North West Premier Supra Mahumapelo has called on communities in the platinum belt to assist police investigations into the death of a man found hanging in a tree and condemned in the strongest terms possible the alleged assault of two miners.

“We are concerned that the death might be related to acts of violence and continued intimidation of non-striking mineworkers and call on police not to leave any stone unturned,” Premier Mahumapelo said.
According to police, the body of the man alleged to be a mineworker was found hanging on the tree in Leeukloof, not far from Hartbeeshoek Road in Broederstroom between Hartbeespoort Dam and Krugersdorp on Tuesday.
Brigadier Thulani Ngubane said that a schoolgirl who was on her way to school noticed the body of the man who was dressed in clothes similar to those used by mineworkers and alerted her mother.
A Volkswagen Golf apparently belonging to the deceased was found on the roadside. It had crashed into a tree.
 

“How the victim ended up being hanged in the tree is what police are investigating as a registered inquest,” Ngubane said.

The two mineworkers were allegedly beaten up near Impala’s UG2 shaft in Freedom Park near Rustenburg on Tuesday morning while on their way to work.

According to police, One of the men apparently worked at an engineering construction at Bafokeng Rasimone Mine and the other at UG2 shaft at Impala.

“The victims aged 33 and 37 sustained multiple stab wounds on the body and feet. No one has been arrested at this stage, as the police investigation continues,” Brigadier Ngubane said.
 

Premier Mahumapelo remains optimistic thatmediation by Labour Judge Hillary Rabkin-Naicker will assist to break the wage dispute deadlock and bring to an end the four monthsold strike.-TDN
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Johannesburg- Sasol Banyana Banyana has qualified for the 9th Edition of the 2014 African Women’s Championship (AWC) following the withdrawal of Comoros on Tuesday, 27 May.

The Football Federation from the Island wrote a letter to the Confederation of African Football (CAF) to ask for a withdrawal after they lost the first leg of qualifiers 13-0 on Friday, 25 May.

Comoros was expected to travel to South Africa next week for the second leg scheduled for the Saturday, 7 June.

The 2014 African Women’s Championship will be held in Namibia from 11-25 October.

The tournament is also been used as qualification for the 2015 FIFA Women’s World Cup, with the top three qualifying for the finals in Canada.

“It is very unfortunate that Comoros had to withdraw from the qualifiers as it is not very good for the development of football in Africa. Even though I understand where they are coming from, I believe coming here to play their match would have been more beneficial for them as they would have learned a few other things,” said Banyana Banyana head coach Vera Pauw on hearing the news.

“But on the other hand I am quite ecstatic for qualifying for AWC in my first stint with Banyana Banyana, and I believe it is something worth celebrating. I am really looking forward to the tournament, but we should not forget the bigger picture is to qualify for the Women’s World Cup in Canada. Going to AWC means we are a step closer to achieving that dream.”

Pauw said the withdrawal has not dented her preparation programme.

“Just yesterday (Monday, 26 May) we were sitting down mapping the way forward and fine-tuning our programme. Despite the setback of Comoros not coming, we are already looking for a match to play for that weekend because we need to keep the girls active. We will still be in camp regardless,” added Pauw.
-TDN
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North West Premier Supra Mahumapelo has in committing to an effective, efficient, transparent and clean administration that works seamlessly warned newly sworn in members of the Provincial Executive Council (Exco) against bling and extravagance.

“No celebrations are to be held and luxury vehicles purchased by members of Exco. Our responsibility as public servants is not to work for ourselves but to serve the masses of our people who should be at the centre of development,” Premier Mahumapelo gave the line of march in pledging a 21days turnaround to complaints raised by citizens,30 days payment to service providers and quarterly performance report back to communities.  
The Premier and his new Members of Executive Council took an oath of office in a ceremony conducted by Judge President of the North West High Court, Justice Monica Leeuw on Tuesday.
Mahumapelo announced his reconfigured Executive Council dominated by women. Six of the 10 members of Exco are women while four are men.

Some of the new appointees to Exco include Wendy Nelson who was sworn in as the MEC for Treasury and Enterprise Development, Madoda Sambatha as the MEC for Public Works and Roads, Former Mayor of Kagisano- Molopo Local Municipality, Ontlametse Mochwari as the MEC for Social Development and Gaoage Saliva Molapisi as the new MEC for Community Safety and Transport Management.
Dr Magome Masike will remain MEC for Health while Manketse Tlhape becomes the new MEC for Rural, Environmental and Agricultural Development. 

Tebogo Modise is now the MEC for Culture, Arts and Traditional Affairs while Desbo Mohono was appointed the new MEC for Tourism.
Wendy Matsemela who was MEC for Education is retained as MEC of the reconfigured Department for Education and Sports Development while Collen Maine who was MEC for Social Development has been appointed the new MEC for Local Government and Human Settlement.
Premier Mahumapelo said the new Exco collective should be accessible and focus its energy on accelerating service delivery in order to address the triple challenges of poverty, inequality and unemployment, adding that he will be consulting with experts, academics, churches, businesses and traditional leaders to map out ways to create jobs.
Mahumapelo announced a province wide citizen satisfaction survey that is to inform his inaugural State of the Province Address to be delivered on the 27
th of next month.
He pledged to stamp out corruption and warned that his administration will not embrace mediocrity.-TDN
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By Obakeng Maje
Phokeng- Police are investigating two counts of assault with intention to cause grievous bodily harm after two mine employees aged 33 and 37 respectively were attacked by unknown male suspects while on their way to work in Freedom Park.  

The incident took place near Impala’s UG2 shaft early in the morning on Tuesday.  

“It is alleged that one of the victims is working at an engineering construction at Bafokeng Rasimone Mine while the other is working at UG2 shaft at Impala” brigadier Thulani Ngubane said.  

The victims sustained multiple stabbing wounds.

“No one has been arrested at this stage as police investigation continues” Ngubane said. 

The police are still urging striking mine workers to allow those who are not on strike to exercise their constitutional rights with neither hindrance nor intimidation.-TDN
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Auckland- A Bafana Bafana delegation was greeted by some chilly weather conditions upon their arrival in Auckland, New Zealand on Tuesday, 27 May 2014.

Coach Gordon Igesund’s side came within a whisker of pulling off a sensational win over World Cup-bound Socceroos before settling for a 1-1 draw at ANZ Stadium in Sydney on Monday night.

Having left Australia 12 hours after playing against the Socceroos, the South Africans shifted focus to the Kiwis, ranked a lowly 111th in the world but number one in the Oceania Football Confederation.

The two teams meet at MT Smart Stadium which has a capacity of 30 000 on Friday evening. The match is scheduled to kick off at 19h30 (09h30 SA time).

But the unfriendly weather conditions, which are set to be aggravated by persistent rains, are predicted to dominate the coming days in this bustling city of over 1.5 million inhabitants.

While temperatures in Sydney hovered around 25 to 27 degrees Celsius, Auckland is likely to test Bafana Bafana’s resolve in adapting to different weather patterns in which day temperatures are set to remain below 16 degrees Celcius.

“I need the boys to fully recover from the fatigue of constant travelling. The past day has really been exhausting. They have not had a good sleep since playing Australia. The boys are exhausted but in very high spirits. We should witness another exhilarating match on Friday,” said coach Gordon Igesund.

The squad will have a swimming pool session in the morning before having a full training session later in the day on Wednesday.

The team was seen off from Australia by SAFA President, Dr Danny Jordaan who could not travel to New Zealand due to some other pressing matters back home.

SAFA will have a National Executive Committee meeting this coming Saturday to discuss various issues concerning the Association.-TDN
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