Former South Africa striker Phil Masinga has hailed the inclusion of Kermit Erasmus in the latest Bafana Bafana squad.
The national team head coach Ephraim ‘Shakes’ Mashaba named the Orlando Pirates marksman in the squad to play Congo in back-to-back Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers next month, and Masinga believes Erasmus deserves his place.
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Bafana squad to face Congo
Posted: 25 September 2014
Time: 11:31 am
South Africa coach Ephraim ‘Shakes’ Mashaba has named his 26-man squad to face Congo Brazzaville in back-to-back 2015 Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers next month.
Mashaba’s men will tackle the central Africans in Point Noire (on synthetic grass) and at Polokwane’s Peter Mokaba Stadium on 11 and 15 October respectively.
Bafana Bafana beat Sudan 3-0 away in their Group A opener on Mashaba’s return to the national hotseat. They were then held to a goalless draw by continental champions Nigeria in Cape Town on 10 September.
Congo top the log with six points following wins over the Super Eagles and the Falcons of Jediane. Bafana are second with four points, three ahead of Nigeria, while Sudan are yet to open their account.
Bafana squad:
Goalkeepers: Senzo Meyiwa, Darren Keet, Dumisani Msibi.
Defenders: Anele Ngcongca, Ayabulela Magqwaka, Sibusiso Khumalo, Thulani Hlatshwayo, Mulomowandau Mathoho, Thabo Matlaba, Rivaldo Coetzee, Kwanda Mngonyama, Tefu Mashamaite.
Midfielders: Themba Zwane, Sibusiso Vilakazi, Oupa Manyisa, Andile Jali, Dean Furman, Mandla Masango, Keagan Dolly, Thulani Serero, Reneilwe Letsholonyane.
Strikers: Bongani Ndulula, Tokelo Rantie, David Zulu, Kermit Erasmus, Fagrie Lakay.
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Despite the influx of young players brought into the Bafana Bafana squad by coach Shakes Mashaba, former midfielder, Linda Buthelezi, believes that Reneilwe Letsholonyane should make the cut.
Mashaba faces his next AFCON qualifier assignment against Congo Brazzaville and after some stunning form at the start of the season for Yeye, it remains to be seen whether the coach will change things up this time around.
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– Amajimbos touched down at Cairo International Airport just around 05h30 on Thursday morning after a 7-hour flight from OR Tambo Airport looking very relaxed but focused on Saturday’s crucial encounter.
“Everyone looks in good condition and the focus now is Saturday’s game. That is what will shape our future. Personally, I can’t wait to have this match done and dusted,” said coach Molefi Ntseki.
“We did most of our preparations at home and what we will just have to do here is polish areas which need attention. But overall, the boys are in tip top condition and there won’t be any excuse of not reaching Niger for the CAF Youth championships,” he added.
After taking breakfast at the team hotel, the squad was set to rest for most of the day and would only resume training at 16h00 when the temperatures which are hovering around 36/37 degrees Celsius will have subsided.
The match will kick off at 19h00 on Saturday at Contractors Stadium at the heart of this bustling city.
“Vision 2022 is being realised sooner rather than later and we don’t want to be left behind this buzz that is going within the South African Football Association (SAFA). Everything is just coming together if you look at our national teams and I have told the boys not to let the bus leave them behind. We are so close to realising a huge dream.
“We intend to get to Niger and then Chile for the World Cup. We are just 90 minutes away from that goal and we don’t want a reverse gear in our vehicle,” said the 45-year old mentor.
Amajimbos beat their Egyptian counterparts 2-1 in the first leg and despite the slender lead, Ntseki is of the opinion that should be enough.
“We have that one goal advantage which they don’t have and we will build on that win. They will definitely be under pressure from the home fans and we will make life difficult for them. It won’t be easy for us as well but we are psychologically motivated,” said Ntseki.
-TDN
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Baxter praise for Tefu qualities
Posted: 25 September 2014
Time: 09:04 am
Kaizer Chiefs coach Stuart Baxter has praised Tefu Mashamaite’s qualities, with the centre-back pushing for a Bafana Bafana call-up.
Mashamaite has been a consistent force for Chiefs in recent seasons, and his profile was done no harm after scoring the winner in Amakhosi’s MTN8 Final win over Orlando Pirates last weekend.
