Pretoria – A transgender woman has told of her trauma at being mistreated by department of home affairs officials in Centurion, who allegedly prevented her from applying for a gender change in her ID book on Wednesday.
Armed with the necessary medical reports, Juanita van Zyl, 36, went to the Centurion branch an hour before it opened on Wednesday. She wanted to apply to have her gender changed on her identity document.
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Port Elizabeth – The Steenkamp family commemorated Reeva’s birthday in a private ceremony in Port Elizabeth on Wednesday morning.
Reeva would have turned 32.
Reeva’s parents Barry and June, her sister Simone and four other family members gathered at the Hobie Beach in Summerstrand where they placed flowers in the ocean.
The model and law student was shot and killed by her boyfriend Oscar Pistorius on Valentine’s Day of 2013. He claimed to have mistaken her for an intruder.
For more http://www.news24.com
Cape Town – One of the men accused of fatally stabbing the doorman of a Cape Town pub told police the attack was intended to “draw blood”, not to kill.
This emerged in the Cape Town Magistrate’s Court on Wednesday as Warrant Officer Jeremy Steyn elaborated on his investigation into the stabbing that took place in Long Street on June 20.
For more http://www.news24.com
Johannesburg – Bekkie Mans woke up just before midnight on Tuesday to see sparks flying outside his carriage window as the new Afro4000 train he was travelling on derailed outside Kimberley.
For the pastor from the East Rand it was his second accident on a Shosholoza Meyl train in three years.
For more http://www.news24.com
http://www.sowetanlive.co.za/incoming/2015/08/03/vuyo-dabula/RESIZED/bigResize/Vuyo+Dabula
Television actor Vuyo Dabula, who has become a fan-favourite on “Generations: The Legacy”, is leaving the popular show.
A statement released by the show this morning, confirmed the news that Dabula is set to exit his role as the villainous Gadaffi.
According to the statement, the actor asked to be released from his contract, so he can focus on other projects.
“This is the place where I blew up and I think now is the right time to move on and do other things with the exposure the show has given me,” Dabula said in the statement.
For more http://www.sowetan.co.za
The future cream of South Africa’s creative talents will gather to reveal the 21st Taung Cultural Calabash on Mmabana Centre in Mafikeng, North West Province at a media launch on Saturday 29 August at 09:00 am.
Taung Cultural Calabash began as a one day cultural event taking place in Taung, (the area famous for the Taung Skull), in 1994 with a vision to stir the pride of the community in their heritage.
It has since grown into a great cultural spectacle uncovering and showcasing the finest talent on offer in the North-West Province.
Taung Cultural Calabash is a province wide annual arts festival with a unique focus to uncover the best budding creative talent the North West Province has to offer.
The festival comprises of a series of auditions and performances for amateurs and semi-professional artists in Dance, Drama, Music and Visual Arts.
The auditions are held at venues across the provinces’ four districts: Bojanala District; Dr Ruth Segomtsi Mompati District; Ngaka Modiri Molema District and Dr Kenneth Kaunda District.
The auditions are followed by the grand finale event at Mmabana Taung Centre on 24 to 27 September 2015 where the districts auditions’ winners come head-on in a contest to determine the overall winners who will share the stage with some of the country’s biggest stars.
The Taung Cultural Calabash Festival is supported by the North West Department Culture, Arts and Traditional Affairs, Mmabana Arts, Culture & Sports Foundation and the Department of Arts and Culture.
Audition details are as follows:
District
Date
Venues
Dr. Ruth Segomotsi Mompati District
15-Aug-15
Mmabana Taung
Bojanala District
22-Aug-15
Mmabana Rustenburg
Ngaka Modiri Molema District
29-Aug-15
Mmabana Mahikeng
Dr. Kenneth Kaunda District
05-Sep-15
Klerksdorp Recreation Centre
-TDN
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BY REGINALD KANYANE
North West Health MEC, Dr Magome Masike met with the Health Governance Structures from Ngaka Modiri Molema District on Friday to evaluate their performance.
Governance structures are established to advice the MEC on health service delivery matters, concerns of our communities and to represent communities’ views and input on health policy implementation.
They comprises of clinic committees, hospital boards, district health council and the provincial health council.
Commenting on the role played by governance structures since appointment in September 2012, MEC Masike has expressed satisfaction but emphasized the need to for the advisory panel not to only raise healthcare challenges but to also offer solutions.
Masike said he sees governance as an investment that was created to transform and develop communities.
“As we go through rationalization of health services and a change process that is often uncomfortable to a lot of people, you will be our link with communities and share with them our challenges and our intended plans to turn the situation around.
“Though the current environment and impatience of our communities might be blamed, I often suspect their frustrations are further compounded by inadequate feedback.
