BY REGINALD KANYANE

NORTH West premier Supra Mahumapelo will launch a Setsokotsane Operation Centre at Archives Centre, Mahikeng on Friday at 10am. Provincial spokesperson, Brian Setswambung said the initiative will be a one-stop shop for the citizens in the province.

“Setsokotsane Operation Centre will be in every ward across the province. This will make it easy for people to access government services. The project is also part of Fifth Administration’s commitment to improve communication with all citizens, particularly in Villages, Townships and Small Dorpies (VTSD). It will also assist us to find a quicker way to resolve communities concerns,” Setswambung said.

-TDN

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MADIBENG residents embarked on a cleaning programme to celebrate International Mandela Day. Water and sanitation department spokesperson, Sputnik Ratau said the initiative was in conjunction with other stakeholders.

“More than 3000 volunteers embarked on a cleaning campaign. We cleaned the streets of Jericho and later on proceeded to Toloane River which was left sparkling clean after the cleanup.

“The event was a response to a call made by our department to all South Africans to participate in a Clear River campaign by cleaning stream, river, wetland or any other freshwater ecosystem in their environment,” Ratau said.

He added that community members converged at Kwena Madiba a Toloane High School in Jericho to celebrate International Mandela Day afterwards.

The Water and Sanitation Forum chairperson of Madibeng Local Municipality, Moses Seokane promised the Jericho community that they will forever have water now.

“We also want to encourage the youth and broader community members to save water. This includes fighting vandalism to water infrastructures and selling of water to the community. We urge them to also identify and fix leaking taps and water meters.  

“We also presented wheel chairs, wheel barrows and blankets to 140 elderly people in the process. A cake was also shared by the community in honour of late Dr Nelson Mandela,” Seokane said.

-TDN

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THE North West government believes that the reactivation of the airports in Pilanesberg and Mahikeng have contributed significantly to the tourism boom that is being experienced not only in the province but also in the country.

According to the latest figures released by Stats SA, well over 3 million travellers entered the country during the month of May – an increase of 11% when compared to the same period last year.

In the tourism sector, accommodation increased by 8.7%. This lead to a 9.1% increase in terms of money generated from accommodation.

Of significance is the fact that over 90% of the visitors travelling in and out of the country preferred air travel with the rest opting for either road or sea transport.

While the increase in the volumes of tourists has largely been attributed to the relaxation of visa laws by the department of Home Affairs, the North West government is of the view that the country is also reaping the benefits of the revival of domestic commercial flights in the province.

Last year, the provincial government –through partnerships with SA Express and other stakeholders – played a key role in reviving flights to Pilanesberg from OR Tambo airport as part of moves to stimulate local tourism activities.

Flights to and from Mahikeng were also reactivated – giving more travel options to both local and foreign tourists.

Venues such as the Sun City resort are very popular among local and foreign tourists as well as the several game reserves dotted around the province.

The North West provincial government’s acting spokesperson – Brian Setswambung – told The New Age that figures show that the revival of these flights is one of the reasons why tourism figures have picked up.

“It is clear that the move to reactivate domestic flights in the province is now yielding positive results and this is why such a step was taken,” Setswambung said.

“Access to a number of tourist attractions in the province has now been opened up to more people and we are confident that this will continue to help the tourism sector to grow and add more value to the provincial and national economy,” he added.

“Additionally, jobs were created through the resuscitation of the flights and this also points towards a positive future for our economy,” he added.

Setswambung further explained that the provincial Executive Committee (EXCO) has decided to facilitate the establishment of cargo flights to and from Mahikeng.

“The cargo flights will make it easier to transport goods from other countries into Mahikeng and then to other parts of the North West province.

“This will have a positive effect because business activities within the province will be increased while more jobs will also be created,” he added.

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EDUCATION and sports development MEC, Sello Lehari wants to increase the number of boarding school in the province.

He said the move is meant to fight moral decay among the school going youths partly fuelled by many absent parents in communities.

“Because of the changing economic environment, parents have to go out and work hard for their children. They are away from their kids most of the time and as a result of that, this contribute indirectly to moral degeneration and some of the social problems we have,” said Lehari.

He said with more boarding schools, capable janitors will be appointed to parent the young people.

“This will help us contain the spiralling misbehaviour of children. We find these days a young man raping a 90-year-old woman, this should never happen,” Lehari said.

The other approach is to revive and spread Mmabana Foundation programmes to schools as pronounced by Premier Supra Mahumapelo.

“We cannot allow our learners being involved in crime and substance abuse when they are free from school work. They must do positive things that can assist them in the development of their lives,” the MEC said.

Lehari said the provincial government cannot delay this anymore.

“School children can be able to do aerobics, they can sing and dance at every school and there are many other things that can be done now without spending additional money at the schools,” he said.

-TDN

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THE Potchefstroom Hospital has the North West province proud after it was voted the best hospital in quality patient care and excellence.

