IEC ready for elections- Tlakula


Johannesburg – The Independent Electoral Commission [IEC] is ready and prepared for the coming general elections, chairperson Pansy Tlakula said on Thursday.

“As we prepare for the elections, we are aware that challenges may escalate… We prepared meticulously for the election,” she said at a breakfast briefing organised by The New Age newspaper in Johannesburg.

“There is a tendency for political parties’ temperatures to rise.”

Tlakula called for tolerance and respect during the election, saying she acknowledged citizens’ right to protest, but cautioned against infringing on the rights of others.

As an election management body, the IEC did not enforce the law, and acts of intimidation needed to be reported to the police, she said.

In areas where there were service delivery protests, the commission would hold peace meetings to ensure the area was conducive to a free and fair election.

“It is important for government to step in here [because] service delivery is not our issue, it’s government’s,” she said.

Tlakula welcomed fair criticism and challenges to the election results by political parties.

She promised transparency, and the IEC’s constant pursuit of improvement.

The election date has not yet been announced.

The briefing was televised live on SABC 2.

SAPA

Former Madibeng Speaker was an upright leader-Premier Modise  


The passing away of former Speaker of Madibeng Local Municipality, Tshidi Matlala has robbed the people of Letlhabile, communities in Madibeng, the North West Province and the country of an upright and forthright leader who had served with dedication and integrity, North West Premier Thandi Modise said on Wednesday.

 “We wish to convey our condolences to the Matlala family and the communities that he served with utmost distinction. In Matlala we have a lost a community builder and a cadre who understood what it meant to selflessly serve our people and our communities.

He left Madibeng after he was not re-elected in after the last local government elections with his head held high and his soul intact after serving two terms as a Councillor,” emphasised Premier Modise.

The Premier said that Matlala who was instrumental in establishing and ensuring functionality of the Anti-Corruption and Home Affairs Forums within the municipality during his tenure as Speaker of Council was a principled leader who was not tainted by greed and corruption.

“We call on our communities to honour his legacy of selfless service and integrity by supporting intervention efforts aimed at accelerating service delivery and uprooting corruption within Madibeng Local Municipality,”added Modise.

Matlala who also served as Deputy Mayor during the transitional council, Member of the Mayoral Committee (MMC) for Land and Rural Development and later MMC for Communication in the Office of the Executive Mayor under former Executive Mayor Raymond Motsepe. 

The former councillor passed away at home in Letlhabile on Saturday after a short period of illness.He is to be buried on Saturday at the Letlhabile Cemetery after a funeral service to be held  as 7:00 am from at the Bantu Reform Church in Zone 2. Matlala who passed away at the age of 60 had taught at Itumeleng Primary in Letlhabile for over 20 years before he was elected as a councillor had been engaged in the learner transport business since he left council in 2010.
He is survived by his 80 year old mother, two brothers and a sister, five children and 4 grand children.-TDN
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Former Madibeng Speaker was an upright leader-Premier Modise  


The passing away of former Speaker of Madibeng Local Municipality, Tshidi Matlala has robbed the people of Letlhabile, communities in Madibeng, the North West Province and the country of an upright and forthright leader who had served with dedication and integrity, North West Premier Thandi Modise said on Wednesday.

 “We wish to convey our condolences to the Matlala family and the communities that he served with utmost distinction. In Matlala we have a lost a community builder and a cadre who understood what it meant to selflessly serve our people and our communities.

He left Madibeng after he was not re-elected in after the last local government elections with his head held high and his soul intact after serving two terms as a Councillor,” emphasised Premier Modise.

The Premier said that Matlala who was instrumental in establishing and ensuring functionality of the Anti-Corruption and Home Affairs Forums within the municipality during his tenure as Speaker of Council was a principled leader who was not tainted by greed and corruption.

“We call on our communities to honour his legacy of selfless service and integrity by supporting intervention efforts aimed at accelerating service delivery and uprooting corruption within Madibeng Local Municipality,”added Modise.

Matlala who also served as Deputy Mayor during the transitional council, Member of the Mayoral Committee (MMC) for Land and Rural Development and later MMC for Communication in the Office of the Executive Mayor under former Executive Mayor Raymond Motsepe. 

The former councillor passed away at home in Letlhabile on Saturday after a short period of illness.He is to be buried on Saturday at the Letlhabile Cemetery after a funeral service to be held  as 7:00 am from at the Bantu Reform Church in Zone 2. Matlala who passed away at the age of 60 had taught at Itumeleng Primary in Letlhabile for over 20 years before he was elected as a councillor had been engaged in the learner transport business since he left council in 2010.
He is survived by his 80 year old mother, two brothers and a sister, five children and 4 grand children.-TDN
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Premier Modise condemns Tigane vigilantism


North West Premier Thandi Modise has condemned the alleged assault, kidnapping and torching of a housebreaking suspect by five men who appeared in the Hartbeesfontein Magistrates Court on Wednesday.

