By OBAKENG MAJE

The residents of Dryharts village in Taung welcomed the re-opening of Molehabangwe as a Primary School. The school was shut down a few years ago as part of the urgent need for redress in rural schooling.

One of residents, Maki Modisapudi (34) said the opening of the school will make sure that children access education at their doorsteps. Modisapudi further said learners are travelling a long distance to Molemoeng Primary School.

“Our village is growing faster and that makes human settlements drift towards Vryburg whereas the only primary school is in the opposite direction. We then approached the Baga-Phuduhucwana Tribal Authority chief, Kgosi Tshepo Mankuroane for intervention.

“We are happy that our plea has been answered. The additional primary school will promote the culture of teaching and learning. Our children are also wildly enthusiastic to have a school in their backyard,” she said.

Another resident, Pauline Setlhapo said they believe that learners will capture what they are taught effectively and efficiently. Setlhapo said even though the school is not ‘larger and better resourced’, it will contribute to the development and poverty alleviation in their area.

Few years ago, the Basic Education Department adopted a rationalization and redeployment policy to address the inequalities in education created by apartheid. There were an excess of educators in historically advantaged schools and a shortage of teachers in historically disadvantaged schools.

Meanwhile, North West Education spokesperson, Elias Malindi said: “Mankurone met with the Dryharts community after they requested him to assist them for the resuscitation of Molehabangwe as a Primary School.

“The reasons were that the community is growing faster since the establishment of the new settlement towards Vryburg. Learners are now traveling a distance to Molemoeng Primary. Mankuroane wrote a letter to the Director of Education at the district and we sent a team to research.

“Indeed, there was a need for the re-opening of the school and the district sent the report to our head office for the registration process after the permission was granted.  The school has 306 learners and 10 educators currently,” Malindi said. 

He added that the department has appointed an acting principal and recruitment processes are underway. Malindi further said the department spent almost R400 000 for the refurbishment of the school.

“The school is registered and will receive its allocation in the ensuing financial year on 1 April 2021,” said Malindi.

The Democratic Alliance (DA) Constituency Head in the Greater Taung Local Municipality and Member of Parliament (MP), Sello Seitlholo said the re-opening of the school is a victory for the community of Dryharts. 

“DA in the Greater Taung submitted a petition in parliament calling for the re-opening of Molehabangwe Middle School as a Primary school in 2019 after we were approached by the community leaders for assistance.

“The concerns were raised about the dilapidating building and the prospect of it being used as a criminal hub. In February 2020, the North West Department of Education presented a report during the Basic Education Portfolio Committee meeting acceding to the call by the DA to indeed re-open the school in 2021 academic year.

“Although the school is experiencing some administrative and budget relates challenges, we are hopeful that these will be dealt with as time goes on,” he said.

taungdailynews@gmail.com

By OBAKENG MAJE

North West province has incurred R3.7 billion and R3.8 billion in irregular expenditure in 2017/18 and 2018/19 financial years respectively. The startling revelation was announced by the chairperson of the Ad Hoc Committee on the Section 100 Intervention, China Dodovu on Sunday in a statement.

Dodovu said the committee received a briefing from the National Treasury and the Office of the Auditor-General (AG) on the financial position of the province and audit reports since the intervention.

“The committee highlighted that despite the fact that the province incurred R3.7 billion and R3.8 billion in irregular expenditure in 2017/18 and 2018/19 financial years, there is little or no movement in consequence management against those that irregularly awarded contracts outside legislation.

“We are concerned that there is an insignificant movement regarding the consequence management against those that have been identified to have committed financial misconduct in the province,” he said.

He said some of the concerning causes for irregular expenditure are that the Department of Education had issued a tender of R25.4 million that was not evaluated by the evaluation committee and the Department of Public Works and Roads had issued contracts worth R371 million without following proper procurement processes.

“Also, the Office of the Premier had issued a contract worth R19.8 million without a competitive process, and the Department of Health had contracts worth R1.1 billion in which it deviated from competitive processes, and had continued with expired contracts worth R707.8 million.

“Despite the intervention, the committee raised concerns over the continued underspending by the province that impacts directly on the lives of the people of the province. Primarily, the committee is concerned that only R1.5 billion from the R45 billion of the province’s budget is planned for infrastructure development, a major driver of economic development,” said Dodovu.  

He further said, as a result, the committee is concerned that a considerable budget is lost to the National Treasury as a result of underspending. Dodovu added that the province lost conditional grants allocations for the Department of Education amounting to R125.373 million in 2018/19 and R225.621 million in 2019/20.

“The Human Settlements department also lost grant allocations amounting to R100 million in 2020/21. The stopping of conditional grant allocations reflects poor planning and delivery on projects within the respective departments.