As a result, the hospital won a top accolade at the second annual Titanium Awards held at the Cape Town International Convention Centre on Mandela Day.

The awards are sponsored by the Board of Healthcare Funders of Southern Africa.

Potchefstroom Hospital came out tops and scooped the titanium award in the public sector category.

The category had other hospital from other parts of the country and entries from the Southern African Developing community (SADC).

The titanium awards seek to recognise and acknowledge excellence in the public and private health care sectors in Southern Africa.

They also recognize and honour those delivering superior service to their customers and members and identify leading performers among hospital groups, medical schemes, administrators, managed health care organizations, the pharmaceutical industry, health-care practitioners and the industry at large.

Hospital chief executive officer, Gloria Tlhapi said: “This is amazing and it will become a history of Potchefstroom Hospital for putting people’ lives as the priority in all aspects and their needs and to serve them with a good manner and dignity.

At Potchefstroom Hospital, we ensure that services we offering are relevant and are aligned with Batho Pele Principles. I want to thank “Team Potch Hospital”, they deserve this,” said ecstatic Gloria Tlhapi

North West health MEC, Dr Magome Masike welcomed the award saying it showed the province was going somewhere in terms of delivery.

  Speaking on the sidelines of the International Aids Conference in Durban, Masike said hard work and dedication to service delivery paid off for Potchefstroom Hospital. 

  “When Witrand Hospital from the same district of Dr Kenneth Kaunda won the titanium award last year I said that we are a department with a good track record of excelling because we have a list of non-negotiables that guide our operations.

  “This is just the beginning; we will continue to do more as the Department of Health in the province to ensure that all our facilities comply and meet national core standards,” he said.

  Masike added that the award should serve as motivation to other institutions so that all health facilities operate at the top level.

  “I hope this recognition will go a long way to enhance a sense of satisfaction in our work and encourage us further to make a difference in the lives of those we serve.

  “We appeal to all our employees to adopt a personal policy of going the extra mile in all their work activities,” he said.

-TDN

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BY REGINALD KANYANE

ANC national chairperson and National Assembly speaker, Baleka Mbete added her voice to the call for churches to pray for peaceful elections.

Mbate made the call when she met church leaders during her recent visit to Sandfontein village in Rustenburg.

She said the church should pray for fair, honest and smooth-running elections.

“We should ask our people to pray for politics in general. We also urge them to pray for the leadership of the ANC. We want to make sure that we have free and fair elections,” Mbete said.

She added that they were already involved as national leadership to try and resolve some issues raised by disgruntled ANC members. Some of ANC members defected to other political parties after accusing the ruling party of ignoring their councillor candidate nomination lists.

“We are resolving matters that affected various branches. We want to help comrades to understand what went wrong, but everything is fine now. We are now looking forward to August 3.

“Our people must know that we want to continue to deliver better services. We will continue to empower and improve the lives of our people especially in the rural and far-flung areas,” she said.

Some of residents in Rustenburg said they expecting jobs after elections.

“We want the government to diminish poverty, unemployment and inequality. We also expect the educational system to be improved. Tertiary institutions must play a pivotal role in improving the lives of our people through education. Our youth need more bursaries and information,” she said.

Meanwhile 300 ANC members in Morokweng near Vryburg allegedly defected to Democratic Alliance.

They accused ANC of imposing a councillor candidate on them.

However even though Kagisano-Molopo municipality is ANC stronghold, DA councillor candidate, Kabelo Tshukudu said: “We are ready for the elections and we want to topple ANC from this municipality. We have welcomed more than 400 members from ANC.”

EFF councillor candidate in the area, Tshepo Shuping refuted that the youth in Kagisano-Molopo municipality will vote for the DA. He said that the youth will vote for EFF.

“The youth will vote for EFF. There is no use to be free while you continue to live in abject poverty. The youth feel betrayed by the ANC. They took a decision now to be affiliated to EFF,” Shuping said.

However Kagisano-Molopo municipal mayor, Veronica Keketsi said those who defected to DA do not know the policies of ANC.

“Those who defected to DA showed that they do not understand the policies of the ANC. We need to respect their decisions though,” Keketsi said.

-TDN

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BY REGINALD KANYANE

MORE than ninety pupils from various schools in Dr Kenneth Kaunda district municipality.

Thabo Pelesane, the chairperson of Thabo Pelesane Foundation that donated the goods said that they wanted to show commitment to humanity by emulating good deeds of the late Dr Nelson Mandela.

“We donated sanitary pads at Mololokotoane Primary School to school girls. We also identified four families and gave them food and toiletry hampers. TP Foundation also donated school bags to Mahelo farm school pupils outside Tigane. The school bags were donated by Dirang Mmogo Business Enterprise. Sanlam donated food parcels as part of their social responsibility,” he said.

