Daily Archives: February 19, 2025

Mankuroane Garden’s housing project at the verge of completion  

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Picture: The Mankuroane Garden’s housing project  

By BAKANG MOKOTO

19 February 2025- The North West Provincial Legislature’s Portfolio Committee on Cooperative Governance, Human Settlements and Traditional Affairs said it is pleased on the progress made by the department regarding unblocking housing project. This comes after the committee completed its oversight visit to assess the provision of houses and also progress of unblocking housing projects in the Dr Ruth Segomotsi Mompati District.

The Chairperson of the Portfolio Committee, Kgalalelo Makgokgowa, commended the North West Department of Human Settlements on the good job they have done. Makgokgowa said the housing projects that the department has unblocked are on the verge of completion and that showed commitment on the side of the department.

“The committee conducted oversight visits at Mankuroane Gardens housing project in Mokassa village, near Taung. The program is aimed at strengthening oversight and public participation and to promote accountability and transparency in government.

“During the program, Members of the Provincial Legislature (MPLs) interact with different provincial departments and their MECs, mayors, accounting officers and members of the Municipal Public Accounts Committees (MPAC),” she said.

Makgokgowa further said different Portfolio Committees conduct oversight visits to various projects in the district to check their status quo and challenges therein. She added that the Baga-Phuduhucwana unblocked housing project is situated in Mokassa 2, Tamasikwa and Lokgabeng villages.

“The project was blocked in February 2020, due to poor workmanship of the contractor and underlying challenges. It was unblocked in 15 June 2024, where Hakhensa Consulting was appointed to finish different milestones such as foundations, wall plates, roof levels and other steps at a value of R13.7million.

“I have minimal complaints on what we actually found on the housing projects that the department has unblocked. What I can say is that for the department to continue doing this hard work and to work together with the committee to make sure that our citizens get access to proper and decent houses,” said Makgokgowa.

The North West MEC Cooperative Governance, Human Settlement and Traditional Affairs (COGHSTA), Oageng Molapisi, also expressed his

Satisfaction. However, Molapisi calls on more collaboration between municipal and departmental officials in ensuring proper service delivery.

“There has to be proper coordination between both spheres of government. We all have same goal of delivering houses with basic services to our communities. We must do all this guided by the district development model as directed by the president,” he said.

Meanwhile, the Director for Human Settlements in Dr Ruth Segomotsi Mompati District, Mpho Jaards said: “Despite the challenges of budget cuts that has affected the performance of the department, they are working tirelessly to ensure that service delivery is not affected in the housing delivery.

“This is a continued effort by the department to afford our communities to benefit by building them appropriate houses so as to sustain their livelihoods.

He said the department has prioritised working together with the committee to speed up the completion of unblocking housing projects across the province.

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Identification process of bodies of illegal miners still underway

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Picture: A body in a morgue/Generic

By OBAKENG MAJE

19 February 2025- The police in North West said the process to identify 93 bodies of suspected illegal miners retrieved from Buffelsfontein Gold Mine’ Shaft No 11 between 3 December 2024 and 15 January 2025, is still underway.  According to the police, the process came after they conducted post-mortems on all bodies.

The North West police spokesperson, Brigadier Sabata Mokgwabone said nine bodies were brought to the surface through a pulley system/rope by community volunteers between 3 December 2024 and 9 January 2025. Mokgwabone said 78 bodies were brought to the surface between 13 and 15 January 2025, during the Mine Rescue Operation.

“Five suspected illegal miners died, while admitted in hospitals between 20 January and 12 February 2025. Of this number, four resurfaced at Buffelsfontein shaft No 11 and one at Margaret Shaft. One was brought to the surface at Margaret Shaft.

“In the investigation into the inquest dockets of the nine initial bodies, three were successfully identified and handed to family members. All are from Mozambique,” he said.

Mokgwabone further said as part of investigations, DNA samples were obtained from 78 bodies retrieved during the Mine Rescue Operation. He added that 54 fingerprints were obtained from 78 bodies for comparison.

“This process resulted in the identification of 10 bodies through previous arrests in the country. The nationalities of the identified deceased showed that seven are from Mozambique, one Zimbabwe, one Lesotho and one from South Africa.

“In an effort to get more identifications, members of the public and the community who do not know where their next-of-kin are and they know or suspect that they were working in and around Khuma/Stilfontein as zama zamas,” said Mokgwabone.

He said those who have not seen or heard from their next-of-kin for some time, were requested to get into contact with the investigation team at Stilfontein Police Station between 4 and 14 February 2025. Mokgwabone said this led to the obtaining of 45 control samples.

“The nationalities of the next-of-kin from whom samples were taken showed that 18 were from Mozambique, 6 from Lesotho, 8 from Zimbabwe, 12 from South Africa and 1 from Botswana.

