Study explores bacteria in plants as a new source of medicine

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Picture: NWU representative, Benedict Ndou/Supplied

By PHENYO MOKGOTHU

28 February 2025- Instead of further depleting overharvested indigenous plants for medicinal purposes, it might be possible to use the bacteria inside their roots. This would preserve at-risk plants while still allowing access to the medicinal properties associated with them.

A master’s study by Benedict Ndou, a researcher and a PhD candidate at North West University (NWU), has identified a possible way to produce medicine without relying on plants that are at risk of disappearing due to overharvesting. The research focused on bacteria living inside the roots of the elephant root (Elephantorrhiza elephantina), a plant with large, thick roots resembling an elephant’s foot or trunk, used in traditional herbal medicine.

With the growing demand for natural medicines, many plants with medicinal properties are being harvested at unsustainable rates. Ndou’s study examined whether bacteria found inside these plants could produce the same beneficial compounds.

“We looked at bacteria that naturally exist inside the plant and tested whether they produce the same useful compounds as the plant itself,” said Ndou. “This could provide an alternative way to produce medicine without harming plant populations.”

Bacteria halt growth of harmful microbes

Ndou identified several types of bacteria inside the roots of the plant and tested their ability to fight harmful germs. The results showed that extracts from the bacteria stopped the growth of seven different disease-causing microbes. The bacteria also produced substances with antioxidant properties, which help protect cells from damage.

Further testing confirmed that the bacteria produced key compounds used in medicine, including substances known for their antibacterial and anti-inflammatory effects. According to Ndou, this discovery suggests that bacteria could be used as a source of these compounds in the future.

“The bacteria we studied produced the same types of compounds that make the elephant root plant useful in traditional medicine,” said Ndou. “If these bacteria can be used to produce medicine in a laboratory, it could reduce the need to harvest these plants from the wild.”

Roots are the richest in bacteria

The study also found that the plant’s roots contained more of these bacteria than its leaves. This suggests that the underground parts of the plant may be a richer source of beneficial microbes.

“This research is the first to study bacteria inside this specific plant and their potential for medicine production,” said Ndou. “The findings could contribute to new ways of producing natural treatments while protecting plant species from overharvesting.”

The study highlights the role of bacteria in medicine production and raises possibilities for further research on other plants that rely on similar microbes.

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Melaetsa ya matshidiso e tsweletse go goroga morago ga go tlhokafala ga modulasetilo wa Indomitable Lions FC, Archie Seothaeng

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Setshwantsho: Modulasetilo wa setlhopha sa kwele ya dinao sa Indomitable Lions FC/Facebook

Ka REGINALD KANYANE

28 Tlhakole 2025- Melaetsa ya matshidiso e tsweletse go goroga kwa lelapeng la ga Seothaeng morago ga go tlhokafala ga morwa wa bone, Archie Seothaeng (50). Seothaeng yo eneng ele modulasetilo wa setlhopha sa Indomitable Lions FC, sa kwa Pudimoe, gaufi le Taung, o tlhokafetse mo kotsing e masisi ya sejanaga mo tseleng ya Koster ga mmogo le Lichtenburg, mo letsatsing la Labobedi.

Go begwa fa sejanaga se Seothaeng aneng a tsamaya ka sone, se ile sa thulana le lori eneng e rwele katakata.  

Go ya ka sebueledi sa sepodisi mo Bokone Bophirima, Mokapteine Mpho Manyoba, dipatlisiso di tsweletse mo kgetsing e. Manyoba are dipatlisiso di tla tlhalosa gore tlholo ya kotsi ke eng.

“Ke nnete monna wa dingwaga di le 50 o tlhokafetse mo kotsi ya sejanaga mo letsatsing la Labobedi. Dintlha tshotlhe mabapi le kgetsi e, di tla rebolwa morago ga dipatlisiso,” Manyoba wa tlhalosa.  

