Johannesburg – Most young South Africans believe the lives of women are getting better, according to a study released on Wednesday.

“It was found that almost two in three young South Africans feel the lives of women in SA were improving,” said consumer insight company Pondering Panda.

It polled 3 258 people between the ages of 15 and 34 across the country, spokesperson Shirley Wakefield said in a statement.

They were asked about their opinion on the lives of women and the importance of Women’s Day.

The survey found that 64% of respondents believed that women’s lives were improving.

About 21% said their lives were getting worse, and 12% believed women’s lives were staying the same.

“There were differences of opinion among both race and regional groups.”

About 68% of black respondents believed the lives of women were getting better, with 51% of coloureds and 44% of whites sharing this sentiment.

Most of the respondents (73%) believed the lives of women were improving the most in Mpumalanga, followed by the Northern Cape (72%), and KwaZulu-Natal (71%).

Most young people questioned (91%) believed it was important to celebrate Women’s Day.

Wakefield concluded: “If the opinion of young people is anything to go by, the lives of the majority of women in South Africa appear to be getting better.”

– SAPA

Two men accused of running an illegal initiation school in Windsorton, Northern Cape, appeared in the Barkly West Magistrate’s Court on Wednesday, police said.

Police spokesperson Priscilla Naidu said Winston Moleleki, 38, was granted R500 bail, while Joseph Makhasane, 24, from Lesotho, was denied bail.

The two were also charged with kidnapping two youths and forcing them to attend an initiation school.

The youths were hospitalised after botched circumcisions, Naidu said at the two’s first court appearance in July.

They would appear in court again on 30 September.

– SAPA

Cape Town – Municipalities need strong political leadership to overcome a myriad of problems, the SA Local Government Association (Salga) said on Wednesday.

Salga chairperson Thabo Manyoni was commenting on the outcomes of the National Council of Provinces local government week.

Municipalities were operating in a space where finances were tight because of the global economic crisis, and where urbanisation was happening at a rapid pace.

“People get more into debt… The majority of people who are coming into cities, they don’t have skills,” said Manyoni.

“Those who are earning less than R3 000, for instance, are people who are spending more on food and transport rather than on shelter, and also on bettering the general conditions of their lives.”

This meant people could not sustain themselves, and it resulted in municipalities themselves battling to remain sustainable because they were not receiving the funds they expected through rates and taxes.

The problem of limited resources was twofold.

“The challenge of resources in terms of human and also capital… human in the sense of having skills and having citizenry who are skilled to sustain themselves, [but] also municipalities having the necessary skills to address challenges by stimulating the economy and maintaining infrastructure,” Manyoni said.

The key to success

Salga said an active citizenry, combined with good leadership, was key to making municipalities operate more successfully.

“People should also get involved in trying to better their lives instead of always having a citzenry that will always be passive, always expecting delivery… It’s an issue of culture.”

The political leadership at municipal level needed urgent improvement.

“I’m referring to political leadership who are interested in the areas in which they are meant to be operating, that is encouraging, that is meeting people instead of outsourcing those political functions and making sure we build communities that are understanding and able to take charge of their lives,” Manyoni said.

He said the lines of communication between municipalities and citizens were not open, which was one of the main causes of spiralling service delivery protests.

“Local government does not communicate adequately. We don’t talk to each other, we talk across each other,” he said.

“Those citizens… they must be able to understand what are the limitations what are the challenges [facing local government] and I think that will assist in minimising protests.”

– SAPA

Cape Town-The ANCYL in the Southern Cape accused the DA on Wednesday of using pupils to promote the party during a by-election.

The ANC Youth League said the by-election in Ward 4 Bitou (Greater Plettenberg Bay) on Wednesday, was being overseen by Western Cape Education MEC Donald Grant.

“This [has] happened in full view of… Grant who is also the Democratic Alliance’s elections co-ordinator,” it claimed.

“As the youth league, we take offence at the use of working class children as DA volunteers when they are supposed to be in class.”

