Picture: A Grade R learner, Lethabo Goralose injured after being thrown out of the scholar transport bus/Supplied

By OBAKENG MAJE

The mother of a Grade R learner, Lethabo Goralotse (5) said she is grateful that her child is still alive. This comes after Lethabo was thrown out of a moving scholar transport bus on Friday.

According to Connie Goralotse (48), her daughter boarded a scholar transport bus at Extension 25, near Vryburg in the morning. Goralotse said, they normally ensure that their children who are younger, board the bus that arrives in the morning because they are bullied by older learners.

“Apparently, the driver of that bus put them in another bus that was already overloaded with older children. So, Lethabo said older children pushed them out of the seats and they had to stand up. Then, she was pushed towards the window.

“She said the window was loose and unfortunately, she was thrown out of the moving bus. Lethabo landed in the middle of the road and sustained injuries on her head, including a fractured ankle. My child was assisted by a passer-by who saw her lying helplessly in the middle of the busy road,” she said.

Goralotse further said she is devastated by the accident. She added what would have happened to her daughter if the passer-by did not assist her.

“What is more painful is that the driver of the bus never bothered even to stop even though other learners tried to get his attention. The passer-by allegedly saw an ambulance passing and called for help. Lethabo was ferried to the Joe Morolong Memorial Hospital for medical attention.

“I really do not know what to do now because she continues to have flashbacks because she was traumatised. The officials from the North West Department of Education paid us a visit on Saturday and promised to come back. However, there was no word from the North West Department of Community Safety and Transport Management officials,” said Goralotse.

 She calls on the North West Department of Community Safety and Transport Management to ensure that scholar transport buses are in good condition and do not compromise learners’ safety.

North West Department of Education spokesperson, Mpatha Molokwane said: “We are aware of the incident and the mother did not report to the principal, since she took her child to the hospital in the morning. Evidently, other learners did not report when they arrived at the school, though we cannot blame them because they are also children. Learners were crammed to the gills and began pushing each other.

“The circuit manager visited the family on Saturday and the service provider said that they will visit the family 24 on July 2023. It should be highlighted that, the department only benefits from scholar transport, although it is the prerogative of the North West Department of Community Safety and Transport Management to choose service providers for scholar transport”

Meanwhile, the North West Department of Community Safety and Transport Management is mum on the matter and has not responded to the media inquiry sent to them. The North West MEC for Community Safety and Transport Management, Sello Lehari’s spokesperson, Oshebeng Koonyaditse said he is still gathering information surrounding the matter.

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Picture: The Hawks vehicle/Google

By OBAKENG MAJE

A 34 YEAR-OLD suspect is expected to appear before Galeshewe Magistrate’s Court today for dealing in drugs. She was arrested on 22 July 2023 by the Hawk’s Serious Organised Crime Investigation team in Kimberley, assisted by Kimberley Flying Squad.

The Hawks spokesperson in Northern Cape, Warrant Officer Nomzamo Mnisi said: “The team received information about drugs being kept at Promise land in Phutanang, near Kimberley. A search and seizure disruptive operation was conducted at the said address and an assortment of drugs that includes crystal methamphetamine (tik), mandrax tablets, and dagga were seized.

“The team also seized 11 cell phones and an undisclosed amount of money. The suspect is in custody at Galeshewe Police Station pending her court appearance,” she said.

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Picture: RSA president, Cyril Ramaphosa/Google

By CYRIL RAMAPHOSA

While many parts of the country continue to experience poor delivery of basic services, South Africa has a good core network of public infrastructure that is improving the lives of our citizens.

Our country consistently ranks highly on indices published by the African Development Bank that evaluate the status of transportation, electricity, ICT, and water and sanitation infrastructure. South Africa ranks in the top five countries in Africa with the best public infrastructure.

This is important because infrastructure development plays a key role in ensuring fast economic growth and alleviating poverty.

However, for this world-class infrastructure to continue to support our developmental goals, it has to be properly, effectively, and efficiently maintained. And decisions on infrastructure investment have to respond to the growing need and upgraded appropriately.

Last week, I attended the launch of a new phase of upgrades to the Vulindlela Bulk Water Supply Scheme in KwaZulu-Natal, a water infrastructure project that mainly services the uMgungundlovu and uMsunduzi municipalities.

