28 August 2025- A man (35) was sentenced to four years imprisonment or ordered to pay a fine of R100 000 by the Kimberley Serious Commercial Crimes Court for contravention of Tax Administration Act 28 of 2011. The accused, Jason Puso Ndluvu committed the offence during the tax period of 2016 and 2017, while assisting Mohayi & Associates Pty Ltd as tax consultant.
The Hawks spokesperson in Northern Cape, Warrant Officer Nomthandazo Mnisi said Ndluvu made a misrepresentation to South African Revenue Service (SARS) by submitting R1.00 Corporate Income Tax Returns (lTR14) for 2016 period and nil Corporate Income Tax return (ITR14) for 2017 period, while doing tax returns. Mnisi said the fraudulent returns submitted by the accused resulted in SARS suffering potential prejudice estimated at R1 400 000.
Meanwhile, the Provincial Head of the Directorate for Priority Crime Investigations Major General Steven Mabuela, congratulated the investigating and prosecution team for their sterling work.
Picture: Reivilo High School principal, Motsamai Mokgara/Facebook
By OBAKENG MAJE
28 August 2025- The North West Department of Education has made a U-turn on its statement over the suspension of the Reivilo High School principal, Motsamai Mokgara. Previously, the department said it had placed Mokgara under precautionary suspension after he allegedly assaulted a Grade 10 learner, Koketso Manyeke (16).
In a letter, Koketso reminisce her ordeal and said the whole incident was sparked by a commotion that ensued between her and other three learners, Gorataone Jonas, Oratile Ntaolang and Kamogelo Keakwa, after they threw leaves of the tree mixed with sand into her face.
“This happened a few minutes before I was about to write my examination. After my examination, I came across one of the learners who threw sand into my face near the library, and then I confronted her.
“I asked her why she threw the sand into my face, and then she said because she wanted to. That made me upset and we fought. However, the principal passed by driving his vehicle and he stopped,” she said.
Koketso further said that Mokgara then took a belt from one of the AAs, and assaulted her. She added that she tried to explain the situation, but Mokgara did not want to listen.
The wretched mother of the affected learner, Galaletsang Manyeke, said she is disappointed by the behaviour of Mokgara. Galaletsang said: “As a parent, I was called by my daughter saying that the principal assaulted her with a belt because she was in a fight with a fellow learner.
“It is disheartening because the principal only assaulted my daughter. I just wonder what discretion he used to find my daughter at fault alone.”
Manyeke said according to information, Mokgara took a belt from one of the AAs and assaulted her daughter.
“Koketso said she was shocked to see how the principal beat her and she was just standing there crying. She said no one intervened, while she was being assaulted with a belt,” said Manyeke.
She said she wondered why Mokgara decided to assault her daughter without summoning her parents to the school or temporarily suspend her, instead of disciplining her in a form of corporal punishment.
However, the North West Department of Education spokesperson, Mphata Molokwane lied and said they are aware that allegations of corporal punishment have been made against the Reivilo High School principal. Molokwane said these allegations have been backed up by written reports.
“These serious claims are currently under disciplinary review and investigation. To protect sensitive information and ensure fairness, all details remain confidential. The principal was placed on precautionary suspension during the inquiry, a step taken to allow the investigation to proceed, not as punishment.
“Once the investigation is complete, the suspension will be lifted, following legal rules to ensure due process and transparency,” he said.
One of our reliable sources informed The Guardian Newspaper that Mokgara was never suspended and was still at the school. Now, Molokwane confessed to The Guardian Newspaper that indeed Mokgara was never suspended.
“Please note that a precautionary suspension is not a disciplinary action. It is implemented when necessary, such as when there are reasonable grounds to believe that investigations may be compromised or interfered with or that evidence may be tampered with in the presence of the individual involved.
“Additionally, any procedures undertaken are strictly based on applicable policies and legislation rather than personal opinions or assumptions. In this regard, the Reivilo HS case was thoroughly investigated and resolved during the school recess period with the participation of the affected parties. Mokgara is not suspended,” he said.
