​

It’s no secret media personality Lerato Kganyago has had a few miscarriages, and she bravely opened up about them.

After wishing her followers a happy Mother’s Day yesterday, the topic of motherhood was raised and a Twitter follower asked Lerato about having children. Lerato, a bit peeved, replied by revealing she can’t have children.

“I can’t have children. Hope I won’t be asked this question ever again on this app!” she tweeted.

The heartbreaking revelation news was met with well wishes from fans, who encouragingly told the radio star she could adopt if she wants to.

We can only imagine how hard it was for Lerato to share this. We wish her all the best!

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

By BAKANG MOKOTO

FORMER Ramotshere-Moiloa mayor, Simon Senna past away. ANC provincial secretary, Dakota Legoete said Senna died at Military Hospital after long illness.

“We have learnt with great sadness of the passing of a veteran of our movement, Simon “De Bar” Senna. A 73 year-old was a member of the glorious Luthuli Detachment of Umkhonto weSizwe military wing of the ANC. This loss will be felt not only within the ANC in Bokone Bophirima, but throughout the broader structures of the party and its alliances.

“The mass democratic movement including Zeerust-based community is shocked by Senna’s passing. He served the ANC with loyalty and distinction throughout his adult life. We devastated to lose a person of his caliber who still had a lot to share with the movement. The ANC dips its revolutionary flag in honour of this servant of the people,” Legoete said.

A 73 year-old cadre is survived by his wife, Gaanaope Sally Senna, a daughter and
grandchildren. Senna was born in Gopane Village near Lehurutshe back in 1944.

“He participated in the 1957 uprising when women were marching against the pass laws and that is where he cut his teeth in the liberation struggle. Senna left the country in 1964 after a successful stint of courier work and assisted people to cross the South African border into Botswana to go to exile.

“He received military training in Egypt focusing on survival military skills. Senna proceeded to the Soviet Union in 1965 for advanced military training. He was part of the founding comrades who opened the Wankie/Sipholilo campaign against the then Rhodesian Government,” he said.

Legoete added that Senna also trained new cadres in 1976. He further said Senna went on to serve the ANC in diplomatic capacities in the then East Germany and Zambia.

“In 1993 when the ban on political organisations was lifted, Senna returned to the country and took up the demobilization option. He was then employed at Public Works department as a functionary in the Extended Public Works Programme (EPWP) projects.

“Senna also served as the first African National Congress Veterans League (ANCVL) Provincial Secretary in Bokone Bophirima. He was lated deployed as Ramotshere Moiloa local municipal mayor until he retired after the 2016 Local Government Elections,” Legoete said.

Memorial Service is scheduled as follows:
Date: 17th May 2017
Time: 10h00
Venue   : Gopane Village, Zeerust

Funeral Service is scheduled as follows:
Date    : 20th May 2017
Venue   : Gopane Village, Zeerust

taungdailynews@gmail.com

Picture: Northern Cape Premier, Sylvia Lucas

City Press has established that officials from the Hawks unit in the province met Lucas on the same day as the reshuffle, where she handed them documents supporting corruption allegations involving R26 million against officials in the department of finance, economic development and tourism, the Northern Cape Economic Development Agency, as well as some well-known local ANC figures.

Hawks spokesperson Hangwani Mulaudzi confirmed the meeting and said: “We have opened an inquiry into those allegations and the matter is receiving the necessary attention.”

As a result of the case, Lucas removed finance MEC Mac Jack and replaced him with Gail Parker.

At least two highly placed government insiders and two ANC provincial leaders told City Press that the suspicious funds were set to bankroll the ANC’s provincial conference.

“The money was for the campaign and conference,” said a leader close to Lucas. He said they had calculated that “at least R26 million” was used to pay for infrastructure at the conference, to book accommodation for delegates, as well as to buy them T-shirts.

He said Lucas had been reluctant to release funds because she was among the group that was of the view that ANC branch processes were being manipulated to benefit those who backed her rival – now the new ANC provincial chairperson, Zamani Saul.

“The conference had been postponed a number of times and their businesspeople who provided funding were taking strain. So, they managed to get this money,” City Press was told.

The money was allegedly transferred from the finance department to the Northern Cape Economic Development Agency, which provided financing to local small businesspeople through, among others, the economic growth and development fund project.

