Table of contents for 2021-08-27 in DFA News

Sandi Kwon Hoo chief reporter A DA COUNCILLOR has explained that a raunchy video of a naked woman that he had accidentally posted on the Sol Plaatje Municipality service delivery group was nothing more than an honest mistake. The video was viewed by members of various political parties and councillors. The councillor was instructed to remove the video from the WhatsApp group as it was considered to be “distasteful, disgraceful and degrading” towards women. DA activists staged a picket in Florianville yesterday to protest against gender-based violence and in outrage at the disrespect displayed to women. “The incident that took place during Women’s Month is being swept under the carpet, where written complaints that were lodged by women in the party were brushed aside. The leadership has not taken any…

Boipelo Mere staff reporter RESIDENTS in Kaapstad Weg in Beaconsfield have threatened to erect shacks next to an illegal church that has been operating since August 2020. The Spirit of Faith Church was reportedly granted permission to use the plot only for its crusade period of two weeks. The church, however, previously indicated that it had a standing arrangement with the municipality. The Sol Plaatje Municipality dismissed the claims and said its arrangement with the church had long expired. Residents said they were disappointed with the municipality after it failed to demolish the church after serving it with an eviction notice. The municipality admitted in a previously published article that the church was stationed in a non-residential area. It also highlighted the fact that the structure was built under high-voltage…

MAX VERSTAPPEN will seek to exert a degree of home advantage by beating Lewis Hamilton to revive his title bid as Formula One returns from a mid-season summer break at the Belgian Grand Prix on Sunday. The Belgium-born Dutchman saw a comfortable 33-point lead become an eight-point deficit at the British and Hungarian Grands Prix last month before the annual shutdown. He knows he needs to bounce back strongly in the next two races in front of his fervent ‘orange army’ of fans. After the controversies of Silverstone and Budapest, the 23-year-old Hasselt-born Red Bull driver also needs an uneventful contest to regain consistency following opening lap collisions in his last two outings. “I am excited to go back to Spa,” he said. “It’s my favourite track and it’s really…

matthew Marcus in Cape Town IT’S FLY or die for coach Hugo Broos and his inexperienced Bafana Bafana. The Belgian has assembled a young squad for the upcoming World Cup qualifiers against Zimbabwe and Ghana. And while he has stayed true to his word about building a young team, I can’t help but get the feeling that he missed a few tricks. Having watched our national soccer team at the Cosafa Cup and the Olympics, Broos has put his faith in players from both these groups. But after some mixed results, Broos seems to be sticking to his guns when they haven’t served him well. Olympic goalkeeper Ronwen Williams struggled for consistency in Tokyo. Maybe not all the blame for Bafana’s defence can be placed at his door, but there…

Staff Reporter FREELANCE journalist and former national spokesperson of the SA Federation of Trade Unions (Saftu) Douglas Mthukwane has indicated that he has approached the Commission for Conciliation, Mediation and Arbitration (CCMA) to enforce an arbitration award that was issued in February. Mthukwane was appointed by Saftu on October 1, 2019 and was dismissed in January 2020 after the trade federation discovered an “alarming pattern” of rape allegations – dating back to 2016, 2018 and 2019 – and an attempted rape conviction in 1995 while conducting a background check on Mthukwane. A case involving the alleged rape of a 14-year-old girl was provisionally withdrawn in the Kimberley Magistrate’s Court in 2016. According to the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA), the trial relating to four of the rape charges will be heard…

Benida Phillips staff REPORTER THE NORTHERN Cape Department of Health has again been criticised for the shortage of emergency medical services (EMS) in the Province, this time after an 18-year-old Prieska man, Quintus Jonas, died from a stab wound after having to be taken to hospital in a private vehicle because the local ambulance was apparently unavailable. According to the deceased’s aunt, Annie Kock, even a phone call by a local police member requesting an ambulance to be sent to the scene was in vain. “We are not certain of the details surrounding the stabbing incident because we were not present. I was busy watching television when some children who were playing in the street shouted at me that Quintus had been stabbed. I immediately rushed outside. His mother is…