Kgabagare, morulaganyi wa tonamente ya metsameko, Mothusi Dikwelana are: “Re kwala jaana re le botsamaisi jwa Mothusi Dikwelana Sports Tournament ka mowa o ko tlase re utlwetse botlhoko ko teng. Tsamao ya gago ya tshoganyetso e re amile thata. Seothaeng o tshamikile karolo e tona mo Mothusi Dikwelana Sports Tournament go tloga fela kwa tshimologong.

“One a sa tshabe, ebile a sa itsemeletse go tsaya mogala a ntetsetsa le go neelana ka dikgakololo mabapi le Mothusi Dikwelana Sports Tournament. One a nna teng ngwaga le ngwaga ntle fa fela fa na le ditshwarego. Re latlhegetswe ke motho yo o neng a rata kgwele ya dinao le metshameko ka kakaretso, ebile a le bonolo le boikokobetso.”

Dikwelana are o gopola ngwaga o fetileng fa ba ne ba neela setlhopha sa Indomitable Lions FC kits, Seothaeng one a tshameka le bone are, nnyaa lo tla re bolaisa mmala o mo khibidu.  Dikwelana are Seothaeng one a bua seo ka monyebo, mme a bontsha boitumelo.

“One a buile gore ngwaga o jaaka ba sireletsa sejana sa bone lekgetlho la boraro ka tatelano, wa go tla a golegile setlhopa go gaisa. One a buisiwa se ka gore, re ne re mo boleleletse gore re mo batlela ditlhopha tsa kgwele ya dinao tse di diphatsa. A bo a tshega, a amogela dikabo ka lerato a bo a leboga.

“Jannong, jaaka botsamaisi jwa Mothusi Dikwelana Sports Tournament, re are go ba losika le ditsala, botsamaisi, batshamiki, balatedi botlhe ba Indomitable Lions FC, Modimo ke botshabelo, thuso le maatla ka nako ya ditlalelo. Lo gomotsegeleng ruri, ebile re tshepele mo thapelong,” Dikwelana wa tlhalosa.

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Lekau le tlhagelela kwa kgotlha-tshekelo mabapi le polao ya lekgarebe la gagwe

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Ka OBAKENG MAJE

28 Tlhakole 2025- Monna wa dingwaga di le 50, wa kwa motsesetoropong wa Utlwanang, gaufi le Christina, o solofetswe go tlhagelela kwa kgotlha-tshekelong ya Christiana mabapi le polao. Se se tla morago ga go bonwa ga setopo sa mosadi (47) kwa matlakaleng, gaufi le lebala la metshameko la kwa Chrisitiana.

Go ya ka sebueledi sa sepodisi mo sedikeng sa Dr Ruth Segomotsi Mompati, Warrant Officer Tryphosa van Rooyen, setopo sa ga Elizabeth Tukula, se bonwe ke bana fa bane ba tshameka. Van Rooyen are lekau la ga Tukula, le ile la tshwarwa, mme le tlile go tlhagelela kwa kgotlha-tshekelo mo letsatsing la gompieno.

“Setopo sa ga Tukula se bonwe ka Labobedi, fela mokola ene o tshwerwe ka Laboraro. Dipatlisiso di supa fa moswi a kgwageditswe ka terata,” van Rooyen wa tlhalosa.

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A hitch-hikers spot robber jailed  

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By REGINALD KANYANE

27 February 2025- A hitch-hiker’s spot robber (34) sentenced to 32 years imprisonment by the Rustenburg Regional Court after being found guilty on 15 counts of robbery with aggravating circumstances. The accused, Goitsemodimo Kekae, was a mine employee at the time he committed these crimes.

The National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) regional spokesperson in North West, Sivenathi Gunya said Kekae’s conviction stems from the spree of robbery incidents that were reported near Rustenburg, Mogwase and Koster from October 2014 to January 2015. Gunya said it is alleged that the information reached the police about a person who was driving a Toyota Corolla robbing people in hiking spots.

“Investigations revealed that the accused would offer a person a hike upon boarding that person would be robbed of his or her belongings and threatened with a gun.

