BY OBAKENG MAJE
 North West Provincial Legislature’s Portfolio Committee on Premier, Treasury and Enterprise Development led by Raymond Elisha welcomes the decision of the North West Development Corporation (NWDC) in taking the initiative to take over the ownership and operation of Christiana Hotel known as Protea Hotel Christiana after it was liquidated.

This was during a preliminary oversight visit the committee conducted at the hotel, as part of the “O re bone, Re go bone” Campaign which means “You see us and we see you” aimed at taking the legislature to the people to strengthen oversight and public participation and to promote accountability and transparency in government. 

The purpose of the visit was to determine the value for money in buying the hotel, the processes that unfolded on the acquisition of the hotel and its assets, and the state of readiness of the hotel.

The Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the NWDC, Lemogang Moletsane gave a brief overview of the purchasing of the hotel, stating that it was an opportunity that the cooperation seized as part of rebranding, re-positioning and renewal of the province to purchase the hotel to create an economy that can be viable for growth in the province.

“This opportunity can create a good platform for cooperatives such as the youth and military veterans to have job opportunities and create a sustainable environment for themselves,” said Moletsane.

The Acting Manager of the hotel  Moses Seriti stated that the former director of the hotel was unable to pay the owner and this led to the hotel going for an auction which cost the NWDC R38 million to purchase it.

“The previous director whom we traded under could not manage to pay off the owner of this place, and it has not been operational since last year 25 November 2014 and this led to the auction which took place on the 12 March 2015,”said Seriti.

Thus far, the NWDC has managed to pay R6.4 million as deposit and are anticipating to pay off the balance by the end of June this year. The CEO stated that the NWDC did not budget for this endeavor as part of their Annual Performance Plan, but managed to acquire most of their budget from their reserves and also were assisted by the Department of Finance, Environment and Enterprise Development with an amount of R11 million.

They also mentioned that the amount is inclusive of all assets, lock, stock and barrel inclusive of the game farm.

It was noted that staff that was previously working at the area had been retrenched with packages, but would be given first preference in time for recruitment processes and will also allow opportunities in hiring young people who have hotel management expertise in the province.

The cut-off date for the full operation of this hotel is the 01 September 2015, as it is still under maintenance and renovations. The Chairperson of the Committee, Elisha welcomed this initiative is a good platform for opportunities in growth of the economy as well as creating sustainable job opportunities for the community, but requested the CEO to provide a thorough report for the committee as part of strengthening oversight to ensure transparency and accountability.

“We welcome the good initiative for this pursuit by the NWDC, but we also have a requirement to perform our duties as part of our mandate to conduct oversight so as to protect and ensure that the public purse is effectively and efficiently used in benefitting our communities,” said Elisha.

The committee requested the CEO to issue a detailed report on the value for money for the acquisition versus the expenditure, profits made since acquisition, to compile an asset register including assets of animals at the game farm, feedback on staff that have been retrenched and hired since inception of business, a detailed operational plan and the process that unfolded on the auctioneering of the hotel.

Elisha also said that the next meeting that will be scheduled in the next quarter would include the Portfolio Committee on Tourism as the facility forms part of conservation and serves as a tourist attraction site.

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Pretoria – The government had no idea that Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir was among the passengers in the plane that took off from Waterkloof Air Force Base shortly before noon on June 15.

His passport was not among the passports handed over by representatives of Sudan to the immigration officials, and his name was also not included on the passenger list.

This is according to an affidavit filed by the government, following an earlier order by Judge President Dunstan Mlambo, who demanded answers as to how it came about that Bashir left South Africa in spite of a court order prohibiting this.

For more http://www.iol.co.za

Johannesburg – Lonmin, the world’s fourth-largest platinum producer by value, responded on Friday to a report condemning its role in the massacre of striking workers at its Marikana mine in South Africa by saying it had worked hard to improve safety and wellbeing for its workers, but still had a long way to go.

The 2012 “Marikana massacre”, where 34 miners were gunned down by police, shocked the world.

The 640-page report into South Africa’s worst police killing since the end of apartheid was released by President Jacob Zuma on Thursday and blamed Lonmin, police and unions for the “horrendous tragedy”.

The report faulted Lonmin on five counts, including an insistence that miners who were not on strike come to work while it could not guarantee their safety at the mine near Rustenburg.

For more http://www.iol.co.za