BY REGINALD KANYANE

POLICE from Family Violence Child Protection and Sexual Offences unit in Jan Kempdorp are investigating a rape case. Northern Cape police spokesperson, Lieutenant Sergio Kock said the incident took place on June 10 at around 10:30pm.

“A woman, 30 and her boyfriend, 29 were sleeping in their shanty when four unknown men entered. They allegedly demanded money from them. Two of the men then took her outside the shanty and raped her at knife-point in the presence of other two.

“The suspects were medium build, between the ages of 25 and 35 years old. They were dressed in black beanies, black jackets and spoke Setswana. The police request assistance in finding the two men sketched in the attached ID kits. All information can be forwarded to D/Const Gladwin Thabapelo on 083 929 9544 or 053 456 5200,” Kock said.

The investigation continues.

-TDN

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BY REGINALD KANYANE

TWIN brothers aged 18 from Rooiwal village in Taung perished in a shack fire on Tuesday morning. According to information, Tefo and Tefelo Obusitse were allegedly asleep in their shack when they were razed by fire.

North West police spokesperson, Lieutenant Colonel Amanda Funani said: “A case of inquest was opened at Taung Police Station. The incident took place in the early hours of Tuesday morning. The police found a flammable stove in the wrecked shack. It seems they left the stove on while asleep. Police investigation is underway,” Funani said.

-TDN

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BY REGINALD KANYANE

FIVE suspects aged between 32 and 63 were arrested by The Hawks in North West in separate crimes. The Hawks provincial spokesperson, Capt Tlangelani Rikhotso said the suspects were arrested for fraud in Zeerust, Swartruggens and Koster on Friday.

Rikhotso said the suspects allegedly opened bank accounts using stolen IDs.

“Mamsy Selekane, 48, Maria Greenback, 63 and Lesedi Mothibi, 32 were arrested at FNB in Swartruggens following their attempt to swindle R6 million from an account belonging to an 86 year old woman. The suspects were arrested and appeared in Zeerust Magistrate’s Court yesterday.

She said the suspects were remanded in custody until July 6 for formal bail hearing. Rikhotso said they swooped on a syndicate in Zeerust, Koster and Swartruggens.

“The Hawks also pounced on two bogus security guards on the same day. Njabulo Ngobeni, 32 and Evans Makhamo, 39 were arrested following their fraudulent stunt. The two pretended to assist struggling ATM users but stole from them in the process.

“The suspects were arrested and found to be in possession of 21 different bank cards, R800 in cash, G4S and Bidvest security jackets. They appeared in Madikwe Magistrate’s Court yesterday (today). They were also remanded in custody until July 4 for a formal bail hearing,” Rikhotso said.

The North West Hawks provincial head, Major General Linda Mbana commended the police. She promised that the Hawks will root out fraud and corruption intrepidly.

-TDN

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BY REGINALD KANYANE

THREE people including a teenage boy have been killed and two have been injured after a vehicle rolled on the N14 in Ventersdorp on Monday.

Netcare 911 spokesperson, Athlenda Mathe said reports from the scene indicated that the vehicle was heading to Mahikeng from Krugersdorp.

“When Netcare 911 paramedics arrived on scene, we found the driver of the vehicle in a stable condition. Our paramedics stabilised the man on scene before ferrying him to a nearby hospital for further medical care.

“The Provincial EMS had already transported a woman and a teenage boy to a nearby hospital for further medical care. They were both in a serious condition. Sadly, the boy succumbed to his injuries in hospital,” Mathe said.

“The boy was declared dead by a doctor at the Ventersdorp Provincial Hospital. The two deceased were ejected from the vehicle on impact. A man and a woman were declared dead on scene by the Provincial EMS,” she said.

The incident happened at about 09h00.

-TDN

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All channels that existed before on dealing will a matter between Oakbay accounts and four major banks will be activated, Minister of Finance Pravin Gordhan told listeners of Power FM on Sunday evening.

Gordhan was responding to questions that were asked by caller during his live interview with Onkgopotse Tabane on Power Perspective. Caller wanted to know what Treasury was doing to try and solve the decision of the banks to close down Oakbay accounts.

