By Obakeng Maje

Taung-North West police are investigating a case of arson after a woman’ shack was reduced to ashes.

The incident took place in Buxton, near Taung after a woman allegedly engaged in an argument with her boyfriend.

“Police are investigating a case of arson and no one has been arrested yet” colonel Sabata Mokgwabone said.

Police said the items destroyed value at R25000.

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The deaths of at least 30 youngsters who died as a result of circumcision-related injuries in the Eastern Cape was “distressing,” the ANC said on Sunday.

“The African National Congress is deeply distressed by the news of yet more young lives that have been tragically cut short in their prime through botched circumcisions,” spokesperson Jackson Mthembu said in a statement.

“Authorities can no longer pay lip service to dealing with this disaster that afflicts our nation during the traditional initiation season.”

So far, 30 initiates in the province have died from circumcision-related injuries, the provincial health department said.

In the most recent case of botched circumcisions during the initiation season, ten initiates were rescued from a forest in Mbizana on Sunday, said departmental spokesperson Sizwe Kupelo.

“The ten initiates’ private parts are rotten. They are badly damaged. Their condition is scary.”

He said the initiates were recovering in hospital.

A total of 293 initiates are currently in hospital in the province recovering from dehydration, gangrene, and septic wounds.

Some have lost their genitals.

The ANC appealed to traditional leaders, medical personnel, government and communities to work together to halt this “senseless and unnecessary loss of life.”

Those who are mandated with the livelihood of the young men must be provided with basic medical training and accredited in order to identify early warning signs of imminent danger, said Mthembu.

“There has never been a greater urgency to act than now…our nation cannot wither and be dealt such a blow of losing the young who have so much to offer to their families and our nation as whole.”

SAPA

The behaviour of the ANC in dealing with the Tlokwe Municipality in North West is a sign that the ruling party condones corruption, the UDM said on Saturday.

“Here, ruling party councillors voted their mayor out of office for the second time and handed the mayorship to the Democratic Alliance (DA),” United Democratic Movement leader Bantu Holomisa said.

Holomisa told a UDM workshop in Limpopo that the councillors had publicly stated that they had voted against the mayor “because the African National Congress (ANC) mayor is corrupt”.

“However, instead of working with its councillors in fighting corruption, the ruling party chose to expel them with immediate effect,” he said.

Holomisa said the ANC’s behaviour on the matter raised questions whether the nation could trust the ruling party in the fight against corruption.

On Thursday, the ANC in the North West welcomed the axing of 14 of its councillors from the Tlokwe municipality after they voted to unseat mayor Maphetle Maphetle.

The decision to expel the group was made in a provincial disciplinary committee (PDC) meeting held on Wednesday.

The ANC claimed that 16 of its councillors participated in an irregular council meeting where they voted for Maphetle’s unseating.

The 16 ANC were scheduled to face a disciplinary hearing on Wednesday, but only two of them attended the meeting.

The two, who pleaded guilty, were “reprimanded” by the PDC and it was decided that they would be provided with “guidance” by the party and not be expelled.

The other 14, who did not arrive for the meeting, were expelled.

This was the second attempt to remove Maphetle.

In November, ANC factions in the municipality passed a motion of no confidence in him.

He was replaced by Annette Combrink the first DA mayor in the province — when she defeated ANC candidate Lucky Tsagae by 20 votes to 19.

However, Maphetle was returned as mayor in February, when he won by 31 votes to Combrink’s 21.

In the latest attempt to oust him, DA North West leader Chris Hattingh said 29 councillors from all parties, including the ANC, had unanimously voted to return Combrink to the position of mayor.

While the DA was in charge, it asked for a forensic investigation into irregularities at the municipality.

The probe found the council had irregularly bought Maphetle a R736,000 customised Mercedes-Benz. Maphetle was also found to have allegedly abused the municipality’s disaster management fund and poverty relief fund.

The report recommended that formal disciplinary action be taken against him and other officials.

In May, the DA laid criminal charges against Maphetle. In June Public Protector Thuli Madonsela said she would investigate the claims of corruption involving Maphetle.

