Pic:  (Bokone Bophirima Premier, Supra Mahumapelo) 

By BAKANG MOKOTO

BOKONE Bophirima provincial government Director-General, Dr Lydia Sebego has assured the people of the province that government work would proceed as normal amid reported pickets planned for Wednesday.

Sebego reacted to media reports that claims that a newly formed forum called Anti State Capture Forum in North West has organised the picket. According to Sebego, the forum call for Premier, Supra Mahumapelo to resign.

“It is sad that in this day when democratic processes are communicated almost on a daily basis, we still find people forming alliances of convenience and making unfounded allegations to try and mislead our people. Mahumapelo and the provincial government were democratically elected and anyone who is unhappy with his presence should use the democratic route, which is only through the ballot.

“It is clear that a media campaign was being waged to tarnish Mahumapelo’s name with unfounded allegations. The reason this small group of people has chosen to do this through a media campaign is because they know there’s a very little chance that they would be asked to present evidence,” Sebego said.

Sebego further said they were also disappointed that this new forum is exploiting the pain that the province and the country at large felt with the 2012 Marikana tragedy.

“Taking such unfounded allegations to Marikana is equal to playing on our people’s emotions and exploiting the same poor people this group claims to represent. Our government respect everyone’s constitutional right to protest or march, as long as they do that peacefully.

“We respect the democratic right to protest or picket, as long as in the process the protesters also remember their responsibility to respect other people’s rights,” she said.

Mahumapelo once again reiterated that anyone who alleges corruption to approach the relevant law enforcement agencies with evidence.

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Job losses may continue for some time in Bokone Bophirima’s mining sector as big mining companies sell off their assets and new players coming into the sector opting to use machines.

This was the warning from mining analyst, Mmamokgethi Molopyane, who was speaking to Semphete following the release of Statistics South Africa’s (StatsSA) report on the mining industry in 2015.

According to the report, the total number of people employed in the mining industry as at the end of June 2015 was 490 146.

“The mining of platinum group metal ore division employed the largest number of persons (198 952 or 40,6%), followed by mining of gold and uranium ore with (104 369 or 21,3%) and mining of coal and lignite (97 952 or 20,0%),” the report stated.

“Employment in the mining industry declined from 538 144 in 2012 to 490 146 in 2015 (a loss of 47 998 jobs). The biggest losses in jobs were recorded in mining of gold and uranium ore (a loss of 39 715 jobs), followed by mining of platinum group metal ore (a loss of 7 812 jobs) and other stone quarrying, including stone crushing and clay and sandpits (a loss of 4 512 jobs),” the report continued.

“As companies sell off some of their assets, especially in the North West; some are laying off people. Some of the new companies coming in prefer to use machines and that does not help with job creation,” Molopyane said.

In terms of mine employees, Bokone Bophirima was the largest contributor with 133 428 (37,8%) persons working in the industry, followed by Mpumalanga (78 518 or 22,2%), Gauteng  (53 764 or 15,2%) and Limpopo (37 005 or 10,5%).

The report further revealed that the total income for the mining industry in 2015 was R419,5 billion.

“The total income represents an increase of 2,2% per annum over the income reported in the corresponding survey of 2012 (R393,4 billion). Comparing 2012 and 2015, large increases were reported for mining of coal and lignite (+R21,9 billion), mining of manganese (+R6,8 billion) and mining of diamonds (including alluvial diamonds) (+R6,4 billion). However, large decreases were reported for mining of platinum group metal ore (-R15,5 billion), mining of iron ore (-R7,4 billion) and mining of gold and uranium ore (-R3,3 billion),” the report stated.

Between 2012 and 2015, the mining of coal and lignite group gained the biggest percentage share of income (3,7 percentage points) (from a percentage contribution of 24,4% in 2012 to 28,1% in 2015). The mining of platinum group metal ore lost the biggest percentage share (5,4 percentage points) in the same period (from 27,1% in 2012 to 21,7% in 2015).

Mpumalanga was the province with the largest income from sales of goods in the mining industry in 2015 with R114,4 billion.

“The province with the second largest income from sales of goods was North West (R84,7 billion or 21,3%), followed by Northern Cape (R69,5 billion or 17,5%) and Limpopo (R45,3 billion or 11,4%),” the report stated.

Source: http://www.semphete.co.za 

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African National Congress (ANC) MP, Makhosi Khoza has defended her comments regarding the state of the ANC.

Khoza has received widespread criticism after writing on her Facebook page that politics of patronage have finally claimed the sanity of the ANC leadership.

In sharing her thoughts, Khoza describes the leadership of the ANC as ill-advised and harmful to the relevance and lifespan of the party.

Speaking on AM Live, Khoza says no matter how ANC MPs will vote on the motion of no confidence in President Jacob Zuma on the 18th of April; the ANC has lost its moral ground.

“Whether the ANC votes for or against, equally the ANC is going to lose. I honestly don’t believe that we have taken into account the fact that we’re not just voted by our members of the ANC. Last election we got over 11 million, 10 million of those people they’re not card carrying members of the ANC and we need to be listening to that. Hence I was saying that we’re a leader of society and I really don’t see anything wrong with what I said.”Source: http://www.sabc.co.za

Fans will be rubbing their hands in anticipation as this encounter will be a reunion of sorts for United coach Stuart Baxter and several of his players after he led them to several trophies while still in Chiefs colours.

The PSL will announce the venues‚ the dates and kick off times of all the matches at a later stage.

The full quarterfinal draw:

Golden Arrows vs Platinum Stars

Kaizer Chiefs vs Supersport United

Orlando Pirates vs Bloemfontein Celtic

Chippa United vs Jomo Cosmos –

Source: TMG Digital/ TMG Sport

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By BAKANG MOKOTO
Four people were killed and four sustained injuries after a car rolled on the N12 in Stilfontein on Monday.

Er24 spokesperson, Anine Dormehl said the paramedics found four people flung 10-15 meters from the vehicle after it rolled multiple times.

“Unfortunately there was nothing paramedics could do for the two women and two children and they were declared dead on the scene. It is estimated that the women were 35 and 60 years old and that the two children were 7 and 11 years old.

“It is believed that two men and two toddlers were lucky to escape with minor injuries. They were all treated  and transported to hospital by other emergency services on scene,” Dormehl said.

The white vehicle could not be identified and it is not clear what caused the car to roll.

Local authorities will be conducting an investigation into the matter.

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