Picture: The Greater Taung Local Municipality logo
By REGINALD KANYANE
25 June 2025- The North West Provincial Legislature Standing Committee on Provincial Public Accounts (SCOPA) said it will hold a Municipal Finance Management Act (MFMA) public hearings with the Kagisano Molopo Local Municipality to account over the R1,1 billion, Naledi Local Municipality on R600 million, Greater Taung Local Municipality on R383 million and Mamusa Local Municipality on R284 million Irregular Expenditure incurred on the 2023/24 financial year.
The SCOPA provincial chairperson, Smuts Matshe said municipalities acquired disclaimer and adverse audit opinions during the financial year under review. Matshe said Naledi Local Municipality has ESKOM debt of over RR812,3 million and water boards an amount of R33 million.
“The MFMA public hearings will take place at Kismet Community Hall in Vryburg on Thursday,” he said.
24 June 2025- A kidnapping, robbery aggravating, rape and murder case against two accused, Tshepiso Montswane (33) and Gaonapotso Rantsho (33), who are from Ga-Manyai Section in Tlakgameng village, near Ganyesa, has been postponed by the Ganyesa Magistrate’s Court to 1 September 2025. The duo was arrested after they allegedly kidnapped, robbed, rape and killed Motlalepule Kau (43).
It is alleged that Kau who resided in Montshioa Township, near Mahikeng, was lured by Rantsho and Montswane to Tlakgameng village, near Ganyesa under false pretence of being traditional healers. It is alleged that Kau was reported missing by her family at Mahikeng Police Station on 23 April 2025, and a search was commenced.
The accused allegedly kidnapped, robbed, raped and killed her. Kau’s lifeless body was found buried in a shallow grave in the bushes between Tlakgameng and Kudunkgwane on 24 April 2025.
The North West police spokesperson, Brigadier Sabata Mokgwabone said Kau’s body was positively identified by a next-of-kin. Mokgwabone said the gruesome discovery came after forensic leads led the investigation teams that worked tirelessly to the area.
“Ransho and Motswane were remanded in custody until 24 June 2025, for possible bail application. They are facing charges of kidnapping, robbery aggravating, rape and murder,” he said.
The duo told the court that, they have a pending rape case.
Picture: A man nabbed by the police for allegedly committing criminal offence/Generic
By BAKANG MOKOTO
25 June 2025- The South African Police Service (SAPS) said it has accomplished significant operational successes in terms of crimes related to essential infrastructure, however the prevention and policing of these crimes remains a priority. The SAPS said a Criminal Matters Amendment Act of 2015 clearly states that it is a criminal offence to tamper, destroy or damage essential infrastructure.
The Northern Cape police spokesperson, Lieutenant Colonel Sergio Kock said it is also an offence to collude with, or assist another person in any such activity. Kock said offences which may interfere with the provision of a basic service relating to energy, transport, water, sanitation and communication are covered under the act.
He further said if convicted, it provides a severe penalty of imprisonment. Kock added that precautionary measures can be implemented to prevent these crimes.
“Install physical deterrents such as fences, impact resistant glass and strong locks and doors. Have bright security lights inside and outside the property. Clean up vandalism and remove or repair any damaged item as soon as possible.
“Install video surveillance. Hire security service companies to provide security guards. The SAPS encourages the community to report suspicious behaviour and activities related to cable theft. The public and second hand goods dealers must discourage the market for stolen goods by refusing to purchase these items from criminals,” he said.
Kock said authorities should educate the public and raise awareness about the dangers of cable theft and the importance of reporting it. He said they warn that cable theft is a criminal offence and unlawful and intentional tampering with or damaging or destroying of essential infrastructure, and provides for the possibility of the imposition of a severe penalty, namely imprisonment which may be up to 30 years.
“The public is urged to report incidents of this nature to the police via the MySAPS app or 08600 10111. Alternatively report incidents to the 24-hour Toll-Free Number 0800 222 771 to report incidents to the Cable Theft Unit.
“Incidents of extortion can be reported to the National Hotline at 0800 911 011. All information will be treated confidentially,” said Kock.
25 June 2025- The Department of Sport, Arts and Culture said it will host a Youth Month Social Cohesion Dialogue at the !XunKhwesa Combined School in Platfontein on 27 June 2025 from 11am. The department said the event will be held in collaboration with the !Khu and Khwe communities.
