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-TDN

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BY REGINALD KANYANE

MEC for health, Dr Magome Masike is expected to officially open Cath Lab at Ferncrest in Rustenburg on Friday.

 Health department spokesperson, Tebogo Lekgethewane said a catheterization laboratory or cath lab is an examination room in a hospital or clinic with diagnostic imaging equipment. He said the laboratory was used to visualise the arteries of the heart and the chambers of the heart and treat any stenosis or abnormality found.

“Few years ago, Netcare identified the need for a dedicated Cath Lab and Cardio thoracic surgery to cater for the needs of people in the North West province. Till then all patients needing Coronary Angiography and stent insertions were referred to hospitals in Johannesburg and Pretoria. Now this service can be provided in Rustenburg within the province,” Lekgethwane said.

He further added that Netcare applied to the health department for a licence of a Cath Lab, Cardio Thoracic theatre, additional ICU, High Care and General beds back in 2012.

“Upon granting of the licence, Netcare embarked on a massive construction project to facilitate the new additions. The facility was inspected by the Department of Health and has been given the green light to operate,” he said.

-TDN

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BY REGINALD KANYE

Patrick Dumile Nono Maloyi resigned as Member of Provincial Legislature in North West provincial Legislature. The Speaker of the North West Provincial Legislature, Sussana Dantjie will be swearing in Johanna Mmule Maluleke to be a Member of the North West Provincial Legislature at the Legislature Speaker’s Boardroom at 11h30.

“She will be sworn in the vacant seat of the African National Congress. Maloyi left vacant after serving his resignation letter this month. According to Schedule Act 73 of 1988 schedule 1a  Section 23(1)(b) states that “in the event of a vacancy in the legislature to which this schedule applies, the party which the vacating member represented must fill the vacancy by nominating a person,” Dantjie said.

-TDN

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BY REGINALD KANYANE

A 45-YEAR-OLD man from Mothibistad was sentenced to three years imprisonment. Matthews Mather Gaobitse was found guilty of malicious damage to property during the community protest in Kuruman.

He was arrested on February 26 in 2015 for allegedly setting a vehicle belonging to the Department of Agriculture alight.

The Hawks spokesperson, Capt Pilani Nkwalase said during the public protest, the community barricaded roads over service delivery issues in June 2014.

“The main road in Glenreb village in Kuruman was affected. A state employee driving in the area was stopped and instructed to abandon the vehicle before it was set alight.

“Matthews Mather Gaobitse was positively identified as one of those who committed this crime against the State. The court sentenced him to 3 years imprisonment and suspended it for 5 years,” he said.

Nkwalase said Gaobitse was fined R10 000 or alternatively to serve 2 years imprisonment.

-TDN

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THE mayor of Rustenburg, Mpho Khunou dismissed claims that the municipality wasted R3bn in the 2014/15 financial year.

The reports were carried in the Mail & Guardian, City Press and the Sunday Times newspapers.

Khunou said: “In our view this is misleading because it suggests that this money has been wasted. It has been illustrated as such in a form of a waste bin. The article in the M&G has indicated that money to the tune of R3.08bn has been wasted in financial year of 2014/15.

“However we strongly refuted that and the municipality has a budget of R4.5bn during financial year under review. The total expenditure incurred was R3.6bn. Therefore the municipality dismiss reports that an amount of R3.08bn was “misspent” during the 2014/15 financial year,” he said.

The mayor added that the municipality has spent R1 425 766 on bulk purchases, R233 395 on contracted services, R242 557 on general expenses, repairs and maintenance used R118 075, while R15 036 was spent on collection cost.

“We have also spent R561 709 on employee related costs and R27 593 was used for remuneration of councillors. This brings us to the tune of R2 574 131.

The expenditure was stated in the audited annual financial statements of the institution.

“The bulk purchases include payments for bulk electricity and water purchased from the relevant suppliers (Magalies Water, Rand Water and Eskom). This also includes the repairs and maintenance of infrastructure and contracted services undertaken by the municipality,” he said.

Khunou said the expenditure for the year has been audited. He added that only an amount of R537 000 was reported as fruitless and wasteful expenditure.

