BY KEDIBONE MOLAETSI

A 61-year-old woman was sentenced to life imprisonment after poisoning her her boyfriend. Patricia Nombuyiselo Maponya appeared in Klerksdorp Magistrate’s Court last week.

She murder poisoned her Namibian boyfriend, Andreas Elago Haikwuy, 42.

North West police said Maponya hid Haikwuy’s his body inside the garage.

The accused was arrested after her neighbour blew the whistle. Maponya requested the neighbour to help her remove something from her house.

The victim’s body was found inside the garage when the police searched the accused’s house. The incident occurred in July 2015 in Kanana near Klerksdorp.

The North West Provincial Commissioner, General Baile Motswenyane lauded all role players involved in securing the convictions. She said that they will definitely send message that those who commit crime will be dealt with harshly.

-TDN

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BY KEDIBONE MOLAETSI

A 43-YEAR-OLD man was incarcerated for life imprisonment by Taung Magistrate’s Court on Monday after raping an eight-year-old minor. The accused who was the victim’s stepfather, raped her after her mother went to the shop.

The police said the incident occurred in April 2012 at Motsweding village near Taung.

The victim told her mother that the accused started raping her back in 2010.

-TDN

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BY REGINALD KANYANE

MEC for local government and human settlements and finance, economy and enterprise development departments, Fenny Gaolaolwe and Wendy Nelson respectively will have a two-day joint session with mayors, municipal managers, members of mayoral committees (MMC) of finance and local economic development and chief financial officers to engage on local government and financial management matters in the province.

Local government and human settlements department spokesperson, Ben Bole said: “The session will starts on May 26-2. We will also look into the provincial government priorities for 2016/2017 and municipal financial performance for 2016-17.”

The event will be held at Christiana Hotel at 8am.

-TDN

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BY KEDIBONE MOLAETSI

A 25-YEAR-OLD Nigerian man was arrested at Motata Hostels in Ipelegeng Location in Schweizer-Reneke on Wednesday. He was arrested for allegedly dealing with drugs.

Pudimoe cluster police spokesperson, Sergeant Tebogo Thebe said Amalia police in conjunction with Vryburg K9 pounced on a suspect after receiving a tip-off.

“Police have been after the suspect for some time. We have received information from our mole. The suspect was found with a drug which is known as “Cat”, small cuttings in 33 bags with an estimated street value of R3300 as well as an amount of cash.

“Seventeen cellphones were allegedly confiscated with R5310 cash. VISPOL commander at Ipelegeng Police Station, Capt Mothibi commended the police for their swift arrest,” Thebe said.

Mothibi said he is relieved that they finally managed to arrest the suspect. He said the suspect arrest will go a long way in plummeting crime within his police station precinct.

In a separate incident, a 50 year old female was also nabbed for dealing in dagga. It is alleged that police found dagga with an estimated street value of R550.

The dagga was allegedly found hidden at her place of residence. Thebe said police acted on information on both cases and search warrants were used to search the suspects’ premises.

-TDN

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BY REGINALD KANYANE

North Cape Transport Department will host Provincial Road Safety Summit on Friday. Two hundred youth will attend the event.

MEC for Transport, Safety and Liaison Pauline Williams said the summit is a partnership between the National Department of Transport and the Province.

She said they want to take bold steps to reduce road carnage.

“The carnage affects mostly the youth of this country. The theme is #BEINGSAFEISCOOL. The summit comes as a result of the 2015 Road Safety Summit held in Cape Town. It is a strategic intervention aimed at combating road carnage.

“The aim of the upcoming youth engagements is to have the youth organised and robustly participating as an integral part of the Road Safety programmes. The department serves to complement the existing efforts in place to curb road carnage,” she said.

Williams said the summit will give a voice to young people and award them an opportunity to contribute to a shift in attitudes and behaviour towards road safety among their peers.

“Forty young people will join the National Youth Road Safety Summit in June which will be led by Minister Dipuo Peters and her Deputy Minister, Sindisiwe Chikunga,” she said.

The Provincial Youth Road Safety Summit Welcome Gala will be held at

Horse Shoe Hotel in Kimberley at 7pm.

-TDN

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BY REGINALD KANYANE

A 41-year –old man was arrested after he was allegedly found in possession of copper wires on his farm just 50 Km outside Kimberley. Northern Cape police spokesperson, Lieutenant Olebogeng Tawana said the suspect was arrested on Tuesday.

“Police received a tip-off that the farm owner stored a suspected stolen copper on his farm. During investigation on the farm, we found six bags with copper weighing 197 kilograms  estimated to the street value of R13 000 hidden in the store room.

“The suspect is facing a charge of possession of stolen property. He appeared in Kimberley Magistrate’s Court today,” he said.

-TDN

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BY REGINALD KANYANE

HUNDRED and thirty eight athletes from North West province will contest in the 91^st edition of the Comrades Marathon on Sunday. The episode will be hosted in Kwazulu-Natal.

Education and sport development department MEC, Sello Lehari said 2015 comrade marathon winner, Gift Kelehe will also be part of the occurrence.

Lehari said they hope Kelehe will defend his title.

According to Lehari, the high participation of athletes from the North West province is a thrilling sensation. He said: “We want to encourage and motivate our athletes from the province to perform well. They will be representing the province and they must hold the province’s flag high.