In his responds, Minister said that Treasury will assist where it can, and it will go out of its way in doing that. An irritated Minister lambasted Oakbay employees who took the opportunity and said they were ganging-up against him.

“I am surprised that you are using a Talk Show to resolve the matter. There is a confidential and contractual relationship between banks and their clients, which follows national and international banking regulations,” he added.

When Gordhan was asked whether he did help the company or not seeing that the company was still in the same situation as before, an agitated minister told the power perspective host JJ Tabane that he can’t make assumptions going as far as accusing him of taking sides.

A clearly angry Gordhan told Tabane that he didn’t want to engage any further on the matter saying that proper meeting will be conducted to deal with the matter.

Four top SA banks Standard Bank, Absa, FNB and Nedbank “all gang up” against Oakbay Investments and closed accounts company earlier this year without giving them any reason.

Meanwhile, Parliament’s standing committee on finance, through its chairperson Yunus Carrim, had expressed its solidarity with employees of Oakbay and their dependants. However, Carrim said that they had to exercise caution regarding the dispute between the banks and Oakbay.

‘We are concerned about the plight of Oakbay employees and we express our solidarity with you and your dependents. We certainly do not want to see you adversely affected in any way,” Carrim said.

“It is perhaps best that our committee exercises caution on taking the matter forward,” he said.

Absa corporate and investment banking CEO Phakamani Hadebe also sympathised with Oakbay employees after a march on the banks in April.

“We have carefully considered it (a memorandum) and we sympathise with the position of Oakbay employees. We are required by law to keep client matters confidential and can only discuss related matters with them,” Hadebe said.

Comments from Minister Pravin Gordhan were not available by the time of publication.
Source: http://www.ann7.com

INCORRECT information provided by employers caused backlog for more than 1000 Unemployment Insurance Fund (UIF) at North West labour department.

UIF manager at provincial office, Selete Qhamakoane said they have now established a team of specialists to unpack the backlog.

“We are struggling to process the applications due to incorrect information supplied by employers. We want to resolve this matter and pay beneficiaries. Some of the applications are dating as far as last year. And most of them involve maternity applications.

“It means that mothers went on maternity leave and they never got paid by UIF. We urge employers to provide correct information as this hinders the process,” Qhamakoane said.

Provincial spokesperson, Orpa Mathabe said if the information provided differs with the one on their database, the application will automatically be rejected.

“This causes challenges because we need to send the applicants back to the employer to rectify the information. Also this leads to the backlog and beneficiaries end up not getting paid.

“We will send out our team of employer auditors to go and assist employers who struggle to fill the forms. We are also embarking on advocacy sessions in various Malls around North West from June to September,” Mathabe said.

She further said this was an attempt to reach out to employers. Mathabe added that employers also need to note that this is an interim intervention.

“They need to contact any labour department office nearer to them if they experience any challenges. Employers can also contact our office on (018) 387 8100 to get more details,” she said.

-TDN

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MEC of community safety and transport, Dr Mpho Motlhabane met with livestock owners at Taung Agricultural College in Taung on Friday. Motlhabane said they aimed at addressing the stock theft matter because that affects the economy of the province.

“We know that North West province is mostly pre-dominated by rural areas. So our people rely on livestock to survive and improve their lives. We met with them to come up with strategic plans in eliminating livestock theft.

“We encouraged them to mark or tattooed their livestock. They must also have a forum that addresses their issues. The forum will work closely with our stock theft unit in policing department,” he said.

However a livestock owner from Dryharts village, Tsiamiso Goitsemodimo, 44 said he lost many goats through theft. Goitsemodimo said police were not helpful after he opened a case.

“I think police are not competent enough in fighting stock theft. I opened a case after my slaughtered goats were found in the suspects’ vehicle on N18 back in 2014.

“I positively identified those slaughtered goats after they were stolen in Choseng village. The case was opened against the suspects. However I do not know what happened to that case now,” he said.

