Daily Archives: February 27, 2025

A hitch-hikers spot robber jailed  

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By REGINALD KANYANE

27 February 2025- A hitch-hiker’s spot robber (34) sentenced to 32 years imprisonment by the Rustenburg Regional Court after being found guilty on 15 counts of robbery with aggravating circumstances. The accused, Goitsemodimo Kekae, was a mine employee at the time he committed these crimes.

The National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) regional spokesperson in North West, Sivenathi Gunya said Kekae’s conviction stems from the spree of robbery incidents that were reported near Rustenburg, Mogwase and Koster from October 2014 to January 2015. Gunya said it is alleged that the information reached the police about a person who was driving a Toyota Corolla robbing people in hiking spots.

“Investigations revealed that the accused would offer a person a hike upon boarding that person would be robbed of his or her belongings and threatened with a gun.

“After the police received many reports about this hitch-hiking spot robber, they organised an undercover operation to apprehend the suspect. His car was stopped during the operation and the cellphones of the victims he had earlier robbed were recovered,” he said.

Gunya further said Kekae was arrested on 11 March 2015, after the police intensive operations in tracking the said Toyota Corolla. He added that, in court, he pleaded not guilty to all the charges against him.

“Evidence presented in court indicated that the accused would use a firearm to rob the victims and take their belongings,” said Gunya.

During sentencing, state prosecutor advocate Rodger Mareume, emphasised the fact that the accused was employed shows that he committed the offence out of greed and with intentions to traumatize his victims and called for the prescribed minimum sentence to be imposed. In delivering judgment, Magistrate Samuel Maboho, indicated that they live in a society which is becoming increasingly lawless, where firearms are frequently used.  

“Robbery is always a deliberately planned crime, where victims cannot take precautions against such offences,” he said.

Meanwhile, welcoming the sentence, Dr Rachel Makhari, Director of Public Prosecutions in North West, commended the diligent efforts of the Police Service, state prosecutor, and all role players involved in this case. Makhari emphasised the need for community cooperation with authorities in reporting any acts of criminality.

“The National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) remains committed to ensuring accountability and fighting crime in South Africa,” she said.

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North West Premier Lazarus Mokgosi aims at empowering emerging commercial farmers

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Picture: North West Premier, Lazarus Mokgosi/Facebook

By OBAKENG MAJE

27 February 2025- The North West Premier, Lazarus Mokgosi said as part of the poverty alleviation programmes in rural communities, his government will be working hand-in-glove with the North West House of Traditional and Khoi-San Leaders under the stewardship of the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development through Agri-hubs in collaboration with the North West University (NWU), Agriculture Research Council, and other stakeholders.

Mokgosi, who delivered the State of the Province (SOPA) today at the North West Provincial Legislature (NWPL) in Mahikeng, said the objective is primarily aimed at driving agricultural development to empower emerging commercial farmers, while contributing to sustainable economic growth to address high poverty levels at rural communities and in district municipalities such as Dr Ruth Segomotsi Mompati and Ngaka Modiri Molema.

He further said on Monday, he will be launching a flagship programme of this initiative at the University’s Molelwane Farm in Mahikeng. Mokgosi added that in the next financial year, they will launch the “Ntime o Mphele Ngwana Poverty Alleviation Programme”, which is centred on addressing hunger and starvation amongst children and youth in economically depressed communities.

“I want to urge various non-governmental organisations and the private sector to partner with us in executing this initiative. Through the ILIMA/Letsema Programme and the Presidential Employment Stimulus, we are supporting over 5000 subsistence farmers in ensuring that no households in the province go to bed hungry.

“More than R60m has been set aside for the successful implementation of these programmes. An additional R80m of conditional grants will support farming communities in increasing food production across the province,” he said.

Mokgosi said the resuscitation of the Taung Irrigation Scheme is in full swing following their ongoing discussions and consultations with Bogosi and other key stakeholders. He said plans are already afoot to also revitalise the Disaneng, Molatedi, Hartebees and Mooibank Irrigation Schemes.

“In giving impetus to these plans, we will host a two-day Irrigation Symposium on the 5 and 6 March 2025, to develop a framework, as well as an implementation plan to drive agricultural production in rural and periphery communities.

“Restoring the dignity of our people remains one of the apex priorities of this government. To date over 6000 hectares of land have been restored to communities and rightful owners,” said Mokgosi.

He said through this programme, R4.5 billion was spent on land acquisition with over R430 million paid as development grants. Mokgosi said this includes the Bo-Moshe Communal Property Association, where over 670 hectares of land valued at more than R380m was restored to the community, which produces berries for export to international markets.

“This restoration has culminated in the investment of more than R40m and has created close to 5000 seasonal jobs and 31 permanent jobs for locals,” he said.

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A man sentenced to 20 years imprisonment for rape

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By BAKANG MOKOTO

28 February 2025- A man (37) was sentenced to 20 years by the Colesberg Regional Court for rape. On August 2024, Johannes Arends raped a woman (18), who was visiting friends in Riemvasmaak in Colesberg.

Northern Cape police spokesperson, Colonel Cherelle Ehlers said at 9pm, the victim decided to return home, and the accused offered to walk her home. Ehlers said on arrival at her residence, he threatened her and raped her, then fled the scene.

“She called for help and a community member assisted her. The victim reported the incident to the police. Detective Sergeant Ilse Fan from the De Aar Family Violence, Child Protection and Sexual Offences Unit led the investigation.

