Table of contents for 2021-07-23 in DFA News

Sandi Kwon Hoo SAPS members from Roodepan, Kimberley and Modderrivier conducted a roadblock on the N12 at Modderrivier yesterday. Northern Cape police spokesperson Sergeant Dikeledi Gopane said the operation started with a formal parade that was addressed by the Frances Baard district commissioner, Major-General Johan Bean, who encouraged motorists to obey the rules of the road and to also comply with Covid-19 regulations. “Members executed crime-prevention duties in Ritchie, where three vehicle checkpoints were held in the area. Various vehicle patrols were also conducted, where five traffic fines were issued, 214 vehicles were stopped and searched, 317 persons searched and 320 safety tips pamphlets were distributed to motorists,” Gopane said.…

Boipelo Mere staff reporter THE TLHABOLOGO Disabled Day Care Centre at the Helen Joseph Women’s Centre in Galeshewe has suffered a huge setback following a burglary last weekend. The centre was “cleaned out”, with almost everything, including food and essential items, stolen during the incident. The centre manager, Maureen Tsiu, said they were contacted on Monday morning by the caretaker, who told them about the burglary, after which they opened a case with the police. The burglars gained entry to the premises through the side palisade fence, which they forced apart, and they then broke open the back door. There might not be any food for the children, blankets to keep them warm or materials with which to teach them when they return on Monday, July 26. The fridge, stoves, pots…

Boipelo Mere STAFF REPORTER MANY Kimberley residents were ecstatic to experience 20 minutes of snowflakes yesterday morning. Kimberley and surrounds were part of several areas in the Northern Cape where snow started falling just after 8.30am yesterday. The weather forecast had warned earlier this week of a severe cold front moving over the Province. The South African Weather Service issued a warning of snow and cold weather over the Western Cape, Northern Cape and Gauteng. For many Kimberley residents, yesterday was their first experience of snow. Greenpoint was reported to have been the area that experienced the longest period of snowflakes falling yesterday. The snow started falling just after 8am and lasted until around 9.30am. The residents, however, did not seem to show the same amount of excitement as their…

Sandi Kwon Hoo chief reporter THE SANDF will remain deployed in the Northern Cape to monitor and control any acts of lawlessness, following countrywide incidents of riots and looting last week. Members of the military were visible at shopping malls in the city this week. The head of communication at the Department of Defence, Siphiwe Dlamini, said the SANDF had deployed sufficient numbers of soldiers across all affected areas, including the Northern Cape Province, to assist the SAPS. "The SANDF troop deployment is based on operational analysis and requirements, as received from the SAPS as the leading authority under 'Operation Prosper'," said Dlamini. He said that members of the SANDF offered support to the police and did not have the mandate to execute arrests. "However, they may do so where…

Matthew Marcus in Cape Town TEAM SA’s search for gold at the Tokyo Olympic Games started with the soccer team losing 1-0 to hosts Japan yesterday. Coach David Notoane’s Covid-hit side looked low on energy throughout the match and played on the back foot in the Tokyo National Stadium. AmaGlugGlug, however, were disciplined enough to frustrate a free-flowing Japan side, with 20-year-old Real Madrid players Takefusa Kubo and Daichi Hayashi keeping SA’s Tercious Mapele-marshalled defence on their toes. It was goalkeeper Ronwen Williams who was SA’s busiest player, making two point-blank saves before Kubo fired in a left-foot strike with 20 minutes to go. Luther Singh had SA’s best chance from virtually the penalty spot, but fired straight at the keeper. SA now face bottom Group A side France on Sunday…

Sandi Kwon Hoo CHIEF REPORTER NEW HOUSING beneficiaries have been allocated plots in the yards of ghost shanties in Lethabo Park, Roodepan after community members discovered that the erfs had allegedly been allocated to girlfriends and family members of state officials. Community leader David Kok said yesterday that they would be repossessing 174 vacant shanties. "We have already found new places for 48 community members and will find placement for the remaining 126,” said Kok. “The community initially wanted to demolish the shacks as they were being turned into criminal dens where drugs and stolen goods were stored. Instead of breaking down the structures, we decided to allocate the plots to registered beneficiaries whose names appear on the housing list. The criteria used was that they had to live in…

Sandi Kwon Hoo chief reporter A 46-YEAR-old city shop owner, Mohammad Alamgir, is fighting for his life in the intensive care unit after he was stabbed and robbed of two cellphones. Community members said yesterday that the incident took place on Tuesday, at about 9.15pm, as he was leaving his shop in Galeshewe. "He was attacked in the street and was stabbed in the head, where he lost a lot of blood. He was admitted to hospital where he is in a critical condition." They added that community members had identified a possible suspect but that no arrests could be made until a formal charge was opened. "A preliminary case was opened at Kagisho police station on his behalf, as he is still at Robert Mangaliso Sobukwe Hospital." Police spokesperson…

