A body of a woman was discovered near a river in Matolong village, in Taung on 27 February 2023. The lifeless body of Kelemogile van Wyk (25) was allegedly found with visible wounds.
It was allegedly discovered by shepherds, who were grazing their livestock near the river.
The North West police spokesperson in Dr Ruth Segomotsi Mompati cluster, Warrant Officer Tryphosa van Rooyen said: “The police in Taung are investigating a case of an inquest.
“At present, the cause of death is unknown and an investigation into the matter is underway. Anyone who can assist the police with information can contact Lieutenant Colonel Tshamboko on 082 469 0336.”
Setswantsho: Ntlo e lakailwa ke molelo kwa toropong ya Taung
Ka OBAKENG MAJE
Mong wa ntlo e e lakitsweng ke molelo mo letsatsing la maabane kwa toropong ya Taung, go kailwe fa a ganne go bula kgetsi. Go ya ka dipego tse di sa totobalang, go kailwe fa molelo o, o tlhodilwe ke dikhemikhale.
Mongwe wa bo marata-helele, o tlhalositse fa ba belaela sengwe se se seng mo molaong se diragala kwa ntlung eo.
“Re fitlhile kwa ntlung eo, mme ra bona kgabo ya molelo e tswa mo kamotshaneng eo. Se se makatsang ke ka mokgwa o kamotshana eo, ene e kampetswe ka teng go utlwala.
“Go ya ka pono yame ya matlho, go katswa gona le bogwene-gwene bongwe jo bo diragalang kwa ntlung eo. Go ya ka dipego, mong wa ntlo eo, yo eleng motswa-kwa wa mo Indian, one ne a leletswa le go begelwa fa ntlo ya gagwe e jewa ke kgabo ya molelo.”
Marata-helele are, mme, se se mo makaditseng ke gore, go fitlha ga monna o, one a kaya fa setlhodi sa molelo ele dikhemikhale. Marata-helele are, fela gaka a tlhalosa gore ke dikhemikhale tsa mofuta ofe.
Kgabagare, sebueledi sa sepodise mo Bokone Bophirima kwa sedikeng sa Dr Ruth Segomotsi Mompati, Warrant Officer, Tryphosa van Rooyen are, sepodisi se itsisitwe ka tiragalo eo, mme ka maswabi, mong wa ntlo one a gana go bula kgetsi.
“Sepodisi sene sa itelekela kwa ntlung eo, morago ga go tsibosiwa ka molelo o runtseng koo. Fela, beng ba ntlo eo, ba kaile fa ba se kitla ba bula kgetsi,” van Rooyen wa tlhalosa.
Picture: The ANC deputy chairperson in North West, Lazzy Mokgosi/Facebook
By OBAKENG MAJE
The ANC deputy chairperson in North West, Lazzy Mokgosi who is also a Member of the Provincial Legislature (MPL) was elected as the ANC Chief Whip in the North West Provincial Legislature (NWPL) on Tuesday.
This follows the resignation of Paul Sebegoe, who was elected as a new Chairperson of the North West Provincial Legislature’s Portfolio Committee on Education, Arts, Culture and Sports Recreation during a committee meeting held on Monday.
Mokgosi joined the North West Provincial Legislature (NWPL) in December 2022 as MPL.
Meanwhile, during a separate virtual meeting of the Portfolio Committee of Public Works and Roads, Community Safety and Transport Management, Mmoloki Cwaile was elected as a chairperson. This comes after the resignation of Onica Medupe as both the chairperson of the committee and MPL.
Meanwhile, NWPL Speaker, Sussana Dantjie said: “We welcome the elections of the Chief Whip and the two Chairpersons of both the Education and Public Works Committees. We wish them well in their responsibilities of servicing the people of the province.
Picture: The Greater Taung Local Municipality mayor, Tumisang Gaoraelwe
By OBAKENG MAJE
Corruption, maladministration and malfeasance allegations continue to show their ugly head at the embattled Greater Taung Local Municipality (GTLM).
This comes after allegations that the municipality has paid the Diphetogo Cleaning and Security company R100 000 just to clean the municipal offices.
The municipality allegedly rendered a tender for emergency cleaning of the municipal offices after the members of the South African Municipal Workers Union (SAMWU), which is the largest union in local government in South Africa embarked on a protest.
