KATLEGO Mashego, Bennett Chenene, Joseph Makhanya and Dikgang Mabalane will have a point to prove when Moroka Swallows take on Orlando Pirates in an Absa Premiership match at Dobsonville Stadium.

At least this is how Birds coach Zeca Marques sees it.

His star quartet will face their former club in a crucial Soweto derby.

“There is no doubt everyone will go all out, especially Chenene, Mashego, Mabalane and Makhanya, who are former Pirates players.

“This game will give them the extra spark. I will also ensure that the spark is there by igniting it,” Marques said.

The game will be more special for Mabalane because this will be the first time the winger squares up against his old club.

Both sides will go into the match wounded, following early exits in the Nedbank Cup at the weekend.

The Buccaneers will be the side going into the match on the back of a heavier knock after losing 4-1 to minnows Maluti FET College on Saturday, while the Dube Birds went down 5-3 on penalties to SuperSport United.

The Birds coach admitted that the game would be a tough encounter.

“This will be a tricky game. Pirates will want to bounce back strongly – and so will we,” he said.

Marques commended his troops for their performance in their last four fixtures where he has seen a marked improvement from their woes at the start of the season.

Besides the penalty defeat against United, after scores were level at 0-0 at the end of extra time on Saturday, Swallows have not lost in any of their past three league fixtures, with two draws and one victory.

“Our last four performances have been solid. We are quite confident that we can put on another great performance. There is lots to play for in this game, and the result could change the complexity of the season. If we can at least get a draw we will have done well,” Marques said.

The Birds go into the match injury-free, but will be without the services of Rudi Isaacs, who is suspended.

Pirates will have the opportunity to regain the number one spot on the log as they trail leaders Kaizer Chiefs by two points, and they have one game in hand.

A win for Roger de Sa’s Pirates will take them one point above Amakhosi.

The match will see the return of Bucs skipper Lucky Legwathi from injury and Andile Jali from suspension.

Kickoff is at 7.30pm.

For more go to http://www.sowetanlive.co.za

Johannesburg – Athlete Oscar Pistorius met probation officers on Monday and discussed conditions to restart training as he awaits trial for the murder of his girlfriend, a prisons spokesperson said.

The sprinter met authorities at the Pretoria Magistrate’s Court to discuss the terms of his release on bail, which was granted last Friday after more than a week in custody.

Prosecutors charge that Pistorius intentionally shot dead 29-year-old model and law graduate Reeva Steenkamp at his upmarket Pretoria home in the early hours of Valentine’s Day in a case that has shocked the nation and the world.

The Olympic and Paralympic sprinter denies the charge.

His training may resume “in the days to come”, said correctional services spokesperson James Smalberger, adding the venue and times “will still be finalised”.

“We requested his coach to provide us with the training programme so we can fit it into the conditions.”

The 26-year-old champion Paralympian was released on R1-million bail last week, and ordered to return to court in June.

The sprinter does not need to report to authorities, but will be subjected to unannounced visits and has to inform officials of his movements.

“He will not be required to report to correctional services. We will rather visit him at his residence or if he is at training we might even pop in there to see whether he’s there,” said Smalberger.

“He will be visited at least four times a month,” he added.

Earlier reports said Pistorius had to report on Mondays and Fridays to Pretoria’s Brooklyn police station – where a large contingent of local and international media waited in vain to catch a glimpse of him on Monday.

But the condition had been a suggestion from defence and prosecution teams that the magistrate, Desmond Nair, did not include in his final order, a prosecution official said.

The condition was not listed on the bail order document seen by AFP.

Pistorius is due back in court on June 4.

In addition to the bail payment, one of the highest ever set in South Africa, Pistorius had to surrender his passports and firearms.

He is barred from taking alcohol or drugs and will be subject to random tests.

“Testing will obviously kick in. I don’t want to give the routine now, but obviously it will be at regular intervals,” said Smalberger.

The athlete had not been tested yet, he added.

Pistorius has to inform a prisons official of his movements within Pretoria and needs permission to leave the capital. He has been banned from leaving the country.

Officials are to meet the runner at his uncle’s house in Pretoria on Saturday to confirm the address where he is staying.

The athlete’s father Henke told AFP in a telephone call on Monday that matters were “under control”.

“Everything is prepared for the trial,” he said, though he lashed out at news coverage of his family.