“Fruitless and wasteful expenditure constitutes a fraction of the budget of R4.5 billion which is 0.01%. And the outline on the expenditure related to employee costs and bulk purchases was only to the amount of R537 000.

“The Auditor General has made a determination of irregular expenditure which spans a period of about ten years. The inclusion of these amounts in the irregular expenditure register is an indication of a belief that the expenditure was incurred without following a statutory provision and does NOT mean that the municipality lost money,” he said.

He further said that the recorded fruitless and wasteful expenditure to the amount of R537 000 as certified by the auditor general was mainly incurred as a result of interests charged.

“An amount of R2 642 130 471.66 on the irregular expenditure register has accumulated over at least three terms of Rustenburg municipal councils. Therefore the municipality is addressing a legacy of irregular expenditure emanated at least ten years.

“The 2014/15 audit report issued by the auditor general stated an amount of irregular expenditure of R657 889 400.69. This amount is being investigated and the preliminary report indicates that there was no negligence or money lost,” he said.

-TDN

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THE Labour department in North West shut down two offices belonging to the Tswaing local municipality for health and safety reasons.

  Regional labour spokesperson, Orpa Mathabe said only one municipality out of 23 adhere to occupational health and safety regulations in the province.

  “We have shut down two offices at Tswaing local municipality after they failed to adhere to the labour law requirements. The municipality does not comply with the Occupational Health and Safety Act. The ceilings are collapsing, walls are dilapidated and this brings doubt to the safety of employees.

  “As the department of Labour in North West, we have warned employers that non-compliance to labour laws will not be tolerated. We further encourage employers to approach any labour department that is closer to them if they need any guidance in adhering to the labour laws,” Mathabe said.

   Mathabe said that the closed municipal offices will remain shut until a labour inspector is satisfied that correct measures have been taken into consideration.

She added that municipality employees were working without proper machinery to unblock a manhole.

  According to inspector Elvis Ntokwe, the manhole has methane gas and getting inside it was not allowed by the law. He said by so doing, this puts workers’ lives in danger.

  “The municipality does not have records to indicate that workers are taken for medical check-ups. They also did not supply workers with protective clothing. Some of the issues raised do not even need special expertise for any manager to overseer to it,” Ntokwe said.

  He also pointed out that the department appeal to people in charge to take labour laws especially occupational health and safety seriously so as to avoid losing workers’ lives unnecessarily.

  Tswaing local municipality manager, Lucky Furie said: “Our employees in Sannieshof have moved to the local library which is in good condition. All our services can be accessed there. In Ottosdal, we have temporarily relocated to community hall. We have already started with renovations at our municipal office on Friday.”

   SAMWU provincial secretary, Thebeetsile Mokoto said they welcome the closure of municipality offices. He said all municipalities should adhere to the safety and health standards set in the law.

  “There are 22 municipalities in North West that do not adhere to the safety and health occupational act. We welcome the labour department decision. The situation affects most of our workers and expose them to various chronic diseases,” he said.

   Local government and human settlements department spokesperson Ben Bole said they are committed to make sure the municipalities adhere to the health and safety occupational regulations.

  “We will give support to all municipalities and make sure that safety of employees is not compromised. We will give necessary support and commit to improve situation in all municipalities according to labour laws,” Bole said.

-TDN

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EDUCATION and sport development MEC, Sello Lehari, introduced himself to his department’s management team in the Dr Ruth Mompati district yesterday.

Lehari was recently appointed as MEC and is on a province-wide tour meeting all stakeholders.

“I held the introductory meetings with my staff to formally introduce myself. I wanted to brief them regarding the direction the department wants to take. I believe in teamwork, so their participation will be very imperative. In order to achieve our objectives and goals, they need to stand up and be counted.

“It is my responsibility as the MEC to create a sound working relationship with them. They are here to create great possibilities for the young generation. So we need a co-action and co-learning partnership between school principals and parents,” Lehari said.

He added: “Business leaders and other stakeholders also play pivotal role in enabling social cohesion through partnerships. We need to empower principals, SGBs and parents to become alter leaders in their schools and communities. I gaze at that team of possibilities. They facilitate cross-sectoral reciprocal partnerships between business, government and the social sector.”