“Furthermore, the committee highlighted concerns that even the Department of Agriculture is underspending on its conditional grants, in a province that depends on agriculture as a driver of its economic activity. The committee has called on the intervention team to work towards ensuring prudent and maximal spending of budgeted resources,” said Dodovu.

Meanwhile, the committee has called on the Office of the AG to utilise provisions of the Public Audit Amendment Act to recoup some of the losses incurred in the province. Dodovu said the committee has also considered issuing a certificate of debt for suspected material irregularities found during successive negative audits.

“While the committee acknowledges that since the intervention there has been an appreciated downward trend in irregular expenditure from R3.8 billion to R2.6 billion, it has called for consequence management to discipline those in the wrong and safeguard the resources of the state.

“On Monday, the committee will interact with the National Prosecuting Authority, Special Investigating Unit and the Asset Forfeiture Unit to get an update on the causes of delays in prosecuting alleged wrongdoers,” he said.

taungdailynews@gmail.com

By BAKANG MOKOTO

The beleaguered Lekwa-Temane Local Municipality mayor, Mpho Pilane has succumbed to pressure and resigned. This comes after the Forum 4 Service Delivery (F4DS) at the municipality subsequently submitted the motion of no confidence against him recently.

Pilane (36) was arrested for allegedly raping, abducting, and sexually assaulting two teenage girls from Christiana on 8 December 2020. The National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) regional spokesperson, Henry Mamothame said Pilane appeared at Delareyville Magistrate’s Court on two charges of rape, sexual assault, and two of abduction.

“The two complainants are allegedly minors aged 15 and 16 years. The case was opened in Christiana but transferred to Delareyville where the incident allegedly occurred. Pilane handed himself over to the police where he was charged and later appeared in court.

“The matter was remanded to 22 February 2021 for further investigations and the accused is out on R1000 bail,” he said.

F4SD provincial secretary and the Chief Whip at the municipality, Lenyatso Legabe said: “We welcome the resignation of Pilane as the mayor and Speaker of the municipality. Pilane has fallen on his sword amid calls by us for him to resign pending the court outcome.

“F4SD has subsequently submitted a motion of no confidence against Pilane in case he did not heed our call to resign. F4SD herein reiterates its call for the North West mayors implicated in wrongdoings to voluntarily resign or else F4SD deployees in councils will continuously move to unceremoniously force them to resign.”

Meanwhile, the ANC Interim Provincial Committee (IPC) coordinator, Hlomani Chauke said they welcomed Pilane’s decision. Chauke said Pilane’s decision is in the response to the directive by the IPC for him to relinquish his position as a mayor.

“The IPC took this decision in the aftermath of his court appearance. We reiterate our view that whilst the ANC respects the legal principle of presumption of innocence, the charges that he is facing are of a grave nature and have the potential to harm the image of the ANC.

“We are encouraged by Pilane’s decision and his co-operation in carrying out the instructions of the IPC. The 54^th ANC National Conference enjoined us to strengthen our understanding of our values, ethics and morality and the demands that the people, the constitution, and the rule of law place on us as the guardians of the state, and its resources,” he said.

Chauke further said they recommit themselves to the destruction of patriarchy in all its forms and manifestation. He said they vow to strengthen their fight against the abuse of women and children.

Lydia Duiker was appointed as the new mayor of the municipality. Duiker said she will instill the spirit of unity and working together at the municipality and ensure that services are rendered to communities.

“My plan is to foster unity and working together amongst all role players in our municipality such as all councillors from all parties, administration, labour, and other sector departments.

“We will also work with the private sector in order to realize the objectives as outlined in our strategic document, which is the IDP. We know that the demands are high in the municipality and the resources we have are limited. Therefore, we need to work together to mobilise additional resources and utilise them in a sustainable manner to our intended collective objective,” Duiker said.

taungdailynews@gmail.com

By KEDIBONE MOLAETSI

The ANC Women’s League in the North West said it is ‘concerned’ after the arrest of the Head of Special Commercial Crimes Unit in Mahikeng, Advocate Jeanette Neveling on allegations of shoplifting.

Neveling who is responsible for handling high profile cases including the case of fraud against the former North West MEC, Wendy Nelson was arrested for allegedly stealing grocery items and clothes at a Woolworths store at The Crossing Shopping complex in Mahikeng on Tuesday afternoon.

Now, the ANCWL acting provincial secretary, Bitsa Lenkopane said the charges levelled against the supposed law pigeon has left eyebrows rigidly raised and they wonder if this is not a fool at forty.

“With this development, the league notes that the next court appearance of Nelson is on Monday. We, however, get more worried after the reports of this arrest and release on bail of Neveling, who is also a leading figure of prosecution in Nelson’s case.

