JOHANNESBURG – Parliament has confirmed that former transport minister Dipuo Peters tendered her resignation as its member.
Peters was removed from her position as transport minister during the recent cabinet reshuffle.
She was replaced by Joe Maswanganyi, a former MEC of Sports, Arts and Culture in Limpopo.
More on this story to follow
– eNCA
(Picture: By Reginald Kanyane)
The statue of the late freedom fighter John Beaver “JB” Marks should benefit the economy of Ventersdorp through tourism. This is the view of Bokone Bophirima Premier, Supra Mahumapelo, who unveiled the six metre bronze statue of JB Marks last weekend.
“The Local Municipality of NW 405 … please make sure that you develop a programme that will ensure that South Africans and the world know about this heritage site.
When the people come here please tell them about the struggles of South Africa led by freedom fighters such as uncle JB Marks,” Mahumapelo said during the unveiling ceremony of the JB Marks statue. The history of the Tshing township and the Ventersdorp town should form part of the history lessons shared with the tourists, he said.
The Premier said for the country to successfully preserve its history, the current generation must package it accordingly and tell it like it is to the coming generations and the world.
“As the current generation we must make sure that we get older and younger people to work together in packaging our history and culture in a creative and interesting way.
We need to get on board young people into the tourism sector, arts and culture to do book writing, singing and acting more about our freedom fighter who has sacrificed a lot for this country,” he said, emphasizing that this work alone would create jobs for the locals.
Executive Mayor of Ventersdorp/Tlokwe NW 405 Local Municipality, Kgotso Khumalo, said his municipality will indeed use the statue to promote tourism in the municipality.
“I believe that this statue will create opportunities for many of our people in the municipality because of the tourists from different parts of the world.
The hospitality industry will get even better because of this magnificent statue of uncle JB Marks,” he said. Khumalo said the statue will even play a huge part in uniting the people of different colour in an area previously characterized by racism.
Asked about proposals to rename the merged Ventersdorp/Tlokwe NW 405 Local Municipality the JB Marks Local Municipality, Khumalo said the process that involves public participation was still underway and should be given a chance.
“The process of changing the name of the municipality is a sensitive matter and it must therefore be treated with care in consultation with the masses of our people in this municipality. We are currently in the consultation process and our people are throwing in different names. Once the process is done we will be able to tell the public our final name before July this year,” he said.
Moipone Tomeletso, a resident of Tshing Township, said her biggest wish is for the statue to create the much needed employment for local young people.
“We welcome the statue in our area. It is encouraging and making us understand the importance of this democracy and that great people like uncle JB Marks came out of our dusty small town.
“My hope is that this heritage site will create more opportunities for the majority of us young people because unemployment and poverty is unacceptably high here,” she said.
She urged the municipality to create hype about the statue so that investors can also be attracted to build big infrastructure projects such as hotels and malls in their area.
Source: http://www.semphete.co.za
BY REGINALD KANYANE
NEWLY-appointed minister, Joe Maswanganyi will officially activate the 2017 Road Safety and Law Enforcement Easter Operations.
Maswanganyi will be joined by MEC for community and transport managememt, Dr Mpho Motlhabane during the event that is scheduled to take place in the Rustenburg Municipality.
They will be joined by Faith-Based Organisations who will conduct prayers in four different areas identified as accident hotspot areas.
“Eight people recently collided with a cement truck on the N4 road. The activation of the Road Safety and Law Enforcement Operations is an annual campaign aimed at intensifying road safety education and increasing traffic officers’ visibility on the roads.
“The operations are meant to reduce road accidents and fatalities across all major roads across the province. These are also informed by the global UN Decade of Action for Road Safety campaign aimed at reducing fatalities by 50% by 2020,” Motlhabane said.
He said that Maswanganyi will further address the law enforcement and road safety officials who form part of the provincial Easter Road Safety and Law enforcement operations.
“During these operations, the Department joins forces with all stakeholders in the transport sector to ensure that the citizens of the province enjoy road accident and crime free Easter period,” he said.
taungdailynews@gmail.com
The Department of Local Government and Human Settlements in Bokone Bophirima cemented these alliances on Friday last week during the Human Settlements Indaba held in Rustenburg. It signed a social contract for sustainable integrated human settlements.