Meanwhile, the statistics show that corporal punishment has a negative impact and can cause both physical and psychological harm and hinder learners’ academic and social development. The report said corporal punishment can lead to anxiety, depression, low self-esteem and even increased aggression, while also disrupting the learning environment and potentially causing learners to drop out.
According to the Statistics SA report in 2023, corporal punishment still is being practiced in schools despite the ban. The Abolishing of Corporal Punishment Act, No. 33 of 1997 banned the use of corporal punishment in schools.
“Despite the ban, corporal punishment is still used as a form of discipline more than 20 years later. Of those that reported experiencing violence at school, the most common form of violence experienced was corporal punishment by teachers.
“This is according to a recently released report by Statistics South Africa called Children Series Volume I Children exposed to maltreatment, 2021. In 2019, just over 1 million out of 13 million school-going children aged 5 – 17 years reported that they had experienced some form of violence.”
The report said of those who experienced violence at school, close to 84% experienced corporal punishment by teachers, followed by verbal abuse by teachers (13,7%) and physical violence by teachers (10,6%). Between 2009 and 2019, the percentage of children who experienced verbal abuse by other learners increased by six percentage points from 18,1% in 2009 to 24,1% in 2019.
Picture: Prof Jan de Kock of North West University’s (NWU) Faculty of Engineering/Supplied
By BAKANG MOKOTO
28 August 2025- The North West University (NWU) said South Africa’s municipalities are rediscovering an old habit: generating their own electricity. The university said in a country long dominated by Eskom, the lumbering state utility, the city of eThekwini has announced an ambitious strategy to reduce its reliance on the national grid by 40% by 2030.
Prof Jan de Kock of North West University’s (NWU) Faculty of Engineering said with Eskom’s ageing infrastructure, crippling debt and load-shedding woes, such moves are inevitable. De Kock said yet this raises new dilemmas about who wins and who pays.
“We want to remind South Africans that this is hardly unprecedented. Municipalities generating their own power is nothing new. Even in Potchefstroom, many years ago, we had our own power station at the site of what is now Snowflake. The pendulum has swung, and now it is swinging back again. The attraction is obvious. For municipalities, generating their own power has distinct advantages for residents.
“It particularly enables the municipality to lock in the cost of electricity, which should not increase by much more than the inflation rate. Eskom’s tariffs, by contrast, have consistently risen far above inflation over the past few years. That stability is a clear benefit to local consumers. But every pendulum swing has consequences. What is good for one city may be costly for others,” he said.
De Kock further said the downside is that Eskom loses a major client. He added that the cost of generation is then divided among the remaining customers.
“This means that electricity prices for those customers will rise, as they are left to pick up the shortfall. So, while local residents benefit, the rest of the country is left worse off.”
This is the crux of the matter. Municipal autonomy may stabilise bills in wealthy metros. Still, it risks creating a patchwork system where residents of Johannesburg or Durban reap cheaper, more stable power, while poorer municipalities, which cannot build their own generating capacity, bear higher costs as Eskom seeks to recover revenue from a shrinking customer base.
“Eskom’s troubles will not vanish simply because cities opt to generate themselves. Indeed, decentralisation could make the utility’s financial headaches worse. Yet the politics are inexorable: municipalities will not sit idle while their lights flicker. The pendulum may have swung back, but whether it stabilises – or simply swings again – remains to be seen,” said de Kock.
Picture: The Chairperson of the Portfolio Committee on COGTA, Dr Zweli Mkhize
By KEDIBONE MOLAETSI
28 August 2025 – A joint oversight delegation comprising the Portfolio Committee on Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs, the Standing Committee on Public Accounts, and the Standing Committee on the Auditor-General will address the challenges of underperforming municipalities in the North West next week.
This follows a similar joint oversight exercise in the Free State, where the delegation engaged with the 23 municipalities in the province. Since then, several interventions have been implemented in some municipalities.