“The media have once again proven themselves reckless,” he said, hanging up the phone.

Pistorius inspired millions of people around the world after becoming the first double amputee to compete against able-bodied athletes in the Olympic Games last year in London.

The shooting has riveted South Africa and the world, bringing Pistorius’s career and endorsements to a halt. – AFP

The political endgame for former UCDP leader Lucas Mangope seems imminent after he was slapped with another suspension from the party.

The latest development came after the leadership’s national executive committee (NEC) meeting in Mahikeng on Sunday.

Mangope, 89, had been thrown out of the party more than a year ago but had successfully fought through the courts to regain his membership.

The Supreme Court of Appeal pronounced in his favour earlier this year when it ruled that his membership be reinstated.

However, the ruling was interpreted by some of his supporters to mean that he was to remain party leader, a view fiercely opposed by the NEC’s leader, Sipho Mfundisi.

The leadership said it had extended an olive branch to Mangope so they could discuss his standing in the party but indicated that the former leader spurned all such attempts.

Instead, Mangope further incensed the party’s leadership when he made addresses in the capacity of leader.

On February 9, the party’s highest decision-making body, the federal council, resolved that if Mangope did not honour invitations for party meetings, he should be suspended. In a statement, the party said it had tried on numerous occasions to schedule a discussion with Amngope but he would neither turn up nor respond to letters sent to him.

“It is therefore incumbent upon the NEC to activate the mandate given by the federal council. Therefore, Kgosi LM Mangope is suspended with immediate effect and should not be allowed to participate in any party issues henceforth,” it reads.

For more details go to http://www.thenewage.co.za

Mangope could not be reached for comment.

The recent resurgence of Mamelodi Sundowns under Pitso Mosimane has seen the team rise impressively up the Absa Premiership, away from the relegation zone where they were stuck at the beginning of the season.

Now sitting in ninth, the Brazilians cannot be described as being home and dry by any stretch of the imagination.

However there are positives to be taken from their recent performances, other than the actual results. Midfielder Esrom Nyandoro has been a revelation under Mosimane.

He seems to be back to his best form.

He’s one of the reasons the side has a the look of respectability about them. Under Mosimane, ’Downs is back playing the popular piano and shoeshine football brand synonymous with them. Former captain Nyandoro heaped praise on Mosimane.

“I think the players now have the belief they can win. I cannot say this or that was the problem, but since the new coach came in, we have been doing well even though we still need to improve,” said Nyandoro.

The 33 year old Zimbabwe international is slowly getting back to the form that made the “Yellow man” a fan favourite at Sundowns and his commanding performance at the heart of midfield in the Nedbank Cup against Ajax Cape Town earned him a man of the match.

Nyandoro was heavily involved in delivering Sundowns’ last two league trophies in 2006 and 2007 and said that it is not a good situation for a team like Sundowns to go for more than two seasons without a league winners’ medal.

“It is painful because we always play to win.

“It’s not just the league but the Cup competitions and now that we are through in the Nedbank cup, we want to win it. As for the league, we just want to give it a push and see where we are at the end of the season,” said Nyandoro.

For more details go to http://www.thenewage.co.za

North West Premier Thandi Modise and the Executive Council have noted the arrest of MEC for Local Government and Traditional Affairs, China Dodovu as a suspect in the murder case of ANC Regional Secretary in Dr Kenneth Kaunda District, Obuti Chika.

In appealing for calm, Premier Modise called on communities to allow the law to take its course for justice to be done for the Chika family to find closure to their tragic loss and end speculations as to who is/are responsible for his untimely death.

“While we note the arrest and hope that justice will be done, we also believe that every suspect is innocent until proven guilty by a responsible court of law. It is on this basis that we support further and intensive investigation into the matter. We believe that MEC Dodovu will cooperate with the investigation. In the meantime, MEC for Finance Paul Sebegoe will be acting in the position,” said Modise

North West Premier Thandi Modise has called for truce in the mining sector between the two rival unions, the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) and Association for Mineworkers and Construction Union (AMCU).

Premier Modise called on all stakeholders to find an amicable solution to the recent crises in the mining sector in the province in her State of the Province Address delivered on Friday.

“We were faced with the worst calamity since democracy last year in Marikana. The death of the police and mine workers has shocked the people of this province and the world at large. The commission set by the President is still underway, we hope this situation will not repeat itself as it was and still is painful,” said Modise.

