North West-There is no turning back on development of rural village agro-industrial hubs that will assist farming enterprises in the North West Province to access markets, funding, training, technology and logistics support, Premier Thandi Modise assured the Serbian delegation that visited Mahikeng on Monday.

Premier Modise said that from the mission to Serbia that was undertaken by the province and lessons learnt, optimal land use is critical for revitalization of rural towns, communities and their livelihoods through village industrialization and manufacturing.

“The Serbian experience has shown us that it is cost effective to recapitalise small holdings with moto-cultivators and small farm equipment rather than big tractors and big farm machinery used for large commercial farming for enterprises to make a profit of R2 million on a 3 hectra,” highlighted Modise.

She added that the provincial government is studying the profiles of other municipalities visited by the provincial government delegation to identify matters of interest and propose possible twinning agreements with other municipalities in the province.

Several job creation and empowerment projects have been identified for implementation around Mahikeng in a pilot project to be rolled out in the next few months through the partnership between the North West Provincial Government, The Serbian Government, North West Development Partners Trust (NWDPT) and the BIPOM Balkan-Black Sea Machinery Cluster Manufacturer’s Association for improving competitiveness.

The establishment of Mini-Diary agro –processing, Mini Agro-processing, Mini-chicken abattoir, Mini-fodder processing, Mini-grain milling, Abattoirs& Meat Processing, Fish Agro-Processing and assembly, manufacturing and servicing of farm machinery plants are among some of the targeted projects to be rolled out.

Leader of the four member Serbian delegation and Co-President of BIPOM, Milivoj Stojanovic said that the North West Province is a strategic partner as the province is a gateway to the SADAC market.

The Provincial Department of Agriculture and Rural Development’s Kgora Farmers Institute, The Department of Economic Development, Environment, Conservation and Tourism (DEDECT), Mahikeng Local Municipality, Taletso Further Education and Training College Mahikeng and Lehurutshe Campuses and the North West University are key stakeholders that will be involved in the pilot project.

The potential of the project to attract investments and create much needed jobs through the proposed free special economic zone (SEZ) and the proposed twinning agreement with Serbia’s Shabatz municipality were unanimously given thumbs up by the Mahikeng Local Municipality Council in its project briefing meeting with the delegation led by Stojanovic.

“The agro-industrial incubators will benefit the breed laying enterprise we have established and empower us with the technology and skills for us to be viable and sustainable and create more jobs“, said Councillor Thapelo Motshegoa who is a partnership project that is producing 300 eggs a day.

The municipality’s Executive Mayor, Councillor Lena Miga was part of the 29 June to 6 July 2013 provincial mission delegation to Serbia that was led by MEC for Agriculture and Rural Development, Desbo Mohono.

A development collaboration framework agreement that will guide the roll out of the development programme of the partners in the North West Province is to be finalised through a Memorandum of Agreement  on Technology transfer, Scientific and technical interchange in the field of Agriculture and Rural Development  that is in line with South Africa’s bilateral agreement with Serbia.

The partnership follows the NWDPT’s July 2010 visit to Serbia to benchmark issues of development and August 2011 BIPOM visit to the province.-TDN

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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

Cape Town – The SA Police Services (SAPS) Amendment Act as it currently stands does pass constitutional muster the Western Cape High Court heard on Monday.

Advocate Renata Williams, for the justice department and the government, was arguing in a case in which businessman Hugh Glenister and the Helen Suzman Foundation (HSF) have sought to have sections of the act declared unconstitutional.

They argue that Police Minister Nathi Mthethwa has too much power in terms of hiring and firing the head of the Hawks, which would open it up to political interference.

Williams disagreed.

“The minister must have an element of control. He cannot have no control.”

Williams said even if the Hawks were told not to investigate a certain matter, there were other institutions such as the public protector, which could “fill that gap” and help root out corruption.

Max Du Plessis, for the HSF told a full Bench of the court the “the possibility for abuse is manifest”.

Both Glenister and the HSF argue that the amendments do not allow the Hawks to meet the requirements of “adequate independence”.

The amendments were drafted in reaction to a previous Constitutional Court victory by Glenister, in which the executive was ordered to change the legislation to provide the Hawks with independence from political interference, among other things.

Glenister brought his suit following the dissolution in 2008 of the Scorpions, which was an investigative unit which fell under the jurisdiction of the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA).

The Scorpions, or the Directorate of Special Operations, was replaced by the Hawks, which falls under the police.

– SAPA

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

ANC 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.”

Disclaimer

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

Johannesburg – All the people, who were missing after an explosion in Middelburg, Eastern Cape, have been accounted for, police said on Monday.

“A manager of the company [Rolfe pharmaceutical laboratories] tells me that all people who were missing were accounted for,” police spokesperson Stefanie Smith said.

An arson investigation would continue.

“We will send out a canine unit to sniff out the building tomorrow [Tuesday] as we had to wait for the building to be stabilised first,” Smith said.

Earlier in the day, an explosion sparked a fire, which resulted in the evacuation of the building.

Thirty-five people sustained burn wounds in the incident and were taken to the Wilhelm Stahl Hospital for treatment.

The blast also damaged a part of the building.

The estimated damage has not yet been determined.

– SAPA

Johannesburg – Katlehong police were searching on Monday for the family of an unknown boy whose body was dumped near a house in Katlehong, on the East Rand.

