Cape Town – KwaZulu-Natal will soon have a new Big Five game reserve.

Halfway between Durban and Pietermaritzburg, the 4 600ha conservation project involving the local community will lead to the establishment of the Mayibuye Community Game Reserve in Camperdown.
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Abuja – Nigeria’s highest ranking military officer on Monday gave a glimmer of hope to the families of more than 200 schoolgirls held by Boko Haram militants, revealing they had located the missing teenagers.

“The good news for the girls is that we know where they are, but we cannot tell you,” Chief of Defence Staff Air Chief Marshal Alex Badeh told reporters in the capital Abuja as the hostage crisis entered its seventh week.

Nigeria’s government and military have been sharply criticised for their response to the mass abduction on 14 April and were finally forced to accept foreign help, including from the United States, in the rescue effort.

Unmanned US drones and surveillance aircraft have been scouring northeast Nigeria and neighbouring Chad from the air while British, French and Israeli teams have been on the ground providing specialist assistance.

Badeh was speaking after addressing demonstrators who had marched on defence headquarters in Abuja, the latest in a series of daily protests that has sought to keep up the pressure on the government.

The officer refused to divulge any further details, describing the operation as a “military secret”, but he added: “We are working. We will get the girls back.”

Addressing the protesters, Badeh said the military was faced with a dilemma of whether to send in ground troops, given fears of deaths and casualties among the 223 girls still being held.

“Nobody should come and say the Nigerian military does not know what it’s doing. We know what we are doing. We can’t go and kill our girls in the name of trying to get them back,” he told the crowd.

“So, we are working. The president [Goodluck Jonathan] is solidly behind us. The president has empowered us to do the work.”

AFP

Polokwane – Limpopo’s traditional affairs department has approved 275 permits for initiation schools and rejected 36 applications, an official said on Monday.
Malesela Dikgale, chairperson of the provincial task team on initiation schools, said the initiation period would start on 20 June and end on 18 July.

Thirty-six applications were rejected because the aspirant operators did not comply with the standards required by the Initiation School Act of 1996, said Dikgale.

“There should be a letter from the traditional authority that approves the plan. Secondly there should be a letter from the department of environmental affairs about the plan,” said Dikgale.

There was a growing need among parents to have their children initiated.

“People are interested and we have seen an increase over the past years. In 2012, we have seen a record of 43 000 initiates… this is a sign of increase and the department of health will be happy about that,” said Dikgale.

This year, the department refused to associate itself with some schools operating in households in the province’s Waterberg region.

He said there was a lack of traditional leaders in this area and some operators from North West province had tried to open initiation schools there.

“We call upon parents to verify the legitimacy of initiation schools with their respective traditional authorities before they send their children.”

SAPA

Cape Town –  President Jacob Zuma’s appointment of ex-spy chief Siyabonga Cwele as minister of telecommunications and postal services, could soon see the rebirth of an apartheid-era information ministry, the DA said on Monday.
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Abuja – Nigeria’s highest ranking military officer, Chief of Defence Staff Alex Badeh, on Monday said they had located the more than 200 schoolgirls kidnapped by Boko Haram militants.

“The good news for the girls is that we know where they are, but we cannot tell you,” Badeh told reporters outside defence headquarters in the capital Abuja after speaking to protesters.

Badeh said they would not use force to free the girls.

AFP

Cape Town – Argentinian lock Manuel Carizza looks set to make a return to Super Rugby after an injury-enforced lay-off from the game.

The towering second-row forward tore wrist ligaments early in the season when playing in the Stormers’ second game of the 2014 season.

He looked in fine nick at Monday’s training session at City Park, and Stormers coach Allister Coetzee said he’ll be considered for the run-on XV for Saturday’s derby against the table-topping Sharks in Durban.

Wing Kobus van Wyk, one of the four try-scorers against the Cheetahs last weekend, has another wrist injury and he will possibly be sidelined for three weeks.

Just over a month ago he suffered ligament damage on the same wrist.

“Carizza is looking good and he’s in our selection plans for this week,” said Coetzee.

“It looks like he has recovered well.

“Kobus has reinjured his wrist and he’ll probably be ready to play when Super Rugby resumes at the end of June.”

Coetzee also announced that Jean de Villiers’ Super Rugby season was over.

The Stormers captain has a knee injury which has ruled him out of the game for at least two months.

“Jean’s Super Rugby season has ended and he won’t recover by the time the season ends in mid-July,” Coetzee said.

“We’ll lose out on his leadership role but other leaders like Schalk Burger, Duane Vermeulen, Deon Fourie and Juan de Jongh are all capable of stepping into the breach.”

The Stormers were unable to conduct a full-scale training session on Monday as several players were attending the Springbok training camp in Durban.

Other players like prop Allistair Vermaak and Cheslin Kolbe picked up bumps and bruises in the Cheetahs game and sat out on Monday.

Burger is also an injury concern ahead of the Sharks game after he was troubled by neck spasms last weekend. He has, however, joined the national training group in Durban.

“The chances of Schalk playing against the Sharks are 50–50.

“The affected area (in his neck) has settled nicely he is feeling much better.

“At this stage we are preparing as if he won’t be playing but we’ll get a chance to see him when he returns from Durban and then make a call on Wednesday.”

As a result of the Bok camp, the Stormers will not have a full-scale training session this week, even though the players may be returning to Cape Town on Wednesday morning.

“Usually when the players come back from a Bok training camp we have don’t let them train flat out straight away.

“They do need a break and then Thursday is the team’s rest day.

“By the looks of things, we’ll only have the match-day squad working out together at the “Captain’s Run” in Durban on Friday.”

Coetzee said he expected a tough day against the Sharks.

“We are in for a very, very tough game because the Sharks are not the log-leaders for nothing.

“This match will be one of the biggest challenges for us this year.”

SAPA