“The working relationship among the above-mentioned countries continues in an attempt to identify the bodies. For enquiries regarding the identification process, Colonel Francois Jacobs can be contacted at 082 373 8216,” he said.

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A serial rapist sentenced to two life terms and 44 years imprisonment    

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By BAKANG MOKOTO

19 February 2025- A man (27) sentenced to two life sentence terms and 44 years for rape by the Northern Cape High Court sitting in Kimberley for rape. Itumeleng Reclin Machabe, who is also known as Bendow, was convicted for raping and killing Relebogile Segami (11), raping two other minors and distributed pornographic images of young people.

The National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) regional spokesperson in Northern Cape, Mojalefa Senokoatsane said the accused raped a girl (13), committed fraud, contravened Section 19 (a) of Act 32 of 2007 (exposing or displaying of child pornography or pornography to a child) and committed crimen injuria. Senokotsoane said Machabe also committed attempted extortion and raped a girl (15).

“He was charged for attempted murder too. On 30 March 2022, Relebogile Segami was reported missing by her family and the police, together with members of the Galeshewe Community, began searching for the young girl.

“Unfortunately, her body was discovered on 31 March 2022, near the Northern Cape Provincial Legislature in Kimberley. During investigations, the police discovered that Machabe was the last person seen with the victim before her disappearance,” he said.

Senokotsoane further said the police promptly managed to arrest Machabe and he made his first court appearance on 4 April 2022. He added that the accused pleaded not guilty to all the charges against him.

“When the accused applied for bail in the Galeshewe District Court, the court heard that the accused was facing another charge of rape and that he was out of bail on that matter.

“The prosecution’s successfully opposed bail application against the accused in this Schedule 6 matter, given the seriousness of the charges against him,” said Senokotsoane.

He said during the police investigations into the accused, other victims of the accused came forward to open cases against him. Senokotsoane said the investigations established that the accused’s path of terror began as early as 2013 when the victim (13), and the accused a minor himself, alleged that the accused had raped her.

“A case docket was then registered and later withdrawn by the family after dragging for some time. The main reason being that the ongoing case was affecting the victim horribly and she could not cope with her school work and resulted in her failing twice in the two years during the case in court.

“Upon Machebe’s arrest in 2022, the victim gathered some strength to testify against the accused this time around, even though the crime dates back over 10 years and during the emotionally charged trial in the High Court,” he said.

Senokotsoane said during the trial, the prosecution, represented by state advocate Elmari Kruger, put it to the court that the accused had intentionally targeted minors, whom he knew were vulnerable, young, innocent and naïve. He said Machabe was not remorseful for all the heinous crimes he had committed against minors and how he had destroyed the lives of not only the victims, but their families as well.

“The court, through testimonies of the victims and witnesses, heard how the accused had lured victims and how he had utilised social media platforms to use the victims’ compromising photos and published them on his platforms after requesting the nude photos.

“The court also heard how the accused had raped one of his victims, who was a minor at the time multiple times. The accused had intentionally molested the minor, wanting her to perform unspeakable acts on him as well,” said Senokotsoane.

He said the victim told the court that the accused intimidated her by telling her that he was going to throw her in a dam should she scream. Senokotsoane said although there was little substantial evidence as the swabs taken on victims, including the deceased body of one victim and the clothing that was found around her neck, showed insufficient male DNA, the forensic report explained this may have been caused by many factors such as weak sperm count, the male being asospermic, does not have a nucleus in his sperm cell.

“The male could have ejaculated outside of the body, he may have used a condom, may have cleaned the victim, or the victim may have cleaned herself and does not necessarily exempt one from a crime.

“The state mainly relied on circumstantial evidence and urged the court to take note of the discrepancies and improbabilities in Machebe’s version of events,” he said.  

Senokotsoane said the NPA envisages that the sentencing of Machabe will not only give the victims hope, closure and a sense of freedom but also send a harsh message to criminals of Gender-Based Violence and Femicide (GBV&F) related matters in that the prosecution working with law-enforcement partners will act harshly in investigating and prosecuting these crimes and they shall face the full might of the law should they be found guilty of such criminal conduct.

Meanwhile, in aggravation, the prosecution argued that it is a known fact that South Africa faces insuperable levels of violent crime, particularly targeting vulnerable groups, which include women and children. The state further argued that there were no substantial and compelling factors that could make the court deviate from the prescribed minimum sentence of life when it comes to crimes of this nature.

In sentencing, the court found the accused guilty on all counts except for count 17 (attempted murder) due to a lack of evidence. The court sentenced the accused to life terms and 44 years imprisonment.

The court also ordered that the name of the accused be registered in the National Register of Sex Offenders. The accused was also declared unfit to possess a firearm.

