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The leadership of Bokone-Bophirima Provincial Government, led by Premier Supra Mahumapelo, will this week hold a two-day EXCO Planning Lekgotla at Taung Hotel School, to assess progress registered in delivering services to the people of the province, and the impact thereof. The EXCO Planning Lekgotla will be held from Wednesday, 15 until Thursday, 16 February 2017.

Under the theme, together we move Bokone-Bophirima forward: Implementing the National Development Plan (NDP) through Rebranding, Repositioning and Renewal (RRR) of Bokone-Bophirima in the context of the five concretes, the 2017 EXCO Planning Lekgotla will be attended by Members of the Executive Council, Executive Mayors and Mayors, Heads of Provincial Departments, Municipal Managers, Chief Financial Officer and Chief Executive Officers of State Owned Entities, amongst others.

Central to this planning lekgotla will be to assess the extent to which government departments and district municipalities have implemented the five concretes and the RRR vision. This platform will also afford the leadership the opportunity to deliberate on the service delivery challenges, interventions and milestones, which include the provision of electricity, water and sanitation, as well as efforts to enhance the province’s ICT and Communication services.

Members of the media wishing to cover the outcome of the EXCO Planning Lekgotla, will be afforded the opportunity to conduct interviews on the second day (Thursday 16) of the EXCO Planning Lekgotla, from 13h00.

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Cape Town – A strong commitment to bilateral relations between the US and South Africa and security matters in Africa were the main focus of the much-hyped telephone call between US President Donald Trump and President Jacob Zuma on Monday afternoon.

In a statement released by Zuma’s office shortly after the call was said to have taken place, the Presidency said the two leaders reaffirmed their commitment to strengthening already strong bilateral relations.

“There are six hundred US companies in South Africa and strong trade relations between the two countries,” the Presidency said.

Zuma also congratulated Trump on his election as the USA’s 45th president.

The two also discussed the need to work together on multilateral issues as well, “especially the quest for peace and stability on the African continent”.

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BY BAKANG MOKOTO 
Road Accident Fund’s mobile office, MobiRAF will visit various communities in the North West province to service car crash victims from Tuesday. RAF spokesperson, Boniswa Matshoba said the aim was to reach out to communities who were located in far-flung areas without RAF offices.

“At the heart of this extensive community outreach is service delivery. We taking the RAF products and services to the doorsteps of the people who need them most. The

MobiRAF will visit Schweizer-Reineke, Christiana, Bloemhof, and Wolmaransstad.

“The RAF-branded vehicle has the capability of consulting with at least 70 to 80 customers at any given time. Devoted RAF personnel will assist car crash victims with the direct registering of new claims, consolidation of required compliance documents, general claims queries, and reporting of alleged cases of misconduct against unscrupulous personal injury attorneys, including touts who defraud unsuspecting claimants,”Matshoba said.

Pretoria Reginal Manager, Dineo Thabede said: “This MobiRAF is an extension of the RAF’s efforts to increase its accessibility to car crash victims in the areas that fall under our mandate, providing them with more opportunities to claim directly from the RAF. Claimants are requested to bring their ID documents to enquire about their claims.

“People claiming for the first time are required to have case numbers, accident reports, vehicle registrations and contact numbers of all parties involved in the motor vehicle accident.”

The event will commence at Public Works Hall in Schweizer Reneke at 8am until 4pm.

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BY KEDIBONE MOLAETSI
MEC for tourism, Desbo Mohono said they will host a District Tourism Lekgotlha at Klondike Lodge in Vryburg on Tuesday. Mohono said the event is a venture to strategically solicit inputs from tourism industry role players. 

“We will meet with product owners within Dr Ruth Segomotsi Mompati district. We will also be able to outline our plans and intentions for the 2017/18 fiscal year. Amongst other things, this Lekgotla will seek to cement relevant public and private partnerships. It will also implement various tourism strategies which will assist in growing the provincial economy through tourism. 
“Product owners are also expected to input on the five concretes in relation to the Tourism industry. It is envisaged that this forum will advise the department on relevant issues to be attended to. This will also assist with creating a conducive environment for coordinated tourism planning and development,” Mohono said.
The event will commence at 8: am

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BY REGINALD KANYANE
A 24 YEAR-OLD man was found hanged in the house at Ditshilong village, near Taung on Saturday morning at around 11:00am. 