However, some among those funded were surprised to find that the Northern Cape Economic Development Agency had paid out almost double the funds they had applied for.

Another source said Lucas had met with at least two of the recipients of the extra money.

“They were being harassed [to pay] back the extra money in SMS messages, which they showed her.” Others had already paid back the extra money to the department, he said.

In a document seen by City Press, which contains a record of payments from the economic growth and development fund project at the end of March, at least 15 companies had been paid a total of R11 million. At least one company is recorded to have requested R767 742, but received R2 million.

Soon after the funds cleared, two designated “runners” or collectors started calling the recipients, indicating that the extra funds had to be diverted to certain bank accounts.

On Tuesday, concerned recipients approached Lucas to seek assistance and advice.

On Wednesday, Lucas confronted the chief financial officer and head of the finance department and requested all documents related to the suspicious transactions, sources said. The documents were handed to the Hawks. At around 3pm, she announced the cabinet reshuffle, but the news was rejected by Saul, who described it as “grossly irresponsible, reckless and self-serving”.

Saul’s backers accused Lucas of purging her opponents ahead of the conference and appointing loyalists.

Commenting on whether the ANC was consulted, ANC secretary-general Gwede Mantashe said “the reality of the matter is that Sylvia did not inform me of the reshuffle and I read about it on News24”.

“She then phoned me much later after she was advised by [Jessie Duarte] to inform me.”

He said the criminal case was “mitigation”.

“I do not want Sylvia to mitigate her case. She must talk to the organisation and not as an after-event. If you tell the organisation after the event, I will take your story with a pinch of salt,” he said.

“But we will still listen to her when she thinks it is important to inform us,” said Mantashe.

Source: http://www.news24.com

BY REGINALD KANYANE 
A BODY of a 58 year-old woman was found in a pool of blood in Extension 8 at Jouberton Location near Klerksdorp on Saturday. North West police spokesperson, Brig Sabata Mojgwabone said a half-naked body of a woman was found by a relative on Sunday morning. 

It is alleged that the woman was drinking beer in her house along with three male friends on Saturday night.

The relative of the deceased allegedly saw blood stains that led to the lifeless body of a woman. 

“We can confirm that a body of a woman was found in a pool of blood with stabbing wounds. The person who found the body alerted the police. 

“Three men were taken in for questioning and police investigations are underway. However, we cannot link this murder case to the 15 year-old girl who was killed and burnt also in Jouberton Location,” Mokgwabone said.-Newsnote 

The ANC is an opposition party’s dream. The Democratic Alliance should be focusing on exposing the ruling party’s failures while proving itself in Johannesburg, Tshwane and Nelson Mandela Bay.

Instead, as the charges against Mbali Ntuli show, it continues to score own goals. 

On Monday, DA leader Mmusi Maimane will march with opposition leaders to the Constitutional Court in support of the application for the no-confidence motion against President Jacob Zuma to be conducted through a secret ballot. It’s one of the party’s many attempts to hold ANC deployees accountable. The DA was recently in court to force Zuma to explain his Cabinet reshuffle. It’s taking Eskom’s decision to reinstate Brian Molefe as CEO on judicial review. It’s demanded that the National Prosecuting Authority explain whether Zuma will be charged with corruption for Nkandla.

The DA is well positioned to prove itself ahead of the 2019 elections, where it hopes to win further provinces. Supporters have reason to be optimistic. The ANC is limping between crises, hobbled by Zuma and distracted by its leadership race. In the three metros it has led since the municipal elections, the DA has a chance to prove its claims that it can provide clean and effective administrations. But the party keeps scoring own goals, bringing up demons it has worked to exorcise.

In December last year, Mbali Ntuli, former DA Youth leader and the party’s Umkhanyakude constituency head, reportedly liked a Facebook comment calling Western Cape Premier Helen Zille racist. It was on a repost of a Huffington Post article compiling a Twitter thread from @__Thabi of Zille’s controversial social media posts. Reposting the article, Ntuli said people should be able to share their thoughts, but “the party” must be consistent in how it deals with them.

“The problem as far as I’m concerned is when some Councillor or public rep tweets the same sort of thing and faces the full wrath of the public and suddenly the party. I’m not saying they don’t deserve condemnation and whatever else happens as a result of their actions but a little consistency would be nice,” wrote Ntuli.