The MEC said that everyone had to work together for the success of education in the province.

“The management and governance of schools rest on the shoulders of both principals and the chairpersons of the SGBs. The principals need to work hand-in-hand with SGBs in order to have common goal. The objectives remain unchanged. We need to nurture and develop such relationship. We have to remove all the impediments that might impinge on such a relationship,” he said.

Lehari said he will continue to visit districts and work hard to improve the Grade 12 results in 2016.

“It is our mandate as government to improve our people situation too. So let also encourage the young people to use education as their beacon of hope. Unity is powerful ammunition to achieve best goals,” Lehari said.

-TDN

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BY REGINALD KANYANE

MOTHERS who leave their children in the care of grandparents or other guardians should not be allowed to hold social grant cards for such children.

This came from Deputy Minister of Social Development, Hendrietta Bogopane-Zulu when she addressed residents in Disaneng near Mahikeng.

Bogopane-Zule said that deserving children continue to be deprived the benefits of social grants that in turn are abused by absent mothers.

“We will make sure that we take away social grants from those irresponsible parents. Many children do not stay with their parents however the social grants are with them. There is this tendency where mothers leave their children with grandparents or guardians but keep the social grants cards.

“From now on, we will make sure that the social grants are received by those who stay with the recipients. Social development department pays over R12.5million social grants through our SASSA agency,” she said.

Bogopane-Zulu also highlighted that her department will address the challenges faced by community in Ratlou local municipality.

“We will form cooperatives in order to eradicate poverty, inequality and unemployment. We have also held talks with Ratlou local municipal mayor, Tebogo Modise in ways of assisting you.

“Our footprint outreach programme visits all villages across the country in order to improve the lives of the masses. We are also working in partnership with labour and mineral affairs departments,” she said.

Ratlou local municipality mayor, Tebogo Modise said the initiative by social development department will benefits many residents.

She said they managed to profile some of the residents and looked into the best way to assist them.

“We welcome the Mikondzo campaign as the municipality. We had household profiling and looked into opportunities available for our people. We have also dialogued with our residents along with social development department. We have now identified some people and the challenges their faced with in daily basis.

“We have launched a brick-making project because we have inroads to be paved. We have received computer lab and 200 bicycles were donated to underprivileged pupils,” she said.

Kgosi Selabe Mogakoludi Masibi of Disaneng village said he welcome the initiative by social development. He said many people are living in abject poverty and the improvements will be imperative.

“We highly-appreciate social development’s quest to improve our people’s lives. More job opportunities are needed especially amongst the youth. I believe that will continue to eliminate crime. The use of drugs and alcohol abuse is also rife in the area. We needed this intervention,” Masibi said.

A call was made for children in the area to be allowed to go to school so that they could have a brighter future.

At present, most of the young people’s lives are ruined as they are turned into cheap labour in nearby farms.

-TDN

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“Hey, our hero and first celebrity in Sunrise Park is back!” shouts a young girl as she sees Comrades Marathon winner and new millionaire David Gatebe jog past her to his one-bedroom shack.

CAPTION: David Gatebe surrounded by well wishers at his home in Rustenburg after winning the 2016 Comrades Marathon. PICTURE: VATHISWA RUSELO

Flanked by club mates Gift Kelehe (2015 Comrades winner), Peter Gaebetse and Gordon Lesetedi, Gatebe, 34, was followed by a massive crowd and a convoy of hooting cars as he arrived at Sunrise Park township in Rustenburg, North West, on Tuesday.

He was fresh from conquering the gruelling 89km down run from Pietermaritzburg to Durban on Sunday.

His astonishing time of 5hrs:18min:19sec smashed the record set by Russian Leonid Shvetsov in 2007.

His win earned him just over R1-million in prize money. However, he would only receive the money two months after his blood and urine samples had been tested for any illegal substances.

But for now it’s all about celebrating the rare moment for the people of Sunrise Park, a relatively poor community.

The new hero posed for loads of selfies and shook hands with scores of people as the crowd continued to swell outside his small silver shack.

Source: Sowetan

-TDN

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