The province’s traditional leadership, the South African Local Government Association (SALGA), North West University, the private sector, developers and contractors, the mining sector, building material manufactures and suppliers, the banking sector and civil society organizations form part of this social contract.
Signatories of the social contract jointly undertook to work together with the provincial government towards the delivery of 1.5 million housing opportunities, and undertook to free blocked projects, as well as eradicate the backlog of title deeds for the pre- and post-1994 housing stock.
Local Government and Human Settlements MEC, Galaletsang Gaolaolwe, said her department is driven by the provincial government’s five concretes of Agriculture, Culture and Tourism (ACT), Villages, Townships and Small Dorpies (VTSD), Reconciliation, Healing and Renewal (RHR), Setsokotsane as well as Saamtrek-Saamwerk to fast track the delivery of integrated human settlements.
“The delivery of sustainable human settlements can be achieved by bringing all stakeholders together in a rapid provision of decent and dignified human settlements to move the province forward through the Saamtrek-Saamwerk philosophy,’’ said the MEC.
The department will, on a continuous basis, intercact with all social contract signatories to assess the implementation of the agreements in the contract.
The department would also prioritise the provision of human settlements to senior citizens, people with disabilities and child-headed households as a special focus, Gaolaolwe said.
Source: http://www.semphete.co.za
Cape Town – Ratings agency S&P Global Ratings on Monday downgraded South Africa to sub-investment grade and said a massive Cabinet reshuffle shortly after midnight on Friday has put policy continuity at risk.
The decision follows a Cabinet reshuffle which claimed the jobs of Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan and his deputy Mcebisi Jonas.
Barely 24 hours into his new job as Minister of Finance, Malusi Gigaba clarified two important aspects of his new appointment which represent major shifts from his predecessor. Both aspects of the new Gigaba era should leave South Africans concerned and calling for greater scrutiny than ever before on government, political analyst Daniel Silke earlier wrote on Fin24.
“Firstly, Gigaba unambiguously placed the highly contentious nuclear power build project firmly back on the agenda.
http://acdn.adnxs.com/ib/static/usersync/v3/async_usersync.htmlhttp://acdn.adnxs.com/ib/static/usersync/v3/async_usersync.html
“The second aspect of the first 24 hours of Gigaba’s reign is perhaps more worrying. At his first media briefing, Gigaba expressed a more populist view of not only economic policy but also his world view,” Silke wrote.
The rand reacted immediately to trade at R13.71/$. By 17:53 it changed hands at R13.67 to the greenback.
S&P said the executive changes initiated by President Jacob Zuma have put at risk fiscal and growth outcomes.
“We assess that contingent liabilities to the state are rising,” the global ratings agency said in a statement.
S&P lowered the long-term foreign currency sovereign credit rating on the Republic of South Africa to ‘BB+’ from ‘BBB-‘and the long-term local currency rating to ‘BBB-‘ from ‘BBB’.
It also lowered the short-term foreign currency rating to ‘B’ from ‘A-3’ and the short-term local currency rating to ‘A-3’ from ‘A-2’. The outlook on all the long-term ratings is negative.
In addition, S&P lowered the long-term South Africa national scale rating to ‘zaAA-‘ from ‘zaAAA’, and affirmed the short-term national scale rating at ‘zaA-1’.
“The downgrade reflects our view that the divisions in the ANC-led government that have led to changes in the executive leadership, including the finance minister, have put policy continuity at risk.
“This has increased the likelihood that economic growth and fiscal outcomes could suffer. The rating action also reflects our view that contingent liabilities to the state, particularly in the energy sector, are on the rise, and that previous plans to improve the underlying financial position of Eskom may not be implemented in a comprehensive and timely manner.
“In our view, higher risks of budgetary slippage will also put upward pressure on South Africa’s cost of capital, further dampening already-modest growth.”
Source: http://www.fin24.com
BY BAKANG MOKOTO
The PEC of the African National Congress in Bokone Bophirima held its ordinary meeting in Moretele sub-region on Friday. The provincial secretary, Dakota Legoete said the PEC meeting received a political overview from its chairperson, Supra Mahumapelo and discussed amongst other issues the state of the organisation, preparations for regional
conferences, preparations for the June national policy conference as well as current political developments.