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Kaizer Chiefs expect injured pair Katlego Mphela and Itumeleng Khune to be available again in “late October”.
Striker Mphela and goalkeeper Khune are sidelined with ankle and foot complaints respectively.
Mphela sustained his knock after scoring in a MTN8 semi-final defeat of Platinum Stars on 24 August, while Khune last skippered Chiefs six days later in a 2-0 League win over SuperSport United.
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More than 500 people with albinism from all the districts in the North West braved the hot weather on Tuesday and flocked to Dinokana village in Ramotshere Moiloa local municipality to commemorate National Albinism Day and voice their day-to-day life challenges with Social Development Deputy Minister Hendrietta Bogopane-Zulu.
“People with albinism continue to experience high levels of prejudice, discrimination and sexual assault by some community members where they live on mythical beliefs that their perpetrators would be cured of the HIV and Aids,” Mapula Mathe, said during her presentation of challenges faced by people with albinism in the province.
Mathe said it is about time government undertake awareness campaigns to communities and educate them about albinism as a disability like other permanent disabilities.
During the dialogue with Bogopane-Zulu Mathe said people with albinism unanimously recommended that government provide social grants to all people with albinism regardless of their age. In their recommendations they also say government would selectively develop a database for people with albinism.
In her response to the plight of people with albinism Deputy Minister Bogopane-Zulu said they have started with the process to change the derogatory language used against people with albinism.
“We have started engaging our people at large on dialogues to change the perception. If we are to restore the inherent identity of people with albinism it all have to start with the language that we use. There is no consensus on the correct name of people with albinism,” Bogopane-Zulu said.
She said people with albinism would be registered to access sun screens that government would make available in all the clinics.
Meanwhile North West MEC for Social Development Fenny Gaolaolwe launched ‘Ikitsise’ (loosely translated ‘introduce yourself) registration form to collate information on people with albinism.
“We have started with dialogues at the district level to allow people with albinism to voice out their concerns in general about access to government services such as social grants and many other challenges they face. We will register them in a database and ensure that they access the necessary services,” Gaolaolwe said.
Her counterpart Culture, Arts and Traditional Affairs MEC Tebogo Modise encouraged communities to engage in dialogue termed ‘A re bueng’ which seeks to explains albinism as a disability and that community should accept and treat people with albinism with dignity and respect.
-TDN
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Residents of the township of Khuma near Orkney say they feel abandoned by government as they try to pick up the pieces of their damaged houses and rebuild more than a month after an earthquake hit the area.
“They abandoned us and we don’t know what is happening. No one is saying anything,” Dalton Melato said on Tuesday.
“We have been removed from our houses but we don’t know when we will be able to go back in.” Melato’s house was among the more than 600 houses damaged when a 5.5 magnitude earthquake hit the township in August. A 31-year-old man was killed and at least 34 miners were injured.
Government at the time said those affected would be assisted and the houses severely damaged were declared unsafe for occupation. Families were told to move to safer locations and others moved to a community centre. Melato asked what would have happened had he and his family moved to the centre. He said he was not sure whether government would have kept its promise to take care of them at the centre.
He lamented having to stay at someone else’s house while he has his own home. “Staying in someone’s house with your family while you have you have your own house is not nice,” he said. Another resident, Nozipho Emvula, who is also a street committee member, said she was disappointed with how government was handling the disaster in the township.
She said many people had been left to fend for themselves and had to watch as other households were given groceries. Emvula, whose house was also damaged, said vehicles from the department of social developments were seen in her street delivering groceries but it was not to all those affected by the earthquake.
“We see Sassa cars passing and delivering groceries to certain houses but they skip our houses. The situation here is heartbreaking,” she said.Emvula said residents were not receiving feedback from government regarding when the houses would be fixed. She said the situation was even making them consider not voting during the upcoming local government elections. “We have decided not to vote in the upcoming elections because we are not getting any help when we need it,” she said.
SA Social Security Agency (Sassa) North West spokesman Smanga Selemeni said that in the aftermath of the quake, information was collated on which families were affected and to what extent. “This was used to determine who gets what If we are not giving some families, probably they did not appear on the list.