“After the police received many reports about this hitch-hiking spot robber, they organised an undercover operation to apprehend the suspect. His car was stopped during the operation and the cellphones of the victims he had earlier robbed were recovered,” he said.

Gunya further said Kekae was arrested on 11 March 2015, after the police intensive operations in tracking the said Toyota Corolla. He added that, in court, he pleaded not guilty to all the charges against him.

“Evidence presented in court indicated that the accused would use a firearm to rob the victims and take their belongings,” said Gunya.

During sentencing, state prosecutor advocate Rodger Mareume, emphasised the fact that the accused was employed shows that he committed the offence out of greed and with intentions to traumatize his victims and called for the prescribed minimum sentence to be imposed. In delivering judgment, Magistrate Samuel Maboho, indicated that they live in a society which is becoming increasingly lawless, where firearms are frequently used.  

“Robbery is always a deliberately planned crime, where victims cannot take precautions against such offences,” he said.

Meanwhile, welcoming the sentence, Dr Rachel Makhari, Director of Public Prosecutions in North West, commended the diligent efforts of the Police Service, state prosecutor, and all role players involved in this case. Makhari emphasised the need for community cooperation with authorities in reporting any acts of criminality.

“The National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) remains committed to ensuring accountability and fighting crime in South Africa,” she said.

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North West Premier Lazarus Mokgosi aims at empowering emerging commercial farmers

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Picture: North West Premier, Lazarus Mokgosi/Facebook

By OBAKENG MAJE

27 February 2025- The North West Premier, Lazarus Mokgosi said as part of the poverty alleviation programmes in rural communities, his government will be working hand-in-glove with the North West House of Traditional and Khoi-San Leaders under the stewardship of the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development through Agri-hubs in collaboration with the North West University (NWU), Agriculture Research Council, and other stakeholders.

Mokgosi, who delivered the State of the Province (SOPA) today at the North West Provincial Legislature (NWPL) in Mahikeng, said the objective is primarily aimed at driving agricultural development to empower emerging commercial farmers, while contributing to sustainable economic growth to address high poverty levels at rural communities and in district municipalities such as Dr Ruth Segomotsi Mompati and Ngaka Modiri Molema.

He further said on Monday, he will be launching a flagship programme of this initiative at the University’s Molelwane Farm in Mahikeng. Mokgosi added that in the next financial year, they will launch the “Ntime o Mphele Ngwana Poverty Alleviation Programme”, which is centred on addressing hunger and starvation amongst children and youth in economically depressed communities.

“I want to urge various non-governmental organisations and the private sector to partner with us in executing this initiative. Through the ILIMA/Letsema Programme and the Presidential Employment Stimulus, we are supporting over 5000 subsistence farmers in ensuring that no households in the province go to bed hungry.

“More than R60m has been set aside for the successful implementation of these programmes. An additional R80m of conditional grants will support farming communities in increasing food production across the province,” he said.

Mokgosi said the resuscitation of the Taung Irrigation Scheme is in full swing following their ongoing discussions and consultations with Bogosi and other key stakeholders. He said plans are already afoot to also revitalise the Disaneng, Molatedi, Hartebees and Mooibank Irrigation Schemes.

“In giving impetus to these plans, we will host a two-day Irrigation Symposium on the 5 and 6 March 2025, to develop a framework, as well as an implementation plan to drive agricultural production in rural and periphery communities.

“Restoring the dignity of our people remains one of the apex priorities of this government. To date over 6000 hectares of land have been restored to communities and rightful owners,” said Mokgosi.

He said through this programme, R4.5 billion was spent on land acquisition with over R430 million paid as development grants. Mokgosi said this includes the Bo-Moshe Communal Property Association, where over 670 hectares of land valued at more than R380m was restored to the community, which produces berries for export to international markets.

“This restoration has culminated in the investment of more than R40m and has created close to 5000 seasonal jobs and 31 permanent jobs for locals,” he said.

