Daily Archives: May 10, 2015

Taung mentally-ill suspect case postponed

NEWS Leave a comment

zooo#1

By Obakeng Maje

Taung- A case against a 30 year-old man from Moretele village, near Taung was postponed by Taung Magistrates Court for mental examination.

According to the sister of the suspect who hacked a woman with a panga, she informed the court that her brother is mental-retarded.

Jabu Letebele(30) was subsequently arrested a month ago after he allegedly hacked Julia Mokgweetsi with a panga.

According to Letebele’s family, their son allegedly saw witches at that night of the incident and went berserk.

Letebele was infuriated and went on to attack Mokgweetsi for no apparent reasons.

He was arrested and charged with attempted murder, and Mokgweetsi was admitted at Taung Hospital for medical attention.

The case against Letebele was postponed until 18 May 2015 and he will be taken to mental institution to determine if he is fit to be arraigned.

Police investigations continue and he was remanded in custody.

Taung’s famous traditional healer, Kagiso Malepe told Vaaltar FM that it will be difficult to stabilize Letebele as most people who saw witches it is mostly difficult to make them normal again.

“I can confirm to you that if someone sees witches, that person will be affected either mentally, go blind or turned into a mute. There are few traditional healers who could help someone who saw witches” Malepe said.

-TDN

Follow us on Twitter@Taung-DailyNews or @IceT_

Makgobistad pupils to get drivers’ licences

NEWS Leave a comment

unnamed (4)

Rustenburg – North West Transport MEC Gaoage Molapisi will hand over 32 driving licences and 185 learner drivers’ licences to disadvantaged learners in Makgobistad on Friday.

“In the last financial year, 300 learners from five selected schools across the province participated in the project. Learners were trained by accredited instructors who were contracted by the department,” said spokesman Shuping Daddy Sebolecwe.

“The learner driver license project was initially implemented in 2012 in support of the ministerial call towards the realisation of the decade of action for road safety goal of reducing road fatalities by half in 2020.”

He said the intention of the project was to ensure that learners complete their Grade 12 in possession of a valid driver’s licence which would lessen the urgency which often result in corrupt practices as newly employed or unemployed youth were more likely to be desperate for drivers’ licences as it was an important added advantage for employment.

ANA

Twelve held for stolen copper cables

NEWS Leave a comment

copper cable

Rustenburg -Twelve people were arrested after they were found in possession of copper cables with the estimated value of R200,000 near Rustenburg on Thursday, North West police said.

“Boitekong and Northam police, together with mine security officials, apprehended twelve suspects aged between 18 and 55 for being in possession of copper cables today [Thursday] at about 5am on the R510 in Boitekong,” said police spokesperson Sergeant Kelebogile Moleko.

For more http://www.iol.co.za

KFC branch shuts after images go viral

NEWS Leave a comment

81476458

Johannesburg – Fast food franchise KFC has announced its store in Braamfontein has been closed until further notice after images of staff “washing chickens” on a dirty floor surfaced on social media this week.

A Facebook user posted images of what appeared to be KFC staff in Braamfontein allegedly taking chicken pieces out of containers, placing them on a concrete floor and hosing them down.

For more http://www.iol.co.za

Pastors welcome sentences for child sexual exploitation

NEWS Leave a comment

10394082_649839198476089_5069042205306239257_n
Mahikeng Ministers Fellowship(MMF) in the North West Province on Sunday welcomed the combined 27 year jail sentence given to an Eastern Cape farmer and a Stutterheim  mother who gave her daughter to the farmer for sex.
 
“The sentences are a victory for children’s rights and should encourage communities and children whose futures are being destroyed by sexual exploitation to speak out for perpetrators to be exposed and brought to book,” Chairperson of MMF(an interdenominational pastors fellowship), Apostle Zandisile Reginald Mpame said. 
 
In calling for intensified protection of chidren against child sexual exploitation prevalent in rural and farming communities, Apostle Mpame said that it robs children of their childhood and can have a serious long-term impact on every aspect of children’s lives, health and education.
 