The remains of the boy, aged between 4 and 6, were found in August in Hlongwane Section, said police spokesperson Lungelo Dlamini.

“The boy was assaulted and burned. [The] forensic science laboratory reconstructed his face in order to assist with a possible identification.”

Police could not find any case of a missing person, even around neighbouring police stations.

Dlamini urged anyone, who might be able to help identify him or knew anything about his death, to contact them.

Police were investigating a murder case.

– SAPA

Cape Town – The Western Cape High Court has reserved judgment in a case in which businessman Hugh Glenister and the Helen Suzman Foundation (HSF) are challenging the SAPS Amendment Act.

The SA Police Service Amendment Act was the government’s response to a Constitutional Court judgment that found invalid sections of the legislation which established the Hawks crime-busting unit.

Glenister and the HSF argued that the amendments were not sufficient to insulate the Hawks from political interference.

They argued that the powers given to Police Minister Nathi Mthethwa to hire and fire the Hawks head opened up the unit to “undue influence”.

“It’s not all right for the minister to have control,” Paul Hoffman told the court on Monday.

Referring to the Amendment Act, which is meant to addresses the Constitutional Court’s concerns regarding the security of tenure for the Hawks head, Hoffman said: “The deck chairs have been moved around… but the Titanic is still not an independent entity.”

While the Constitutional Court found that it was not problematic for the Hawks to fall under the SAPS, Hoffman said the court did not mean for the unit to be under “executive control”.

Mthethwa’s control

Earlier in the day, Advocate Renata Williams, for the government, said Mthethwa needed to have an element of control over the Hawks.

Williams said that even if the Hawks were told not to investigate a certain matter, there were other institutions such as the public protector, which could “fill that gap” and help root out corruption.

The amendments to the act were drafted following a previous Constitutional Court victory by Glenister, in which the executive was ordered to change the legislation to provide the Hawks with independence from political interference, among other things.

Glenister brought his suit following the dissolution in 2008 of the Scorpions, which was an investigative unit which fell under the jurisdiction of the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA).

The Scorpions, or the Directorate of Special Operations, was replaced by the Hawks, which falls under the police.

– SAPA

Johannesburg – France’s First Lady Valerie Trierweiler met with South African gay rights groups on Monday to assess the grim reality for homosexuals in the country, despite some of the world’s best legal protection.

As French President Francois Hollande signed business deals on the first of a two-day state visit, his partner held talks with a lesbian couple after having lunch with campaign groups, according to activist Anthony Manion, who attended the group talks.

She wanted “to talk about the daily lives and experience of gay or bisexual women in South Africa who are married or in a relationship”, said Manion, director of rights group Gala (Gay and Lesbian Memory in Action).

The meeting was closed to the media and the couple was not identified.

Activists said they want Trierweiler, who spearheaded France’s legalisation of same-sex marriage in May, to put pressure on South African authorities to better implement liberal laws that do not reflect an often conservative society.

In May last year traditional leaders asked parliament to delete a clause in the constitution that guarantees equal rights to homosexuals.

“We need those international pressures in our country,” said Phindi Malaza from the Forum for the Empowerment of Women, referring to lesbians, gays, bisexual, transgender and intersex people (LGBTI).

“As LGBTI people living in a township we are really not enjoying those rights and privileges in the constitution,” she told AFP, referring to low income areas in South Africa where the black majority live.

“It’s beautiful on paper, but the daily lives say something different.”

Homophobic attacks

An Amnesty International report this year pointed to at least seven murders in what appeared to be homophobic attacks between June and November last year. Five of the victims were lesbians.

Media and rights groups also often decry the practice of “corrective rape” of lesbian women to turn them “straight”, though no official figures are available.

In June, the abandoned body of a lesbian woman was found in a township east of Johannesburg, left half-naked after she was raped and murdered.

“Our government representatives, when they’re on international stages, they say all these beautiful things about ending violence perpetrated against LGBTI people,” said Malaza.

Gays wanted to see stronger implementation of the laws and policies, said Steve Letsike, who heads the civil society arm of the country’s national Aids council.

“From talk to action, that’s what I’m calling for,” said Letsike before meeting Trierweiler.

South Africa set up a task team to address homophobic violence in 2011, but progress has been slow.

– AFP

Johannesburg – A truck driver was burned when he was hit by a petrol bomb while making a delivery at a supermarket in Durban on Monday, KwaZulu-Natal police said.

“Truck drivers, who were on strike, allegedly threw a petrol bomb at the truck in Smith Street,” said police spokesperson Jay Naicker.

The 40-year-old driver was taken to hospital where he was in a stable condition.

Police were investigating a case of attempted murder and arson.

No arrests had been made, said Naicker.

– SAPA

Johannesburg – A Coin Security guard was shot dead while on duty outside the First National Bank in Bushbuckridge on Monday morning, Mpumalanga police said.

The guard was standing outside the bank while two of his colleagues were inside collecting money when he was approached by an unknown number of men, police spokesperson Leonard Hlathi said.

“After he was shot, he ran inside the bank and fell and died inside.”

The men who attacked the guard continued to fire at random as they fled the scene, said Hlathi.

Six vehicles were damaged and some shop windows were broken.

“After the gruesome act, the suspects fled the scene in two white cars, a Mercedes-Benz sedan and a Nissan Tiida, with an empty bag.”

No arrests had been made, Hlathi said.

– SAPA