While wishing those who were injured in recent clashes at Anglo Platinum Mine in Rustenburg a speedy recovery, she said that the provincial government is engaging with the mining houses to ensure that the does not repeat itself.

Kimberley – A Kimberley woman, who has been the victim of horrific domestic abuse, was found dead in Promised Land early on Sunday morning. The semi-naked body of Bettie Thenza, 33, was discovered in the street after she was allegedly strangled to death by her boyfriend.

According to neighbours, Thenza was involved in an abusive relationship and the couple often fought. “This fight started on Thursday night. Thenza had several bruises on her neck while the shack they were staying in, was trashed as a result of the argument. Pots and plates littering the floor,” one neighbour told the DFA.

Police spokesman, Lieutenant Sergio Kock, on Sunday confirmed that the Kagisho police were investigating the murder of Thenza.

“The body was found by a passer-by at approximately 6am. The woman was naked from the waist down and had a scratch mark on her left eye and the eye also appeared to be swollen,” Kock said.

No other visible marks were detected but an autopsy will be done to determine the exact cause of death.

Shortly after the body was discovered, police, following up on information, arrested her boyfriend, aged 31, at the couple’s shanty down the road. The police confiscated bloodstained clothing of suspect and the deceased.

The body of a 33-year-old woman was found dead lying next to an open manhole in Promised land during the early hours of Sunday morning. Picture: Liz�ll Muller

INLSA

A family member of Thenza’s boyfriend said he was sleeping when a passer-by came to his shack and told him that a body had been found in a manhole. “My wife went out and she started to scream when she realised that it was Thenza.”

According to the relative, he saw the suspect at a local tavern on Saturday night where he asked for money. “The relationship between the two was very toxic and they always fought when they had been drinking.”

He claimed that the boyfriend had a history of violence and had also been abusive to previous girlfriends. “We are shocked at the murder but we are not surprised as this man had a history of violence. He was always looking for a fight and people in the community feared him.

“During their fights, Thenza would sometimes run to us for protection and sleep at our house. That made him very angry and he often threatened to kill us and burn down our shack.”

However, he also claimed that Thenza, on a previous occasion, set her shack alight when she found her boyfriend with another woman.

It is believed that the police found the clothes that both Thenza and her boyfriend were wearing on the Saturday night.

“The clothes were found at the back of the shack and had been burnt.”

The shocked community of Promised Land vowed that if the suspect gets bail they would resort to mob justice because they do not want him back in the community.

“He must be locked away in prison with other murderers. He is always looking for a fight. We will mobilise community members and protest at his bail hearing to make sure that he is denied bail.

“We cannot have murderers within our community,” several of them said.

Thenza has a child who is staying with the grandparents in Ritchie.

The MEC for Transport, Safety and Liaison, Patrick Mabilo, on Sunday said that he strongly condemns the senseless and barbaric killing of a woman, allegedly by her lover.

“It is unfortunate and regrettable to have learned of such an incident, especially during this Safety Month of February where we encourage communities to partner with the police in fighting the scourge of crime.

“We must continue to intensify our war against brutal and merciless killings of innocent people in our communities. Our society is being robbed on a daily basis of its innocent youth and mothers by perpetrators who have no regard and any respect for human life.

“We have faith in our justice system. We need to ensure that such monsters, who continue to degrade other human beings in our communities, are removed from society for life.

“It is important as a society to intensively educate our children about family values to avoid such crimes in future. We would also like to take this opportunity to express our heartfelt sympathy and profound condolences to the bereaved family members and friends of the deceased,” Mabilo said.

Anyone with information regarding the murder is asked to contact Detective Warrant Officer Anthony Shuping on 078 194 7402. 

The suspect is due to appear in the Galeshewe Magistrate’s Court soon. 

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BY Obakeng Maje

Potchefstroom-The Hawks has made another breakthrough on Oubuti Chika’s murder case.

The police has arrested another suspect for Chika’s muder.

The eight suspect was arrested an hour ago in Potchefstroom and will appear in court soon.

“We have arrested a high profile suspect and will appear before magistrate soon” Hawks spokesperson said.

Oubuti Chika was gunned down at his house in a driveway a day before ANC Elective Conference that took place in Mangaung.

Police also arrested some dignitaries of the  ruling party.

Seven suspects were remanded in jail and will appear briefly before magistrate next week.

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