The Chairperson of the Portfolio Committee on COGTA, Dr Zweli Mkhize said from 1 to 3 September 2025, the joint delegation will work with the North West Provincial Legislature (NWPL) to engage with the municipalities in the province. Mkhize said this oversight visit is part of a broader engagement with underperforming municipalities across provinces.
“It comes amid growing concerns over significant challenges in municipal governance and financial management, as highlighted by the Office of the Auditor-General in the municipal audit outcomes for the 2023/24 financial year.
“The audit outcomes show that the municipalities in the North West are burdened by debt, repeatedly tabling unfunded budgets and often fail to investigate billions of rand in irregular expenditure,” he said.
Mkhize further said service delivery has deteriorated in several areas, with some municipalities, such as Ramotshere Moiloa Local Municipality, failing to meet basic infrastructure targets despite allocated budgets. He added that others, including Ditsobotla and Ratlou Local Municipalities, continue to receive disclaimers year after year, while allegations of fraud, political interference and mismanagement affect municipal councils such as Tswaing Local Municipality.
“Over the course of three days, Members of Parliament (MPs) and their provincial counterparts will meet with all 23 municipalities in the province and engage with mayors, speakers of councils, municipal managers, and chief financial officers.
“The provincial government will also brief the delegation, including the North West Premier, Lazarus Mokgosi, North West MEC for Cooperative Governance, Human Settlement and Traditional Affairs (COGHSTA), Oageng Molapisi, and North West MEC for Finance, Kenetswe Mosenogi, who will provide updates on measures taken to support and stabilise municipalities in line with their constitutional responsibilities,” said Mkhize.
He said the oversight visit aims to enforce accountability and consequence management, as well as to require municipalities to explain why billions of rand allocated for water, electricity and other services have been misused or lost. Mkhize said it is also aimed at ensuring that political office bearers and accounting officers are held accountable for persistent failures.
“By piloting this collaborative model of joint oversight, Parliament aims to send a clear message that municipalities cannot continue to disregard the law and neglect communities without consequence, while also ensuring that they are supported through the intergovernmental relations framework to fulfil their constitutional obligations.
“Following North West, the delegation will move to Gauteng to continue oversight of municipalities in that province from 4 to 5 September,” he said.
28 Phatwe 2025- Mong wa lebenkele wa motswakwa kwa motseng wa Longaneng, gaufi le Taung, o solofetswe go tlhagelela kwa kgotlhatshekelo ya Taung mo letsatsing la gompieno. Se, se tla mabapi le ditatofatso tsa go shupa ka sethunya le go thuntsha.
Go begwa fa monna o wa dingwaga di le 43, a latofadiwa ka go tshosetsa Sello Stephen Kokamo (43) ka sethunya le go thuntsa mo moyeng.
Go begwa fa go ile ga tsoga kgakgauthano ya mafoko magareng ga banna ba babedi ba.
28 Phatwe 2025- Sepodisi mono Taung se tlhalositse fa se batlisisa dikgetsi di le pedi. Sepodisi se batlisisa kgetsi ya maiteko a kgothoso o tlhometse le kgetsi ya tshenyo ya dithoto.
Sebueledi sa sepodisi mono Bokone Bophirima, Brigadier Sabata Mokgwabone are tiragalo e, e diragetse kwa motseng wa Maphoitsile, gaufi le Taung, mo bosigong jwa Labobedi. Mokgwabone are banna ba ba neng ba rwele dithiba nko le molomo (balaclavas), ba ile ba kgorogela mong wa lebenkele wa dingwaga di le 29, mme ba thuba motshini wa kgwebo (gambling machine) mme ba tsaya madi a mo teng.
“Ba ile ba fetela kwa lebenkeleng le lengwe la mong wa dingaga di le 40, kwa ba fitlhileng ba thuntsa teng. Fela, ba ile ba tswa ka nngopo e sa fotlhwa. Ga gona ope o tshwerweng go fitlha ga jaana.