 

“We condemn in the strongest terms possible vigilantism as it leads to lawlessness and revenge attacks by persons who feel aggrieved by the actions of those who conduct Kangaroo courts and give themselves the roles of judges and executioners. This barbarism should be stamped out before innocent lives are lost,” said Premier Modise.

 

“Those who take the law unto themselves instead of reporting crime to authorities in the criminal judiciary system have no place in our society which is governed by the rule of law,” highlighted Modise.

 

According to police Mangaliso Bonde, 29, Zamani Bonde, 26, George Bonde, 32, Thembi Xandibe, 23, and William Sitele, 19 allegedly went to Jan Lephadi’s house in Tigane on Saturday and accused him of breaking into their houses. 

“They allegedly searched Lephadi’s house, but could not find anything and purportedly assaulted and dragged him to his grandmother’s place to recover the items they accused him of stealing. When they could not find anything, two of the men allegedly locked Lephadi in the boot of a car and drove him to a bushy area,” said Captain Pelonomi Makau.

 

They allegedly poured petrol over him and set him alight, Makau said.

 

Lephadi managed to take off his T-shirt and rolled on the ground to extinguish the fire. He sustained burns to his head and back.

 

The five are expected to appear in court on February 4 for bail application, Makau said.-TDN
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Premier Modise condemns Tigane vigilantism


North West Premier Thandi Modise has condemned the alleged assault, kidnapping and torching of a housebreaking suspect by five men who appeared in the Hartbeesfontein Magistrates Court on Wednesday.

 

“We condemn in the strongest terms possible vigilantism as it leads to lawlessness and revenge attacks by persons who feel aggrieved by the actions of those who conduct Kangaroo courts and give themselves the roles of judges and executioners. This barbarism should be stamped out before innocent lives are lost,” said Premier Modise.

 

“Those who take the law unto themselves instead of reporting crime to authorities in the criminal judiciary system have no place in our society which is governed by the rule of law,” highlighted Modise.

 

According to police Mangaliso Bonde, 29, Zamani Bonde, 26, George Bonde, 32, Thembi Xandibe, 23, and William Sitele, 19 allegedly went to Jan Lephadi’s house in Tigane on Saturday and accused him of breaking into their houses. 

“They allegedly searched Lephadi’s house, but could not find anything and purportedly assaulted and dragged him to his grandmother’s place to recover the items they accused him of stealing. When they could not find anything, two of the men allegedly locked Lephadi in the boot of a car and drove him to a bushy area,” said Captain Pelonomi Makau.

 

They allegedly poured petrol over him and set him alight, Makau said.

 

Lephadi managed to take off his T-shirt and rolled on the ground to extinguish the fire. He sustained burns to his head and back.

 

The five are expected to appear in court on February 4 for bail application, Makau said.-TDN
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Premier Modise condemns Tigane vigilantism


North West Premier Thandi Modise has condemned the alleged assault, kidnapping and torching of a housebreaking suspect by five men who appeared in the Hartbeesfontein Magistrates Court on Wednesday.

 

“We condemn in the strongest terms possible vigilantism as it leads to lawlessness and revenge attacks by persons who feel aggrieved by the actions of those who conduct Kangaroo courts and give themselves the roles of judges and executioners. This barbarism should be stamped out before innocent lives are lost,” said Premier Modise.

 

“Those who take the law unto themselves instead of reporting crime to authorities in the criminal judiciary system have no place in our society which is governed by the rule of law,” highlighted Modise.

 

According to police Mangaliso Bonde, 29, Zamani Bonde, 26, George Bonde, 32, Thembi Xandibe, 23, and William Sitele, 19 allegedly went to Jan Lephadi’s house in Tigane on Saturday and accused him of breaking into their houses. 

“They allegedly searched Lephadi’s house, but could not find anything and purportedly assaulted and dragged him to his grandmother’s place to recover the items they accused him of stealing. When they could not find anything, two of the men allegedly locked Lephadi in the boot of a car and drove him to a bushy area,” said Captain Pelonomi Makau.

 

They allegedly poured petrol over him and set him alight, Makau said.

 

Lephadi managed to take off his T-shirt and rolled on the ground to extinguish the fire. He sustained burns to his head and back.

 

The five are expected to appear in court on February 4 for bail application, Makau said.-TDN
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A man set alight after theft allegations


By Obakeng Maje
Hartbeesfontein- Police have arrested five accused on allegations of kidnapping and attempted murder of a 22 year-old victim, Jan Lephadi at Tigane Township at about 03:00.

They appeared in Hartbeesfontein Magistrate’s Court on and the case was postponed to 4 February 2014 for bail application.