“Also, the distribution of those food parcels is governed by the regulations of the Social Assistance Act.” In terms of the Act, prospective beneficiaries needed to submit information on their household income and whether anyone in the family received a social grant. “Other families could have been excluded as a result of those regulations, [because] they don’t qualify,” Selemeni said.
North West provincial government spokeswoman Bonolo Mohlakoana said that an assessment on the extent of the damage was complete but a request for funding had not yet been sent to the National Disaster Management Centre. Asked why it had taken so long for this to happen, Mohlakoana said that there were not enough structural engineers to do the assessment of the houses. Also, the list of properties requiring assessment kept growing as people phoned in to report damage.
“The assessment has been done, now they are working on the cost implications, which we will send to the National Disaster Management Centre soon.”
– Sapa
Deputy minister in the Presidency Buti Manamela offered the youth of the country some classic words of wisdom during Heritage Day celebrations in Cape Town on Wednesday.
“School is Cool! Don’t Do Drugs,” were just some of the words of encouragement Manamela suggested in a speech prepared for delivery in Gugulethu.
Manamela also encouraged the youth to share their stories “firmly, radically [and] without fear” through arts and culture.
“As compared to our parents, we are better placed and have more opportunities presented by the democratic dispensation,” he said.
“Thus, we will sing a different tune and tell a different story about how ours was more to move South Africa forward.”
However, Manamela urged that young people should remain respectful.”Being militant does not mean we should be rude and display lack of discipline.”
He said such behaviour would be seen as “unAfrican and uncultured. “In many instances, our right to hold an opinion will diminish as fast as we raise our finger towards other people in a sign of disrespect.”
Last week, the EFF’s Chief Whip and former ANC Youth League spokesman Floyd Shivambu showed Deputy President Cyril Ramaphosa the middle finger in Parliament.
Heritage Day is a public holiday in South Africa where people are encouraged to celebrate the many cultures in the country and their heritage.
-Sapa
Most parts of Tshwane was still without water on Wednesday afternoon, the city said.”Due to vandalism and cable theft at the Palmiet pump station, Rand Water is unable to supply water to most of the suburbs in Tshwane
The city warned residents to minimise the use of water on non-essential activities like watering gardens, irrigation and filling up swimming pool.
“Residents are further urged to use tap water sparingly to allow the reservoirs to fill up,” it said.
The city apologised for the inconvenience.
Earlier, authorities said It was unclear when water would be fully restored to parts of Johannesburg and Tshwane that were affected by the water shortages this week.
“I can’t give you a specific day or time,” Rand Water spokesman Justice Mohale said.
He said the Eikenhof and Palmiet pumping stations had problems but there was improvement in water levels and supply. He did not specify what the problems were.
“Our Meredale reservoir [which supplied mostly to Johannesburg and the West Rand] is standing at 45 percent from yesterday’s 22 percent,” he explained.
“The Waterval reservoir [which mainly supplies Ekurhuleni] is standing at 30 percent from yesterday’s 20 percent.
It has peaked tremendously.”He said with time water levels would increase.
“There is improvement as time progresses. Areas that did not have water will start receiving water as time progresses.” Mohale explained that there were problems in supplying water to high-lying areas.
“There are high-lying areas which is not easy for water to be pumped there.
As water levels increase, there will be enough pressure to pump water to those high lying areas.” “As time progresses, we believe water levels will increase.” Johannesburg Water spokeswoman Millicent Kabwe was also unable to say when water would be fully restored,
“I can’t say at this stage when that will happen.” She declined to give an update on the water situation in Johannesburg, referring only to a press statement issued on Tuesday.
“Yesterday’s statement is the only update we have.” In Tuesday’s statement, Kabwe said water supply was back to normal in most parts of Johannesburg.
She said most reservoirs and water towers were recovering their water levels.
“Only two percent of the residents of the city are still experiencing low water pressures and no water situation,” she said at the time.
However, The Star reported on Wednesday that there was a growing list of suburbs still without water, some in their second week.
Ekurhuleni municipality spokesman Themba Gadebe and his colleague Lindela Mashigo said they did not know when the water would be restored,
“It is dependent on Rand Water,” said Mashigo.
Department of Water Affairs spokesman Sputnik Ratau could not be reached for comment on Wednesday.
-Sapa
The Guardian 