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A man sentenced to 20 years imprisonment for rape

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By BAKANG MOKOTO

28 February 2025- A man (37) was sentenced to 20 years by the Colesberg Regional Court for rape. On August 2024, Johannes Arends raped a woman (18), who was visiting friends in Riemvasmaak in Colesberg.

Northern Cape police spokesperson, Colonel Cherelle Ehlers said at 9pm, the victim decided to return home, and the accused offered to walk her home. Ehlers said on arrival at her residence, he threatened her and raped her, then fled the scene.

“She called for help and a community member assisted her. The victim reported the incident to the police. Detective Sergeant Ilse Fan from the De Aar Family Violence, Child Protection and Sexual Offences Unit led the investigation.

“Together with members from Colesberg SAPS, Arends was traced and subsequently arrested. He remained in custody until his sentencing on 25 February 2025. Arends was also declared unfit to possess a firearm, and his name is to be entered into the National Register for Sex Offenders,” she said.

Ehlers further said Gender-Based Violence (GBV) remains a priority for the SAPS, and detectives will work tirelessly in collaboration with prosecutors to ensure that meticulous investigations are conducted and perpetrators are brought to book. 

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Picture: The 

Department of Social Development warns against unauthentic sites for SRD application

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Picture: The SASSA logo

By REGINALD KANYANE

27 February 2025- The Department of Social Development and its entity the South African Social Security Agency (SASSA) are warning unsuspecting prospective applicants of the COVID-19 Social Relief of Distress (SSRD) of sites and links purporting to be authentic platforms to apply for the SSRD.

This was revealed in parliament today when the Portfolio Committee on Social Development received an update into the investigation on alleged weaknesses and fraud in the application and payment system of social grants.

The Minister of Social Development, Sisisi Tolashe said the correct and authentic application platform for all applications to the Covid-19 Social Relief of Distress is: https://SRD.sassa.gov.za. She further said the following links: https://srd-sassa.org.za and https://srdsassagov.co.za are fake and are used to collect data from unsuspecting applicants, stealing personal information from applicants of the SSRD of R370.

Tolashe said she instituted an investigation into vulnerabilities of the applications and systems used by SASSA for the payment of social grants. She further said this was after recommendations made by the Portfolio Committee on Social Development to conduct an investigation on these alleged vulnerabilities after claims of fraud in the application system of the Covid-19 Social Relief of Distress (SSRD) were made by two students from the University of Stellenbosch.

“The phase 1 of the investigation consisted of a comprehensive audit into the SRD application system administered by SASSA to determine the extent to which the system was exposed to fraud.

“The findings of this audit will serve as input as a basis for Phase 2, which will be an investigation into alleged fraud and weaknesses in the broader social grant system that results in ineligible beneficiaries receiving social grants,” said Tolashe.

She added that the final report on the Vulnerability Assessment (VA) and Penetration Testing (PT) on the SRD online system administered by SASSA made the findings. Tolashe said amongst others, that there are unidentified, malicious websites with .org and .co.za domain names that purport to be the authentic SRD application websites that are used to harvest applicants’ information for fraud purposes.

“That the SRD web application has weaknesses, such as unencrypted communications, that present threats to the security of the platform and the safety of users. These weaknesses are classified as medium risk by the Final Audit Report,” she said.

Tolashe said the Final Audit recommends a communication campaign warning beneficiaries and applicants about the unofficial and fake sites that are used to harvest their information for fraudulent purposes. She said SASSA has developed an Action Plan to respond to the recommendations of the Final Audit Report.

“It has short, medium and long term activities. This includes replacement of the HTTPS: method with a post method to protect communications between the applicant and the server that processes their information.

“To implement a rate limit to limit the abnormal number of requests made to the SRD application system. Update outdated software, and implement regular patch updates and introduce biometric,” said Tolashe.

She said in the long term, and within 18 months, SASSA will take down the fake websites and other content that violates its brand, copyright or right to information and privacy. Tolashe assured the committee of her commitment in addressing the vulnerabilities and weaknesses identified in the Covid 19 Social Relief of Distress system.