“This can be achieved through excellent performance. We also provided sustainable mass opportunities across the age spectrum to promote physically active lifestyles.”

Lehari also commended all institutions with good infrastructure. He said they have increased participation and excellence in sport.

The send-off ceremony for the provincial athletes will be held at Klerksdorp Recreation Centre on Thursday at 4pm.

-TDN

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BY REGINALD KANYANE

MADIBENG- THE water and sanitation department said it will complete its task to restore water in all affected areas across Madibeng.

Water and sanitation department spokesperson, Katlego Mokaila said this came up following a rapid intervention aimed at making sure that water resources are available to all communities.

“The Brits Water Treatment Works is currently being extended to deliver water resources from 20 Millitres (ML) to 80 ML/day. Work on the Raw Water Pump Station and a new delivery pipeline costing R126 million is in progress.

“An amount of R20m has been approved through the Municipal Water Infrastructure Grant (MWIG) for refurbishment of boreholes in Maboloka. An amount of R4. 5m will also be spent in Letlhabile to fix boreholes and pipe leakages as part of the Water Conservation and Water Demand Management (WDWCM),” she said.

Mokaila further added that Majakaneng Phase 2 DWS is engaged with communities to proceed with work to install water infrastructures in the area.

“The Jericho Project 1 is now delivering water to approximately 70% of the community, whilst operations and maintenance of the Brits Water Treatment Plant continues to deliver water at maximum capacity.

“Approval has been granted by DWS Director-General (DG) for the completion of the refurbishment of 13 pump stations. Generally, water restrictions have been implemented and awareness campaigns are being conducted through local radio stations,” she said.

-TDN

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EDUCATION and sport development MEC, Sello Lehari has applauded North West-based Platinum Stars for their illustrious performance on ABSA Premier Soccer League this past season.
Dikwena, as Platinum Stars Football Club is affectionately known, came out third, above giants like Kaizer Chiefs and Orlando Pirates.
The club held an awards ceremony for its players at Royal Marang Hotel near Rustenburg on Sunday.
“Platinum Stars is the only team from the North West province that is playing in the Premier Soccer League. We need to commend them for finishing in top 3 with 47 points. They will now be representing South Africa at the forthcoming edition of the CAF Confederation Cup next season.
“As Bokone Bophirima provincial government, we are thrilled. We also want to pledge our support for the team. They represented the province well and we highly-appreciate that. They have found their niche in the football fraternity and they are well-respected,” Lehari said.
He added: “We are behind Dikwena and want to wish them well in the next season. The success of the team will benefit our sport development. We also want to see more football players from the province being nurtured and form part of the team.
“Bokone Bophirima has abundance of talents and we have proved that in the past. We are the province with a force to be reckoned. We also urge people in Bokone Bophirima to support Dikwena as Platinum Stars affectionately known,” Lehari said.
The MEC pointed out that the team will tour the province with the suppot of government to mobilise support. Individual players will also be invited to different schools to give motivational talks to, pupils.
“The players will motivate and encourage our learners about healthy lifestyle. It is very imperative for our people to know the importance of exercising. We also encourage our young children to participate in various sporting code,” Lehari said.
Club chairperson, Cliff Ramoroa assured all and sundry that this team belonged to the Bokone Bophirima province.
“On behalf of the team, I want to assure everyone that this team belongs to the province. We are very grateful of the unwavering support. The team will continue to represents the province and we believe that together we can achieve our obligation,” Ramoroa said.
Platinum Stars striker, Ndumiso Mabena stole the show and collected four awards.  He won Player of the Season, Players’ Player of the Season, Star of the Season and the Crystal Boot for finishing as the club’s top scorer with 10 goals.
He said: “I am very humbled to receive these four awards. I am speechless as I did not expect so many awards. The only award I was sure about was the golden  boot. The other three have been voted for by the players. I would like to thank God who gave us power, wisdom and strength throughout the season.”

-TDN

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MORE than 100 disadvantaged pupils from Treasure Trove primary school in Barkerville outside Lichtenburg will benefit a newly kitchen. The Green Kitchen was donated by Old Mutual organization.
The principal at the school, Dorah Batsi welcomed the donation. She said the kitchen will come in handy.
“Good nutrition and successful education go hand in hand. Some of our learners travel long distances to school without food. This affects them to concentrate in class and eventually their education is affected. Spending hours at school without food is almost impossible to concentrate on their lessons. We are very grateful for this donation. It will make the needed difference in the lives of our pupils,” Batsi said.
Provincial General Manager from the donor, Robertson Themba said they were committed to contribute positively to communities. He said they have also invested in a greater future for South Africa.
“The Green Kitchens project addresses South Africa’s pressing need for food security and improved child nutrition and education.  Fully equipped and self-contained kitchen units at under-resourced schools will ensure that disadvantaged pupils have at least one hot meal a day.
“Education is a key focus area for us. We are also committed to R350 million over seven years to improve Mathematics and Physical Science subjects. We also want to uplift underperforming schools. The company also wants to improve school management and teaching capabilities,” he said.
“We are also frequent donor of some initiatives like planting trees, donated school shoes to the needy and sponsored name boards. That helps to build the schools identity and pride. We have also donated laptops, modems and projectors to improve efficiencies and the quality of teaching delivered to pupils,” Themba said.
He further added that other schools like Mahube and Bothibello primary schools from Klerksdorp and Rustenburg respectively also benefited from the project.  -TDN

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