“While the league understands a principle of innocent until proven otherwise, Nelson has been made to suffer by the external incidents which are not directly related to her case,” she said.

Lenkopane added that their conviction is that the delay in Nelson’s court case would deny her justice due to Neveling’s arrest. She said the arrest of Neveling creates doubts on the credibility of the NPA including the charges formulated against Nelson.

“The league has always raised a concern on the domination of factional tendencies of interference by some said to be politicians in the province, which leads to the disadvantage of women and the minority like Nelson.

“Our concerns have been witnessed in the mishandling of Nelson and ill-treatment to her prosecution formulated by a person with questionable integrity, leaving us asking if it is really fair or is it not a political influence by common factional tendencies in the province,” said Lenkopane.

She further said the ANCWL members will be in attendance of the next court appearance of Nelson to support her entirely, and expressing their dissatisfaction with how NPA issues are processed.

Meanwhile, the NPA regional spokesperson, Henry Mamothame said: “The NPA confirms that indeed Neveling was arrested and charged for shoplifting. We are currently studying the docket to make a determination on whether the matter warrants prosecution.”

Neveling was granted bail without a court appearance or the next court date.

The embattled Nelson who is out on R20 000 bail, was arrested by the Hawks’ Directorate for Priority Crime Investigation unit for the alleged irregular appointment of a senior official in the province.

taungdailynews@gmail.com

By OBAKENG MAJE

Former Ratlou Local Municipal Manager is expected back in court today. Cassius Sebatane Sejake (45) was arrested by the Hawks’ Serious Corruption Investigation Unit last year for fraud and corruption.

Sejake who was granted a R5000 bail by Atamelang Magistrate’s Court was implicated in tender irregularities.   

The Hawks spokesperson in North West, Tlangelani Rikhotso said Sejake was arrested for alleged failure to follow tender processes in the awarding of tenders of approximately R5.8 million between 2018 and 2019.

“It is alleged that this happened while he was an acting municipal manager. As the accounting officer, the suspect allegedly failed to take reasonable steps to ensure that public procurement processes were followed and observed.

“Service providers were allegedly appointed without a competitive bidding process. Sejake appeared at the Atamelang Magistrate’s Court where he was charged with contravention of Section 173 (fruitless and wasteful expenditure) of the Municipal Finance Management Act,” Rikhotso said.

taungdailynews@gmail.com

By Dr Ndiviwe Mphothulo

On February 7, Health Minister Dr Zweli Mkhize, with a panel of experts, hosted a media briefing to outline new developments in South Africa’s COVID-19 vaccine acquisition and roll out.

The press briefing followed results of a small study that showed that the Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine, of which South Africa had procured one million doses from the Serum Institute of India, may not be highly effective against the stain in South Africa.

Following this press briefing, there was uproar and confusion. It is important to understand scientists do not have advantage of hindsight and there has been a transparent approach by the government in this process. It is important to go back and reflect on the process.

Late last year, South Africa paid a deposit to COVAX facility to secure a vaccine. COVAX facility is a World Health Organization (WHO) coordinated fund that seeks to distribute vaccines globally in a fair manner.

But as South Africa, we did not put our eggs in one basket, so we approached individual vaccine manufacturers. The best option at the time became AstraZeneca (AZ). At the time of procurement of AZ, we were not aware of the existence of the 501Y.V2 variant.

Before the rollout of AZ, our scientists conducted a study on effectiveness of AZ against 501Y.V2 variant and found that AZ it is only 22%  effective against 501Y.2 variant for mild and moderate disease, but we know from previous studies that it is about 90% effective against old variant.

The fact that South Africa conducted its own studies to determine effectiveness of AZ against 501Y.V2 variant should be applauded. 

The South African study did not make findings on effectiveness of AZ against severe illness caused by 501Y.V2 variant, whilst international studies found that AZ is effective against severe disease and hospitalisation by the normal COVID-19 stain.

The plan going forward is to vaccinate 100 000 people with AZ and find out about its effectiveness against severe disease in our circumstances. If it is indeed effective, we continue with it to prevent severe disease. If it’s not effective, we can still continue with it and wait for a “booster dose” in the future.

Companies are currently designing “Booster doses”, that are effective against 501Y.V2 variant. Unfortunately, we are dealing with a dynamic situation and a virus that is trying to outsmart us. We keep on soldering on and trying to outsmart the virus.

We should not despair because although Astra-Zeneca vaccine results are disappointing, there are some positives.

1. It will protect one in four people against variants from the first wave.
2. May protect one in four people from the new variant in second wave.
3. Likely to protect all from severe disease.

It is also important to make the public understand the concept of expiry dates on vaccines. Regulators are not able to certify an expiry date of the vaccine beyond a period of six months as there is no data.