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Workers-owned coal mine struggling to make a breakthrough

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Picture: The miners at a disused mine/Generic

By OBAKENG MAJE

27 February2025 – A coal mine in Mpumalanga that was acquired by a group of retrenched mine workers, who lost their jobs when the former owners stopped operation is struggling to make a breakthrough in the industry. This was discovered by the Portfolio Committee on Mineral and Petroleum Resources yesterday during an oversight visit to Arnot Opco Coal Mine in the Steve Tshwete Local Municipality.

The Chairperson of Portfolio Committee on Mineral and Petroleum Resources, Mikateko Mahlaule, said after Exxaro stopped mining and retrenched 1500 workers in 2015 when its coal supply contract with Eskom could not be renewed, a group of eight former Exarro employees formed a company, Innovators Resources, and approached their former employer to take over the mine.

Mahlaule said they also established a trust for the benefit of about 1 029 other former employees of the mine and partnered with Wescoal as a shareholder, which at the time was listed on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange (JSE). He said, however, Arnot Opco management told the committee yesterday that because Wescoal had failed to make available the R150 million in funding they had previously committed and also because of the Covid-19 pandemic, the mine could not operate fully.

“Now the company is struggling to raise funding, as lenders are reluctant to fund companies in distress and also it is difficult to find funding for coal projects due to the global shift towards clean energy.

“Currently there is no mining taking place at Arnot Opco, instead the mine buys coal from third parties, washes it and sells to their clients. However, plans are underway to appoint contractors to reopen the mine and create jobs for some of the retrenched workers,” said Mahlaule.

He further heard that Arnot Opco is currently under business rescue and is also involved in a court battle with Wescoal. Mahlaule added that Wescoal is also under business rescue and its listing on the JSE has been suspended.

“The committee would like to see the company succeed and become a big player in the coal mining industry. The last thing we want is to see the transaction fail.

“We want the mine to be a success. We want to see this model, which we have not seen before, succeed. You must also have regard for the community and not extract and leave,” he said.

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EFF donates school shoes to a school in Buxton   

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Picture: The EFF leadership donates school shoes at Pelotshweu Primary School/Supplied 

By REGINALD KANYANE

25 February 2025- The Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) in Taung has donated school shoes to disadvantaged learners at Pelotshweu Primary School in Buxton village, near Taung. The EFF Member of Provincial Legislature (MPL) in North West Provincial Legislature, Justice Dabampe said their donations came after they identified learners in need.

Dabampe said they met with the school management and the School Governing Body (SGB) and discussed the donations.

“We did an oversight visit, wherein we were able to see that, there were learners who do not have school shoes. You would know that, this will tamper them from going to school to study or focus on their studies.

“So, as part of ensuring that we promote a culture of teaching and learning by ensuring the environment is conducive, we donated school shoes as per list submitted by the leadership of the school led by the principal,” he said.

Dabampe further said they are planning on working together with other stakeholders, including all schools in and around Greater Taung to ensure that, no child suffers because of lack of school shoes or uniform. He added that, no child should be left behind and all children should focus on their education.

“We can also report that there is a serious problem in terms of Post-Provisioning Model (PPM) and the allocation of teachers. This includes the absenteeism of Grade R learner.

“This matter concerns us and we are committed to working together with the leadership of the school and the SGB to ensure that, there is Grade R at the school. This should not be another failed project, but it should thrive,” said Dabampe.

He said Pelotshweu was previously a middle school and it has been turned into a primary school a few years ago. Dabampe said they will continue to support the school in anyway necessary.

Meanwhile, Help A Child South Africa said: “There is nothing incredible than to make a positive impact in the lives of underprivileged children across the country. Every child deserves access to education, regardless of their socio-economic background.

“Many children lack basic school supplies, including proper shoes and uniforms. These essential items not only contribute to their physical comfort but also help boost their self-esteem and confidence in the classroom.”

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