“The PEC also welcome the Cabinet reshuffle as announced by the President of the Republic of South Africa, Jacob Zuma. We congratulate the new appointees and support them in their new
responsibilities. We acknowledge the prescription as stipulated in the Constitution of the Republic,” Legoete said.
He further said the provisions of Section 91 solely gives the State President the prerogative to appoint and relieve Cabinet Ministers in order to ensure that the mandate of the ANC government as given by the electorate is implemented successfully.
“It is our belief that the decision to reshuffle Cabinet is in the best interest of the country. This will assist the government to further strengthen the radical socio-economic transformation programme through the implementation of the National Development Plan (NDP).
“We hope that this decision will benefit the people of our country, especially on the provision of quality and sustainable services. We have confidence that all the new deployees in their respective portfolios will perform their responsibilities with diligence and selflessness. The Constitution of the country and its mandate will be fulfilled as outlined in the ANC’s 2014 Election Manifesto,” he said.
Legoete added that the PEC discussed the recent developments that took place at the funeral of stalwart, Ahmed Kathrada, who originates from Schweizer Reneke in Mamusa Local Municipality. He said Uncle Kathy as Admed Kathrada was affectionately known, has been an embodiment of the principles and values of the ANC.
“We are however, concerned that what transpired at his funeral was contrary to what he stood for and what he taught us. The conduct of some speakers, in particular the former Deputy President, was an abuse of the platform. They blatantly disrespected the legacy of Uncle Kathy and used his funeral to plough seeds of division in the organization.
“They launched an attack on the President instead of using the relevant organisational protocol to air their grievances. We have mandated the PEC Officials to engage our National Officials on the recent developments instead of raising them through public spats. The PEC pleads with all members and leaders of the ANC to refrain from playing to the gallery because that only succeeds in strengthening the agenda of the opponents of the National Democratic Revolution,” he said.
Legoete added that all ANC members and structures need to focus on the organisation’s
policy discussion documents in preparation for the June conference and on service delivery to the people.
BY KEDIBONE MOLAETSI
The Portfolio Committee on Tourism and Rural Environment and Agricultural Development will be conducting pre-public Hearing Stakeholder Workshop on the MINERAL AND PETROLEUM RESOURCES DEVELOPMENT AMENDMENT BILL [B15D – 2013] from the 03 – 10 April 2017 in the Rustenburg Local Municipality.
North West Provincial Legislature spokesperson, Namhla Luhabe said: “The bill aims to amend the Mineral and Petroleum Resources Development Act, 2002, as amended by the Mineral and Petroleum Resources Development Act, 2008 (Act No.49 of 2008).
“So, as to remove ambiguities that exist within the Act, to provide for the regulation of associated minerals, partitioning of rights and enhance provisions relating to the regulation of the mining industry through beneficiation of minerals or mineral products, to promote national energy security, to streamline administrative processes, to align the Mineral and Petroleum Resources Development Act with the Geoscience Act, 1993 (Act No. 100 of 1993), as amended by the Geoscience Amendment Act, 2010 (Act No. 16 of 2010),” Luhabe said.
She further said the workshop will to provide for enhanced sanctions, to improve the regulatory system and to provide for matters connected therewith. Luhabe added that the Committee is conducting workshops on the bill with communities in mining areas to solicit impressions on the Bill and to inform them on how the Bill affects them, as well as get valuable inputs from these affected communities.
