Ventersdorp- Drug treatment services are still under utilised despite government’s efforts to educate communities about the dangers of drugs, West MEC for Social Development Fenny Gaolaolwe said on Thursday.

“The department is currently providing drug treatment services through Witrand Hospital and Sanpark Alcohol and Drug Centre. These facilities are not being fully utilised by community members especially those that are adversely affected by drugs,” Gaolaolwe said, adding that the aim of treatment they offer is not only to stop drug abuse but to make sure that the addicts are returned to the community or workplace being a healthy and productive people.

Yesterday MEC Gaolaolwe deployed a team of government officials and stakeholders to Rysmierbult, Klippan farms and extension 5 and 6 at Tshing township in Ventersdorp local municipality to raise awareness on the dangers of substance abuse and conscientise the residents about effective treatment services offered by the department.

These areas Gaolaolwe said are known to be the hotspots areas where drug abuse is common and the users had little or no information about the way to escape the addiction.

About 150 households were targeted in the area. Saints Care Givers, an organisation rendering substance abuse prevention services in Ventersdorp earlier reported that dagga, alcohol and home-made concoctions are the most commonly used drugs in the area.

“It is so disturbing that the referrals from this area are the lowest while the use of drugs escalates,” Gaolaolwe said.

She said preparations are underway to take a fully fledged provincial event on substance abuse to Ventersdorp in July.

Today the United Nations member states commemorate International Day Against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking under theme: “Drugs: Treatment Works.” The anti-drug day is observed annually on the 26 June to raise public awareness on the fight against drug abuse and promote of preventative measures.-TDN
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Arts and Culture in the North West Province received a boost with over R19 million grant sponsorship it received from the National Lotteries Board. The chegue was presented to Premier Supra Mahumapelo at the SABC TV2-The New Age Business Breakfast held at the Mmabatho Convention Centre in Mahikeng on Thursday.

“We are excited about the funding and recognition of our strength because Arts, Culture and Tourism are the pillars of our economy and upon which of our rebranding, repositioning and renewal strategy should be anchored,” Premier Mahumapelo said.

In expressing confidence that the funding would benefit young people and people with disabilities through targeted projects, the Chief Executive Officer(CEO) of the National Lotteries Board (NLB), Charlotte Mampane said that the NLB is a catalyst for social upliftment and had approved the grant as it met the criterion for job creation, poverty alleviation and youth development.

The jubilant MEC for Arts, Culture and Traditional Affairs, Tebogo Modise said that projects to benefit from the grant sponsorship funding include the Women’s Liberation Monument, Maftown Week Celebration, Sol Plaatjie Exhibition, Taung Calabash, Pottery for the Disabled, Touring Art Exhibition, Children’s Art Competition and Wheelchair Dancing.The CEO for Mmabana Arts, Culture and Sports Foundation, Moatlhodi Dilotsotlhe assured MEC Modise, Mampane and Members of the Mmabana Arts, Culture and Sports Foundation Board that a monthly expenditure audit would be conducted on the allocated funds to ensure accountability and minimise risk.
The boost to tourism was also welcomed by MEC for Tourism, Desbo Mohono who also highlighted the importance of mining tourism.
Premier Mahumapelo is expected to announce other development plans and interventions to address youth unemployment and change the image of the province when he delivers his State of the Province Address from the Mmabatho Convention Centre tomorrow.-TDN
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Mahikeng- North West MEC for Social Development Fenny Gaolaolwe on Thursday announced that the Head of Department Advocate Matshidiso Mogale has been put on special leave on the basis of the Public Service Commission report.

MEC Gaolaolwe said she is still studying the report and further developments will be communicated in due course.-TDN
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Durban – The search is on for the kingpins of an international drug ring, who must now be counting the cost of the country’s most prolific bust of nearly 10 tons of pure heroin worth over R3bn.
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Johannesburg – The correctional services department will oppose an urgent court application by one of the Waterkloof Four, Christoff Becker, to have his parole re-instated, the department said on Wednesday.

“The department has submitted papers in reply to court,” spokesperson Manelisi Wolela said.

At the beginning of April, Becker was transferred to the Kokstad Maximum Security Prison in KwaZulu-Natal due to misconduct.

Wolela said at the time Becker was transferred from the Kgosi Mampuru II Correctional Centre (Pretoria Central) to Kokstad.

Correctional services established a disciplinary committee after a cellphone was discovered in Becker’s cell during a search.

On 16 February, Becker and Frikkie du Preez were re-arrested after footage of them allegedly drinking alcohol and using a cellphone at the Kgosi Mampuru Prison emerged.

The video, reportedly taken on a cellphone, was posted on YouTube. It showed Du Preez and Becker drinking, and using a cellphone in jail.

‘Nonsensical reasons’

Earlier in February, Becker, Du Preez, Gert van Schalkwyk, and Reinach Tiedt were released after being jailed for beating a homeless man to death in Pretoria in 2001.