-TDN

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LOCAL government and human settlements department has set aside R13m to support municipalities in upgrading their disaster management and fire services in order to render efficient and effective service delivery, MEC Fenny Gaolaolwe said.

She said all disaster management centres should comply with safety regulations. Gaolalolwe added that they will provide the fire stations with necessary equipments.

“The department has allocated R1 675 millions to the Mahikeng local municipality to procure fire fighting uniforms, protective clothing and ICT equipments such as computers and printers. This will help in an effort to build a capacitated station and reduce the risks in communities.

“This follows the assessment by our department. It was revealed that there is non-compliance with the legislative guidelines in line with uniforms and protective clothing as well as basic ICT equipments,” Gaolaolwe said.

She said they have also identified the need for a disaster management satellite office in Tshidilamolomo in Ratlou local municipality.

“There are number of fire incidents occurred from nearby areas. We bought uniforms for our firefighters worth R1m. I also want to appeal to our personnel at fire stations to be committed. They are expected to respond to calls for emergency assistance on time.

“Proper disaster preparedness is about much more than giving emergency officials the tools they need. The communities must also create emergency protocols. They also need to be explained carefully to the residents,” Gaolaolwe said.

Mahikeng local municipality mayor, Gosiame Seatlholo said the equipments will assist to fight fire breaks.

“Schools can be especially susceptible to crises. Emergency officials must make it a priority to provide school officials with the information they need to be prepared for an emergency. We welcome the support from local government and human settlements department,” Seatlholo said.

-TDN

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A PROFESSIONAL doctor, Obakeng Mfikwe encouraged the youth to participate in farming. Mfikwe said this during the youth award ceremony at Lichtenburg on Friday.

Mfikwe joined farming back in 2009. He exchanged his stethoscope to become a livestock farmer.

“We need to encourage the youth to be part of farming industry. I attribute my success as a livestock farmer to the study group I belong to. Participating at various agricultural shows and sharing ideas assisted me a lot. We also shared ideas and experiences with fellow farmers,” he said.

“The young farmers contribute meaningfully to the economy of the country. They also help in shaping the vision of agricultural sector towards prosperity,” he said.

MEC of rural, environment and agricultural development, Manketsi Tlhape said the agriculture seen as not being cool amongst the youth. However Tlhape said they need to change the mindset.

She said they challenged the youth to participate in agriculture as the industry is viable.

Tlhape awarded five youth those who showed their pedigree within the industry during the award ceremony.

“We encourage the youth to be part of revolution. They can make a lot of money within the industry. So the time is now for you to get your hands dirty. The majority of the youth regard agriculture simply not cool or attractive.

“Mostly think of it only as back-breaking labour. However the industry economical pays-off. There is also a room for career advancement. With an ageing population of farmers, it’s clear that agriculture needs to attract more young people,” Tlhape said.

“We have empowerment programmes towards youth and women. We also transformed the agriculture sector. The 40% of what we allocate benefits youth and women. We have also resuscitated our program within our agricultural department which is YARD.

“In every allocation we make, I intervene to make sure 40% is available to projects run by youth and women. We are having these awards to recognise those who showed effort in the industry,” she said.

-TDN

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There has been plenty of speculation in recent weeks regarding the playing personnel at Naturena for the new season, with matters being amplified after the club announced that up to 20 players could be leaving.

Now, with the 2016/17 Absa Premiership campaign on the horizon, the Amakhosi have revealed a whole host of new faces that they are hoping will help try and turnaround their misfortunes from the 2015/16 season.

Chiefs finished fifth in Komphela’s first year in charge, failing to win a single piece of silverware, though they will be keen to put that all behind them with the help of their new stars.

Chiefs’ New Signings:
Sbu Khumalo
Enocent Mkhabela
Edmore Chirambadare
Mitchell Katsvairo
Lewis Macha
Rama Mphahlele
Keagan Buchanan

They also confirmed the promotion of Emmanuel Letlotlo.

While only the eight new names have now been officially confirmed, Chiefs are expected to add a couple more faces to their roster before the window slams shut in August.

Source: http://www.soccerladuma.co.za