North West police spokesperson, Lt Colonel, Pelonomi Makau said: “The deceased was found suspended from the rafter of the house by his grandfather. He alerted the police and a case of inquest was opened at Taung Police Station. The motive of the atrocity is unknown yet.” 

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Thabo Senong, head coach of the Burger King-sponsored South African u20 National Team (Amajita), says the international friendly match against Zambia will give his charges an insight that country in terms of
conditions.
 
Amajita are in Lusaka to take on the host nation on Sunday, 12 February 2017 at Nkoloma Stadium, a match used to prepare for the 2017 CAF U20 African Cup of Nations, which will be held in Zambia.
 
Kickoff is scheduled for 15h00.
 
Senong anticipates a tough clash, but is confident it will be a fruitful exercise.
 
“We are still in our second phase of preparations for the AFCON, which starts soon, and we still have some areas to work on. We are very grateful for the opportunity to play this friendly as it will assist us a lot in building our tactics, along
with ensuring that the players have an idea of some of the conditions they will exposed to,” said Senong.
 
Another key factor the South Africans are focusing on is the fitness – which is always crucial in tournament situations.
 
“We still have about two weeks before the tournament kicks off, and we are working on ensuring that the players are all on the same level of fitness and understanding the game plans we will have for Cameroon, Senegal and Sudan,” added Senong.
 
“The players will have to be very clinical in their set plays, come Sunday afternoon. They will also have to respect the critical times of the game and be able to match the Zambians physically and mentally.”
 
The third phase of preparations will start when Amajita return from Zambia after the clash with Junior Chipolopolo.
 
The South Africans will travel to Polokwane, Limpopo to face Mali in their second international friendly match.

The CAF U20 AFCON takes place in Zambia from 26 February – 12 March 2017taungdailynews@gmail.com

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BY BAKANG MOKOTO
African National Congress in Bokone Bophirima said it was shocked by racial attacks that continue to take place in the province. 

ANC provincial secretary,  Dakota Legoete said the latest incidents took place in Potchefstroom and Ottosdal.

“In Potchefstroom, a white man was caught on video assaulting and hurling insults at two traffic officials who stopped the car he was travelling in for inspection. In the Ottosdal incident, white men attacked and pointed a gun at black six boys and a woman.

“The ANC strongly condemns these two racial attacks and reiterate that this will not be tolerated in our province and our country. As a movement that played a leading role in liberating our people from the slavery of apartheid, we will continue to frown upon that behaviour and any other acts that seek to demean our people,” Legoete said.

He said it was sickening and unfortunate that 22 years since the dawn of democracy, there are still some white people who do not want to embrace the spirit of reconciliation, respect and tolerance for one another. 

Legoete further said it cannot be that it’s only black people who stretch the hand of reconciliation and some think it’s okay to spit on the efforts the majority of South Africans made to reach a peaceful settlement to reunite this beautiful country.

“We urge our law enforcement agencies to speedily arrest the Potchefstroom culprits and prosecute them for their barbaric acts of racism and abuse of officers of the law who were simply performing their duties as expected. 

“We are happy that police have already made arrests in the Ottosdal case and we urge our members and communities to support the victims throughout the court process and ensure justice is served,” he said.

Legoete said people should refrain from acts of racism. He also urge all citizens, regardless of their race group to participate in the provincial government’s Reconciliation, Healing and Renewal programme.

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South African U20 head coach took a break from his AFCON U20 preparations to pay a visit to the ongoing SAB League Skills Camp currently happening at the High Performance Centre in Pretoria. 

A 34-year-old coach holds the SAB League dear to his heart having started his coaching career there with Pimville Youngsters before steadily working his way up the ranks.

Day five of the coaching course will see the coaches receiving a CAF C License course at the end of the 10-day course currently run under the auspices of highly qualified CAF and SAFA instructors. 