“As a party we should be clear about why some leaders can say whatever they want with impunity and others cannot. When is it disrepute and when is it justified starting a conversation.”

Interim Western Cape leader Bonginkosi Madikizela laid a charge against Ntuli and she faces a disciplinary hearing where she could be stripped of her DA membership.

Ntuli’s charges come after Zille was also charged for bringing the party into disrepute. In March, the premier used Twitter and, later, op-ed pieces to argue that colonialism had positive as well as negative effects. “For those claiming legacy of colonialism was ONLY negative, think of our independent judiciary, transport and infrastructure, piped water etc.,” said Zille. Again, the former DA leader undermined her party’s endeavours to counter claims the DA represents white South Africans. The DA needs to woo black voters and Zille appeared to praise the system that oppressed them.

Zille has long been a liability for the DA, but despite regularly making controversial comments that negatively impacted the party, she’s been retained as Western Cape premier. Her ability to survive controversy gives ammunition to the argument that the DA isn’t run by Maimane but a faction beholden to Zille, which subscribes to her positions. Zille’s prominence reinforces the idea that the DA is a “white party”.

The charges against Ntuli make things worse. Maimane and other party leaders spoke out against Zille’s comments but Ntuli faces potential expulsion for liking a Facebook post criticising her. According to City Press, the party’s legal commission said Ntuli shouldn’t be charged. “Taking all of the above into consideration, it is recommended that no further action be taken against Ntuli. The documentary evidence presented would not be sufficient to ensure a conviction of misconduct against her… It is also submitted that a finding of not guilty against her would cause more harm than good to the party at this time,” it reportedly said.

Rules are rules and DA MP Dianne-Kohler Barnard was expelled from the party after sharing a Facebook post praising apartheid president PW Botha. The expulsion was later overturned on appeal, although she resigned from her shadow minister position, but the charges against her might serve as a precedent in the case against Ntuli.

Why, however, has the DA gone against its own legal commission’s recommendation and charged Ntuli for a Facebook like criticising Zille, whose views the DA is holding against the premier? Why has it taken so long for Zille to face her disciplinary hearing while a date for Ntuli’s charges to be heard has already been announced?

When Ntuli quit as DA Youth leader in 2014, the animosity between her and Zille was obvious. The DA has been repeatedly criticised for denouncing its alternative voices, and the struggles of its “black caucus” are well known. Ntuli continued to be a strong party voice despite going to build party structures in rural KwaZulu-Natal. Her public denouncement of Zille’s colonialism tweets were welcomed by supporters. It wasn’t the first time she had taken on the former leader.

The DA is at a crossroads. In 2014, Lindiwe Mazibuko announced she was leaving Parliament and hasn’t been actively involved with the DA since. It was widely reported that her departure was because of differences with Zille and her DA faction, exposed over varying views on policies of transformation. The differences on how to proceed, how the DA’s brand of liberalism should tackle issues of inequality and South Africa’s racialised society, are crucial as the party elects new provincial leaders this year. The factions that take the provinces will determine the next party leader.

The complex internal party issues matter little for the electorate. Zille is the DA’s equivalent of the ANC’s “Teflon man” – Zuma. Of course, she doesn’t face the myriad corruption allegations against the president, but she’s accused of racism, a charge carrying serious weight given South Africa’s history. Charging Ntuli looks like the DA endorses the double standards black South Africans know too well, that there’s one set of rules for whites and another for blacks. Then there are mistakes exposing the party’s positions, like Maimane’s visit to Israel.

The ANC is making things easy for the DA and it could be focusing on exposing the ruling party’s failures while proving itself in Cape Town, Johannesburg, Tshwane and Nelson Mandela Bay. Instead, it keeps scoring own goals.

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

BY KEDIBONE MOLAETSI

A 32 year-old suspect is expected to appear in the Klerksdorp Magistrate’s Court on a charge of murder on Tuesday.

North West police spokesperson, Brig Sabata Mokgwabone said the suspect was arrest in Jouberton Location, Klerksdorp on Sunday. Mokgwabone said the suspect was charged for alleged murder of a 15 year-old girl.