“Sepodisi se ikuela go mongwe le mongwe o a ka tswang a na le tshedimosetse mabapi le dikgothoso tse go ka letsetsa seteishene sa sepodisi se se gaufi,” Mokgwabone.
Picture: The Executive mayor of Mahikeng Local Municipality, Tshepiso Mphehlo
By KEDIBONE MOLAETSI
27 August 2025- The Democratic Alliance (DA) in Mahikeng said it will write to the executive mayor of Mahikeng Local Municipality, Tshepiso Mphehlo, to demand clarity on the irregular appointment of four senior managers and the Chief Financial Officer (CFO). The DA said Mphehlo must explain to council how these appointments came about, why there has been a delay in addressing the matter, and what corrective action will follow.
The DA councillor in Mahikeng Local Municipality, Arista Annandale said this follows after a letter from the North West MEC for Cooperative Governance, Human Settlement and Traditional Affairs (COGHSTA), Oageng Molapisi that was written to the municipality on 25 February 2025. Annandale said the letter outlined the irregularities concerning the appointment of the CFO and senior managers for Public Safety, Corporate Services, Socio-Economic Development and Community Services.
“The appointments, made on 30 January 2025, were not properly disclosed to the council. It has now emerged that the interview and screening process contravened the Municipal Systems Act.
“The DA objected to the appointment of Mahole as the Senior Manager for Corporate Services due to allegations of nepotism and fraud which is under investigation by the Hawks, but was led to believe that the other appointments were above board,” she said.
Annandale further said the fact that these managers were appointed irregularly is not surprising, as it is not the first time that appointments are made in this fashion. She added that they previously objected to several acting senior managers, who were appointed for longer than a three-month period without concurrence from Molapisi, as prescribed by the Municipal Systems Act.
“Our requests for any correspondence between the MEC and the municipality regarding the extension of their terms were contemptuously ignored and subsequently no proof that the MEC was aware of their perceived misconduct was ever presented to Council.
“As the municipality seemingly made no attempt towards corrective measures, we implore Molapisi to take further action to ensure that accountability is enforced. The DA will monitor all further developments,” said Annandale.
Meanwhile, the Mahikeng Local Municipality spokesperson, John Nkoane ignored the Guardian Newspaper media inquiry sent to him three days ago.
27 August 2025 – Heartfelt condolences messages continue to pour in after the passing of political journalist and associate editor at EWN, Tshidi Madia (42). In a statement, the Madia’s family said they announce with deep sadness the passing of their daughter and sister, Tshidi Madia.
“Tshidi passed away this morning after a short illness and hospitalisation. She was a respected journalist and loved South Africa deepand devoted her career to telling stories.
“Tshidi brought joy and love to all who knew her and her memory will forever remain in the hearts of her family and friends. The family will share funeral details in due course.”
Meanwhile, the Chairperson of the Portfolio Committee on Communications and Digital Technologies, Khusela Diko said she has noted with profound sadness the passing of Madia. Diko said she was described as one of the most respected voices in South African journalism and a jewel in EWN’s crown.
“She was known to be a consummate professional, who worked tirelessly in pursuit of the truth. Madia was also known for her ability to engage with political figures across the political spectrum, asking tough questions while maintaining a professional and respectful demeanour.
“Her work was guided by a commitment to providing the public with a clear and empathetic understanding of how political events affect their daily lives,” she said.
Diko further said Madia’s passing will leave a void in political journalism. She added that they extend the committee’s deep regret to her family, friends and colleagues.
27 August 2025 – The Portfolio Committee on Social Development said it has noted the termination of the Master Service Agreement (MSA) between the South African Post Office (SAPO) and the South African Social Security Agency (SASSA) at the end of September 2025. The committee said SASSA has informed it that the resources that were allocated to the Postbank for the infrastructure for mobile cash withdrawal services will now be used to roll out its digitisation of its business processes, including the biometric verification of all new grant applications that will commence on 1 September 2025.