Sandi Kwon Hoo chief reporter TWO SUSPECTS were arrested after they were found in possession of drugs in Bankhara location near Kuruman during a joint intelligence-driven operation that was conducted by the Kuruman Highway Patrol, K9 and Crime Intelligence units. Northern Cape police spokesperson Lieutenant-Colonel Dimakatso Sello said yesterday that the team had followed up on information regarding alleged drug dealing and two houses were searched on July 21. “At the first house,117 mandrax tablets and cash to the value of R920 were confiscated. A 32-year-old male was arrested for possession and dealing in drugs,” said Sello. Sello added that a 35-year-old woman was arrested at the second house after the police found 16 quarters of mandrax sealed in foil as well as dagga weighing 1.2 kilograms. “She is expected to…

Dudley Carstens in Cape Town BRITISH and Irish Lions coach Warren Gatland says the Springboks won’t go to Cape Town Stadium to play “a huge amount of rugby” against his boys. Instead, he expects Springbok scrumhalf Faf de Klerk and his teammates to play a territorial game and try to kick his Lions into the ground in the first of three Tests in the Mother City tomorrow at 6pm. Gatland says: “We’ll expect that aerial battle and how strong that is going to be, the physicality they’ll bring with their runners off nine. “We don’t think they’ll play a huge amount of rugby, they’ll play for territory. So we’ve got to be strong in those areas and be prepared to stay in that arm wrestle and then wait for the…

Reuters TOKYO Olympics organisers have fired the opening ceremony director on the eve of the event after reports emerged of a past joke he had made about the Holocaust. Earlier this year, the head of the Tokyo 2020 organising committee resigned after making sexist remarks, and the Tokyo Olympics creative head followed after he made derogatory comments about a popular Japanese female entertainer. Tokyo Games organisers fired Kentaro Kobayashi yesterday over a joke he made about the Holocaust as part of a comedy act in the 1990s that recently resurfaced in domestic media. In a video clip of his 1998 act, Kobayashi was seen joking about a game he called “let’s play massacre the Jews”, prompting laughter in the audience. The Simon Wiesenthal Center, an international Jewish human rights organisation,…

Se-Anne Rall STAFF WRITER ACCORDING to the South African Weather Services (SAWS), last night was the coldest night of the year. SAWS said some places recorded freezing temperatures. The weather service warned yesterday of widespread frost across the interior of the country today in Gauteng, the Mpumalanga highveld, the Free State, North West and Northern Cape. On Monday, SAWS warned of bitterly cold weather in parts of the SA. "The cold temperatures will be due to a succession of cold fronts that are expected to sweep across the southern half of the country," SAWS said. A second, more intense cold front supported by an upper-air trough blew in through the Cape on Wednesday, consolidating very cold, wet and windy conditions over the majority of the Western and Eastern Cape interior…

THE DEATH toll from last week's unrest and looting in parts of the country has risen to 337, the government said yesterday. Acting Minister in the Presidency Khumbudzo Ntshavheni provided an updated media briefing on the police's investigation into the unrest which affected Gauteng and KwaZulu-Natal. The minister said the latest death toll of 337 comprised 258 deaths in KZN and 79 in Gauteng. The police are investigating 42 cases of murder in Gauteng and 37 inquest dockets have been opened. In KwaZulu-Natal, 171 cases of murder have been opened and 87 inquests filed. On reports that there are unclaimed bodies at the KZN Phoenix mortuary, the minister said that this was still under investigation. She said the government had condemned, and would continue to condemn, the violence that had…

The Conversation Richard Calland and Mabel Dzinouya Sithole THE CORONAVIRUS pandemic has placed the leadership of presidents and prime ministers across the world under the most unforgiving spotlight. It has exposed underlying weaknesses and revealed hidden strengths. An extreme crisis like this provides the most searching examination of a political leader – a very acute form of accountability. Such a crisis can make or break a leader. South Africa is a country that faces a crisis of leadership. Against a backdrop of a former president being jailed for contempt of court for failing to appear before a commission of inquiry probing state capture and corruption, public trust has unsurprisingly declined. This has come through in research, including studies by the Human Sciences Research Council (HSRC). This implies that there is a…

Wesley Diphoko TRANSNET issued a statement yesterday that the national transport operator is experiencing technical problems related to a cyberattack. Although some of the operations are not affected, at the time of writing the Transnet website was down. Transnet released a statement via Twitter indicating that the national operator is experiencing disruptions. This comes days after South Africa has been experiencing unrests and during a time when the country is experiencing public transport unrest due to taxi violence. This also comes at a time when the country's freight industry has just experienced a major disruption. According to media reports the impact has been disastrous. A simple calculation of capital losses (assets and cargoes at an average of R5-million per vehicle) of the 40 trucks destroyed to date amounts to…

Staff Reporter After a narrow win over Western Province in Cape Town two weeks ago, the Tafel Lager Griquas showed that they are not messing around in this year’s Currie Cup when they ran up a 31-41 win over the Sigma Lions at their Emirates Airline Park fortress. Griqua winger Eduan Keyter was red hot on the day, crossing the whitewash four times. Griqua flyhalf George Whitehead had a few hiccups at the start of the game missing a couple of attempts at goal but in the end, managed to slot five conversions and two penalties. At the end of the game, the Lions were two men down after a red card dished out to EW Viljoen shortly after the break, and a yellow card for Duncan Matthews in the…