North West Premier Thandi Modise is to deliver the keynote address at the opening ceremony and flag parade of countries participating at the Africa Financial Cooperatives Summit 2013 to be held at Sun City outside Rustenburg tomorrow evening, 29 October 2013.

 
Premier Modise will co-officiate with the Deputy Minister of Finance, Nhlanhla Nene and MEC for Economic Development, Conservation, Environment and Toursim, Motlalepula Rosho and at the summit hosted by the North West Province on behalf of the country and in partnership the African Confederation of Co-operative Savings and Credit Associations (ACCOSCA) and the Cooperative Bank Development Agency.

 
As a Pan-African Confederation of National Associations for Savings and Credit Co-operatives, ACCOSCA will engage with the national and international stakeholders drawn from the co-operative sector at the 14th annual Savings and Credit Cooperatives Associations of Africa (SACCA) Congress.

 
The ceremony will be held at the Ballroom Conference Centre as from18:00-19:00.The ceremony will be followed by a gala dinner and networking session until 20:30.-TDN
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Standerton – The body of a five-year-old girl was found 100 metres from her home in Sakhile near Standerton on Monday, Mpumalanga police said.

Brigadier Selvy Mohlala said the girl went missing on Sunday around 4pm after she went to the toilet.

She was found at a house in Extension two at 6am on Monday morning.

“The owner of the house was apparently going to the toilet when she spotted the lifeless body of the girl in her yard. The matter was brought to the attention of the police,” said Mohlala.

“Police are investigating a case of murder and no person has been arrested with regards to this incident. A post mortem will be conducted to determine the cause of death.”

Police urged people with information about the crime to come forward.

Sapa

Durban – A pupil was stabbed to death on Monday and two others injured in a fight at a school in Dannhauser, northern KwaZulu-Natal, SABC news reported.

A fight apparently broke out at assembly at Isizimele High School.

“One victim was rushed to hospital where he died,” police spokesman Thulani Zwane was quoted as saying.

“The other two who were also wounded during the fight were taken to a local clinic for treatment.”

A murder docket has been opened.

Sapa

Johannesburg – A man has been arrested for fraud in Meadowlands, Soweto, Gauteng police said on Monday.

“It is alleged that the suspect entered the Cell C store (on Saturday) at Ndofaya mall and asked if he could qualify to have a contract phone,” Constable Sibusiso Chauke said.

The ID document the 24-year-old man submitted for the contract application was not his and had been previously reported stolen.

Police were contacted and the man was arrested at the mall around 1.15pm, he said.

The man was expected to appear in the Meadowlands Magistrate’s Court on Monday.

Sapa

Taung – A police officer has opened a case of assault against three other officers at the Taung police station, North West police said on Monday.

“The matter is still under investigation,” Lieutenant Edward Sedupe said.

Constable Shepherd Malekanyo was allegedly assaulted by the three officers on Saturday morning.

Malekanyo, who is stationed at Ikageng, had reportedly accompanied a quarrelling couple to the station so they could lay charges against each other.

While at the station, Malekanyo – who was off-duty at the time – was allegedly assaulted by the three officers.

North West premier Thandi Modise called for the matter to be investigated.

“The conduct of the police officers, if indeed it is true, is despicable and warrants for drastic steps to be taken against those involved, as it tarnishes the image of the police,” Modise said in a statement.

“Police brutality is abhorred by the public and should be stamped out of the police service and those involved should be stripped of the dignified blue uniform.”

Sapa

Johannesburg – A woman has been arrested in Soul City, Kagiso, near Krugersdorp, after allegedly killing her boyfriend with an umbrella, Gauteng police said on Monday.

Acting on a tip-off, police arrived at the woman’s house on Saturday and found the boyfriend had died on the scene, Warrant Officer Solomon Sibiya said.

“He sustained open wounds to his eyes, nose, forehead and arms.”

The woman arrived at the house and told police she was the man’s girlfriend.

“She then told police she picked a fight with her boyfriend and eventually stabbed him with an umbrella,” said Sibiya.

She also allegedly assaulted him with a pot. The woman was arrested and expected to appear in the Krugersdorp Magistrate’s Court on Tuesday.

Sapa

Butterworth – Twenty-six people were arrested on Monday after violent protests broke out in Ngqamakhwe, Butterworth, Eastern Cape police said.

Colonel Sibongile Soci said 18 women and eight men were taken into custody.

“We are reiterating our warning that members of the community should consider the consequences of their actions,” Soci said in a statement.

The group would appear in the Ngqamakhwe Magistrate’s Court on public violence charges on Tuesday.

The province’s education department said matric exams in the area started without a glitch despite the violence. Residents blocked the main road into the town. Despite this exam papers were delivered to schools, spokesman Malibongwe Mtima said in a statement.

