Gupta-linked public enterprises DG Richard Seleke quits

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Richard Seleke. Image: DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC ENTERPRISES

The embattled Gupta-linked public enterprises director-general Richard Seleke is finally leaving the public service after reaching a settlement on his exit.

This brings to an end a deadlock between Seleke and his employer. He had, over two months ago, accepted a R3-million settlement but refused to sign on the dotted line unless a condition preventing him from working for government until 2020 was scrapped. He vowed at the time to challenge this in the labour court.

The public enterprises department announced this week that Seleke‚ who was suspended by minister Pravin Gordhan in March‚ was officially vacating his position following a settlement reached with President Cyril Ramaphosa’s office as well as the department.

It was not clear whether Seleke’s exit meant he had accepted a revised settlement offer or the initial one with a cooling-off period. Attempts to get hold of him were unsuccessful.

His departure‚ according to the Organisation Undoing Tax Abuse (Outa) is not the end of it for Seleke‚ who was implicated in the leaked Gupta emails.

The anti-corruption activist group said it was “preparing a detailed submission on the outgoing public enterprise director-general Richard Seleke’s relationship with Gupta family to be handed to the Zondo Commission of Inquiry into State Capture”.

Gordhan is known to have suspended Seleke over his alleged links with the Guptas.

Serious allegations against Seleke are contained in an affidavit by Outa chief operations officer‚ Ben Theron‚ who alleged that the then director-general leaked inside business information of state-owned enterprises to the Guptas and thus helped them secure major contracts with Eskom and Transnet. Theron further alleged in the affidavit that:

• Seleke had an unlawful and improper relationship with the Gupta family since at least the start of 2015.

• He used an anonymous email address (infoportal1@zoho.com) from which he conducted Gupta-related business under the pseudonym “Businessman”.

• Seleke’s CV was emailed to former president Jacob Zuma’s son‚ Duduzane‚ who is a Gupta business associate‚ before his appointment as director-general in December 2015.

Outa welcomed Seleke’s departure but promised to “continue to pursue its charges of fraud‚ corruption and treason against him.

“We welcome the news of Seleke’s removal from office which is the result of a settlement stemming from investigations into his involvement with the Gupta family. However‚ this does not mean we will back down from our criminal complaint and our legal team will continue to apply pressure on the Hawks and NPA to investigate and take this matter to court‚” said Outa’s portfolio manager‚ Rudie Heyneke.

Source: http://www.sowetanlive.co.za

Bloemhof accused granted R1000 bail each

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By REGINALD KANYANE

Six people briefly appeared at the Bloemhof Magistrate’s Court in Bloemhof for kidnapping and attempted murder.
Olebogeng Ndlovu (27), Johannes Noguka (37), Ishmael Ngubane (33), Collen Bangola (39), Ivan Leonard (30) and Isaac Ndlovu(29) appeared in court after they were arrested during an Operation Fiela II on Friday.

The accused were being linked with two incidences where community members allegedly went on a rampage and assaulted several males accusing them of gangsterism two weeks ago.

North West police spokesperson, Colonel Adele Myburgh said: “All six accused were granted R1000 bail each and their next court appearance will be on October 29.”

In another unrelated incident, a 25 year-old suspect was arrested on Wednesday for the alleged murder of his 26 year-old ex-girlfriend in Bloemhof. Myburgh said police were called to a railway line in Extension 5 at about 9am where the body of a female was discovered.

She said preliminary investigation revealed that the victim was severely assaulted with an unknown object on her head before being placed on the railway line.

Myburgh said police were called to a railway line in Extension 5 at about 9am where the body of a female was discovered.

She said preliminary investigation revealed that the victim was severely assaulted with an unknown object on her head before being placed on the railway line.

“The suspect is expected to appear at the Bloemhof Magistrate’s Court for a murder charge on Friday,” Myburgh said.

The North West Provincial Commissioner, Lieutenant General Baile Motswenyane expressed her shock about the incident and at the same time appreciated the quick response of the police that ensured that the perpetrator is brought to book to face the full might of the law.