The Department of Sport, Arts and Culture spokesperson, Conrad Fortune said it is important that dialogue forms part of the department’s Youth Month commemorative activities, which seek to empower young people through inclusive platforms that foster unity, development, and economic opportunity. Fortune said the theme for the dialogue is: “Skills for the Changing World – Empowering Youth for Meaningful Economic Participation.”
“The event will bring together youth leaders, community representatives, and key stakeholders to engage in robust discussions on skills development, innovation, and the role of cultural identity in shaping a resilient and economically active generation.
“Through this initiative, the department reaffirms its commitment to building a socially cohesive society by creating opportunities for young people, especially in historically marginalised communities, to thrive in a rapidly evolving world,” he said.
25 June 2025- In a dusty rural town, a grandmother tunes into a crackling radio broadcast. The voice on air speaks no English or Afrikaans, but her mother tongue, a language rarely heard outside of family gatherings or village meetings.
In that moment, she is not an outsider to the national conversation, but she is its centre. It’s a moment of recognition, of relevance, and increasingly, of resistance. Community media, those small, often underfunded stations and publications, are doing what mainstream outlets largely neglect.
They are preserving South Africa’s indigenous languages. While national broadcasters prioritise dominant languages for reach and revenue, community media fill a critical void.
They speak in isiNdebele, Tshivenda, Xitsonga, and Setswana, not just about communities, but with them, in their voices. This work is more than noble, it is necessary.
South Africa’s language policy promises inclusivity, but the lived reality tells another story. Indigenous languages remain marginalised, casualties of colonial legacies, market logic, and the homogenising forces of globalisation.
Community media push back against this erasure every day, but they cannot do it alone. At the heart of this struggle are the practitioners, journalists, radio hosts, and editors who are not merely messengers, but cultural custodians.
They do more than deliver news, they carry idioms, proverbs, metaphors, and the rhythm of daily life into public discourse. Their work ensures that indigenous languages are not just spoken, but heard, not just remembered, but lived.
But for this preservation to become policy, academics must leave the lecture halls and join the frontlines. Linguists and researchers hold the tools to document, analyse, and legitimise these community efforts.
Collaborations between scholars and media workers can produce glossaries, develop training manuals, and generate research that validates indigenous language media as essential, not optional.
Universities, too, have a responsibility. They must establish language innovation hubs where students, journalists, and linguists co-create content in indigenous tongues, podcasts, community newspapers, and digital platforms.
It’s not just about preservation, it’s about evolution. Indigenous languages must not only survive the present but also shape the future.
The stakes could not be higher. A 2022 study by the South African Centre for Digital Language Resources found that less than 5% of online content is produced in indigenous languages. We risk digitising a future where our linguistic diversity is reduced to memory.
Preserving indigenous languages isn’t about nostalgia; it’s about power. Language shapes who gets heard and who is forgotten.
When community media speak in indigenous tongues, they remind us that these languages are not relics. They are tools of knowledge, identity, and democracy.
In a country as linguistically rich as South Africa, silence should never be the fate of any language. If we are serious about cultural preservation, we must tune into the frequencies where these voices still speak and amplify them before they fade out for good.
Back in that rural home, the grandmother listens not just with her ears, but with her history. Each word she hears in her language is part of a world she thought the nation had left behind.
Her radio may crackle, but her language still sings, and with it, so does her sense of belonging.
(Note: Mr Phenyo Mokgothu is a postgraduate student at the Indigenous Language Media in Africa Research entity at North West University.)
Picture: Deputy Minister of Water and Sanitation, Sello Seitlholo
By REGINALD KANYANE
25 June 2025- In a decisive move to combat rising water pollution and protect South Africa’s water security, the Deputy Minister of Water and Sanitation, Sello Seitlholo, will embark on an oversight working visit to Rustenburg, North West Province from 27 to 28 June 2025.
The Department of Water and Sanitation Head of Communications, Dr Mandla Mathebula said the visit highlights Seitlholo’s firm commitment to ensuring that wastewater treatment facilities operate effectively and comply with environmental standards. Mathebula said with pollution increasingly threatening the quality of South Africa’s water sources, Seitlholo is taking decisive steps to assess, intervene and support long-term solutions that protect public health and water security.
“A focal point of the working visit will be Vaalkop Dam, where invasive alien vegetation, driven by pollution, has overtaken the water body and is severely hampering water abstraction and treatment operations, thus directly affecting operations of the Vaalkop Water Treatment Works.
“The oversight visit will also include strategic stakeholder engagements with local municipalities in the Rustenburg area and the Magalies Water Board, aimed at finding collaborative solutions to pollution, infrastructure deficiencies, and long-term water management challenges,” he said.