“According to information available at this stage, a burnt body of the girl was found in an open field at Extension 7 in Jouberton on Sunday. The minor was last seen on Friday when her grandmother sent her to one of the neighbours.

“She did not return home and a missing person case was eventually reported to the police on Saturday. The girl’s torched body was discovered in the bushes by passerby. The suspect was arrested following an intensive investigation,” he said.

North West Provincial Commissioner, Lieutenant General Baile Motswenyane condemned the incident. Motswenyane also applauded the police for acting swiftly in arresting the perpetrator.

“Police will work hard to ensure that justice prevails.”

Many women have been killed recently and that sparked a #MenAreTrash campaign.

taungdailynews@gmail.com

By REGINALD KANYANE

IT was a somber moment at Tswelelang Location in Wolmaranstad when twelve members of Zion Christian Church (ZCC) who died in a horrific accident were laid to rest on Saturday. The accident took place three weeks ago on R505 road between Ottosdal and Wolmaranstad where a minibus taxi caught fire after being involved in a head-on collision with SUV.

Both drivers died on the scene and raised the deaths to 13.

Patricia Masire who was a teacher at Diatleng Primary School died along with her mother, Kerileng in the terrible accident. Family spokesperson, Ruben Masire said: “We have lost most important people within our families. However, we believe that God will give us serenity and heal our souls. We expected a lot from Patricia because she just graduated from North West University in 2016.”

She started working as a teacher this year.

Msuthwane family spokesperson, Gomotsegang Selehelo shared the same sentiments. Selehelo said that the late Annah Msuthwane was her role model.

“I learnt a lot from Annah and she was my pillar of strength. We shared almost everything and she was always there. I will regard her as my support system and Annah was loveable. She kept our family together through hardships, trials and tribulations. We hope her soul find peace and serenity,” Selehelo said.

Minister of ZCC regions (Johannesburg, Vryburg and Mahikeng), Aletha Phahlane said ZCC will never be the same after the loss of so many souls.

North West Premier, Supra Mahumapelo said the forensic report outcomes was delayed because of the extent of the accident.

Family members were forced to wait for three weeks before they could bury their loved ones.

“It has been a difficult time and we needed to ensure that all forensic investigations were properly done. The extent of the accident was devastating and more intense than Mpumalanga car crash. The government has provided families with counselling,” he said.

Mahumapelo said they are still waiting for investigations outcome regarding the cause of the accident.

Names of the deceased:

Mantele Martha Malatsi

Tsie Frank Sekamogeng

Nosi Maria Seleke

Florence Nchupang

Kebitsamang Annah Msuthwane

Kerileng Baby Masire

Setshego Gloria Booi

Seitisho Maria Kgalapa

Mosadiotsile Thabe

Moleko Diphoko

Goitsemang Masire

Setoki Letty Kgasu

taungdailynews@gmail.com

JOHANNESBURG – The Congress of the People (Cope) says it plans to block the entrance to Eskom’s headquarters, Megawatt Park, on Monday to physically prevent former Chief Executive Officer Brian Molefe from entering the building.

Molefe is expected to return to his position following the power utility’s decision to reinstate him.

The move has been condemned by many political parties, including the African National Congress and the business community.

The former CEO resigned from Eskom in 2016 after the public protector’s State of Capture report revealed he had been in constant communication with the controversial business family – the Guptas, and visited Saxonwold regularly while the family was buying a coal mine that supplied the power utility.

Cope says it’s in communication with other political parties to join them in this action.

Party spokesperson Dennis Bloem says, “The time to take action is now; we are very much determined to show Mr Jacob Zuma, the Guptas and Brian Molefe and any other Mickey Mouse that we will never allow anybody to turn our country into a banana republic.”

At the same time, National Union of Metalworkers of South Africa (Numsa) has condemned Eskom’s decision to reinstate Molefe.

The union says the former had resigned voluntarily.

Numsa general secretary Irvin Jim says the union views Molefe’s reinstatement as an attempt, by Eskom, to clear the former CEO of the stench of corruption hanging over his head

The union’s spokesperson Phakamile Hlubi says, “The minister can’t advance an iota of morality or ethics while this situation persists. His presence will have a very negative impact and will create the impression that Eskom is not interested in good, clean governance.”

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