The Workshops are scheduled as follows (four areas per day):
| Date | Area | Time |
| 03 April 2017 | Ward 31 Marikana RDP(church) | 09HOO |
| Ward 32 Maditlhokwa | 11HOO | |
| Ward 33 Nkaneng Sport ground | 12H3O | |
| Ward 34 | 14HOO | |
| 07 April 2017 | Ward 35 Kroondal Sports ground | 09HOO |
| Ward 45 Tshukudu High School | 11HOO | |
| Ward 30 Bethanie | 13HOO | |
| 05 April 2017 | Ward 1 Phatsima RCC | 09HOO |
| Ward 2 Robega Com Hall | 11HOO | |
| Ward 3 Mogono Com Hall | 13HOO | |
| Ward 4 Ramotse Primary School | 15HOO | |
| 06 April 2017 | ward 5 Mosweu church | 09HOO |
| Ward 6 Park opposite Phokeng mall | 11HOO | |
| Ward 7 Elshadai Church | 13HOO | |
| 04 April 2017 | Ward 8;9;10;11;& 13 Tlhabane community hall | 09HOO |
| Ward 39 Ramochana Sports ground | 11HOO | |
| Ward 12 Meriting Com Hall | 13HOO | |
| 10 April 2017 | ||
| Ward 19 Boikagong primary school | 14HOO | |
| Ward 20 Tsholofelo college | 09HOO | |
| Ward 21 Tsholofelo College | 09HOO | |
| Ward 22 Sunrise park community Hall | 11HOO | |
| Ward 40 EXT 23 Community Hall | 12h30 |
BY KEDIBONE MOLAETSI
The Northern Cape Police held a high density operation to concentrate on crime hotpots in Kimberley CBD recently.
The provincial police spokesperson, Capt Sergio Kock said the operation consists of SAPS Provincial Office, Frances Baard Cluster Office, Kimberley Police Station, SAPS Airwing, Public Order Policing, Flying Squad, K9 unit, Tactical Response Team, Detectives and the SAPS Crime Intelligence.
“The operation concentrated on air, vehicle, motor cycles, bicycles and foot patrols. The Kimberley CBD was painted blue with all the police officers on patrol while stop and searches at taxi ranks, ATM’s, taverns and shopping centres were at the order of the day. Police also patrolled the Diamond Pavilion and North Cape Malls during this action.
“A 35 year-old wanted male suspect for robbery was arrested and the Kimberley SAPS Crime Prevention also followed up on leads of drug sales at the Indian Centre in Kimberley. Police searched the vehicle and found 245 Mandrax tablets stashed under the driver seat. They also confiscated the drugs and the red Mazda Sting that the suspect was travelling in,” Kock said.
He further said the approximate street value of the drugs was R2500.
In another incident at a taxi rank in the CBD, a 25-year-old male suspect was arrested for being in possession of 2g of dagga. Kock said the police also made sure that all dangerous weapons such as knives and pangas were confiscated during the operations.
The Frances Baard Cluster commander, Maj Gen Jean Abrahams applauded the police members for their vigilance. Abrahams also lauded the community for their assistance and patience during the operations.
“We will surely be having more of these operations in the coming weeks especially as we are approaching the Easter Holidays.”
KickOff.com can reveal that Shakes Mashaba has won his case against SAFA and is set to be reinstated as Bafana Bafana coach.
Mashaba took legal action against the football association after he was sacked for ‘gross misconduct, insubordination and violating SAFA’s communications policy’ in December last year.
The hearing took place on Friday afternoon in Johannesburg, with the coach’s representatives since confirming his victory and reinstatment as of 1 April 2017.
“We have won the case with the CCMA and SAFA have been ordered to allow Shakes Mashaba to continue his contract as the head coach of the senior national team, which runs until 2018,” reveals our source.
“The official announcement from the association’s president Danny Jordaan is expected today.”
The source adds that Baroka co-coach Kgoloko Thobejane could be drafted in to assist Mashaba in his fifth stint in the hotseat.
On Thursday, SuperSport United confirmed talks between SAFA and current coach Stuart Baxter, but it is understood that negotiations collapsed at the end of last month.
Bafana’s next assignment will come in June, when they take on Nigeria in an all-important 2019 Africa Cup of Nations qualifier.
Source: http://www.kickoff.com
A 50-year-old man was killed when two vehicles collided on the N12 approximately 3 kilometres outside of Potchefstroom shortly after midnight.
Er24 spokesperson, Werner Vermaak said paramedics arrived on the scene where they found the badly damaged vehicles.
“A 50-year-old man was found in his vehicle with fatal injuries. There was nothing that paramedics could do for him and he was declared dead on the scene. A 49-year-old man from the other vehicle was found walking around on the scene. He was treated for minor injuries and later transported to Potchefstroom Provincial Hospital,” Vermaak said.
He said three other occupants declined to be ferried to hospital.
“The exact circumstances surrounding the collision is not yet known,” Vermaak said.
taungdailynews@gmail.com
The Guardian 