The regulators therefore are guided by reports from health authorities in different countries on how much longer the vaccine remains stable beyond six months, so the expiry date may or may not be extended depending on new information available.

(Note: The views expressed are those of the author and do not reflect the official policy or position of the Taung DailyNews. This article appeared first on the ANC magazine)

Dr Ndiviwe Mphothulo: MBCHB, Diploma in HIV Management (SA), MBL, MPH, PHD Candidate (Public Health). MB CHB (MEDUNSA), MPH (UL, MEDUNSA Campus), Dip HIV Man (SA), MBL (UNISA), PHD Candidate (UKZN)

Member of Board of Directors & Deputy President: Southern African HIV Clinicians Society.

 Member of the Executive Committee and Treasurer: Rural Doctors Association of SA (RuDASA).

ANC, Ward 23, Johannesburg Region Gauteng Province.

By OBAKENG MAJE

North West University (NWU) student, Tebogo Monogo was over the moon after being announced as the winner of the Next Generation of Brave competition recently. The competition was facilitated by Adcock Ingram OTC in partnership with News24.

Monogo who is a second-year pharmacy student and also holds a BSc degree from the NWU, won the Readers’ Choice Award after receiving 2 300 of the total of 10 450 votes. She was mentored by Dr Stephan Steyn, a senior lecturer in pharmacology at the NWU.

“This means a lot to me and it is not only because of the sponsorship I received but also because Adcock Ingram gave all current and aspiring healthcare workers the chance to be celebrated during an extremely difficult and trying year.

“Celebrating our profession and the work we do uplift our spirits and make it worthwhile for putting ourselves out there. This motivates me and I am looking forward to my professional years,” she said.

The readers’ choice winner was chosen by the most reader’s votes, while the judges’ choice winner was selected anonymously by the panel of judges. Meanwhile, the PhD candidate Veneshley Samuels from the University of Cape Town won the Judges’ Choice Award.

This programme aims to assist healthcare students financially, to provide them with mentorship from academia and industry, and subsequently promote their career development within the healthcare sector. With so many inspirational featured stories of brave young students and professionals in the healthcare industry, it came down to the readers’ and judges’ votes to pick the winners.

The two winners each receive a R25 000 scholarship to further their studies. Their mentors will also be walking away with an all-expenses-paid trip to an overseas medical conference of their choice, and the opportunity to pay-it-forward by donating R25 000 to a registered NPO charity of their choice.

*Article adapted from News24

taungdailynews@gmail.com

By BAKANG MOKOTO

It’s all systems go for 1583 schools across the province to welcome their learners and resume learning and teaching for the 2021 calendar. North West MEC for Education, Wendy Matsemela said all schools are prepared to receive learners with screeners readily available as well as masks and sanitizers for hygienic purposes.

“The department has plans in place to recover lost teaching and learning since January. These plans include extra classes, a Dial-a-tutor program, radio lessons as well as special camps taking into consideration COVID-19 protocols to name but a few.

“Since the learning losses vary from school-to-school and class to class, each school will develop the subject recovery plans informed by the provincial subject improvement plans. Textbooks have been ordered and delivered to all schools that made requests,” she said.

Regarding provision of teachers, Matsemela said the province has teachers who filed for retirement due to comorbidities. She further said to mitigate the challenge, they will recruit some of the provinces Funza Lushaka bursars, while temporary teachers will also assist fill the gaps.

“On infrastructure, the province has procured an additional 282 317 desks and chairs for learners and 256 mobile classrooms for 176 schools. These will aid ease classroom congestion and adherence to social distancing among learners.

“To ensure schools do not run out of water, tanker arrangements through municipalities and communities are arranged. On National School Nutrition Program, the province caters for 741 522 learners and food handlers have also re-opened and provisioned for,” said Matsemela.

She added that the monies were deposited in schools in December 2020 for procurement of protective clothing and aprons as well as detergents. Matsemela said special schools and hostel schools are also provisioned for.

“To monitor total compliance, we will visit Mogawane Mochoete Primary School and Kopanelo Secondary School in Ga-Khunwana near Kraaipan on Monday. On Tuesday, we will visit Broedersput Primary School in Vryburg, Temoso Special School and Huhudi Secondary School in Ganyesa,” said Matsemela.

Meanwhile, the Democratic Alliance (DA) MPL in Gauteng, Khume Ramulifho said: “It is important to ensure that this academic year is not disrupted while observing all health protocols to save lives. Schools have been proven to be the best place for learners to observe social distancing, wear masks and wash or sanitize hands.

“The DA will inspect whether basic services like water, sanitation, school nutrition, scholar transport, learning materials, school infrastructure and personal protective equipment are all properly arranged before schools are reopened for the 2021 academic year.”

taungdailynews@gmail.com