Johannesburg – Gauteng Premier Nomvula Mokonyane has thanked the province’s residents for the respect they showed during the mourning period for former president Nelson Mandela.

“We should all emulate Madiba’s good traits,” Mokonyane said in a statement on Wednesday.

“We can all aspire to be more like him by serving our local communities and community organisations with integrity and compassion.

“This will ensure that Gauteng and South Africa will be a better place to live in.”

During Mandela’s memorial service at FNB stadium, in Soweto, last Tuesday, President Jacob Zuma was humiliated when large sections of the crowd booed him whenever his face appeared on the large screens.

The open hostility embarrassed the African National Congress, whose deputy president Cyril Ramaphosa called for restraint.

ANC spokesperson Jackson Mthembu said the party was shocked that the event had been politicised.

“We are not happy at all. We would have preferred that all who attended this ceremony gave Madiba a well-deserved send-off. It came as a bolt to all of us.”

The crowd’s reaction to Zuma marked a sharp contrast to the applause given to former president Thabo Mbeki and US President Barack Obama.

Anglican Archbishop Emeritus Desmond Tutu reprimanded the crowd, asking them to be disciplined.

“I want to show the world we can come out here and celebrate the life of an icon. You must show the world that we are disciplined,” a visibly angry Tutu shouted at the crowd in FNB stadium.

“I want to hear a pin drop.”

– SAPA

RUSTENBURG-The latest arrests of three suspects linked to senseless killings around Marikana is encouraging and strengthens the hope that peace & stability is being restored in the area and mining communities around Rustenburg, North West Premier Thandi Modise said on Wednesday.

Premier Modise is upbeat that police investigations are continuing and that there are more possible arrests.

“We welcome the breakthroughs, commend police for the arrests which indicate their determination to get to the bottom of the spate of violence and killings in order to unmask and remove perpetrators of violence from society,” said Modise.

According to police, a 25-year- old suspect appeared briefly in the Rustenburg and Ga-Rankuwa Magistrates courts yesterday. He remains in police custody pending his court appearances in the respective courts next week Monday and Tuesday.

The suspect arrested over the weekend is allegedly linked to the murder two National Union of Mines (NUM) leaders, i.e. a female shop steward who was shot outside her house near the National Union of Mines (NUM) offices at the Western Platinum division in August and former shop steward Percy Letanang who was shot seven times at his home in Segwaelane outside Marikana in November.

The Premier has reiterated her call to unions in the mining sector to respect the Framework for Peace and Stability in the Mining Industry they had signed earlier this year on the 25th of February and to desist from provocation, violence, intimidation and murder and to actively discourage their members from taking the law into their own hands.

According to police, two other suspects are in police custody after they were arrested for the shooting of a 30-year-old man at a tavern in Wonderkop last weekend.

It is alleged that 33-year old Lonmin employee, Vuyane Mtimba shot the deceased twice on the upper body after a brief altercation. Mtimba who was said to be wearing an AMCU t-shirt at the time of the incident reportedly fled the scene after the shooting.

“The suspect who is alleged to be residing in Nkaneng informal settlement was arrested by police after he was found at Wonderkop Hostel where he attempted to kill another man in an armed robbery incident,” Captain Pelonomi Makau said.

He is alleged to have shot bullets towards the second suspect, but, missed.

“When police arrived, the suspects allegedly pointed the police with a firearm in an attempt to shoot them. The police managed to arrest him and consficate his 9mm, Norinco pistol” Makau said.

A suspect’s accomplice, Nkosineza Noko,30, was also arrested.

Vuyane was directly linked to the Wonderkop murder that took place on Friday, 6 December 2013.

The two suspects were denied bail when they appeared in Marikana Periodical Court last Friday.They are facing charges of Attempted Murder, Possession of unlicensed firearm as well as Pointing of firearm.

Vuyane Mtimba is also facing a murder charge in the Ga-Rankuwa Magistrates’ Court.-TDN
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The report that the Potchefstroom woman who was shot by her ex-husband has died in hospital evokes sadness and bitterness as gender based violence has robbed three more innocent children of the love and care of their parents, North West Thandi Modise said on Wednesday.

The death of Nicolette Du Randt on Monday evening at Garden City Clinic in Johannesburg brings to four people who died when renowned musician Zirk Bergh allegedly shot dead his wife’s ex-husband, a social worker before turning the gun on himself and fatally shooting himself in a tragic incident that has left not only left Potchefstroom but the North West Province and the entire country in shock. The heart-rending episode occurred on Saturday morning.

