The outcomes of Auditor General Terence Nombembe’s audit of the Northern Cape government was welcomed by the ANC in the province on Monday.

African National Congress provincial whip Dave Molusi said his party encouraged the executive and accounting authorities to redouble their efforts in achieving clean audits.

“These outcomes demonstrate an emphatic improvement, with several departments and government entities close to achieving the ‘clean audit opinions’ advocated by the ANC-led government.”

Nombembe presented his findings to the provincial legislature and members of the Northern Cape executive last week.

Molusi said in a statement the highlight of Nombembe’s findings was the clean audit opinion, meaning unqualified with no matters of emphasis, which the social development department received.

During his presentation, Nombembe said consistent performance was an important benchmark of good governance.

Molusi said: “It is with pride in the ethic of hard work and dedication to service delivery that we can announce that none of the departments received a disclaimer opinion during the 2012/13 financial year’s audit.”

A disclaimer report is issued when an auditor is unable to complete the audit for a variety of reasons and therefore does not issue an opinion.

The Northern Cape Economic Development Agency and Trade and Investment Promotion Agency received disclaimer opinions.

Molusi said that the provincial health department had received a qualified opinion report, an improvement from its recent history of disclaimer opinions.

“The AG also highlighted that this improvement was encouraging given the complex challenges faced by this department,” Molusi said.

“It is significant to note that Mr Nombembe was encouraged by the Northern Cape’s service delivery reporting on the whole.”

Sapa

Rustenburg – The case of a man accused of murdering a woman at a mine in Rustenburg was postponed by the Rustenburg Magistrate’s Court on Monday, North West police said.

The case against Kabelo Arthur Moseki, 29, was postponed to Friday, said Brigadier Thulani Ngubane.

Moseki faces a charge of murder after his arrest on Wednesday following the discovery of the woman’s body underground at Aquarius platinum mine’s Kwezi shaft.

Sapa

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Johannesburg – Children are likely to achieve higher levels of literacy when using a home language in schools, Basic Education Minister Angie Motshekga said on Tuesday.

“Research shows that children are likely to achieve higher levels of literacy when using a home language in school, in our case, African languages like isiZulu, isiXhosa, Setswana and others,” she said at the 10th international language and development conference in Cape Town.

Developing and speaking the languages of the land and the languages acquired as part of the colonial enterprise would bring to speed the realisation of a united and integrated Africa.

“South Africa’s experience will assist the conference to deeply appreciate the importance of language in society and how it is critical to liberating the mind,” said Motshekga.

She said that even beyond apartheid and its discourses of difference, language still affected on relations and opportunities in life.

“This conference is of importance as it gets us thinking and reflecting on an important review of the Millennium Development Goals.”

The conference promised to provide a useful lens through which everyone could interrogate critically the extent to which countries had performed in pursuance of the Millennium Development Goals, she said.

The Millennium Development Goals are set targets to be reached in eight areas, including poverty, unemployment, and education, by 2015.

– SAPA

Six independent candidates contesting the upcoming by-elections in Tlokwe, have asked for more time to campaign, the IEC said on Tuesday.

“Some of the independents have requested the commission to postpone the by-elections next week. The commission is presently considering the matter,” Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) spokesperson Kate Bapela said.

The by-elections in wards one, four, 11, 12 and 20 of the municipality are scheduled to take place on 23 October.

The date was set after the Electoral Court in Bloemfontein heard an application by five independent candidates, who were disqualified from taking part in previous by-elections by the IEC.

The ANC retained control of two of three wards in the remainder of the by-elections in Tlokwe.

A sixth by-election, in Ward 13, was earlier postponed after an out-of-court settlement.

The seats were vacated when 14 ANC councillors were expelled from the party in July for participating in a motion of no confidence in then Tlokwe mayor Maphetle Maphetle. He was replaced as mayor by DA councillor Annette Combrink.

The ANC’s national disciplinary committee subsequently overturned the expulsions, but nominated other candidates for the by-elections.

Some of the former councillors decided to stand as independents.

– SAPA

Johannesburg – The killing of two toddlers in Diepsloot Extension one north of Johannesburg, was shocking and heart-breaking, the ANC said on Tuesday.

“We believe that the killing of kids is senseless and immoral, it is an act of those who are insane and heartless,” said ANC Gauteng spokesperson Dumisa Ntuli.

“We condemn the brutal killing of the two innocent children and we call upon the [SA Police Service] to act swiftly to apprehend the killer.”

The ANC sent its condolences to the children’s families and relatives, and urged parents and communities to be extra vigilant to avoid similar killings.

The girls, aged 2 and 3, were found dead in a toilet cubicle, by a community member on Tuesday morning.

Police spokesperson Lungelo Dlamini said they were reported missing on Saturday after they went missing, by the children’s parents.

– SAPA

Johannesburg – The number of suicides among police officers paint a bleak picture, Police Minister Nathi Mthethwa said on Tuesday.

“Our figures indicate that… from January to June 2013 the figure stands at 34. This is a very bleak picture to say the least,” Mthethwa said at a suicide prevention summit in Pretoria.