Picture: Some of drugs seized by the police/Supplied
By AGISANANG SCUFF
25 June 2025- The police in Northern Cape said the Operation Shanela continues with unabated activities addressing crime in the ZFM District. The police said several actions including stop and searches, VCPs and crime awareness were conducted on 24 June 2025.
The ZF Mgcawu District police spokesperson, Sergeant Omphile Masegela said members of Upington Public Order Police, conducted drug raids in the Postmasburg area during which one suspect was arrested after being found in possession of tik, mandrax and dagga valued at approximately R 7 350.00. Masegela said a Vehicle Check Point was conducted by Upington SAPS focusing on the trafficking of illicit substances.
“Traffic fines to the value of R3 700 were issued to non-compliant motorists. Crime awareness on contact crimes was also conducted in the Paballelo and Rosedale areas during which pamphlets were distributed during door to door activities and engagement with the community during a stakeholder dialogue at Piet Thole community hall.
“Police Stations within the ZFM District will intensify their efforts to address and dismantle crime within respective policing precincts,” she said.
Picture: The Ratlou Local Municipality mayor, Matlhomola Jafta
By BAKANG MOKOTO
June 2025- The Ratlou Local Municipality mayor, Matlhomola Jafta will on Saturday, officially unveil the 2025 Ratlou Mayoral Cup Soccer and Netball Tournament. Jafta said the full day sporting thriller will take place at Setlagole Sports-ground, where five teams from ward clusters across the municipality are expected to log horns in both semi-final and final competitions.
He further said there will be both men football and women netball matches. Jafta added that the gates will open at 8:30am, for the official opening ceremony with the kick-off of the first match starting at 9:30am.
“The June month is historically earmarked to honour and celebrate the bravery displayed by the young people on 16 June 1976. The Soweto Uprising turned the tide in the liberation struggle of South Africa as young people took to the street and finally demanded equal education for all South Africans.
“The Youth Month Mayoral Cup Tournament is expected to bring Setlagole to a standstill. Young people from various quarters of the Ratlou are expected to descend to Setlagole Sports-ground on 28 June 2025, to wrap-up the Youth Month in style,” he said.
Jafta said the intention of the games is to allow youth to display and discover their talent, while at the same time discourage them from using illegal substances and take them out of the street.
Picture: The attempted murder and murder accused, Tshwaro Mangwegape
By OBAKENG MAJE
25 June 2025- A murder and attempted murder case against The Meat Brother’s Pub owner, Tshwaro Mangwegape (41), to resume in court. Mangwegape, who is out on a R5000 bail, is accused of shooting and killing the NWU Soccer Institute player, Undivile “Vilo” Mdi (28) and injuring his friend, Aobakwe Ernest Kokwe (33).
On 17 December 2023, Mdi and Kokwe were amongst patrons who visited the Meat Brother’s Pub that was full to capacity. It is alleged that the security guards refused entry to patrons who did not have Identification Documents (IDs) and that led to a stampede.
Mdi and Kokowe allegedly tried to gain entry forcefully, but Mangwegape allegedly pulled out a gun and shot at them. Mdi was fatally shot, while his friend was rushed to the hospital with terrible gunshot wounds.
Picture: The illegal Lesotho sangoma abandons bail/Generic
By KEDIBONE MOLAETSI
25 June 2025- An illegal Lesotho national Sangoma, Sebokoana Khounyana (50), abandoned his bail application at the Vanderbijlpark Magistrates’ Court. Khounyana is facing charges of premeditated murder, human trafficking of a baby, Kutlwano Shalaba (2) and being illegal in the country.
The National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) regional spokesperson in Gauteng, Lumka Mahanjana said Khounyana’s co-accused, the mother of the child, Kuneuwe Portia Shalaba (32), is facing charges of premeditated murder, human trafficking, conspiracy to commit robbery and making a false statement to the police.
“It is alleged that on 10 November 2024, the mother of the child took the child to the sangoma and requested him to kill her child because she was not happy with the gender of the baby and was tired of hiding it from her family that in fact, the child was a girl.
“The mother then allegedly fed the baby poison and after the baby died, it is alleged that the two took the child and buried her body in a shallow grave in Waterpan,” she said.
Mahanjana further said after investigations by the police, the sangoma was arrested on 29 May 2025 and he subsequently made a confession and pointed out to the police about where the body of the child was buried. She added that after the brief appearance in court, the matter was postponed to 6 August 2025 for further investigations.
“The court previously denied the mother’s release on bail,” said Mahanjana.
The Guardian 