“Together with members from Colesberg SAPS, Arends was traced and subsequently arrested. He remained in custody until his sentencing on 25 February 2025. Arends was also declared unfit to possess a firearm, and his name is to be entered into the National Register for Sex Offenders,” she said.

Ehlers further said Gender-Based Violence (GBV) remains a priority for the SAPS, and detectives will work tirelessly in collaboration with prosecutors to ensure that meticulous investigations are conducted and perpetrators are brought to book. 

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Department of Social Development warns against unauthentic sites for SRD application

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Picture: The SASSA logo

By REGINALD KANYANE

27 February 2025- The Department of Social Development and its entity the South African Social Security Agency (SASSA) are warning unsuspecting prospective applicants of the COVID-19 Social Relief of Distress (SSRD) of sites and links purporting to be authentic platforms to apply for the SSRD.

This was revealed in parliament today when the Portfolio Committee on Social Development received an update into the investigation on alleged weaknesses and fraud in the application and payment system of social grants.

The Minister of Social Development, Sisisi Tolashe said the correct and authentic application platform for all applications to the Covid-19 Social Relief of Distress is: https://SRD.sassa.gov.za. She further said the following links: https://srd-sassa.org.za and https://srdsassagov.co.za are fake and are used to collect data from unsuspecting applicants, stealing personal information from applicants of the SSRD of R370.

Tolashe said she instituted an investigation into vulnerabilities of the applications and systems used by SASSA for the payment of social grants. She further said this was after recommendations made by the Portfolio Committee on Social Development to conduct an investigation on these alleged vulnerabilities after claims of fraud in the application system of the Covid-19 Social Relief of Distress (SSRD) were made by two students from the University of Stellenbosch.

“The phase 1 of the investigation consisted of a comprehensive audit into the SRD application system administered by SASSA to determine the extent to which the system was exposed to fraud.

“The findings of this audit will serve as input as a basis for Phase 2, which will be an investigation into alleged fraud and weaknesses in the broader social grant system that results in ineligible beneficiaries receiving social grants,” said Tolashe.

She added that the final report on the Vulnerability Assessment (VA) and Penetration Testing (PT) on the SRD online system administered by SASSA made the findings. Tolashe said amongst others, that there are unidentified, malicious websites with .org and .co.za domain names that purport to be the authentic SRD application websites that are used to harvest applicants’ information for fraud purposes.

“That the SRD web application has weaknesses, such as unencrypted communications, that present threats to the security of the platform and the safety of users. These weaknesses are classified as medium risk by the Final Audit Report,” she said.

Tolashe said the Final Audit recommends a communication campaign warning beneficiaries and applicants about the unofficial and fake sites that are used to harvest their information for fraudulent purposes. She said SASSA has developed an Action Plan to respond to the recommendations of the Final Audit Report.

“It has short, medium and long term activities. This includes replacement of the HTTPS: method with a post method to protect communications between the applicant and the server that processes their information.

“To implement a rate limit to limit the abnormal number of requests made to the SRD application system. Update outdated software, and implement regular patch updates and introduce biometric,” said Tolashe.

She said in the long term, and within 18 months, SASSA will take down the fake websites and other content that violates its brand, copyright or right to information and privacy. Tolashe assured the committee of her commitment in addressing the vulnerabilities and weaknesses identified in the Covid 19 Social Relief of Distress system.

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Workers-owned coal mine struggling to make a breakthrough

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Picture: The miners at a disused mine/Generic

By OBAKENG MAJE

27 February2025 – A coal mine in Mpumalanga that was acquired by a group of retrenched mine workers, who lost their jobs when the former owners stopped operation is struggling to make a breakthrough in the industry. This was discovered by the Portfolio Committee on Mineral and Petroleum Resources yesterday during an oversight visit to Arnot Opco Coal Mine in the Steve Tshwete Local Municipality.

The Chairperson of Portfolio Committee on Mineral and Petroleum Resources, Mikateko Mahlaule, said after Exxaro stopped mining and retrenched 1500 workers in 2015 when its coal supply contract with Eskom could not be renewed, a group of eight former Exarro employees formed a company, Innovators Resources, and approached their former employer to take over the mine.

Mahlaule said they also established a trust for the benefit of about 1 029 other former employees of the mine and partnered with Wescoal as a shareholder, which at the time was listed on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange (JSE). He said, however, Arnot Opco management told the committee yesterday that because Wescoal had failed to make available the R150 million in funding they had previously committed and also because of the Covid-19 pandemic, the mine could not operate fully.

“Now the company is struggling to raise funding, as lenders are reluctant to fund companies in distress and also it is difficult to find funding for coal projects due to the global shift towards clean energy.

“Currently there is no mining taking place at Arnot Opco, instead the mine buys coal from third parties, washes it and sells to their clients. However, plans are underway to appoint contractors to reopen the mine and create jobs for some of the retrenched workers,” said Mahlaule.

He further heard that Arnot Opco is currently under business rescue and is also involved in a court battle with Wescoal. Mahlaule added that Wescoal is also under business rescue and its listing on the JSE has been suspended.

“The committee would like to see the company succeed and become a big player in the coal mining industry. The last thing we want is to see the transaction fail.

“We want the mine to be a success. We want to see this model, which we have not seen before, succeed. You must also have regard for the community and not extract and leave,” he said.

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