By REGINALD KANYANE

A 20 year-old learner from a small town, Christiana received the Best Performing Learner against All Odds during Dr Ruth Mompati Matric awards. The event was held at Uurpan Safari Lodge in Schweizer Reneke on Tuesday.

Dinilisiwe Makhetho is living with disability after he was born with deformed hands. Makhetho said he was not deterred and always wanted to finish his Grade 12 despite hardship. He lives with his unemployed mother in a RDP house in Marikana in Christiana.

The Lerona High School learner majored in Business Economics and Accounting and obtained exemption.

“I am grateful to God for bringing me thus far. Many people and learners have hurled insults at me because of my disability. However, that never deterred me and my aim was to make my mother proud. She has sacrificed a lot for us through hardships and tribulations.

“I am going to further my studies at Sol Plaatjie University in Kimberley and study BA Degree in General Art. I was raised by a single unemployed mother after my father disowned me, saying that I am not his child,” Makhetho said.

Makhetho’s mother, Tshidi Nwabufo said: “It was hard-breaking after I saw Dinilisiwe for the first time. I have to confess that his birth led to divorce. My husband left me after he found out that Dinilisiwe was not his child. The worst part was when his biological father also disowned him after I informed him that he is the real father.

“I went through depression, however, God always has a way to fix our lives. I am grateful that he made it thus far even. Even though I am unemployed, we hope Good Samaritan will come to rescue us.”

The municipality executive mayor, Boitumelo Mahlangu said they have chosen 13 top achievers learners across the district.

“Most of those who benefited come from poor backgrounds. We have taken four learners from each three local municipalities and the overall top achiever in the district. Those learners come from Lekwa-Teemane, Naledi and Mamusa local municipalities.

The municipality will continue to monitor those who are funded at their various tertiary institutions respectively,” she said.

According to Mahlangu, the Stats SA has identified that the level of education in the district is too low. Dr Ruth Mompati District languished at the bottom of all districts in the North West province during matric results announcement recently. Top achievers learners received R10 000 each and laptops.

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By KEDIBONE MOLAETSI

A fraud case against three Free State suspects has been postponed. Mojalefa Springkan (30), Kgosana Tladi (49) and David Mokonyane (52) briefly appeared at Taung Magistrate’s Court on Thursday facing a fraud case.

The trio was arrested in October 2017 at Taung Mall by South African Police Service (SAPS) Crime Intelligence in partnership with Taung Police Station after a tip-off.

The suspects allegedly defrauded unsuspecting victims their hard-earned cash at the Automated Teller Machines (ATMs) across Dr Ruth Mompati district. The Investigating Officer, Warrant Officer, Kagiso Phemelo told the court that suspects allegedly robbed a woman her Sassa card at Pudimoe complex in Pudimoe Location, near Taung before they proceeded to Taung Mall.

“The suspects were followed by the police from Pudimoe Location to Taung where they were allegedly stopped and searched. The police found loads of various bank cards in their possession. They were arrested and police confiscated the vehicle that they used during the commission of crime,” Phemelo said.

The suspects were remanded in custody until their next appearance on 31^st of January 2018. They have obtained a new attorney, Johan Voster. They have previous fraud cases committed in Gauteng and Free State provinces.

Voster said he will submit new evidence and formally apply for bail. The fraud case against the suspects in Ficksburg in Free State has been struck off the roll because of lack of evidence against them.

National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) regional spokesperson, Frank Lesenyego said: “We are adamant that we have a water-tight case against the suspects. They also have previous convictions.”

Taung Police Station cluster spokesperson, Sergeant Tebogo Thebe urged people to be alert. Thebe added that they have increased police visibility in Taung CBD.

“We urged bank users to be wary of criminals because we have realised that card-skimming operators ascend to our areas. We are working together with other law enforcement agencies to curb these criminal activities. There are many fraud cases being reported thus far and we will work tirelessly in arresting the perpetrators.

“The majority of card-skimming incidents in South Africa are recorded around ATMs and, to a lesser extent, at retail merchants when bank cards are presented for payments. So, card users should never give their cards to someone at an ATM for any reason. They should also never let anyone assist them at an ATM, even if they appear to be a bank official or security personnel,” he said.

Thebe further said that people should beware of people standing closer to them when they are concluding transactions at an ATM. He added that they should ensure that they hide their pins when keying into an ATM.

“Never use an ATM that looks tampered with or damaged.  Card users must always use an ATM in a well-lit area or use an ATM that is monitored by a CCTV camera if possible,” he said.

Victims of this fraud case said they still have faith in the justice system. Meisie Hendricks from Lokaleng village, near Taung was allegedly robbed R1000 and R1600 in two occasions.

“I was robbed my hard-earned cash by the suspects. I have faith in the justice system and I am hopeful that they will not be granted bail. We cannot let people come to Taung and engage into criminal activities. There are so many people who were robbed and that left them crippled financially,” Hendricks said.

Michael Motate said: “My wife was robbed R1000 at the ATM through card-skimming. We need to fight this criminal behaviour together with the community. I want to applaud the police for sterling job and believe that our court will not be lenient on the suspects considering that they have similar previous cases.”

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By BAKANG MOKOTO

Police in Kgomotso together with Community Policing Forum (CPF) and Thuo-Boswa Farmers Association held a Stock Theft Crime awareness campaign at Losasaneng Community hall in Losasaneng village, near Kgomotso on Wednesday. Pudimoe Police Station cluster spokesperson, Sgt Tebogo Thebe encouraged a good working relationship between all stakeholders.

“We highly-appreciate the community’s contribution in working hand-in-hand with the police. We also want to urge them to make use of existing complaints mechanism at all police stations by visiting station commander’s office, whenever they are dissatisfied with service rendered to them,” Thebe said.

Greater Taung local municipality, National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) and the Department of Rural, Environmental and Agriculture Development (READ) were in attendance. Thuo-Boswa Farmer’s Association secretary, Pule Selokane said: “We urge the community at large to join the fight against crime. Crime is committed by people we know within our communities, so let us not protect them. We also need to support our local police by being their eyes and ears.

The North West Community Safety and Transport department was part of the event. The department encouraged livestock owners to tattoo their animals in terms of the Animal Identification act no 6 of 2002.

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