“Churches,non-government organisations and community structures should join hands with authorites to ensure that the orphans and child headed households are protected against this scourge,”Mpame underscored.
 
National Prosecuting Authority spokesperson in the Eastern Cape, Tsepo Ndwalaza, said neither may be named to protect the identity of the children concerned.
 
The charges relate to incidents dating back to June 2012, wherein the 25-year-old woman intentionally gave her daughter, then aged 11, to the 59-year- old farmer for sex in exchange for money. 
 
The woman had also arranged for another girl, aged 15 at the time, to have sex with the man a year later, in September 2013.
 
The Stutterheim Regional Court on Thursday found the farmer guilty on 19 charges, including two counts of rape, for which he was sentenced 15 years. He was also found guilty of seven counts of trafficking in persons for sexual purposes – which were taken as one for sentencing – which earned him a 12 year prison sentence. 
 
He was also found guilty of 10 counts of sexual exploitation of a child, which were also taken as one for sentencing, and earned him an additional 10 year sentence.
 
Ndwalaza said the sentences would run concurrently, resulting in an effective prison term of 15 years for the farmer. The court also ordered that the farmer’s name be added to the sexual offenders register.  
 
He said the woman was found guilty on seven counts of trafficking in persons for sexual purposes, which were taken as one for sentencing, earning her a 12 year prison sentence. 
 
She was also found guilty on seven counts of sexual exploitation of a child, which were also taken as one for sentencing, and sentenced to a further 10 years.
The court had ruled that the sentences would run concurrently, resulting in an effective prison term of 12 years. She was not added to the sexual offenders register.
-TDN
Follow us on Twitter@Taung_DailyNews or @IceT_

Greater Taung Local Municipal Mayor under siege over BMW X5 purchase

NEWS Leave a comment

kaone lobelo

Taung- Opposition political party Congress of the People (Cope) has demanded that finance minister Nhlanhla Nene and Minister of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs Pravin Gordhan react to a story in the Sunday Times about the mayor of Taung in North West province‚ Kaone Lobelo‚ buying a one million rand BMW out of public funds.

“As the Sunday Times points out‚ this decision by the mayor flies in the face of cabinet’s decision to cut spending on vehicles. It is also ‘morally wrong’ as Michael Sass of the National treasury observes. We concur with that view‚” Cope spokesman Dennis Bloem said in a statement.

“The fact that Lobelo is mayor of one of the poorest towns in the country does not seem to have registered on him. Neither does the suffering of the people matter a jot to him. Not even the fact that the Local Government Election is looming around the corner bothered him at all. He went ahead with the purchase.

“COPE waits to see what action the Ministers will take against Lobelo and how swiftly and decisively they will act. Furthermore‚ we want the ruling party to apologise on bended knees to the poor and neglected people of Taung‚” Bloem added.

The Sunday Times reported that Lobelo had taken possession this week of a white BMW X5 in contravention of a government instruction that all public office-bearers cut spending on expensive cars.

According to the article‚ some residents of the town do not have running water or sanitation.

For more http://www.thetimes.co.za

South Africa opposition party elects first black leader

NEWS Leave a comment

Mmusi Maimane replaces Helen Zille to lead South Africa’s main opposition party, the Democratic Alliance.

South Africa’s main opposition party, the Democratic Alliance, has elected Mmusi Maimane as its new leader to succeed Helen Zille.

Maimane, 34, becomes the first black leader of the party.

The part-time pastor is expected to the challenge the African Nation Congress (ANC) which has governed the country since the end of apartheid in 1994.

Zille, a white woman, announced last month she was leaving after leading the party for the last eight years.

South Africa remains deeply divided racially, with most blacks preferring to vote for the ANC.

“Black South African people are scared of being led by a white person. But I don’t think it will actually make a difference.” Zintle Mabongo, a resident of Port Elizabeth where party delegates elected the new leader, told Al Jazeera.

Source: Al Jazeera