Johannesburg – A 24-year-old man found in possession of drugs in a minibus taxi heading to Johannesburg has been arrested, Eastern Cape police said on Thursday.

Lieutenant Colonel Mzukisi Fatyela said police on a routine stop and search operation flagged down a minibus taxi on the R51 outside Mthatha on Wednesday.

“They found 3.4kg of dagga and 40 Mandrax tablets in his possession, packed inside a blanket.”

He said the dagga had an estimated street value of R3 400 while the Mandrax tablets had an estimated street value of R3 600.

The man was expected to appear in the Mthatha Magistrate’s Court on Friday.

In a separate incident three armed men robbed the Ncgobo post office outside Mthatha of an undisclosed amount of money.

Fatyela said the three locked the postmaster inside an office after the robbery on Wednesday.

“No arrests have been made. We are following leads,” he said.

SAPA

Johannesburg – Cosatu’s march against e-tolling started in Braamfontein, central Johannesburg, on Thursday morning.

Marchers gathered at Cosatu’s head office in Jorissen street at 08.30 and left shortly before 11:00 to deliver memorandums to the labour department, the provincial transport department, the office of the MEC for transport, the Gauteng legislature and the Gauteng premier.

The final leg of the march would be to deliver memorandums to the SA Chamber of Mines, the Johannesburg central police station, the office of the auditor general, and the Hawks.

SAPA

Johannesburg – Provincial police commissioners have full confidence in national commissioner Riah Phiyega’s ability to perform her job, the SA Police Service said on Thursday.

National spokesperson Lieutenant General Solomon Makgale said the provincial commissioners met on Wednesday and discussed the Independent Police Investigative Directorate (Ipid) investigation into Phiyega.

“The provincial commissioners noted the support and leadership provided by the national commissioner despite the current circumstances,” Makgale said.

“As part of the leadership team, the provincial commissioners remain committed to fighting crime and ensuring that all decisions taken at various management levels are implemented. The provincial commissioners have full confidence in the national commissioner.”

‘Business as usual’

The commissioners said they wanted to reassure the country that they would work hard and ensure that “on the ground, it is business as usual”.

“In other words, the matter involving the national commissioner will not impact on the day-to-day management of crime.”

Last month, the Ipid said it would investigate allegations that Phiyega tipped off Western Cape commissioner Lieutenant General Arno Lamoer about an investigation against him by crime intelligence.

According to reports, Phiyega told Lamoer on three occasions that she was aware he was under investigation.

The Sunday Independent reported that their telephone conversations had been legally recorded by crime intelligence operatives monitoring Lamoer’s calls.

Phiyega denied tipping-off Lamoer.

Makgale said the commissioners also met Phiyega on Wednesday, as part of the final board of commissioners (BOC) meeting for 2013.

The meeting discussed the overall state of crime over the past six months and noted with concern the number of murders reported.

“These murders are closely associated with the abuse of alcohol and other social ills,” Makgale said.

“The BOC committed itself to ensuring that the crime prevention and combating initiatives for the festive season, which have already been implemented, pays special attention to this.”

SAPA

The North West Provincial Government is finalising a bill that will ensure that all forms of planning across the province are coordinated, equitable, inclusive and efficient.

The process to align the Provincial Spatial Planning and Use Management Bill to the Spatial Planning and Use Management Act  16 of 2013 was endorsed in the meeting of the Executive Council(Exco) held in Mahikeng on Wednesday.

Premier Thandi Modise says that the proposed bill will provide a framework that will effectively facilitate land use decision making within the province that is reflective of national policies whilst responding to the unique local challenges.

Premier Modise says the main aim of the proposed North West Land Use Management Bill is to streamline, consolidate and improve the provincial spatial planning and land use management system in a sustainable manner, taking into consideration the unique challenges and legal requirements applicable to the province.

“Given that Section 33 of the Spatial Planning and Land Use Management Act requires all land use planning to be dealt with at municipal level, the provincial government will as a transitional measure and in order to build capacity fund the employment of qualified and registered Town and Regional Planners for our District municipalities for a period of two years. This will cost us over R5 million” assured Modise.