Pelesane is also a national TB ambassador. He was invited By Nelson Mandela Foundation for memorial lecture that was delivered by billionaire Bill Gates.

“We are human beings who must take action and we need to decide now because this unique moment will not last forever. We also need to clear away the obstacles that are eminence in young people’s way.

“If young people are sick and malnourished, their bodies and their brains will never fully develop. If they are not educated well, their minds will lie dormant. If they do not have access to economic opportunities, they will not be able to achieve their goals,” he said.

Pelesane added that if they invest in the right things, they will make sure the basic needs of Africa’s young people were taken care of.

He said that he was intrigued by Bill Gates’ words.

Pelesane said: “Gates said we need to empower the youth. He added that the youth must have the physical, cognitive, and emotional resources they need to change the future. Life on this continent will improve faster than it ever has.”

TP Foundation advisor, Geoffery Abrams emphasised that there was a greater need for business community to play a meaningful part in supporting community based initiatives through sponsorships either financial or playing an advisory role.

-TDN

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BY REGINALD KANYANE

NORTH West University (NWU) Mafikeng Campus lecturer, Dr Lehlohonolo Phali encouraged more pupils to take Mathematics and Science.

He said that will assist the country in the long run to acquire the much needed skills.

“Mathematics and Science are everywhere. If you think you are not going to use mathematics and science, you are mistaken. There are a lot of practical applications of physics and biology too. Having a good grasp on numbers help us make sense of finances, probabilities, time calculations and etc,” Phali said.

The youthful lecturer has taken it upon himself to teach these critical subjects to pupils from Grade 8 to 12.

“I also help out university and college students too. I give my lessons after hours and even during weekends. I am looking to start a mathematical sciences academy which will help me reach more people than I am now. My aim is to assist especially those pupils from rural areas.

“I also give motivational talks to high school pupils too. We need to teach the youth about the importance of education. Our generation needs to aware of opportunities that are out there,” he said.

Phali studied BSc and majored in Applied Mathematics, Electronics and Pure Mathematics. He went on to do Honours, MSc and PhD all in Applied Mathematics. Phali is currently the youngest student to complete a PhD degree at the North West University.

“I grew up in an average family in Sebokeng in Vereeniging. My father was the only breadwinner at home. However he passed away back in 2003. My brothers had to take over the responsibilities at home. I loved studying especially Mathematics since from an early age.

“I saw the applications of mathematics in real life. So that helped me a lot. Mathematics is a scarce skill program/course, so that means is the market is there for those who are good in Mathematics and Science in general,” he added.

Phali said South Africa lacks more researchers in this field too. He further said what he learned was that Mathematics helped people to think analytically.

“I was also inspired by the late professor Matthews Nkambule. He always talked about the opportunities that are there in studying Mathematics. My overall passion and love for it kept me going. I specialise in Applied Mathematics- Mathematical modelling,” he added.

-TDN

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Picture: North West provincial government spokesperson, Brian Setswambung

BY REGINALD KANYANE

THE North West provincial government dismissed reports that its employees were told to vote for the ANC or lose their jobs as laughable and absurd.

Provincial government spokesperson, Brian Setswambung said no one can threaten anyone as every citizen has a democratic right to be associated with a political party of his/her choice.

“There has not been any government platform where public servants were influenced or threatened to vote the ANC. The allegation is malicious and only serves to undermine public servants. This implies that they are pliable and do not know their rights.

“Your vote is your secret. So even if anyone threatens them, how would you know that they voted for which party? We need to apply logic on other things. Political parties will do anything to get media attention. So, we urge political parties to refrain from using dirty tactics,” Setswambung said.

The EFF in North West has filed a complaint with the Electoral Commission (IEC). The party alleged that ANC forced its government employees to campaign for the party.

EFF provincial spokesman Mpoletsang Montshosi said: “EPWP and CWP workers came to the EFF to say their jobs are being threatened. They are told to do ANC electioneering work. If they do not, they are told they will be fired.”

Montshosi said they have received those allegations from Mamusa, Ditsobotla and Maquassi Hills.

IEC provincial chairperson, Dr Tumelontle Thiba said that investigations were underway. Thiba added that they will visit various communities to verify the claims.

“We can confirm that we have received the complaint from the EFF. We urge political parties to have tolerance towards each other. There are penalties for misconduct and contravening the act in terms of the Municipal Electoral Act. The fines include a R200 000 fine and the disqualification of candidates and the withdrawal of parties registration,” she said.

ANC provincial secretary, Dakota Legoete said they have not mandated anyone to threaten EPWP and CWP workers in ANC’s name.

“We actually want to condemn public servants who threaten those EPWP and CWP workers if the allegations are true. However we also believe that EFF might be using this as a public stunt. We know EPWP and CWP are government project and the aim was to fight poverty, unemployment and create job opportunities as the caring government,” Legoete said.

-TDN

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