The accused was sentenced on the day Segami was to celebrate her 14 years birthday.

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ANCWL defend suspendedTswaing mayor, Norah Mahlangu after her nude video went viral  

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Picture: The embattled Tswaing Local Municipality mayor, Norah Mahlangu/Screengrab

By KEDIBONE MOLAETSI

19 February 2025- The ANCWL Provincial Task Team (PTT) in North West came out guns blazing in defence of suspended Tswaing Local Municipality mayor, Norah Mahlangu. This comes after the ANC in the province, placed Mahlangu on a month-long special leave pending investigation.

Last week, Mahlangu was seen in a scandalous nude video that went viral, where she was found to be in a compromising position. In the video, Mahlangu was seen taking off her bra and tights and playing with her punani.

The video was immensely shared across various social media platforms. This prompted the ANC in the province to suspend Mahlangu for putting the party into disrepute.

In the letter written to Mahlangu and seen by Taung DailyNews, the ANC provincial secretary, Louis Diremelo said, on or about 12 February 2025, the organisation was provided with Mahlangu’s indecent social media video, whereby she was seen engaging in unethical and immoral conduct. Diremelo further said the conduct detracts from the character, values and integrity of the deployee of the ANC.

“You are further reminded that your immoral and indecent social media video, has the potential to bring the organisation into disrepute. Actually, the video has brought the organisation into disrepute after being circulated and seen by the members of the public.

“As a result of the above stated facts, you are hereby directed to take a special leave. This will allow the organisation to institute its own investigation regarding the circumstances leading to the leakage of the indecent and immoral social media video,” he said.

Diremelo added that the ANC expected to be furnished with special leave by the close of business on 14 February 2025. He said there are terms and conditions that will apply during the period of her special leave.

“This includes not reporting for duty or visiting the municipality premises unless being invited by the chief whip of the organisation to attend council sitting.

“If you need to remove any belongings, such to be done after the arrangements with the office of the chief whip. You are expected to fully cooperate with the organisation during the investigation of the matter,” said Diremelo.

He said Mahlangu is expected not to interfere with the investigations and or any potential witnesses. Diremelo said from time-to-time, she will be provided with the progress of the investigation.

“The investigation report and its recommendations will be made available to you upon the conclusion of the matter,” he said.

However, ANCWL PTT coordinator, Nombuyiselo Adoons said they will not leave this matter lying down. Adoons said Mhlangu is a victim here and she cannot be victimised.

“We wish to express our deepest concern regarding the recent victimization of Mahlangu, who found herself at the centre of a distressing situation following the unauthorized leaking of her private, intimate video by individuals once considered close friends.

“Such conduct is a blatant violation of her privacy and dignity, and constitutes a serious infringement on her rights. It is disheartening that, despite being the clear victim in this matter, Mahlangu has been instructed to take a special leave,” she said.

Adoons said they believe this decision not only undermines her position as mayor, but also perpetuates a harmful culture wherein victims of privacy violations are punished rather than supported. She said Mahlangu has already demonstrated good faith and accountability by submitting an apology to the ANC and to the community of Tswaing and the province.

“We call upon the ANC to treat this letter with the gravity it deserves and to recognise that Mahlangu’s actions and statements illustrate her commitment to the party and the community she serves.

“We therefore demand that the ANC withdraw its letter calling for Mahlangu’s special leave with immediate effect. We urge the organisation to stand firmly by its commitment to protect and empower women and to uphold the rights and dignity of its members,” said Adoons.

She said the leaking of private material without consent is a criminal act and must be addressed as such. Adoons said victims should be supported, not further traumatised through administrative or disciplinary measures.

“We stand in solidarity with Mahlangu and call on all relevant authorities and party

structures to take decisive steps against the perpetrators.

“We further request that the ANC institute clear protocols to support members, who fall victim to such invasions of privacy, ensuring that survivors are not isolated or re-victimised,” she said.

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Kgetsi ya polao ya kwa Lokgabeng e buseditswe morago

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Setshwantsho: Molatofadiwa wa polao, Simon Molale  

Ka REGINALD KANYANE

19 Tlhakole 2025- Kgetsi ya polao kgatlhanong le lekawana la kwa motseng wa Lokgabeng, gaufi le Taung, e buseditswe morago go fitlha di 202 Tlhakole 2025, ke kgotlhatshekelo ya Taung. Simon Molale (22), yo a latofadiwang ka go tlhaba le go bolaya lekgarebe la gagwe, Tshepiso Medichane (21), o kwa ntlo-lefitshwana morago ga go ganelwa ka beile.

Go begwa fa Molale a ne a tlhaba Medichane le go mo bolaya, mme one a tshaba kwa lefelong la tiragalo morago ga go bona batho. Fela, go begwa fa ba lelapa la gagwe ba ne ba mo tshwara le go mo isa kwa seteisheneng sa sepodisi sa Taung di ura morago ga tiragalo e.