The processes leading to the NWLUMB were funded by the Finnish Government and supported by the Support the Environment and Sustainable Development in North West (SESDNW) Project.-TDN

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Klerksdorp-The annual Provincial Early Childhood Development (ECD) awards ceremony scheduled for Thursday is a means to promote excellence, dedication and investment in the future of children by individual practitioners and various organisations involved in the early stages of child development, 

North West MEC for Social Development Collen Maine said on Wednesday.

“This awards initiative which has been taking place since 2003 is implemented in partnership with the departments of Social Development and Basic Education, the South African Congress of Early Childhood Development and UNICEF,” Maine said, adding that the awards will raise awareness of the ECD sector’s goal to break the cycle of inherited poverty.

More than 600 submissions for this year competition, Maine said were received in the North West province alone and were compete for the best practitioner of the year and ECD centre of the year categories.

The awards ceremony will be held on Thursday at Makhado lodge in Matlosana at 10h00.-TDN

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Orphans and children from poor families in the rural villages of King Williams Town in the Eastern Cape, made vulnerable by HIV/Aids, are set to get a better chance in life. The provincial Department of Social Development has launched a child care programme, Isibindi, that will respond to their needs.

They will be visited by trained Child and Care Youth Workers in their homes and provided with psycho-social support such as counselling, food parcels, school uniforms and assistance with homework.
For more http://www.sabc.co.za

The mother of a seven-month-old baby, who was found dead inside a shack in Diepsloot, north of Johannesburg, on Sunday, has been arrested in Randburg.

The baby was found with injuries to its body. Police say the results of the post-mortem are still outstanding.

This was the fourth child to die in Diepsloot in the past three months. Police spokesperson Tsekiso Mokofeng says they received a call from a community member informing them about the whereabouts of the mother of the toddler.
For more http://www.sabc.co.za

Chairperson of Parliament’s portfolio committee on police, Annelize Van Wyk has accused opposition parties of campaigning and running ahead of the process.

This comes after the parties criticised a decision to recommend former Ekurhuleni metro police chief Robert McBride as head of the Independent Police Investigative Directorate (IPID).

Police Minister Nathi Mthethwa announced that cabinet has recommended the appointment of McBride on Tuesday. Mthethwa says Mc Bride was the successful candidate during the interviews which were conducted to fill the post.
For more http://www.sabc.co.za

The Public Protector Thuli Madonsela has filed an opposing affidavit at the North Gauteng High Court in response to the application for a court interdict by security cluster to stop her office from releasing the provisional report on the upgrades at President Jacob Zuma’s Nkandla home.

The cluster filed an urgent application last Friday. Both parties had agreed that Madonsela will file her opposing affidavits by the close of business on Tuesday.
Source: http://www.sabc.co.za

A taxi has overturned on Wednesday morning in Roodepoort, West of Johannesburg, leaving 17 people injured.

The accident happened after an industrial grass cutting tractor rolled of the back of a trailer and into the way of the taxi, causing the driver to lose control of the vehicle.

ER 24’s Vanessa Jackson says some commuters sustained severe injuries.

“When paramedics had arrived they had found that two had sustained quite severe injuries although they were in a stable condition, but they were treated for broken bones and possible head injuries and the remaining patients were fortunate to come away from the incident with only minor and moderate injuries.”

Meanwhile, the N1 near Touws River in the Boland is still closed after a petrol tanker overturned.

Western Cape Traffic Chief, Kenny Africa, says hundreds of motorists are stranded. He says attempts are being made to pump the fuel over to another vehicle.

“The truck is lying across the road and the N1 is totally blocked, because of this accident. There is only one alternative route at this point of time and that is the route between Laingsburg / Ladysmith, Ashton, Robertson back to Worcester where you get back on the N1. We would like to urge motorists to please be patient. It is a petrol tanker and we are doing everything in our power to make sure we open the road asap.”