“It is alleged that the accused Mangaliso Bonde(29), Zamani Bonde (26),George Bonde(32),Thembi Xandibe (23) and William Sitele,(19) went to Lephadi’s house and accused him of breaking into their house. They searched the house, and when they could not get anything, they allegedly  assaulted the victim with fists and a knobkerrie and dragged him out of his home to his grandmother’s place to give them the alleged stolen property” captain Pelonomi Makau said.

When they could not find anything,two of the five suspects locked the victim in the boot of the car and drove with him to the nearest bush in the area where they allegedly poured petrol over him and thereafter set him alight.

“The victim managed to take off his t-shirt, rolled on the ground to extinguish the fire that had consumed him. It is alleged that the victim was badly burnt from his head and back” Makau said.

Police said the suspects drove back to the victim’s house and his sister alerted the police and the Emergency services who transported him to the hospital with serious injuries and a badly swollen face.

Suspects were later arrested.-TDN
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Premier Modise applauds ICT equipment donations by Platinum Stars


North West Premier Thandi Modise has commended the 2013 Champions of the Telkom Knockout Soccer Tournament, Platinum Stars for donating information and communications technology (ICT) equipment to a school in Phokeng as part of the Connected School project.

 

“The resources will make a significant contribution to the quality of teaching and learning at the school and will go a long way in ensuring that learners excel in their studies,” said Premier Modise.

 

The Connected School’ project is an initiative of the Telkom Foundation and affords the Winners of the Telkom Knockout Soccer Tournament the opportunity to donate R200 000 worth of ICT equipment to a school of their choice.

 

Modise said the province welcome any initiative that will help improve the quality of education for learners in the province, which emerged as the most improved in terms of the 2013 matric results.

 

“We hope that our champions will win more challenges for the benefit of more schools in our province as we strive for excellence and the top spot in the country” added Premier Modise.

Platinum Stars, who won the championship, had nominated Keledi Middle School in Phokeng as the school of their choice.

 

The resources, comprising of laptops as well as two years free internet connectivity were officially handed over to the school by the Deputy Minister of Basic Education, Enver Surty and the CEO of the Telkom Foundation.

 

 Dikwena beat Orlando Pirates to emerge the champions in a closely contested encounter in December last year.-TDN
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Premier Modise applauds ICT equipment donations by Platinum Stars


North West Premier Thandi Modise has commended the 2013 Champions of the Telkom Knockout Soccer Tournament, Platinum Stars for donating information and communications technology (ICT) equipment to a school in Phokeng as part of the Connected School project.

 

“The resources will make a significant contribution to the quality of teaching and learning at the school and will go a long way in ensuring that learners excel in their studies,” said Premier Modise.

 

The Connected School’ project is an initiative of the Telkom Foundation and affords the Winners of the Telkom Knockout Soccer Tournament the opportunity to donate R200 000 worth of ICT equipment to a school of their choice.

 

Modise said the province welcome any initiative that will help improve the quality of education for learners in the province, which emerged as the most improved in terms of the 2013 matric results.

 

“We hope that our champions will win more challenges for the benefit of more schools in our province as we strive for excellence and the top spot in the country” added Premier Modise.

Platinum Stars, who won the championship, had nominated Keledi Middle School in Phokeng as the school of their choice.

 

The resources, comprising of laptops as well as two years free internet connectivity were officially handed over to the school by the Deputy Minister of Basic Education, Enver Surty and the CEO of the Telkom Foundation.

 

 Dikwena beat Orlando Pirates to emerge the champions in a closely contested encounter in December last year.-TDN
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Arrested Sanral employee was ‘traced through cellphone’


An SA National Roads Agency Limited (Sanral) employee who was arrested for alleged “terrorist acts” in Centurion was tracked down through a call made from his cellphone, the Hawks said.

“We linked him via his cellphone which was used to make a call,” said police Captain Paul Ramaloko today.

“We are not sure if he was operating the cellphone alone.”

The 28-year-old Soweto man was accused of involvement in two white powder scares and a bomb scare at the Sanral headquarters in the past two weeks.

“We are convinced that we netted the mastermind behind all three incidents,” said Ramaloko.

The bomb scare took place on Sunday. The building was evacuated and a sweep carried out. No bomb was found.

The premises was also evacuated on Tuesday and Friday after a suspicious powder, initially feared to be anthrax, was found.

Electronic Toll Collection (ETC) later reported that the substance was harmless.

The man, who worked in Sanral’s call centre, was expected to appear in the Pretoria Magistrates’ Court tomorrow on charges relating to acts of terrorism.

“The man was arrested at Sanral’s Central Operations Centre in Centurion while on duty. During his arrest, a cellphone, suspected of having been an instrument used to commit the offence, was seized,” Ramaloko said.

ETC today said it could not comment as the case was sub judice.

– Sapa