Johannesburg- Amajimbos coach Molefi Ntseki says the boys are revved up for a showdown with their Egyptian counterparts when the two meet in Rustenburg on Saturday evening (kick off 18h00) in the first leg of the CAF African Junior Championships.

“We have done our homework, worked on our strength and weakness and come Saturday, we should give a good account of ourselves against Egypt.

“It is a crucial game in the sense that we are playing the first leg at home but I am confident we should come good,” said Amajimbos coach Ntseki.

“It has been an amazing few weeks for South African football and we should complete this remarkable turnaround. All our national teams have had a wonderful spell starting with Banyana Banyana, Bafana Bafana, U20 – it is this magic charm we need to maintain. It is good for the country going forward,” added Ntseki.

The winner between Amajimbos and Egypt will qualify for the CAF African Junior championships scheduled for Niger next year.

“Banyana are off to African Women Championships in Namibia, U20 are off the Senegal next year and Bafana Bafana are determined to reach Morocco; so we cannot afford to let the nation down,” said Ntseki.

Amajimbos squad:

Mondli Mpoto, Sanele Tshabalala, Simon Nqoi, Notha Ngcobo, Keanu Cupido, Katlego Mohamme, Athenkosi Mukumela, Nelson Maluleke, Reeve Frosler, Sibongakonke Mbatha, Felix Noge, Wiseman Meyiwa, Vuyo Mantjie, Luvuyo Mkhatshana, Khanyiso Mayo, Edwin Sekhwama, Themba Ndzimande.-TDN
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Cape Town – As the blame game of who is responsible for the high cost of private health care in South Africa continues, a Fin24 user, who works in the industry, adds his insights to the debate.
For more http://www.news24.com

Johannesburg – The rand fell to seven-month lows against the dollar on Friday, largely reflecting a stronger greenback as recent data backs the case for monetary tightening in the United States.



At 17:50 SA time the rand traded at 10.9985 versus the dollar, down 0.21 percent from Thursday’s close.

If fell to 11.0300 earlier in day, the weakest it has been since February 21 according to Thomson Reuters data.

Reuters.

Government bonds followed suit, with the yield on the 2026 benchmark adding 4.5 basis points to 8.26 percent.

The rand was one of the biggest casualties in a basket of 20 emerging market currencies, outperforming only the Turkish lira, the Russian rouble and Brazil’s real

“The latest bout of EM currency weakness largely reflects the depreciation of the euro against the dollar, rather than home-grown economic vulnerabilities,” William Jackson, an emerging markets analyst at Capital Economics, said.

But rand sentiment has taken a knock from weak domestic economic indicators released this week, including a gaping current account deficit, while factory output was at its weakest in five years. – Reuters

Cape Town – The DA on Friday condemned President Jacob Zuma’s letter to the Public Protector in which he disagrees with Thuli Madonsela’s view that her reports and recommendations can only be reviewed by a court of law.

“The letter attempts to redefine the scope of the Office of the Public Protector, in direct violation of the Constitution,” Democratic Alliance parliamentary leader Mmusi Maimane said in a statement.

“The Constitution is clear that only a court of law can review the outcomes of Chapter Nine institutions, which according to Section 181(2) of the Constitution ‘are independent, and subject to the Constitution and the law’.”

Maimane accused Zuma of misreading the Constitution.

“It is extremely worrying that the president has chosen to misrepresent the Constitution and the work of the Public Protector,” Maimane said.

“In so doing, he has created the incorrect impression that compliance with remedial action taken by the Public Protector is optional.”

Deferred decision

In his letter to Madonsela, Zuma said the Public Protector had arrived at her findings without the “adversarial hearing” inherent in a court process and that this was a “significant factor to caution me against a blanket acceptance without applying my own mind”.

Therefore, his role was not simply to rubber stamp her findings.

The president has faced sustained criticism for not complying with Madonsela’s order that he reimburse the state for improvements, such as a swimming pool and chicken run, to his homestead in Nkandla as part of a project originally meant to upgrade security.

The president last month deferred a decision on whether he was liable to repay any funds to Police Minister Nathi Nhleko.

Zuma said in his letter that he stood by this decision.

The Special Investigating Unit tabled its report on the upgrades in Parliament on Friday.

Like Madonsela, it found that Zuma was enriched by state-funded improvements to his Nkandla home.