Go begwa fa Molale a lekile go tsaya botshelo jwa gagwe pele ga ba lelapa la gagwe ba ka mo neela sepodisi ka motsi o. Molale o ile a amogelwa kwa bookelo jwa selegae jwa Taung morago ga magatwe a gore o ile a itlhaba ka thipa.

Kgabagare, sebueledi sa sepodisi mo sedikeng sa Dr Ruth Segomotsi Mompati, Warrant Officer Tryphosa van Rooyen are Molale one a tshwarwa le go latofadiwa ka polao ya ga Medichane.

“Ke nnete molatofadiwa mo kgetsing e ya polao o tshwerwe. Molatofadiwa one a isiwa kwa seteisheneng sa sepodisi ke ba lelapa la gagwe.

“One a na le dikgobalo, mme o ile a amogelwa kwa bookelong jwa selegae. Molatofadiwa o lebagane le kgetsi ya polao, mme thipa e e dirisitsweng go bolaya moswi ene ya fitlhelwa kwa lefelong la tiragalo.”

Go fitlha ga jaana, bosekisi bo tlhalositse fa bo setse bo emetse dipholo tsa diteko tsa thipa e go begwang fa Molale a e dirisitse go bolaya Medichane, mme dipatlisiso mo kgetsing di a tswelela.

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Kgetsi ya polao e buseditswe morago

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Setshwantsho: Balatofadiwa mo kgetsing ya polao, Phemelo Maine (40) ga mmogo le Okemetse Phatlhanyane

Ka OBAKENG MAJE

19 Tlhakole 2025- Kgetsi ya polao kgatlhanong le banna ba le babedi ba kwa motseng wa Matlhako 2, gaufi le Pudimoe, e buseditswe morago go fitlha di 24 Tlhakole 2025. Se ke go neela bosekisi tshono ya go botsolotsa balatofadiwa, Balatofadiwa, Phemelo Maine (40) ga mmogo le Okemetse Phatlhanyane (27), di potso.

Phatlhanyane o solofetswe go dira kopo ya beile, fa Maine ene a phuagantse kopo ya gagwe. Maine le Phatlhanyane, ba latofadiwa ka go bolaya Boingotlo Makaota (16). Go begwa fa setopo sa ga Makaota, se bonwe kwa lebitleng le le seng boteng kwa nageng kwa motseng wa Matlhako 2. Go ya ka moagisani, one a utlwa segajaja sa lekgarebe mo bosigong jwa Labone kwa ntlung ya ga Maine.

Go begwa fa moagisani o, gape a tlhalositse fa a ne a bona Maine ga mmogo le ditsala tsa gagwe ba kgorometsa kereibaye e go bontshang fa ene e pegile sengwe mo teng mo mosong wa Labotlhano.

Sebueledi sa sepodisi mo Bokone Bophirima, Brigadier Sabata Mokgwabone are: “Sepodisi se ile sa tswa letsholo, mme seo se ile sa lebisa kwa go epololweng ga setopo sa ga Makaota.

“Go begwa fa setopo seo, sene se phuthetswe ka kobo, mme moswi one a supiwa ke ba lelapa la gagwe. Dipatlisiso di shupa fa setopo sa ga Makaota, se ne se na le dintho mo tlhogong, mo diropeng ga mmogo le mo maotong.”

Mokgwabone are dipatlisiso di ile tsa bolodiwa kwa lelapeng la ga Maine, mme diaparo tsa moswi di ile tsa fitlhelwa teng. Mokgwabone are, Maine o tshwerwe ka Lamatlhatso morago ga go ineele kwa sepodising.

“Monna o, o ile a isiwa kwa sepodisi ke morwa rragwe, mme one a tshwarwa. Sepodisi se ile sa botsolotsa Phatlhanyane o bonweng a tsamaya le Maine fa a ne a kgorometsa kereibaye, mme le ene o ile a lelelwa ke ditshipi,” Mokgwabone wa tlhalosa.

Mokomishinara wa Sepodisi wa nama o sa tshwere mo Bokone Bophirima, Major General Patrick Asaneng, o kgadile ka bogale tiragalo e. Asaneng are polao eo ya go tlhorontshiwa ga bong e kabo e efogilwe fa baagi ba ne ba le malala-a-laotswe.

Kgabagare, Maine o ile a ipona molato mabapi le ditatofatso tsotlhe kgatlhanong le ene, mme o solofetswe go ka nguna-nguna seo le mmueledi wa puso. Phatlhanyane ene o setse a inkeme fela ka gore a neelwe beile, mme kopo ya gagwe e ka rediwa fa kgetsi e boela kgotlhatshekelo.

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