When the first phase of the scheme was commissioned 25 years ago, it was only servicing 100,000 people. That number has almost tripled in the intervening years, putting a strain on the existing infrastructure resources. Once the current upgrades are completed, approximately 350,000 residents will receive clean, quality water.

The Darvill wastewater treatment plant outside Pietermaritzburg has also been upgraded and will now be able to treat up to 100 million litres a day and better service households, businesses, and industries in the municipality.

We have good quality infrastructure, but in far too many instances it is not being properly maintained and upgraded. Last year, the South African Institution of Civil Engineering gave the country’s social infrastructure a D rating, with E being failed or failing. Passenger rail scored particularly low, achieving an E.

We continue to witness the detrimental consequences of failure to maintain public infrastructure. We are seeing accidents, disease outbreaks, and other tragedies that in a number of instances have been associated with dilapidated infrastructure.

The maintenance of public infrastructure is often the responsibility of the local government. It remains of concern that municipalities are failing to spend conditional grants allocated to them for maintenance and upgrades of infrastructure.

The National Treasury recently reported that slightly more than half of the Municipal Infrastructure Grant was being spent by municipalities. This grant is for upgrading and building new infrastructure and rehabilitating existing infrastructure.

At the last meeting of the President’s Coordinating Council, in June, we agreed on greater accountability from municipalities that consistently underspend on their conditional grant allocations. Part of the problem is that municipalities, especially smaller municipalities, lack implementation capacity.

However, there are municipalities that are spending conditional grants successfully and timeously. For example, approximately 91% of funding allocated to municipalities to fund reconstruction and rehabilitation after floods in the Western Cape, Eastern Cape, and KwaZulu-Natal was spent by the respective municipalities.

This illustrates that with the necessary support, technical assistance, planning, and coordination, the problem of municipal underspending on public infrastructure can be overcome.

The Department of Cooperative Governance, National Treasury, and national and provincial government will continue to support municipalities to use their budgets effectively and fulfill their responsibilities to the South African people.

Because of its vital developmental function, we continue to prioritise investment in infrastructure across government. Construction is underway on several bulk water, housing, energy, and road projects. Together with better infrastructure maintenance, we are determined that these investments will make a big difference in people’s lives.

When social infrastructure is well-maintained not only do citizens benefit, but businesses are also supported and the economy as a whole grows and develops.

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Picture: North West MEC for Community Safety and Transport Management, Sello Lehari/Supplied 

By OBAKENG MAJE

The Democratic Alliance in North West calls on the Special Investigating Unit (SIU) to probe the mounting corruption allegations at the North West Community Safety and Transport Management. The DA provincial spokesperson on Community Safety and Transport Management, Freddy Sonakile alleged that, there are various questionable operations taking place within the department that is under Sello Lehari as MEC. 

“The department has recently been implicated in serious allegations of maladministration, corruption, and fraud including the appointment of the Business Rescue Practitioner (BRP) at the North West Transport Investments (NTI), which is a subsidiary of the department. 

“It is alleged that the BRP opened a separate bank account and is not accounting for the use of public funds. It is also worth noting that this department is also subject to SIU investigation into questionable scholar transport contracts under Proclamation R2 of 2018 as well as the R253 million Hawks/SA Express case recommended for investigation by the Zondo Commission,” said Sonakile.  

He further said, it is disturbing that, this department, which is responsible for two vital core competencies in North West, namely transport – a backbone of the provincial economy and community safety – which must ensure the safety of residents continues to be embroiled by allegations of corruption, mismanagement, fraud, and other irregularities. 

Sonakile added that a full-scale probe is urgently needed. Meanwhile, the North West MEC for Community Safety and Transport Management, Sello Lehari said: “With the support of the shareholder, we have intervened at the NTI. The entity resumes operations on Monday and we are unwavering in ensuring that the North West Provincial Government (NWPG)-owned NTI is restored to profitability. 

“The entity has been experiencing administrative and financial difficulties that led it to apply for voluntary business rescue. This compounded challenges even further with creditors including employees being unpaid for more than three months.” 

Lehari said they must work harder to ensure that the entity is completely turned around and fully sustainable. He said they must ensure that NTI is able to generate revenue and pay creditors and ensure no employee goes unpaid again. 