“Ours has always been to ensure that our people indeed have affordable, accessible and community based health services,” he said.Motswedi
Clinic committee chairperson, Michael Moletsane welcomed the meeting with MEC Masike.
He urged the department to fast track training of nurses in the wake of growing population and demand for quality healthcare service delivery.
Moletsane called on fellow colleagues serving in various structures to embark on health promotion campaigns to help the department tackle lifestyle diseases.
He said the clinic council has collaborated with traditional authorities in Motswedi to drill a borehole in order to address challenges of water supply in the area.
Mosela Kaudi, acting Chief Directory of Ngaka Modiri Molema Health District commended governance structures in Deelpan.
The structure motivated for the department to erect a health post to be manned by a nurse in the area as the village is too big to be serviced only by a mobile clinic.
Masike said the people of the North West province will be best served if they influence policy decisions of government and have a say in the manner in which services should be delivered to them.
He urged governance to constantly engage in public participation and report community concerns to the department.
Masike will meet with Dr. Kenneth Kaunda District Health Governance Structures on Friday, 21 August at the North West EMRS College in Orkney. Bojanala and Dr. Ruth Segomotsi Mompati districts Governance Structures are scheduled to meet with MEC Masike on 25 August and 04 September 2015 respectively.
-TDN
Follow us on Twitter@Taung_DailyNews
BY REGINALD KANYANE
A man died after a shooting on Jeppe Street in Potchefstroom.
ER24 paramedics were alerted to the incident by security services and immediately responded.
ER24 spokesperson, Russel Meiring said paramedics found the body of the patient lying outside his vehicle in a pool of blood.
“On assessment, paramedics found that the man had sustained a gunshot wound to his head and was in a critical condition,” Meiring said.
Treatment and advanced life support was immediately performed on the patient to stabilise his vital signs.
He said the patient was transported to Medi-clinic in Potchefstroom where he was stabilised. “He was later airlifted to Medi-clinic Sandton for further treatment.
“The patient’s wife, who was with him at the time, did not sustain any injuries,” Meiring concludes.
-TDN
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BY KEDIBONE MOLAETSI
The Democratic Alliance in North West said the real reasons driving the implosion of the Ventersdorp Local Municipality was revealed during a North West Public Accounts Committee Public Hearing during which the Auditor General’s Report on the municipality was interrogated.
According to Chris Hattingh, the municipality is currently under administration and received its seventh consecutive Disclaimer Audit Opinion from the AG.
Hattingh said during the public hearing evidence that the municipality remains in a state of regression.
“That was presented and that issues identified in previous AG reports, (irregular, unauthorized and fruitless and wasteful expenditure) and recommendations were not only blatantly ignored but repeated year after year,” he said.
The AG reported:
∙That no audit evidence (documentation) could be submitted to audit a whole series of auditable areas: Property, Plant and Equipment; Inventory, Debtors, Revenue, Expenditure, Capital Commitments etc.
∙That the claims made in applications of appointed officials were not verified before appointment and that job descriptions were not established for all posts in which appointments were made.
∙That on average creditors are being paid 392 days after the service was delivered.
∙That debt collection stand at 289 days.
∙That 42% of electricity bought by the municipality is lost.
∙That 95,4% of water purchased by the municipality is lost and cannot be accounted for.
∙That conditional grants are being underspent and was forfeited to Treasury. (9,1%)
Hattingh further added that evidence that officials prevented councillors to enter the municipal offices for months was also put forward as a reasons for the dysfunctionality of the municipality.
“It has become clear that the political instability in the council, the deployment of incompetent cadres into positions of authority can be regarded as the root problem of this failing municipality.
“Only the acknowledgement of these facts can serve as a starting point to turn the municipality around. This should be followed by a skills and capacity audit, the training and capacitation of selected officials and the dismissal of officials appointed irregularly or on the basis of possible false qualifications or application forms.”
According to Hattingh, ANC’s attempts to address the cadre deployment fiasco it created in Ventersdorp by an attempt to amalgamate Ventersdorp with Potchefstroom will fail as it will not address the root of the problem.
“The DA will use all resources to their disposal to stop the amalgamation and will approach the highest courts to stop the Demarcation Board in their quest to unite these two town. The DA will also not stop to inform the public of the problems in Ventersdorp and the wastage of tax payer’s money,” he concludes.
-TDN
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*NB: Our team’s attempt to get comment from ANC North West proved futile before going to print.
CHOPPIES 2 CHOPIES ANNUAL FUN RUN WALK MEDIA LAUNCH
VENUE: Choppies Hyper (next to Magaliesview)
DATE: Friday 21 August, 2015
TIME: 11h00
-TDN
Follow us on Twitter@Taung_DailyNews
The Guardian 