a first-hand look at the proceedings.

The start of the trial was delayed by 90 minutes on Monday due to a problem with the Afrikaans language interpreter. Burger began her testimony in Afrikaans but later switched to English after disagreeing with the interpreter’s translation of some words.

Reuters

Exciting to play the best in the world – Furman


Johannesburg-Bafana Bafana midfielder Dean Furman says he is looking forward to the international friendly match against Brazil scheduled for FNB Stadium on Wednesday. Kick-off is at 19h00.

The match will form part of the country’s celebrations for the 20 years of freedom. It will also be an occasion to hand over the FIFA World Cup baton to 2014 hosts Brazil as well as an opportunity to unveil the two countries’ new playing kits.

Furman said it was disappointing that Bafana Bafana were not going to the World Cup but highlighted a number of positives in the national team.

“First of all, our work rate is a given. That’s part of our game that will never be questioned. That should be a given to the starting 11 and the subs that will come on. We know against these top sides that anything less than 100 percent, we are going to be found wanting. It’s vital that our work rate should be right up there with everything we’ve got,” said Furman.

The Doncaster Rovers midfielder said the team will go into the match with a positive approach and a winning mentality.

“We want to impose ourselves on the game. Yes we will give them the respect that they deserve, we watch their world-class players on TV every week and we know everything about them. Same as the Spain game, we will give them the respect they are due but great thing about the Spain game is that we grew in confidence as the match progressed. The more and more spells we had, we grew in confidence.

“One thing the coach said at halftime (against Spain) was that ‘why can’t we go on and win this game?’ we had the belief among ourselves. Thankfully we went on and did that and I am sure we will be going into the game with the same kind of belief. We know it’s going to be difficult but we are very much looking forward to it,” he said.

Furman said playing at FNB Stadium was memorable and that it was always inspiring to the players to play in front of a capacity crowd. He urged the local fans to come in their numbers to urge the team on.

“We hope that the fans will come out in their numbers and really get behind us as they did against Spain. As a player there is no better atmosphere than to play in front of a big home crowd that is behind you. It’s definitely exciting to play against the best team in the world, a team that is fancied to win the World Cup. It’s great for us as individuals and collectively to test ourselves against such caliber of team and individual players,” he said.

Meanwhile, coach Gordon Igesund said he had not yet decided on the starting line-up or the captaincy.

“I have not yet decided on my starting 11, I am very close to it. I want to make sure we do things properly. We still have to analyze tapes for the opposition and once I have finalized my starting 11, I will be able to announce the captain,” he said.

The coach said training in the rain did not have any impact on his plans. He also spoke about the disappointment of missing captain Itumeleng Khune.

“The rain is part of the game and missing Itumeleng Khune is a huge blow. He is a top class goalkeeper, probably in the top 10 or top 15 in the world and to miss a goalkeeper like that is a bit of a blow.

“As far as our preparations are concerned, it’s not difficult when you have a squad that has been with you for some time. Most of the players have been with me for 18 months and over those 18 months we have worked on how we want to play, the philosophy and so forth. In the two days that I have had them they understand quickly what we need to do because we have been doing that for 18 months.

“For me it’s very important that we go out there and put up a performance that we are capable of putting up. We have to continue from where we left off against Morocco and against Spain. I am very confident that the guys will put up a very competitive performance tomorrow night,” said Igesund.-TDN
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Pistorius judge warns media on witness photo

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Pretoria – The North Gauteng High Court made an order on Tuesday that no photographs of witnesses who don’t wish to be shown in the Oscar Pistorius trial could be used. 

 

Judge Thokozile Masipa said that the use of a still photo of witness Michelle Burger’s face by various media houses was “very disturbing”. 

 

She warned the media that if it doesn’t “behave”, it will “not be treated with soft gloves”.

 

Mapisa said the source of the photos was not important. 

 

Mapisa said there will be an investigation to find out exactly what had happened and the extent of the non-compliance with the court order.

 

Defence lawyer Barry Roux was cross-examining Burger when prosecutor Gerrie Nel stopped him and said he had just discovered that a still photo of Burger’s face was being shown on broadcast television.

 

As Nel was telling this to the court, news channel eNCA was showing a still photo of a smiling Burger.  

 

Minutes after, eNCA tweeted the following: “NOTE: ‘We have not shown any footage of Michelle Burger in court…’ – Patrick Conroy, Head of News, eNCA.”