– Sapa

Johannesburg – Bus commuters and air travellers may find it tough getting to work or travelling in the next few days if predictions about strike action by their respective unions go ahead.

Metrobus workers will embark on a strike on Monday, the SA Municipal Workers Union (Samwu) said on Saturday.

Samwu chairperson at Metrobus, Phanuel Tshikovha, said that the drivers were demanding that Metrobus acting managing director, Lawrence Maqekoane, be suspended pending an investigation of allegations against him.

The union wants Maqekoane to be investigated for allegedly violating company polices. They wanted him out of the office as he could manipulate the investigation.

The union also have suspicions of corruption and demand an immediate forensic investigation. Samwu also have a problem with the “behavioral assessment” introduced by Maqekoane for recruitment processes. They believe it has the potential for nepotism.

He did not want to comment on the allegations, as he had already responded to the union, said Maqekoane.

“The strike will go on until we reach [a] positive agreement,” Tshikovha said.

SAA and unions

Meanwhile the SA Transport and Allied Workers Union (Satawu) and the United Association of SA (Uasa) last week received permission from the Commission for Conciliation, Mediation and Arbitration to strike after a third round of talks deadlocked.

At this stage it remains unclear to what extent SAA’s flights would be affected if 70% of their ground and cabin crew go on strike.

SAA said that if the need arose it would activate contingency plans “to ensure business continuity”.

SAA had offered a 6.23% increase in basic salaries, effective 1 April – up from the initial 6.02% offer.

Unions are demanding 7.5% on total remuneration, down from 9.5%, which includes salary, medical aid, housing and meal allowances.

SAA increases for pilots and technical staff covered total pay, including all allowances and benefits, according to Uasa.

Cosatu’s Satawu and Uasa are working together for the first time on possible strike action.

Satawu competes with the breakaway National Transport Movement (NTM) union.

Up to 30% of SAA’s ground and cabin crew don’t belong to a union, or are NTM members, so they don’t have permission to strike.

Lonmin files papers

Mining company Lonmin [JSE:LON] earlier filed court papers proposing that a secret ballot be held to establish the union membership of its workers.

City Press reported on Sunday that an affidavit filed by Lonmin in the  Labour court last week called for an “independent and closed ballot…in order to determine to which trade union, if any, the employees are affiliated.”

The company also apparently offered to suspend its termination of the National Union of Mineworkers’ (NUM) recognition agreement.

The replying affidavit was filed in response to an application by NUM to interdict the loss of its recognition and the order to vacate its offices, scheduled to take effect on 16 July.

On a positive note, De Beers and the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) announced on Saturday that they had reached an agreement of a 9% wage increase.

Wayne Smerdon, head of employee relations of the diamond mining company, said the agreement had been signed on Friday evening.

The terms of the settlement apply to jobs in the A, B and lower C band bargaining unit.

“The employees in these jobs will receive a 9% increase effective from May 2013. Mining operations continued without interruption at all three of De Beers South African diamond mines,” Smerdon said.

For more http://www.news24.com

The DA will help fund the by-elections campaigns of rebel councillors who turned on the ANC in Tlokwe to oust the governing party’s mayor this week, City Press has learnt.

For more http://www.citypress.co.za

Johannesburg – Former president Nelson Mandela’s grandson, Mandla Mandela, faces another tough battle against his family, who have called for an audit into the Mvezo Development Trust which he chairs.

The multimillion-rand trust, which is meant to benefit the Mandela family and rural people, generates money from international donors and is a shareholder in a R2bn media empowerment deal.

However the trust’s beneficiaries have accused Mandla of using it as his own personal bank account, reported the Sunday Times.

Details of the trust are so closely guarded that none of the trustees, apart from Mandla, know about its finances. Even documents lodged at the Competition Commission by the consortium Sekunjalo Independent Media, which is poised to buy out Independent News and Media, do not disclose the trust’s interests or its members.

Instead the documents describe Mandla as the “main trustee”.

Speaking on condition of anonymity, a former trustee said: “He (Mandla) is an intimidating man… and no one in this community – apart from him – knows how much is in the trust’s account, where the money comes from and how it is being spent. No one has the courage to oppose or question his decisions.”