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Nene is lying, says EFF

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Xoli Mngambi/eNCA

JOHANNESBURG – The Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) on Wednesday dismissed Finance Minister Nhlanhla Nene’s testimony at the state capture commission of inquiryas lies.

The party said Nene never replied to its inquiry about his relationship with the controversial Gupta family.

”The EFF raised the matter in the Standing Committee on Finance [in Parliament] that the minister is failing to respond to important correspondence. The committee then resolved that the minister must respond withing 10 working days. He still ignored the committee and did not bother to respond. On the 10th of June 2018, we wrote a text message to the minister making a follow up on the correspondence, he simply ignored the text message and continues with business as usual.”

The EFF said it then submitted questions to Nene for written replies in Parliament, but instead Nene ”continued with his arrogance” and undermined Parliament’s processes.

The red berets accused Nene of facilitating the Guptas access to funding at the Public Investment Corporation (PIC) when he was deputy finance minister and chairman of PIC. The red berets charged that Nene ”played victim” after he was fired by former president Jacob Zuma in 2015 as he had broken ranks with the Guptas and stopped taking their phone calls. The fighters had demanded that Nene resign immediately after his testimony at the inquiry on Wednesday.

The minister testified that the EFF allegations against him were baseless and not true. He added that the EFF’s statement on Tuesday that he never replied to their letter was incorrect, because he responded on June 12 this year.

The EFF was having none of it.

”Today, after his misleading submission, we wrote to him asking him for a copy of his response [to the EFF], his office’s response was that the minister is considering our response. Even for such a simple letter, the minister could not resend or furnish us with his response to show that he is not lying,” the EFF said.

”The EFF demand that the minister furnish us with the letter that he claims he wrote to us, and provide us with written responses to questions in Parliament.”

African News Agency

Anatii impresses with new album IYEZA

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Press Release-min

By BAKANG MOKOTO

The Vault at Mapungubwe Hotel in Johannesbug was a hive of activity as Anatii, the preeminent artist hosted an exclusive listening session in partnership with Courvoisier of his forthcoming album IYEZA.

The gathering attracted musicians and celebrity friends. It was like frenzy when the music started booming from the speakers and revellers whipped out their phones to record the internationally acclaimed performer who is a UNHCR Goodwill Ambassador and Courvoisier Lumiere.

Anatii also shared that he only finished the album, his second solo project, a few hours before the listening session.

NTLONI, the second single off IYEZA is a burst of new energy from a genius that has conquered local hip hop. He shows off his grit and bite with this banger that is set to earn him more street cred. The video is soon to hit local screens shortly.

Songs like WENA, NGOZI and EHLATHINI received favourable feedback from the guests, while NDAWENI got fans on their feet moving to the pulsating beat.

U’SANGTHANDA NA? with its mbaqanga sensibilities is a fresh departure showing how versatile and diverse The Electronic Bushman’s talents and influences go.

THIXO ONOFEFE, which Anatii released early in 2018, proved to be the highlight of the evening as The Vault erupted in wild singing-along and head bobbing. The mood was infectious.

“This album is spiritual and therapeutic. I had to dig deep and connect with my people. I went to Durban, Eastern Cape and LA for inspiration,” he revealed.

Anatii also unveiled the artwork by Nika Mtwana that inspired his album cover.

“I feel that we don’t appreciate our counterparts in the arts. I was super inspired when I saw Nika’s work. We met when I was shooting my UN public service announcement and I knew that we needed to do something together,” he shared.

Nika will be earning royalties from the sales of IYEZA, one of the first fine artists to do so in local showbiz.

A grateful Anatii thanked his guests for honouring the invite and for the terrific reception they showed towards his new project. “Thank you for coming out tonight. Everyone I worked with was amazing. I’m proud of this album, it will do wonders.”

The album is expected to be available on all digital platforms on 5 October 2018.

Social Media Handles:

Twitter: @anatii

Instagram: @anatii

Facebook: ThisIsAnatii

taungdailynews@gmail.com

‘NTCE plug-in to empower the youth’

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North West Hotel Schools Hospitality students demonstrating to high svhool students how to make a bed professionally for guests.