 

“We used a still picture from the university website – also carried in daily newspapers,” Conroy also said. News24

Neymar arrives for Bafana Bafana game


Johannesburg- World superstar Neymar has arrived in South Africa. The Barcelona and Brazil striker landed at the OR Tambo International Airport in Johannesburg around 22h25 on Monday (3 March) leading a group of European-based Brazilian stars who will take on Bafana Bafana at FNB Stadium on Wednesday.

The match will kick off at 19h00.

Neymar was in the company of the likes of defenders Thiago Silva, Dante, Daniel Alves and Marcelo.

“The last arrivals also included midfielders Fernandinho, Paulinho and strikers Bernard of Shakhtar Donetsk and Hulk who plays for Zenit Saint Petersburg.His fans braved the wet Johannesburg weather to catch a glimpse of the Barcelona megastar, and one even managed to get an autograph before the player was quickly whisked away to the team bus” Bafana spokesperson Matlhomola Morake said.

This was the third and last batch of the Brazilian squad, and they joined the likes of Fred from Fluminense, Jo, a striker with Atletico Mineiro and goalkeeper Jefferson who plays for Botafogo.

The trio was the first group of players to arrive in South Africa. They landed at the OR Tambo International Airport at 07h15 on Monday morning while Chelsea’s quartet of David Luis, Ramires, Oscar and Willian jetted in three hours later at Lanseria Airport.

“Brazil will have their one and only training session at the FNB Stadium on Tuesday (4 March) at 16h00” Morake said.

Meanwhile Neymar and his teammates landed with the South African duo of Anele Ngcongca (Belgium) and Thulani Serero (Holland) to complete the 22-man Bafana Bafana squad. Earlier in the evening Ayanda Patosi also arrived from Belgium.-TDN
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NEW MDR TB UNIT TO OPEN AT GELUKSPAN HOSPITAL


Gelukspan-The North West Department of Health will open a Multi Drug Resistance (MDR) Tuberculosis (TB) Unit at Gelukspan Hospital on Thursday, 06 March 2014.

The unit forms part of decentralization of MDR TB treatment model aimed at making TB treatment accessible and closer to communities.

“MDR TB expertise were initially centralised in Tshepong/Klerksdorp Hospital Complex but a need to decentralise arose following the installation of Gene Xpert machine in various hospitals across the province” departmental spokesperson Tebogo Lekgethwane said. 

The Gene Xpert is a new test for tuberculosis. It can find out if a person is infected with TB within two hours and also if the TB bacterium of the person has resistance to one of the common TB drugs.

“With the use of new technology more people are now being diagnosed with TB. A number of MDR TB cases increased from 375 in 2012 to 570 in 2013. The new cases far exceed bed capacity of 76 beds at Klerksdorp/ Tshepong Hospital Complex’s MDR TB Unit” Lekgethwane said.

MEC Dr. Magome Masike will deliver a keynote address.

Details are as follows:

 

Date    :Thursday, 06 March 2013

Venue: Gelukspan Hospital

Time  10h00

STATISTICS ABOUT TB IN THE NORTH WEST PROVINCE:

 

∙About 19000 patients are currently on TB treatment.
∙TB related deaths decreased from 8.2% in 2009 to 7.3% in 2012
∙North West Province has cured three Extreme Drug Resistance (XDR) TB patients. The condition was deemed impossible to cure
∙A number of MDR TB cases increased from 375 in 2012 to 570 in 2013
∙A number of  XDR TB cases increased from four in 2012 to 12 in 2014.
∙TB defaulter rate improved from 9, 2% in 2012 to 7,2% in 2013. This can be attributed to community health worker programme.
∙Taung Hospital MDR TB Unit is fully functional. The unit forms part MDR TB decentralization model. So far more than 20 patients have been initiated at the facility and 15 patients were completely cured.
∙120 health care workers trained on  MDR  TB decentralization model
∙13 more facilities have been earmarked for MDR TB decentralization model.-TDN
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Da takes e-toll battle to court


Johannesburg –

The Cape High Court will hear argument on Tuesday that legislation governing e-tolling should be declared unconstitutional.

Democratic Alliance spokesman Mmusi Maimane said on Sunday that the party approached the court because the Transport Laws and Related Matters Amendment Bill (the e-tolling bill) was incorrectly passed by Parliament and signed into law by President Jacob Zuma.

