By OBAKENG MAJE

Seven suspects facing arson and looting are back in Taung Magistrate’s Court on Thursday. The accused, Odiseng “Teenage” Komane (41), Obakeng “Prosto” Mogabale (46), Mothusi Motimeng, Pretty “Zero” Masibelele (36), Katlego “Makgasa” Tikane (32), Ali Sakiele (50) and Ontiretse Patrick Gosenyegang (38) were arrested last week by the police during an intelligence-driven operation.     

In May 2022, the community members embarked on a violent protest and torched three houses, a vehicle and looted alcohol from Disoufeng tavern. This comes after they accused the tavern owner and the alleged drug lord, Bakang Katong (34) of murder.

It is alleged that Bakang, his brother, Phenyo “The Great” Katong (34), Thabang Lenyai (23), and Katlego “Makita” Mosimege (31) brutally killed Thabiso Mothibedi (35) in cold blood. The police preliminary investigation revealed that on 29 April 2022, Mothibedi was at Lenganeng village near Taung, and Katong and his cronies allegedly fetched and transported him to Manthe village after accusing him of stealing R20 000 and cigarettes worth R600.

Upon arrival, the group of men allegedly chained the deceased to a generator and assaulted him. Subsequently, the accused allegedly transported Mothibedi to Manthe clinic where he was declared dead on his arrival.

North West police spokesperson, Brig Sabata Mokgwabone said: “We can confirm that the police have arrested seven suspects for arson and they were granted R500 bail each. They are expected to appear in court on 21 July 2022 and investigations into the matter continue.”    

Meanwhile, advocate Tebogo Letloleleng, who will represent all seven accused said he proposed that his clients be given a warning, however, that was not the case. Letloleleng confirmed that his clients were charged with three counts of arson including looting.

“When we discuss the matter from a legal point of view, there is what we call a recent possession. For example, you burn the house now and you are arrested immediately. However, the incident took place three months ago, and only now, have the police arrested my clients.

“In actual fact, it took them three months to make arrests. All along, the police went out to look for statements, which might be true or not,” he said.

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By REGINALD KANYANE

It is all systems go for the North West Provincial Legislature’s Portfolio Committee on Public Works and Roads, Community Safety and Transport Management as it continues with its benchmarking expedition at Kouga Local Municipality in Jeffrey’s Bay, Eastern Cape.

The chairperson of the committee, Kim Medupe said the purpose of their oversight visit is to get more knowledge and expertise on the usage of infused plastic roads that will benefit the North West province on the current road infrastructure challenges.

However, Medupe said they not only exploring the usage of infused plastic roads but also gaining knowledge on other infrastructural opportunities that could potentially benefit the people of the province.

“We highly appreciate the initiative of the project, but made note of labour issues that could potentially worsen job unemployment. There are easier and faster methods of constructing buildings through 3D printing.

“However, many of our people who come from impoverished backgrounds are construction labourers, who are not capacitated in the artificial intelligence that comes with 3d printing and still use the conventional route of constructing a house or building,” she said.

The Black Lion 3D printed construction managing director, Attie Retief made a presentation before the committee on 3D printed construction. Retief said this is another form of building houses through a printing process that uses machine equipment with special printing ink.

“This procedure has met the construction standard and has a practical function, according to pre-designed architectural drawing procedures. The method of printing a house can take up to 24 hours to be constructed and that does not require a lot of labour that wastes money on days taken to construct a house or building.

“The 3D printed construction is 80% faster and with 90% less waste than conventional construction and the house can be built within a time frame of 24 hours. This form of printing can also be used to make any object or structure,” he said.

The committee also visited another area in Jeffrey’s Bay, where it met a Leak Detection Engineer, Robert Bargolini, who is a freelancer best known for detecting water leakages around the municipality.

Bargolini said a leak detection system monitors the flow of water through a pipeline and when abnormal behaviour is detected, the system cuts off the water flow to the entirety of the household by closing a valve within the leak detector.

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