By KAMOGELO POOE

More than five thousand tourism learners from Grade 9 –12 from Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) and University Students including Unemployed Graduates flocked to the Sun City Resorts to attend the 10thNational Tourism Career Expo (NTCE).

They were exposed to information on Tourism and hospitality careers, entrepreneurial and job opportunities. Under the theme: “Be the legacy, Do tourism digitally”, the expo aims to drive South Africa’s National Tourism Strategy’s goal of creating 225 000 tourism jobs opportunities by 2020.

It is designed to bridge the information gap between the industry, government, learners and educators by providing an opportunity for tourism curricula experts to share information with tourism educators and learners,.

Deputy Minister of Tourism, Elizabeth Thabethe applauded the North West Province for successfully hosting the 2018 edition of the NTCE which was also on its 10th year anniversary. She said that they couldn’t have sort a better host to mark this auspicious milestone.

“Indeed, the North West Province has hosted a successful NTCE, they delivered as promised and I must say they have out done themselves. Furthermore, I would like to encourage learners attending this expo to gather as much information as they possibly could from the more than 30 tourism entities exhibiting, this will help them in making informed career decisions,” said Thabethe.

The expo also taps in on the much need and crucial public and private sector partnerships where private sector companies exhibit and provide interactive, edutainment experiences for the learners. They also show their commitment to skills development by offering a number of bursaries, learnerships and internships to learners attending the expo.

The North West MEC of Tourism, Desbo Mohono echoed Thabethe’s sentiments and also further emphasised how important it was that the province delivers an impeccable 10th NTCE. Mohono said that over and above all the hard work that was put in to ensure the successful organising of the expo, the province should not lose sight as to what the expo aimed to achieve.

She said that Tourism plays a critical role in the country’s economy and they need more young people to explore the sector for opportunities which lie within.

“NTCE is a seed that we plant in the minds of our children for them to realise that tourism has a brighter future. This expo has afforded them an opportunity to view the sector from another angel. As a department, we are encouraging parents to let the kids be the driver of their own careers.

“This is where this expo is very fundamental. It is structured to allow for specialised areas to cater for each of the sectors of tourism and hospitality. Learners and students were also given an opportunity to interact directly with speakers and exhibitors who are experts and industry practitioners,” Mohono said.

One of the exhibitors, Managing Director and Owner of Empire Travel and Tours, Gugu Tong hailed the expo for bringing the tourism industry and tourism learners under one roof.

She said that it is always good for tourism learners to engage face to face in an unmediated fashion.

“I had an opportunity to interact with the learners to hear from them what they know and like about tourism. I also tried to provoke their train of thought and ignite their interest. My advice to them was that, tourism needs passionate people. In order to make it in the industry, you have to be a people’s person with great personality,” said Tong.

The NTCE is a collaboration of the National Department of Tourism (NDT), The Culture, Arts, Tourism, Hospitality, and Sport, Education Training Authority (CATHSSETA) and the North West Department of Tourism. The Expo will be hosted by the North West for three years until 2020.

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NORTHERN CAPE ANC CONDEMNS FAKE LIST OF 2019 ELECTION PUBLIC OFFICE BEARERS

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Source: (Business Day): (Zamani Saul)

The ANC in the Northern Cape has condemned the circulation of what it has dubbed as a “fake provincial list,” amid the emergence on social media of a list bearing the names of 23 party members purported to be earmarked for deployment as Members of Parliament (MPs) after next year’s general elections.

The ANC’s provincial secretary Deshi Ngxanga lambasted the list as an attempt “to sway public opinion to advance a narrow regionalist posture that seeks to pit one ANC region against the other,” in a statement.

With the ANC heading into its provincial list conference next month, Ngxanga’s reaction pinpoints the simmering tensions into what could be a menacing nomination process for salaried political careers and perks that come with being a public office representative.

“The nomination process for public representatives and who will be nominated is at the discretion of branches of the ANC,” asserted Ngxanga.

He added in the statement that the nomination process would be seeking to find the best amongst ANC members “in order to advance the struggle for radical socio-economic transformation and to speed up the fight against poverty, unemployment and inequality.”