He said if the case is successful, the law would need to be sent back to Parliament to deliberate on for a second time.

The DA would argue that the law was incorrectly passed by the National Assembly as it was tagged as a Section 75 Bill (debated in Parliament only) and not a Section 76 Bill (debated in Parliament and provinces).

“The people of Gauteng were therefore denied a voice in the passing of the e-tolling bill due to it not appearing before the provincial legislature,” Maimane said.

He said should the DA win the case in the high court, the matter would automatically be referred to the Constitutional Court where the law may be declared unconstitutional. – Sapa

Three burnt to death in farm attack


Durban – A 76-year-old farmer, his 65-year-old wife and their 33-year-old son have burnt to death in an attack on their farm, police said on Monday.

They were attacked on their farm near Richmond shortly after midday on Sunday, said Captain Thulani Zwane.

He said the house was ransacked, and firearms, household items and an undisclosed amount of cash was stolen.

The police were investigating three cases of murder, and no arrests had been made.

Zwane initially said the three were beaten to death, but later said: “They were all burnt to death.” – Sapa

Motsepe foundation to sponsor SSD


The South African Football Association (SAFA) today announced that the Motsepe Foundation would sponsor the SAFA Second Division League for the next five years as part of the association’s commitment to focus on youth development.

The league will now be known as the ABC Motsepe League, and will carry a first prize of R1-m to the winning team of which R200 000 will be used by the winning team for development purposes. There will be a runner up prize of R500 000 of which R100 000 is to used by the runner up for development purposes. This staggering prize money is a clear statement by the Motsepe Foundation, its patrons Mr Patrice Motsepe and Dr Precious Moloi-Motsepe  and the Trustees on the importance and significance of the development of sport whilst empowering the youth and creating  opportunity for a better life.

In making the announcement, SAFA President Dr Danny Jordaan, said today was a historic day for South African football.

“This is a great boost for South African football and we want to thank the Motsepe Foundation for their consistency in supporting grassroots development which is the most important sector of football.

“The Second Division is the last leg before teams progress into the professional ranks and it is therefore SAFA’s responsibility to make sure teams are financially viable as well as to have proper developmental structures.

“We have created a unique and probably a world first by allocating part of the prize money to youth development,” said the SAFA President.

The Motsepe Foundation ha

s responded to a request by SAFA to partner the organisation to develop soccer at the lower levels in order to grow South African football. The SAFA request was in line with the Motsepe Foundation vision of empowering, growing and enabling South Africans from all walks of life.

The Foundation is committed to a number of causes within our country from Women and Economic Empowerment  to the Youth and Sport. This opportunity lends itself well to being a second tier to what the Foundation is doing at

  high school level through the

Sanlam Kay Motsepe Cup.

The partnership would not only focus on player development, with the stern age criteria which the Mostepe Foundation is putting as a condition to the sponsorship which will see six under 21 players included  and playing on the field per team at each game played in the ABC Motsepe League,  but it would also explore ways to develop administration at all levels in order to establish sound management of the league and improve football adminstration in the country. With 144 teams playing in the ABC Motsepe league, this will mean that in excess of 1500 players under the age of 21 will be given opportunity to play in an organized, competitive league, getting exposed to stronger training and coaching. This single action will undoubtedly bode well for the National team in five to 10 years time, as this influx of young talent graduates to higher ranks of our football.

The league will be named after the late  Mr ABC Motsepe

, father of Mr Patrice Motsepe.  This is in recognition of the legacy of Mr Motsepe Senior, who was an educator, a principal who was committed to the growth and development of the youth, an entrepreneur, visionary and philanthropist in his own right.  As a school principal, he was renowned for ensuring that even students who were turned down by other institutions were admitted and educated, and stressed the need for students to be innovative and passionate about whatever they do. Above all, he was a keen soccer follower.

Several end-of-season awards will also be made, and these will be named after soccer administrators who have made life-long contribution to the development of soccer. This is also in a bid to ensure that the league and all who are involved in it  strive for exellence and uplifting the  league and ensuring a consitent supply of talent for our National teams whilst developing the youth.

The SABC will also partner SAFA in this initiative, and highlight packages will be broadcast of matches in the play-off stages of the league and the final will be broadcast live.-TDN
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