It is alleged that, during protests, feaces and garbage were speckled into the streets including municipal offices.
However, SAMWU secretary in Greater Taung, Mpho Thompson questioned the amount and alleged that this was just a way to loot the municipal coffer. Thompson said, some municipal officials are hell-bent to loot the municipal coffer and they will do anything.
“You will understand that there was no violence during our protests. When we were on strike in December 2022, the municipality brought in 10 bouncers, however, the invoice says they were 35.
“The question is, why they were appointed in the first place? Those bouncers are still there and we want to understand why. They are only there so that, some municipal officials can continue to loot the municipal coffer,” he said.
Thompson further said, as SAMWU, they are against anything that takes away money from the municipal coffer, while they are still owed their danger allowance money.
He added that, the municipality continues to spend money fruitlessly.
“Our relationship with the municipality is soured due to the danger allowance issue. This was on the basis that, a certain director misled the council on Local Labour Forum’s (LLF) view on the danger allowance issue.
“There is an investigation report with recommendations, yet it was deferred without any implementation. I am surprised that, the council wanted the resolution to supersede the investigation report. The investigation report serves as the legal opinion until contested,” said Thompson.
The Director of Corporate Services at the Greater Taung Local Municipality, Dikagisho Mokoma was implicated in the Matshego Ramagaga Attorneys report. The independent law firm was appointed by the municipality to investigate allegations of misconduct against Mokoma after she allegedly misled the previous council on danger allowance for the COVID-19 pandemic.
This resulted in the municipality ‘illegally’ paying senior managers and directors a monthly R2500 as danger allowance, instead of a standard flat rate of R1500.
According to the Magagane report, the municipality has lost R508 500 due to Mokoma’s alleged conduct.
Meanwhile, the municipal mayor, Tumisang Gaoraelwe, and municipality spokesperson, Ricky Oliphant failed to respond to our phone calls and WhatsApp messages regarding the matter before publishing this article.
*The article will be updated when new information arrives.
Picture: The Greater Taung Local Municipality (GTLM) Speaker, Grace Moipolai/Facebook
By OBAKENG MAJE
Some of the community members across Taung said they were surprised to learn that, the Greater Taung Local Municipality (GTLM) has decided to host a municipal statutory council sitting in Klerkdorp.
The municipality will hold a statutory council sitting, that is opened to the public at Protea Hotel in Klerksdorp on 28 February 2023, which is over 30km, but will not ferry community members.
The meeting will commence at 4pm.
One of the community members, Benjamin Mashuga said, the municipality’s decision to take the statutory council sitting to Klerksdorp is not far-fetched. Mashuga, who did not mince his words alleged that, this is happening because the council wants to take corrupt decisions.
“They know exactly that, as members of the community in Taung, we are against the corruption that continues to prevail at the municipality. The corruption in the municipality is rife and committed by the mayor, other councillors, and administrative staff for their own personal interests.
“This is strategic planning, where community members must be abreast of decisions taken on their behalf. Now, the municipality is denying them that opportunity to form part of that meeting,” he said.
He further said, it is shoddier that, the municipality is even hosting the statutory council sitting in another district. Mashuga added that, this is a clear indication that the municipality is running away from accountability.
“The municipality always paints us as hooligans whenever we want to hold them accountable. We are definitely sure that, there are wrong decisions that are going to be taken during that statutory council sitting,” said Mashuga.
However, the municipal speaker, Grace Moipolai said: “We cannot just take the statutory council sitting to Klerkdorp. The reason we taking it there is that, we also have a strategic planning meeting there. We will attend to the issue of community members, who would like to form part of the meeting the same way we did during the COVID-19 pandemic.
“We will live-stream the event. What is on the agenda is nothing much, but a quarterly report. This is a matter of compliance and within three months, we should organise statutory council sitting.”
On whether they will either provide transportation or data for those who are interested in attending the municipal statutory council sitting, Moipolai was mum. She said, it is not always where you see community members attending municipal statutory council sitting.
“We are not hiding anything and I’ll send you the agenda after this meeting. Even if we can give you our previous video footage, you will see that our people do not always attend statutory council sittings, unless are those who have their own interests.
“However, we will formally respond to you because I am having a very serious network problem here in Mokassa. One issue that could be critical is the last item on the appointment of the municipal manager. However, we have not yet completed short-listing process,” said Moipolai.
The Guardian 