Senong shared his knowledge and passion with the aspirant coaches who vary between the ages of 26 and 40.

He also urged them to maintain a positive attitude amidst the challenges facing them at development level.

 “As a former SAB League coach myself, I am aware of the challenges that face coaches at development level. This is why such a programme by SAB is truly remarkable and needs to be applauded. 

“We need more of these programmes to ensure that coaches at amateur level are highly skilled in order to effectively develop our young talent” said Senong.

After graduating from the SAB League, Senong became the youngest coach to qualify for SAFA’s first level 3 Pro License course back in 2011.

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The North West Provincial Government will kick-start a week-long mega Setsokotsane Outreach Programme with special focus on cleaning-up and patching potholes in the capital city of the North West Province, Mahikeng.

Led by the Mahikeng Local Municipality, the provincial Department of Public Works and Roads and Office of the Premier, this joint campaign will start on Friday, 10^thand end on Tuesday, 20^th of February 2017.

Initiated as part of the broader Mahikeng Rebranding, Repositioning and Renewal Programme (MRRRP) and the provincial Social Mobilisation Ten (10) Point Plan, the cleaning campaign will see the provincial government bringing necessary human and technical resources together, this in a bid to maximise impact.

According to Dr Lydia Sebego, the province’s Director General, this initiative is in line with one of the province’s Ten (10) Point Plan campaigns which put emphasis on the need to promote and achieve a sustainable clean and healthy environment that is compliant with policies.

“in support of this campaign, all the provincial departments will on specified days of the week, deploy a reasonable number of officials to participate in this initiative, this as part of demonstrating the provincial government’s Saamtrek-Saamwerk philosophy and the pronounced strategy on share-point services”, explained Dr Sebego, adding that the deployment of government will be in a coordinated manner.

In commencing this campaign, officials from Office of the Premier and department of Culture, Arts and Traditional Affairs will roll-up their sleeves and participate in the cleaning campaign on Friday, 10 February, with other departments scheduled to participate in the coming week, until the end of the campaign.

Members of the media are invited to cover the activities of this week-long joint campaign to clean-up and patching of potholes in the capital city of Mahikeng.

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THE physical and racial assault on two black traffic officers in Potchefstroom has drawn strong condemnation from the public and the provincial government. 

The incident was captured on video and went viral on social media. From the video, it can be seen that two white men did not take kindly to getting pulled over by two traffic officers, a man and a woman. 

It is alleged that after the officers asked the driver to produce a driver’s licence, he refused and that was when the confrontation started. 

One of the culprits is seen punching the male traffic officer and visibly showed that he was ready for a fight.

Mahumapelo said racial attacks have no place in South African society.

“It is unfortunate that there are still white people who do not want to change their racial behaviour. I am disappointed and angered by some people who are still displaying barbaric acts of racism here in our beautiful province.  These two white male Afrikaners who without any provocation decided to beat our traffic officials simply because they are black.

“They must be arrested and pay for their actions. Racism must not be allowed to exist in this country especially in our province. We are not going to allow situations like these to happen under our watch and the law must take its course,” he said.
In the video footage, one of the white occupants of the car taunted and assaulted an officer after being pulled over for inspection. The assaulted cop only picked up his hat and watched as the two men argued with his other colleagues.
Mahumapelo added that another incident of this nature took place in Ottosdal recently. 
“Few white males also took the law into their own hand and assaulted black people in Ottosdal only on the bases that they are black. I am happy that the police have responded swiftly by arrested these people to answer for their heartless actions. 
“We have already spoken to the police to ensure that the two are arrested. We also want to appeal to everyone in the province to participate in the provincial government’s Reconciliation Healing and Renewal (RHR) programme. I want to urge our people from different race to participate in our RHR programme which intend to deal with challenges such as racism,” he said.
North West police spokesperson, Lt Col Pelonomi Makau said: “The case was opened against two suspects. However, no arrest were made because the case was handed over to the Senior Public Prosecutor to assess the charges. The two suspects were charged with cjrimen injuria and assault. 
“Police are still waiting for the suspects statements and the decision will be taken afterwards.”- Newsnote