One of the lists in possession of NCNN.Live is of province to national which translates into possible seat in parliament’s National Assembly and the National Council of Provinces (NCOP) which has largely been criticised to be functioning like a “post-office” in rubber-stamping legislation and sadly perceived to be a place where political careers fade-away.

Indications are that there could also be another list in circulation purporting names of those to be installed in the provincial legislature and with a chance of being appointed into the executive council as MECs.

It remains to be seen as to whether the nomination process will end up in a court battle or even end up festering itself as a reflection of a spillover effect of contestations into the outcome of the party’s provincial conference of last year. For now, Ngxanga stated that it all “at the discretion of the ANC branches.”

Source: Northern Cape News Network

An assault case against former EFF Provincial Chief Whip resumes

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By BAKANG MOKOTO

An assault and crimen injuria case against Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) former provincial Chief Whip and the Member of Provincial Legislature (MPL), Bunga Ntshangane will resume at the Mmabatho Magistrate’s Court today.

Ntshangane allegedly assaulted the EFF junior female staffer, Maggie Klaas onNovember 9 last year.

The two had a heated exchange at the party’s offices at the North West Provincial Legislature.

Klaas was the first state witness to be cross-examined, telling the court that she was humiliated by the accused in front of her colleagues.

“I felt humiliated after Ntshangane said he will cut-off my clitoris. He also grabbed me by my neck and assaulted me. I suffered injuries on my shoulder and knee after he pinned me to the ground.

“No post-traumatic counselling has been offered to me and I continue to work in the same hostile environment. I was charged for misconduct for speaking-out publicly and the perpetrator has not been charged or placed under provisional suspension. I was also charged for not greeting my aggressor,” she said.

Klaas said the misconduct charge was subsequently withdrawn against her.

She said she has received many threats from the EFF management too.

“I would like to see justice prevails and proper decisions being taken against Ntshangane. I am now frustrated and I do not feel safe anymore. Every single day I get calls from EFF Human Resources Management threatening me. They said if I do not withdraw an assault case against Ntshagane, they will keep on suspending me.

It is also alleged that Ntshangane offered Klaas R4 000 to withdraw the case.

The African National Congress Women’s League (ANCWL) in Bokone Bophirima said the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) must ‘walk the talk’ especially when it comes to Gender-based Violence (GBV) matters.

ANCWL provincial secretary, Bridgette Tlhomelang said: “We urge EFF to deal with its own trash and ensure that the matter is dealt with fairly. We also urge the judiciary to speed up the process.

“We will continue to show support to Klaas, despite our political differences. Gender-based Violence is real and we call on all women who are abused to speak-out,” Tlhomelang said.

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Banyana Banyana into the top 50 in the world

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Football - 2018 Cosafa Womens Championship - Final - Cameroon v South Africa - Wolfson Stadium - Port Elizabeth

Following their success in the 2018 COSAFA Women’s Championship held recently, Sasol-sponsored Banyana Banyana have moved into the top 50 of the FIFA World Rankings released today (Friday, 28 September 2018).

South Africa has also moved one notch up on the continent – from 5th place to 4th– swooping places with Equatorial Guinea. The top three are Nigeria, Ghana and Cameroon.

The good news come as Banyana Banyana are going into camp on Monday, 1 October 2018 to start preparations for the upcoming two friendly matches against Chile.

This will be the first ever meeting between the two nations.

“We have been very consistent in our performance this year, and got our best ever position at the Cyprus Women’s Cup earlier this year. Now we will be playing Chile who have qualified for the World Cup – this is another phase of our preparation which is geared for the Africa Cup of Nations in Ghana later this year. The two matches against Chile will test us in all aspects, more so because they recently played the USA, but on the other hand will prepare us well,” said Banyana Banyana head coach Desiree Ellis.

In the first fixture scheduled for Saturday, 6 October 2018, South Africa and Chile will face off at Estadio Sausalito in Vina del Mar, with an 18h30 local time kickoff (23h30 South African time) – SOUTH AFRICA IS FIVE HOURS AHEAD OF CHILE.

The second match will take place in the capital Santiago on Tuesday, 9 October at Estadio Santa Laura.