Premier Modise had earlier condemned the act as a wicked and ghastly act and said that it should challenge for the 365 days campaign to be intensified as it occurred a few days after the closure of the 16 days of activism on no violence against women and children campaign.

Though the Premier has expressed appreciation that Childline had stepped in to provide to trauma debriefing for the children who had witnessed the tragic incident, she is concerned about the deep emotional and psychological scars that it would leave on them.

Modise has called on men who are experiencing pressure in their personal relationships to seek counselling and professional advice instead of resorting to violence, She has called on real men to stand up to be counted in the fight against the scourge of gender based violence which transcends class and race.

According to an earlier media report by Rapoort, Bergh who was supposed to pick up his daughter for a day’s visit reportedly shot and wounded his ex-wife on her back and head, shot 23 –year- old social worker Deon Kondos and proceeded to shoot her husband Dr. Charl du Randt who was waiting with his four year old daughter car an infant in his car.

The incident reportedly occurred outside the Suid-Afrikaanse Vrouefederasie (SAVF) offices in Potchefstroom at around 8:00 am.

“Real men do not to hurt women but protect them against violence. Our prayers are with the mother of the three children who is hospital and the families that lost their loved ones in the tragic incident,” stressed Modise.-TDN
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Johannesburg – Engineers are working on power outages in Boksburg, the Ekurhuleni metro said on Wednesday.

The power supply to Sunward Park and Freeway Park was lost at 01:00 on Wednesday when two feeder cables were broken, said spokesperson Themba Gadebe.

One was fixed at 02:15. The other one was still being repaired.

The suburbs would have three-hour rotations of power from the working cable until the second one was fixed, said Gadebe.

“The municipality wishes to apologise to the affected residents and assures them that all is being done to restore the power supply as speedily as humanely possible,” he said.

– SAPA

By Obakeng Maje
Potchefstroom-The house caught fire at Mooivalei Small Holdings area and according to reports, no one was injured.

“Fire Emergency Service swiftly responded to a call that a house was on fire at Mooivalei Small Holdings” Er24 spokesperson Chris Venter said.

The cause of the fire is unknown and police investigation continues.-TDN
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By Obakeng Maje

Potchefstroom-The paramedics were summomed at the scene after a car rolled over on R501 only 30km outside Potchefstroom on Tuesday.

Er24 spokesperson Christo Venter said the driver sustain minor injuries and was rush to a local hospital for medical attention.

“Er24 paramedics were allegedly called onto the scene after a driver lost control of his bakkie. He sustains minor injuries” Chris Venter said on Er24 official twitter handle.

The cause of the accident is yet unknown and police investigations continue-TDN

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Potchefstroom-A 40 year-old motorcyclist sustained a back injury after almost being crushed by two passenger vehicles late yesterday afternoon in Albert Luthuli Drive, Potchefstroom.

“According to witnesses, the biker had stopped behind another vehicle at an intersection, when a second vehicle crashed into him from behind, almost trapping him between the vehicles” Er24 spokesperson Christo Venter said.

During the collision the biker had fallen from his motorbike and ended up underneath one of the cars, injuring his back in the process.

“He was stabilised and transported to Mediclinic, Potchefstroom for further medical treatment” outlines Venter.-TDN

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(Edited By Obakeng Maje)

Johannesburg-The Amakhosi were drawn against Namibian giants Black Africa FC in the opening qualifying round, set for 7-9 February, with the return leg scheduled for 14 to 16 February,Kaizer Chiefs official website reported. 

“The winner will face either Madagascar champions CNAPS or Liga Muculmana of Mozambique in the next stage of the tournament. The South African Champions are part of the 52 clubs that have entered for next year’s competition” Kaizer Chiefs spokesperson Vina Maphosa told Chiefs website. 

The draw for the club competition was staged on Monday, 16 December in Marrakech, Morocco. 

The Round of 16 matches will be played between February 28 and March 9, while the final qualifying-round matches are scheduled for March 21-30. 

“Several past winners of Africa’s foremost club competition – Zamalek, Enyimba and Raja Casablanca – will be involved in the preliminary rounds”. 

Chiefs will be going into the CAF Championship at the back of their past Continental experience when they became the first South African club to lift the trophy that carries the name of the late Icon Nelson Mandela, when they won the African Cup Winners’ Cup in 2001.-TDN

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Johannesburg – Five opposition parties have formed a coalition to contest the general elections next year, they announced on Tuesday.

The new Collective for Democracy consists of the African Christian Democratic Party (ACDP), Congress of the People (Cope), the Freedom Front Plus (FF Plus), the Inkatha Freedom Party (IFP), and the United Christian Democratic Party.