Beeld newspaper reported on Wednesday that Becker’s application would be heard on Friday at the High Court in Pretoria.

Becker, 27, said in court papers that his re-arrest in February was for nonsensical reasons, five days after being released on parole.

He said he was at home on 16 February when Rapport newspaper carried an article about him and Frikkie Du Preez, who allegedly held a party in prison where alcohol was used.

Becker, Du Preez, and two other prisoners were in his cell at the time, the newspaper reported.

In court papers, Becker denied that alcohol was used at the party, which was video-recorded. He also said the pictures of Johnnie Walker and J&B in the video were in fact pictures of a computer’s screen saver.

He wanted the parole board to set aside the decision to revoke his parole, be moved back to Pretoria from Kokstad prison, and be released on parole on the same conditions he was released in February.

Becker also sought to have his re-arrest and detention declared unlawful, and for the department to pay for his legal bill.

SAPA

Johannesburg – Afrikaans will be the medium of instruction at Fochville High School following a settlement between the school and the Gauteng education department, Afriforum said on Wednesday.

The civil rights group’s deputy CEO Alana Bailey called it a “victory for the right of learners to be educated in their mother tongue”.

The department was not immediately available for comment.

Afriforum and the Federation of Governing Bodies of SA Schools (Fedsas) had supported the parents and the school through its legal process, she said.

“The department has to acknowledge the right of learners to mother tongue education and the advantages thereof… [It] did not hesitate to abuse the children and use them as pawns in their ideological struggle against Afrikaans.”

Bailey said those involved in the fight to keep Afrikaans as the medium of instruction had done well to ensure the children were not disadvantaged.

In 2012 the department forced the school to accommodate 42 English-speaking pupils, even though there were alternative schools in the area.

The school was unable to do so due to a lack of space and facilities, Bailey said.

SAPA

Bloemfontein – Police fired rubber bullets and used stun grenades to disperse striking Metsimaholo municipality workers in Sasolburg, Free State police said on Wednesday.

“The workers threw stones at the municipal building during Wednesday morning,” police spokesperson Sellwane Mapamela said.

Strikers damaged the municipal building and a nearby clinic.

Workers began striking this week over salaries and benefits.

Some services such as refuse removal had suffered.

Mapamela said the situation was calm on Wednesday afternoon.

Police were on the scene.

SAPA

Bloemfontein – Northern Cape Premier Sylvia Lucas on Wednesday tried to convince Kuruman residents to allow children to return to school, her spokesperson said.

“The premier met with traditional leaders in the region today,” Lucas’s spokesperson Bronwyn Thomas-Abrahams said.

“The schools have nothing to do with service delivery and the community is adversely affecting the futures of the children,” she said.

Fifty-five schools in the John Taolo Gaetsewe region, which is the bigger Kuruman area, had been closed due to intimidation and threats.

A group of locals calling themselves the Road Forum forced schools to close about three weeks ago, in protest at the state of roads in the area.

Of the 55 schools affected, eight are high schools.

Thomas-Abrahams said after discussions with school principals in the region over the weekend, it was decided to open the high schools on Monday.

“It was to enable the provincial education department to start with its intervention programmes at the schools.”

On Monday, five of the eight high schools opened their doors for pupils, but they closed soon afterwards due to threats to the safety of teachers and children.

Northern Cape education spokesperson Sidney Stander said Lucas was personally looking into solving the situation.

There were similar disruptions at schools in Kuruman, Olifantshoek and Kathu for several months in 2012, also due to protests at the poor state of roads and lack of municipal services.

SAPA

Cape Town – A task team has been set up to monitor the Vrygrond Taxi Association’s conduct after being accused of route invasions and intimidation, Western Cape Transport MEC Donald Grant said on Wednesday.

The province’s regulatory entity recently suspended the association administratively for three months, after inquiries last June and in April.

This, amid an increase in taxi-related crimes and a spate of violent shootings and killings.

Grant said the suspension would only be reconsidered if the association adhered to a number of conditions.

These conditions included not extorting money or interfering with the legal operation of any taxi association or member in the Vrygrond area in Cape Town.

It also had to co-exist with the Retreat Taxi Association and the Steenberg Taxi association and not prevent their members from using the Vrygrond taxi rank.

A task team, made up of taxi association members and city and provincial officials, would monitor their conduct.

“Failure to comply will result in more drastic action being taken by the office of the Provincial Transport Registrar [again, in terms of the legislative framework],” Grant said.

Both Grant and Cape Town transport mayoral committee member Brett Herron were concerned by the recent increase in taxi crimes.

Since April, the city’s metro police had been deployed to the area to assist the SA Police Service in clamping down on unlicensed operators and illegal behaviour.

Both said while they took their role in the taxi industry seriously, it fell to disputing operators to work out a way forward and end taxi violence.

SAPA