Mthethwa said the number had forced the police to examine the systems to deal with police trauma.

“Our analysis indicates that the trends in the commission of such suicides include [the use of] a service firearm, hanging, and overdose by tablets,” he said.

Poor financial management, personal trauma, and mental health issues were among the leading causes of suicides.

“When horrible road accidents happen and many innocent lives are lost… police have to cordon off such gory scenes. Some of the scenes are so gory we cannot even start describing them here.”

Mthethwa said society had to acknowledge the difficult conditions under which officers worked.

“In many instances they are not emotionally and psychologically equipped to handle those stressful situations, which frequently leads to a catastrophic impact on their mental wellness.”

According to the statistics, 73 officers committed suicide in 2009, 97 in 2010, 85 in 2011, and 98 in 2012.

Mthethwa urged officers to seek professional counselling and support services, which were freely available to them.

– SAPA

Cape Town – The row between Public Protector Thuli Madonsela and MPs over the extent of her investigative powers, intensified on Tuesday against the backdrop of her adverse findings against IEC chairperson Pansy Tlakula.

Madonsela faced a barrage of questions on her mandate, partly prompted by her call for a “quiet discussion” on this issue that has bedevilled her relationship with Parliament’s justice portfolio committee since last year.

She was briefing the committee on her office’s annual report, and seeking support for a request for an additional R35m in funding from the Treasury.

ANC MP Mathole Motshekga asked Madonsela to explain her understanding of the term “state affairs”, and said it was regrettable that nearly 20 years of its establishment there was still confusion about the exact role of the office of the public protector.

“If we are not clear about that, then we are going to have a problem on money,” he said.

Madonsela responded that her mandate extended to investigating the state “in its entirety” and that she drew her definition from the Public Finance Management Act.

The question is integral to Tlakula’s rejection of Madonsela’s findings that her role in renting new headquarters for the Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) was improper and amounted to maladministration.

Legal advice sought

In a 55-page reply to Madonsela’s report leaked to the media, Tlakula claimed that the Public Protector Act gave Madonsela the power to investigate maladministration on the part of the government, but that although the IEC was an organ of state it “does not form part of government”.

Parliament has asked for legal advice on how to handle the protector’s report on the matter, with some MPs noting that it was unprecedented partly because it involved two chapter nine institutions.

Madonsela told the committee there was nothing strange about chapter nine institutions overseeing each other.

“It is the first time that I’m hearing that they are excluded from my mandate,” she said.

“The auditor general audits all of us and he is a chapter nine institution.”

Turning to Motshekga’s wider question, she said it was strange that there had not been confusion about her mandate until last year, although she had tackled the same kind of cases as her predecessors who were not challenged about their mandate.

“Advocate [Selby] Baqwa was investigating all state affairs. He was investigating at three levels of government and it was never an issue,” she said, referring to the first person to hold her post after the office was established in 1995.

“There is nothing new that we have done, not a single thing.”

Chapter nine institutions refer to institutions established in terms of chapter nine of the Constitution to support democracy.

– SAPA

Johannesburg – President Jacob Zuma has expressed shock and dismay at the murder of two toddlers in Diepsloot north of Johannesburg, the Presidency said on Tuesday.

“These gruesome incidents of extreme torture and murder of our children do not belong to the society that we are continuously striving to build together,” Zuma said.

“We condemn these murders in the strongest possible terms. Whilst we appeal to the communities not to take the matters into their hands, we also want to urge them to work with law enforcement authorities to find the perpetrators and prosecute them to the fullest extent of the law.”

The girls, aged two and three, were found dead in a toilet cubicle by a resident on Tuesday morning.

Lieutenant Colonel Lungelo Dlamini said they were reported missing on Saturday by their parents.

AgangSA urged the police to act with speed in their investigation.

“We urge the police to act with speed in their investigations to ensure that whoever is or are responsible for the shocking crime against these children are brought to book,” said Vanessa Hani, Women’s Forum co-ordinator.

She visited the family of the girls. The party identified them as Zandile Mali and Yonelisa Mali.

“The story of the girls’ family is too sad for words. Theirs is a story of poverty, denial of dignity – hopelessness that is repeated all over the country.”

“It is a story of millions of our fellow citizens who live like forgotten people after almost 20 years of freedom,” she said.

She said that the family of 11 people – with Zandile and Yolisa included – lived in a cramped shack that afforded them no privacy.

– SAPA

Bloemfontein – A couple was found dead in their home in Fichardt Park in Bloemfontein on Tuesday, Free State police said.

A 27-year-old man went to visit his parents and there was no response to his knock on the door even though both their cars were parked in their driveway, said Captain Chaka Marope.

“The man called the police when his parents did not respond to his knocks,” said Marope.

Marope said when police arrived, they broke the door open.

“After entering the house they found a 56-year-old male and his 42-year-old wife lying in a pool of blood.”

The man was found with his own revolver in his right hand.

“It is suspected that the man killed his wife and then shot himself,” said Marope.

The motive for the killings was not known and police had opened an inquest docket.

– SAPA