But unlike the Public Protector, who found Zuma was liable to pay a portion of the cost, the SIU concluded that the best way of recovering R155m misspent at Nkandla was to claim it from his architect Minenhle Makhanya.

Public concern

In its report, the SIU placed the blame for the project ballooning into “unacceptable extravagance” on Makhanya.

It said its eight-month investigation showed that, through Makhanya’s doing, the state suffered massive losses and many people were enriched, including Zuma and his family in the sense that the value of their home was enhanced.

“Makhanya inter alia increased the scope and extent of the works by designing and authorising items that were not required for security purposes,” the SIU said in the report.

As a result of this, the cost of the project “soared from an initial estimate of some R27m to some R216m”.

By any standard this was a large sum of money and the public concern was “understandable”.

The unit said it faced a choice of claiming the damages and losses suffered by the department of public works from an array of people who were enriched, or to seek to recover the full amount from Makhanya himself.

“We chose the latter option,” it said.

The SIU filed a civil claim for R155.3m against Makhanya in the KwaZulu-Natal High Court on 11 August.

He has hired high profile lawyers to contest the matter.

SAPA

Durban – The case against three minors involved in the murder of a woman who was decapitated was postponed by the Durban Regional Court on Friday.

The court was scheduled to hear their pleas on Thursday, when an 18-year-old pleaded guilty to killing and decapitating a prostitute.

The case was then set down for Friday, but Magistrate Anand Maharaj further postponed the matter to Monday so their pleas could be typed.

Falakhe Khumalo pleaded guilty on Thursday and was sentenced to life imprisonment for his role in the death of Desiree Murugan, whose headless body was found by municipal workers at Shallcross Stadium in Durban on 18 August.

Traditional healer Sivonkaliso Mbili and his assistant Vusumuzi Gumede, 30, who were linked to the murder, have not pleaded and are expected to apply for bail on 22 September.

The court heard on Thursday that Khumalo was promised R2m for the head of a white, Indian or coloured woman.

Chopped off

In an explanation of plea he detailed how he plotted for more than a year to get the head to pay Mbili, who had cured him of a sexually transmitted disease.

He said he and his three co-accused lured Murugan, 39, to the stadium, where he paid her R100 for sex and oral sex.

“Whilst having sex, accused number one came behind me with an Okapi knife and she saw him. I then placed my hand over her mouth so that she cannot make a noise, held her tight so that she does not move.”

Khumalo said the accused, who is a minor and may not be named, stabbed her several times.

The body was dragged to another part of the sports field, where the head was chopped off.

Khumalo and his co-accused took the head to Mbili, the fourth accused in the trial.

Mbili allegedly ordered Gumede to bury the tins in which Murugan’s body parts had been placed.

SAPA

Johannesburg- Bafana Bafana coach Shakes Mashaba has sent a word of support to the South African Men’s Under-17 National Team (Amajimbos) who take on Egypt in the first leg of the final 2015 African Junior Championship qualifier in Rustenburg on Saturday, 13 September 2014.

The match kicks off at 18h00.

The second leg will be played on 26 September with the overall winner qualifying for the finals scheduled for Niger next March.

“I want to wish the boys and the entire technical staff all the best. This is the last hurdle and I am confident Amajimbos will do the country proud,” said Mashaba who has had a torrid last two weeks.

He led the national U20 to the African Youth Championships scheduled for Senegal next year and six days later, led Bafana Bafana to their opening 2015 Africa Cup of Nations qualifying match against Sudan in Khartoum where they routed the home side 3-0 before rounding off the week with a goalless draw with Nigeria in Cape Town on Wednesday.

“The boys (Amajimbos) must take advantage of the buzz in the country but they must not put themselves under undue pressure just because they are playing at home. They still have the second leg to play although first impressions are the ones that matter,” said Mashaba. “They must just work hard, express themselves and have self belief.”

The Senior Men’s National Team mentor said he would travel to Rustenburg to give the boys moral support.

“I want to be with them both physically and spiritually. This is our future and the nation must support such developmental projects,” he said. -TDN
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Cape Town – A family pet was shot and killed on its owner’s property in Durbanville on Sunday.

Allan Perrins, Cape of Good Hope SPCA chief executive officer, said this was the third incident of its kind in three weeks.
For more http://www.iol.co.za