This Griqua team revels in the fire and brimstone of fierce competition Morgan Bolton IN THE not-so-distant past of last season Griquas failed to win a single Currie Cup match, and yet now, in the immediate future of tomorrow, the Kimberley-based side will be playing in their last regular season encounter against the New Nation Pumas in their hometown to secure a semi-final berth in the Carling Black Label Currie Cup (kick-off 2.30pm). That’s quite a turnaround, and perhaps speaks to the positive impact that only constant participation in highly competitive matches can bring about. This constant participation has, no doubt, forged a team culture that is revelling in the fire and brimstone of fierce competition, finally bringing to fruition all the hard work that the coaching staff and players…

Matthew Marcus in Cape Town SO PROTEAS coach Mark Boucher gave the most sorry attempt at an apology for calling former teammate Paul Adams "brown sh!t" this week. After threatening to take the matter of Adams' testimony at Cricket South Africa's Social Justice and Nation-building hearings to court, Boucher said sorry. But not before blaming everyone else for his racist actions and accusing everyone at the hearings of lying. Boucher said he and his teammates were naive when they singled out Adams. And that would have been good enough for me. A simple “I'm sorry. It was hurtful and I know better now” would have been short and sweet. And he could have gone further and said that in his Proteas team, he would make sure that no one ever…

Boipelo Mere staff reporter THE SAPS management in the Northern Cape has welcomed the sentence that was handed down to a rape accused by the Mothibistad Regional Court recently. Thabo Phahamang, 35, was sentenced to life imprisonment for severely assaulting and raping a 35-year-old woman in Kagung village. Northern Cape police spokesperson Captain Sergio Kock said that, on November 10, 2018, at about 1am, Phahamang broke into the house of the female victim, where he strangled and severely assaulted her. “He threatened her with a knife, forcefully took her to his house and raped her several times.” Phahamang was arrested on November 22, 2018 and sentenced on August 19, 2021 as follows: Count 1: Rape – 5 years Count 2: Rape – 5 years Count 3 : Rape – Life imprisonment…

Lance Fredericks MY SCHOOL years were traumatic because I would get hooked on the small details. Here’s why that was a problem; far too many of my teachers would, more often than not, when cleaning the chalkboard, leave one corner, one spot of the board not properly cleaned. I would then be so focused on that uncleaned spot that I would miss what the teacher was saying. Even when watching a movie, I would focus on the wrong details. I would, for example, memorise number plates thinking to myself, “that information could be relevant later on.” It never was, and when speaking about the movie to friends they would ask if I noticed certain plots or sub-plots. I would say yes, but I was lying. However, I knew that the…

Neville Motlhabakwe Sports Reporter NORTHERN Cape Cricket (NCC) seems to have unearthed another gem. An Under-16 top order batsman, Ontlametse Kesiamang (pictured), has impressed coaches at the Union enough for him to be recommended to attend a national Under-17 camp at the Pretoria High Performance centre this weekend. Incidentally, this is the second time this year that the youngster has been selected for a national camp by the provincial cricket body. NCC Cricket services manager Shaheed Alexander said Kesiamang was nominated to attend a Talent Acceleration Programme (TAP) camp hosted by Cricket South Africa (CSA) in May. “Kesiamang impressed the high performances coaches with his skill set and talent at the (TAP) camp,” said Alexander. “He has subsequently been identified to attend a national Under-17 camp from August 27-29…

DEFENDING champion Naomi Osaka is seeking her third US Open title in four tries as the year’s final Grand Slam begins Monday with top-ranked Wimbledon winner Ashleigh Barty leading a host of rivals. What’s uncertain is whether New York will see Osaka rediscover the dominant form that saw her win the past two Grand Slam events she played to the finish. The 23-year-old Japanese star lit the flame in the Olympic cauldron at the Tokyo Games, but has played only two matches since Japan ahead of the Open. “I know there are a lot of things I need to fix within my game, so in a weird way I’m kind of glad that I lost, because there are so many things that I want to fix before New York,” Osaka…