Grant’s spokesperson Bronagh Casey said the claim that the pupils were being used in the “full view” of Grant was false.

“In no circumstance would the [MEC]… support learners taking time-off school to engage in political activities. He condemns such actions.”

The ANCYL said it would not rest until the “opportunistic tendencies of the DA are exposed as a whole”.

– SAPA

Two people were killed and 31 others injured on Wednesday in a multiple vehicle crash involving four trucks, 12 cars, and a taxi on the N4 outside Pretoria, Tshwane emergency services said.

“Of the 31 people, three were critical, nine serious, and 19 were slightly injured,” spokesperson Johan Pieterse said.
For more http://www.sabc.co.za

Bloemfontein Celtic coach Clinton Larsen has reiterated that the standard of refereeing in the PSL remains poor. He’s adamant that they were let down by referee Daniel Volfgraaf who officiated during their 1-3 League defeat against Mamelodi Sundowns on Sunday at the Free State Stadium.

Reports doing the rounds are that the PSL intends to charge both Larsen and his Free State Stars counterpart, Steve Komphela, for comments they made against match officials. Komphela lambasted current PSL referee of the season, Victor Gomes, during their 4-1 defeat to SuperSport United on Saturday night at the Lucas Moripe Stadium in Atteridgeville.
For more http://www.sabc.co.za

Alleged right-wingers, Johan Prinsloo and Mark Trollip, have entered their second day of a hunger strike at Bloemfontein’s Grootvlei Prison. They stopped eating in protest of their case dragging along.

The two are accused of planning to assassinate African National Congress (ANC) leaders at the party’s Mangaung conference last December. Prinsloo’s health is being monitored because he is a diabetic.
For more http://www.sabc.co.za

The Premier Soccer League (PSL) has addressed formal demands in terms of the PSL Rules to Free State Stars coach Steve Komphela and Bloemfontein Celtic coach Clinton Larsen regarding comments made by both coaches this past weekend on referees.

Both coaches have been given five days to explain their conduct. Free State Stars were thumped 4-1 by SuperSport United in a game that saw Soriola Gege from the Stars sent off.

A number of decisions went against Komphela’s team during match. This pushed Komphela to have some choice of words for referee Victor Gomes.

Similarly, Larsen’s Celtic were beaten 3-1 by Sundowns, with John Arwuah getting sent off in what appeared to have been a harsh decision by the referee and the normally calm mentor lost his cool.

The PSL says it views the comments as bringing the game and sponsors into disrepute.

Larsen on Monday reiterated that the standard of refereeing in the PSL remains poor. He is adamant that they were let down by referee Daniel Volfgraaf, who officiated during their 1-3 League defeat against Mamelodi Sundowns on Sunday at the Free State Stadium.

Komphela lambasted current PSL referee of the season, Victor Gomes, during their 4-1 defeat to SuperSport United on Saturday night at the Lucas Moripe Stadium in Atteridgeville.
For more http://www.sabc.co.za

Kimberley – A Kimberley man is lucky to still have his hand intact after a freak accident left part of a large pair of pliers lodged in his hand, wrist and forearm.

Willem van den Heever was in his garage, holding a pair of blunt-nosed pliers in his left hand and a screwdriver in his right hand when the incident took place.

He accidentally tripped over a step and fell.
For more http://www.iol.co.za

The rape and killing of a 15-year-old girl from Ottosdal, North West was barbaric, the ANC Women’s League said on Wednesday.

“The ANCWL is taken aback by this barbaric act… We call upon all South Africans to fight against the perpetrators of these criminal acts against our kids, sisters and mothers,” ANCWL provincial secretary Meokgo Matuba said in a statement.

On Sunday, Mmanane Mainamo’s body was found inside a grave at a cemetery in Ottosdal, Matuba said.

She was last seen on Saturday when her parents sent her to fetch blankets in a nearby settlement.

The league said it would launch a campaign against women and child abuse on August 18.

The police could not immediately give details of the case. – Sapa