Sapa

Bloemfontein – A fraud trial involving three prominent Northern Cape ANC members and the Trifecta Group was postponed by the Northern Cape High Court on Monday.

Northern Cape African National Congress leader John Block and two other provincial ANC heavyweights Yolanda Botha and Alvin Botes, and Trifecta director Christo Scholtz, face charges of fraud, corruption, and money laundering.

Northern Cape National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) spokeswoman Mashudu Malabi said it was ready to continue with the trial on Monday. She said all accused except Scholtz were present at court.

Malabi said the defence counsel asked the court for a postponement. She said the State agreed to the postponement, and that the trial would start on February 3.

A warrant of arrest for Scholtz was authorised and would be held over until February next year.

The NPA has alleged that the Trifecta Group entered into a number of lease agreements with the Northern Cape social development department in which rentals, or rental space, were grossly inflated.

As a result, the Trifecta Group received, or would receive, rentals of R57 million at the end of the lease agreements.

The NPA said earlier the case was part of the on-going work of the Anti-Corruption Task Team (ACTT) set up by Cabinet in July 2010 to deal more effectively with large corruption cases.

On Monday, the Democratic Alliance protested outside the high court.

Northern Cape DA leader Andrew Louw said the further postponement of the matter was unfortunate.

Sapa

Cape Town – A former Western Cape relationship manager at Barclays Wealth, a division of Absa, was found guilty on Monday of 39 counts of theft involving R15 million.

John Julyan was also convicted of money laundering by the Bellville Specialised Commercial Crime Court.

Magistrate Amrith Chabilall set down sentencing proceedings for December 2.

Julyan had been out on warning.

Asghar Mia, for Julyan, asked the court to either extend the warning, or to release him on bail of no more than R2000, which was all that Julyan would be able to raise.

Prosecutor Juan Agulhas said Julyan should be kept in custody until the case resumed.

Chabilall said the circumstances, as of Monday, had changed drastically from the stage when Julyan was presumed innocent.

He told Julyan: “You have been found guilty of theft involving R15m and that, in anyone’s language, is a huge amount.

“You will be kept in custody until the case resumes.”

As a relationship manager, Julyan was responsible for multi-million rand investments belonging to Absa client the late Professor Bryan Cremin, who prior to his death was the head of radiology at the Red Cross Children’s Memorial Hospital in Cape Town.

The professor suffered from Alzheimer’s Disease and became unable to manage his affairs while Julyan was in control of his investments.

Julyan stole Cremin’s funds to purchase fixed property in Knysna, on the Cape south coast, and in the upmarket Cape Town suburb of Constantia.

Julyan also pumped Cremin’s funds into a financially troubled business owned by Julyan’s wife, bought a boat that he moored at Knysna, and went on expensive holidays to Austria with his wife.

Julyan also paid his own mother exorbitant amounts for the drafting of a will, from Cremin’s funds.

Chabilall told Julyan: “If it can be said at all that your defence presented a cogent defence to the charges, it disintegrated with your own testimony.”

Chabilall said Julyan was “at best” a pathetic witness when he testified in his own defence.

Sapa

Johannesburg – Extreme thunderstorms are expected later on Monday in parts of North West, the Eastern Cape, KwaZulu-Natal, Mpumalanga, and Gauteng, WeatherSA said on Monday.

Western parts of Gauteng, including Carletonville and Westonaria, would be affected, said WeatherSA forecaster Dipuo Tawana.

“People in Gauteng must be aware… We are expecting [thunderstorms and severe thunderstorms] to pop up in other places overnight.”

The City of Johannesburg’s emergency management services said it was already on high alert and was monitoring critical areas such as Diepsloot, Alexandra, Ivory Park and parts of Soweto, including Kliptown, Orlando, Tladi, and Dlamini.

“Those are most of the [places] where we respond to flooding and drowning incidents,” said Johannesburg emergency services spokesperson Robert Mulaudzi.

“We have automated rainfall [monitoring] systems in those areas to inform us if we need to inform residents of whether they need to evacuate… We hope the community will adhere to our call when we [make it].”

Hail, lightning, strong winds and heavy downpours were also expected in western parts of Standerton, moving towards Secunda, Tawana said.

“We are expecting a downpour which will lead to localised flooding and gusty winds.”

Parts of the Free State would also be affected by a thunderstorm, which started in Potchefstroom around two in the afternoon, Tawana said.

“North-eastern parts of the Eastern Cape and western parts of KwaZulu-Natal, including Newcastle and Ladysmith, would be affected,” Tawana said.

The Northern Cape, Western Cape and most parts of Limpopo would not be affected.

The rainy weather could continue until Thursday.

– Experiencing bad weather? Send us your eyewitness accounts and photos.

– SAPA