The Chairperson of the Committee, Bridget Masango said they have received a briefing from the Minister of Social Development, Sisisi Tolashe, and SASSA today on the termination of the MSA. Masango said Tolashe explained that SASSA entered into a contractual relationship with the SAPO in 2018 after the Constitutional Court ordered the government to terminate the unlawful Cash Paymaster Service (CPS) contract.
“The liquidation of the SAPO in 2023 necessitated the closure of costly cash pay points and over-the-counter services, and the contract was ceded to Postbank.
“In 2019, the South African Reserve Bank limited the Postbank from issuing new bank accounts until it dealt with the replacement of the SASSA gold cards. These were the main elements of the MSA, hence with the withdrawal of these services render the MSA no longer serving its original intent,” she said.
Masango further said Tolashe assured the committee that there will not be any interruptions to the payment of grants as a result of the MSA termination. She added that payments will continue being disbursed through all the banks operating in South Africa, including Post Bank, as it is the current arrangement.
“The main interest of the committee is to ensure that there is no interruption of the payment of grants to the 3 million beneficiaries who bank with Postbank, post the termination of the MSA.
“The committee resolved to conduct an oversight visit to rural communities to assess the impact of the closure of the cash pay points services to grant beneficiaries,” said Masango.
Picture: NCC issues 37 compliance notices to suppliers of foodstuffs
By AGISANANG SCUFF
27 August 2025- The National Consumer Commission (NCC) has issued Compliance Notices to 37 suppliers in Mpumalanga following inspections that revealed multiple contraventions of the Consumer Protection Act 68 of 2008 (CPA). The NCC said these inspections were conducted between February and June 2025 to ascertain compliance with the CPA by suppliers of foodstuffs, in particular.
The NCC acting Commissioner Hardin Ratshisusu said during these inspections, they discovered that some suppliers were selling expired, dented and damaged products. Ratshisusu said this including canned foods, beverages, snacks, jam, sauces, maize meal, peanut butter, and frozen items. Several of these goods lacked ingredient lists, had unclear or missing best-before dates.
“In some instances, consumers were denied refunds or exchanges for unsafe and faulty items. These practices violate consumers’ rights to safe, quality goods as outlined in Section 55(2) of the CPA, as well as the right to return unsafe or defective products under Section 56(2).
“The inspections further uncovered suppliers failing to provide complete sales records. In many cases, receipts were only issued when specifically requested and often omitted mandatory details such as the supplier’s name and CIPC registration number, address, VAT number, product descriptions, quantity, unit price, total cost and applicable taxes,” he said.
Ratshisusu further said this conduct is a direct contravention of Section 26(2–3) of the CPA. Ratshisusu added that inspectors noted widespread failure to display prices on products such as canned foods, maize meal and beverages, leaving consumers unable to make informed purchasing decisions.
“This is a contravention of Section 23(3) of the Act, while the sale of unlabelled or misleadingly labelled goods violates 24(1) and 24(2–3).
“Suppliers have been instructed to immediately remove and destroy all expired and damaged stock, to correctly label all goods in line with the CPA and its regulations, to clearly display prices on or near products offered for sale, and to issue complete and accurate sales records for every transaction,” he said.
Ratshisusu said they are required to comply within 15 business days of receipt of the notices. He said failure to comply will result in referral of the matter to the National Consumer Tribunal, where suppliers may face an administrative fine of up to R1 million or 10% of their annual turnover.
“Together with other regulators, the NCC focused on the Mpumalanga Province as part of efforts to ensure compliance with the CPA during the Consumer Rights awareness period, particularly on food safety.
“Whilst there is general compliance with the CPA, mostly in the formal sector, the NCC identified suppliers that were flouting certain provisions of the CPA, placing consumers at risk,” said Ratshisusu.
He said should affected suppliers fail to comply with these Notices, the NCC will take further appropriate steps.
The Guardian 