“The political dynamics have now changed as the diversity of South Africa is now represented effectively in our Collective for Democracy [CD],” chair Mosiuoa Lekota, also leader of Cope, said.

“We now have an opportunity to bring voters the hope of actual political change instead of giving up on alternatives because the ruling party has cynically manoeuvred its way into all sectors of our society, entrenching its power and corruption.”

The parties said they would work to advance democracy and contest the general election with a view to securing enough representation to form a new government.

Lekota said the CD had been negotiated over a number of years with a view to finding common ground.

The agreement centred on the “joint areas of priority”, which consisted of 20 points that were negotiated and formally accepted at a signing ceremony on Tuesday.

‘Priority’

The agreed areas included prioritising education and training, referring the protection of state information bill to the Constitutional Court, ensuring strict separation of party and State, and the review of the “bloated” government to ensure efficiency and affordability.

“The Collective for Democracy will soon announce their team of potential representatives that will draw on the best people within the parties while focusing on corruption free, competent, trusted candidates,” it said.

ACDP MP Cheryllyn Dudley of the ACDP said her party had embraced the CD.

“The ACDP has embraced and committed to the realisation of a shared future for all South Africans, and the CD is a demonstration of this commitment to a peaceful and prosperous SA for all who live here,” she said.

FF Plus leader Pieter Mulder said: “Coalitions are an important part of our electoral system and makes it possible for voters to vote for the party closest to their values, but still vote against the ANC. Our wonderful country is diverse, and so our future should reflect that.”

Other opposition parties were welcome to join the coalition, as long as they committed to the agreed principles, the CD said.

SAPA

Cape Town – A protest against the alleged removal of Alide Dasnois as Cape Times editor was hijacked on Tuesday by groups calling for media transformation.

The Right2Know campaign had formally applied to protest in front of Newspaper House in Cape Town at lunchtime, about a perceived threat to editorial independence.

About 50 media professionals, members of the political party Agang SA, and members of the public, including children, stood quietly in front of the building holding posters declaring “This is not Gov Times – reinstate Alide now”, and “Surve – hands off the Cape Times”.

Independent News and Media SA (INMSA) chair Iqbal Surve denied in a statement earlier this month that Dasnois had been fired, but had been offered alternative positions in the company.

“Ms Dasnois was not fired,” Surve said in a statement.

Danois, however, has said she was “unfairly dismissed”.

Surve said in a press release that the move formed part of a strategy aimed at arresting poor sales figures.

In a letter to staff three days later, he said the Cape Times’s compounded loss of sales, between 2008 and 2012, amounted to 28%.

News coverage

In this letter, Surve also said Dasnois was reprimanded for not leading with the news of former president Nelson Mandela in its Friday edition. His death was covered in a wraparound editorial supplement.

Instead, the front page carried a public protector finding that the awarding of a fisheries tender by the agriculture, forestry, and fisheries department to Sekunjalo Marine Services Consortium was improper.

The consortium is a subsidiary of Sekunjalo Holdings which acquired a controlling share in INMSA earlier this year. Surve also chairs Sekunjalo.

The Sunday Times also ran with the story.

Sekunjalo subsequently laid criminal charges against a Sunday Times editor and a reporter, accusing the Times Media Group of a “dirty tricks” campaign.

It has since decided to drop the charges and lay a complaint with the Press Ombudsman regarding the Sunday Times and Cape Times’s coverage, as well as a broader complaint regarding an attack on its integrity in various newspapers in the past two years.

Surve categorically denied that Dasnois’s replacement was due to the fisheries tender story.

Posters

About 10 minutes into the protest on Tuesday, a group calling itself the Movement for Transformation of Media in SA (MTMSA) arrived in front of the building.

They carried posters stating “Fire racist reporters” and “Fire Tony Weaver”, who defended Dasnois in his recent “Man Friday” column in the Cape Times.

Some wore ANC and SA National Civic Organisation shirts.

Tension ran high as both sides mingled and shouted their slogans.

Protesters defending Dasnois and media freedom shouted “the ANC is corrupt” and “Zuma is corrupt” while the media transformation group shouted “fire racist reporters” and “transformation now”.

At one point, a man with a R2K T-shirt attempted to divide the two sides to calm the situation.

MTMSA leader Wesley Douglas said they were protesting on the same permit as the R2K organisers.

“We are saying in every democracy around the world you can have a demonstration where you can have the pros and the cons in the same space at the same time. Why can we not have that in South Africa?”

He said they supported the removal of Dasnois but their protest was about more than one individual. It was about the entire media needing to be transformed.

“Why is it that white media houses are attacking black media owners?” he asked.

SAPA