For more http://www.news24.com

A letter written by Public Works Minister Thulas Nxesi to the Speaker of Parliament, Max Sisulu, suggests he may have lied about the Top Secret classification of his department’s Nkandlagate report.

City Press has obtained a copy of the letter to Sisulu, dated June 19, in which Nxesi states the Nkandla report was classified by a task team investigating the R20 million spent on President Jacob Zuma’s private residence.

In the letter, Nxesi tells Sisulu that the report could not be given to the Auditor-General or the Special Investigating Unit until it was declassified by “the authors”.

But Nxesi has since changed his tune after

State Security Minister Siyabonga Cwele distanced himself from the report’s classification. Nxesi now admits it was he who classified the report top secret.

» Get 

CAPE TOWN – Child rights group Molo Songololo at the weekend said it is perturbed by the high levels of crimes committed against children in the Western Cape. The organisation believes young girls, in particular, are vulnerable to abuse and sexual assault. It said the most recent incident in which two young girls were raped in George once again highlights the scourge. Last week the 11 and 14-year-old were lured away from their homes to a bush where a man allegedly sexually assaulted them. Molo Songololo’s Patrick Solomons said crimes like these are of grave concern. “Girls from age of 10 upwards are pretty vulnerable. It is often people that they know who are the perpetrators and who commit sexual offences against them. This is a big challenge within the community.”  For more http://www.ewn.co.za

By Obakeng Maje

The cancelation of the long overdue North West Traditional Authority elections scheduled for today, (6th July 2013), less than 24 hours before the opening of the ballot boxes, is indicative of the contempt with which the North West Provincial Government regards traditional communities said DA.

The DA said they do not believe the North West Provincial Government has the capacity or political will to manage Traditional Authority elections and will request that the National Department of Cooperative Government and Traditional Affairs, in cooperation with the IEC, conduct these elections.

“The cancelation of the elections followed the earlier withdrawal of the IEC from the elections due to the non-cooperation of the North West Department of Local Government and Traditional Affairs” DA Chris Hattingh said.

“During her State of the Province Address, presumably ceding to pressures from the traditional communities, Premier Thandi Modise announced that by end of March 2013, the Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) will conduct elections for traditional councils we hope this will bring stability to this institution”. 

The Premier later announced in a response to a DA question that the date was changed to the end of May and then again to the 6th July2013.

The relationship between the North West Provincial Government (NWPG) and North West Traditional Authorities has been the focus point of running disputes for many years.

Hattingh said several of these disputes resulted in Supreme Court cases with most judgments going against the NWPG. 

“In addition the Auditor General (AG) recently told the NW SCOPA that the finances of NW Traditional Authorities have never been audited because of the non-availability of financial statements” Hattingh said. 

The NW Traditional Leadership and Governance Act’s require that it be audited annually.

A similar situation exists with the NW Traditional Authority Trust Accounts managed by the NWPG.

The DA trusts that a different model of running these elections will be considered for the sake of a constructive relationship between government and traditional authorities said DA in a statement.

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Johannesburg – AbaThembu King Buyelekhaya Dalindyebo says he has lost all respect for Mandla Mandela after Madiba’s eldest grandson became embroiled in a bitter feud with his own family, Eyewitness News reported on Saturday.

The King, a cousin of Nelson Mandela’s, continued his public condemnation of Mandla after a few days ago calling him “opportunistic”.

Speaking to Eyewitness News in Qunu, the king said there was no time for negotiations with Mandla, who is chief of the Mvezo Traditional Council. 

“I can surely promise you that he will be ejected [from the clan] – he will not just be removed.”

He was quoted as saying he couldn’t respect someone who didn’t respect his culture or his family.

In a surprise move on Monday, Dalindyebo indicated he planned to join the Democratic Alliance as he was not happy with the ANC.

Dalindyebo said he believed the current government had failed the people of South Africa.

He said it was time citizens supported “credible leaders”.

“The government has betrayed our people; the government has betrayed our kingdom. We believe there is no reason to back the ANC because it has been enjoying our support and abusing it. 

For more http://www.news24.com

It is high time we gave our support to credible leaders.”