Kickoff is at 17h00 local time in Chile (22h00 South African time).

The matches are part of preparations for the Africa Cup of Nations tournament scheduled for November in Ghana. The competition will serve as qualifiers for the 2019 FIFA Women’s World Cup qualifiers to be played in France in June.

The squad departs for Chile on Tuesday, 2 October and return to South Africa on Thursday, 11 October.

 

Top 10 in the latest FIFA Women’s rankings:

  1. USA
  2. Germany
  3. England
  4. France
  5. Canada
  6. Australia
  7. Japan
  8. Brazil
  9. Sweden
  10. Netherlands

*** 50. South Africa ***

 

Top 10 in latest CAF/Africa rankings:

  1. Nigeria
  2. Ghana
  3. Cameroon
  4. South Africa
  5. Equatorial Guinea
  6. Ivory Coast
  7. Morocco
  8. Algeria
  9. Senegal
  10. Mali

*** The next rankings release will be published on Friday, 7 December 2018 ***

Source: http://www.safa.net

Don’t share #Dros rape video: government

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Cape Town – Government has cautioned the public to remain calm and refrain from taking the law into their own hands after the rape of a 7-year-old girl at a Dros restaurant in Pretoria.

On Thursday night, the South African government tweeted an appeal for the public to refrain from circulating a graphic video purportedly showing the child’s alleged attacker being violently confronted at the restaurant. The bleeding man can be heard protesting his innocence and insisting that he was just using the toilet.
The government went on to say that it was outraged by the incident and that sharing the video was insensitive to the child and could impact negatively on the prosecution of her attacker.
The incident, which has shocked people across South Africa, took place in the men’s toilet of the Dros restaurant in Silverton last Saturday.
Earlier on Thursday, members of #NotInMyName SA campaign visited the restaurant and vowed to shut it down if management failed to deliver on promises made to the victim’s family, which included covering medical costs for the little girl.

Source: http://www.iol.co.za

Masike: ‘Youth empowerment is essential’  

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Picture: North West MEC of Health, Dr Magome Masike

By BAKANG MOKOTO

A radical approach towards skill development was emphasised during the two day Provincial Skills Development Lekgotla in Rustenburg. The event was organised by the North West Provincial government.

The event was organised by the North West Provincial government.

North West MEC of Health department, Dr Magome Masike said: “The aim is to empower the youth and deepen skills development efforts to respond to the needs of the economy of the province.

“We discussed interrogated and devised strategies to upskill young people with expertise required by the economy of the province. Skills in the province will be developed through business incubation.”

Masike said effective approach integrated with the opportunities of the fourth Industrial Revolution and the Community Skills Development Centres will be prioritised. He further said these are some of the resolutions taken during the Lekgotla.

“The event was held under the theme: “The fourth industrial revolution and the opportunities for developing skills of the future in the province.” The Lekgotla was held to deepen skills development efforts and respond to the needs of the economy of the province.

“Skills Development Lekgotla will help the province to catch up with the 4th industrial revolution initiatives,” Masike said.

He added that some industries are already experiencing things such as artificial intelligence, robotics, quantum computing and so forth. Masike said this should radically change the approach to skills development.

“As a province, we need to have a four sided plan for this radical change, because the 4th industrial revolution will not only affect private sector, but all of us. The Lekgotla also created a platform for discussions on skills development initiatives which will contribute to the successful implementation of the National Development Plan (NDP).

“Presentations on different skills development efforts were made and probed. Amongst some of the resolutions taken was to analyse the skills needs toward effectively channelling prior learning into current training programmes,” he said.

Masike said the provincial skills gap analysis to be executed in line with an employment needs analysis. He said this will incorporate resistance to change- inclusivity, collaboration, organised labour, private sector, government, rural community skills development initiatives which create exposure to all Industrial Revolution opportunities.

“Since parts of South have not adequately taken hold of the 3rd IR thus cannot effectively do so with the 4th IR. Office of the Premier must champion the programme for recognition for prior learning.

“Private companies should encourage sharing bursaries and training programmes with both provincial government and local government to form part of the skills development,” Masike said.

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