“In a quest to ensure the entity is restored, the department as shareholder, has been engaging all stakeholders including worker representatives. The operation will resume on Monday and we will ensure that all outstanding salaries are also expedited for full resumption of operations at all NTI depots. 

“The engagement with other stakeholders continues. The department officials have been participating alongside other stakeholders to draft a turnaround strategy for the entity and this must be implemented without delay,” he said.

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Picture: The newly-elected regional treasurer in Ngaka Modiri Molema region, the late Dikago Pule/Supplied

By OBAKENG MAJE

The South African National Civic Organisation (SANCO) in the North West said it is concerned about the demise of future leaders. This comes after the passing of the ANCYL regional treasurer in Ngaka Modiri Molema region, Dikago Pule, who died on Sunday morning in a fatal car accident near Zeerust.

SANCO provincial coordinator, Mogomotsi Mosheshe said they are deeply concerned about the untimely passing of young and aspiring leaders, who hold the potential to drive the struggle for economic freedom and a better life for all under the banner of the African National Congress (ANC) alliance structures. 

Mosheshe further said Pule was a vibrant leader of the ANC Youth League (ANCYL). He added that the organisation regretted not only his loss but also the loss of all young comrades, who have recently passed away.

“It is truly tragic and worrying to witness the untimely departure of young individuals who were expected to become the leaders of tomorrow. These young comrades harboured ambitious dreams of taking up the batten within the ANC alliance structures to continue with the struggle to address pressing issues such as poverty, and inequality, and ensure quality education for all.

“Their passion and determination were inspiring, and their absence leaves us with regrets and wondering what more they would have achieved in politics and in the pursuit of a better South Africa,” said Mosheshe.

He said Pule’s involvement in politics can be traced back to his days in the South African Students Congress (SASCO) and later, as a vocal cadre in the ANCYL. Mosheshe said Pule was a promising future leader for his communities and the country.

“His dedication to serving the interests of students was evident during his time as the president of the Student Representative Council (SRC) at the North West University (Mahikeng campus). We remember him for his unwavering commitment to the #FeesMustFall campaign.

“He played a crucial role as one of the students from NWU, who marched to the Union Building to present a memorandum to the president, urging him to pardon the students implicated in the #FeesMustFall activities,” he said.

Mosheshe said Pule’s dedication and contributions to the ANC alliance structures’ course for a better life for all, will not be forgotten. In light of these unfortunate incidents, Mosheshe urges all young people, not just within the ANC alliance, but also across the nation, to exercise extra caution in their endeavours and particularly when using public roads.

A few months ago, Pule survived another accident, where his car overturned.

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Picture: The truck with illicit cigarettes at the Skilpadhek Port of Entry/Supplied 

By OBAKENG MAJE

A 44-YEAR-OLD man is set to appear at Lehurutshe Magistrate’s Court on Monday for allegedly trying to smuggle illicit cigarettes worth R12 million. According to the North West police spokesperson, Lieutenant Col, Amanda Funani, on Friday, a truck driver who is a Zimbabwean national, was allegedly seen leaving the Skilpadhek Port of Entry at around 6:40am during load shedding.

“A truck driver was from Botswana. Trucks entering/leaving the country are not allowed to do so during load shedding at the Port of Entries, since computers are off-line. It is alleged that a police official, who was patrolling along the border, saw the truck leaving the border, driving towards Zeerust.

“Reports suggest that the police officer informed his commander and the truck was chased and stopped before it reached Zeerust. The driver was ordered to drive back to Skilpadhek Port of Entry,” Funani said.

She further said, SARS and Customs members were requested to inspect the truck. Funani added that boxes of cigarettes, which the driver failed to declare at customs, were discovered inside the truck to the value of R12 868 509.  

“The driver was arrested and charged with possession of illicit cigarettes. He is expected to appear in Lehurutshe Magistrate’s Court today.

“The police official, who allowed the truck to leave the border is being investigated and charges of defeating the ends of justice could be added when the investigations are concluded,” she said.

Meanwhile, the North West Police Commissioner, Lieutenant General Sello Kwena, congratulated the North West Provincial Anti-Corruption Investigating Unit for the sterling job and for making sure that the suspect was arrested. Kwena said, corrupt police officers will not be tolerated and face the full might of the law.

“Lastly, I would like to applaud the police officer, who reported the incident to his commander. The case was handed over to the North West Hawks for investigations,” said Funani.

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