Table of contents for 2022-09-09 in DFA News

A SUBCONTRACTOR blocked the entrance of a construction site, where accommodation for nurses is being built, due to non-payment for almost a year. Progress on site has been staggered and no work has taken place for several months as subcontractors have not been paid. The subcontractor stated that after Gobeng Construction left the site and Rubicon Construction took over, subcontractors were promised payment on September 2. “I decided to park my car at the entrance this week in an attempt to get them to pay me. They owe me R248 000 just to resume work and we can discuss the remaining balance at a later stage. It has been seven months since the site has been shut down while the last payment was made in September 2021.” He added that…

AN ACCUSED charged with the robbery, kidnapping and murder of the Brand family on their farm near Hartswater in July 2020 claims that a police dog was “deliberately unleashed” on him during his arrest. The accused - Donald Seolesang, 22, Tshepo Visagie, 38, Kgomotso Mpumlwane, 45, and Tshepaone Malato, 21, are standing trial in the Northern Cape High Court. The charges against Realeboga Manyedi, 21, were withdrawn as he will be used as a Section 204 witness. Constable Harold Kock from the SAPS K9 unit in Hartswater testified this week that he received information from Crime Intelligence regarding a suspect in Manyeding village in Kuruman, after Danie, Breggie and Elzabé Brand were reported missing from their home on July 26, 2020. “Four other suspects were arrested the previous day. We…

A DEVASTATED Austin Niewenhuisen is struggling to sleep and eat after his mother and fiancée were killed in front of him when they were hit by a taxi in Barkly Road. His mother, Beverly-Anne Niewenhuisen, 47, and his fiancée, Monique Meintjies, 29, were declared dead on scene after the driver and another person fled. Police spokesperson Sergeant Dikeledi Gopane said the Kimberley police are investigating a culpable homicide case following the accident that happened on Saturday, September 3. Niewenhuisen constantly visits the place where his “two favourite people” died. He also placed an RIP board and candles at the scene. Speaking to the DFA at the scene thei week, he scratched into some blackish soil, and said that it is blood belonging to his fiancée. He pointed to some neatly…

What? The national selectors actually managed to pick a Proteas World Cup squad that everyone agrees with? Huh? Has that ever happened? There has been almost universal approval for the 15 players and three reserves convener of selectors Victor Mpitsang named on Tuesday. Even Wayne Parnell didn’t elicit any squawking. Have South Africans grown up? Are the selectors doing a good job? Or is everyone simply bored and looking forward to the SA20? Mpitsang and his panel put together an excellent squad – one that is balanced, has options, depth, experience, variety and explosiveness. There is youth in the shape of Tristan Stubbs, plenty of older heads like Parnell and David Miller, with sound leadership from Temba Bavuma, Miller, Quinton de Kock, Kagiso Rabada and Keshav Maharaj. It is a…

GRADE R practitioners at Westerkim Primary School in Upington have not received their salaries since January this year. The teachers stated that they signed two-year contracts for 2022 to 2024, although it appeared as if the contracts were not yet approved when they started working at the school at the beginning of the year. “We agreed to continue teaching until our contracts were finalised,” they said. “We approached the director of the ZF Mgcawu District, the school governing body and the principal, in an effort to secure payment of our salaries, but no answers have been forthcoming. Compensation “Nine months later, we are sitting in the same boat. “Another Grade R practitioner was appointed at the school on July 19, also without a formal appointment letter. “We have been…

SAFA Northern Cape on Tuesday re-circulated the rules for the second round of the Nedbank Cup competition which will feature five games this coming weekend at various stadia around the western part of the province. Safa NC administrator Willem Coetzee circulated the competition rules to all teams for them to scrutinise ahead of the second round of matches. The upcoming fixture tomorrow will see Benfica attempt a repeat of their victorious campaign in the first round when they beat Okiep-based club Olympics 2-1 in a Namakwa district derby which was hosted at Matjieskloof Stadium. In the second round Benfica will lock horns with Kakamas Juventus in a 10am encounter at the OKiep Stadium. Whichever of the two teams emerges victorious will contest against Upington’s Tornado FC in the second…

‘I don’t think we have any real weaknesses, but we know we are stronger at some places than others … That’s why we are looking forward to Monza!’ Max Verstappen has an opportunity this weekend to move within comfortable reach of his second drivers’ world title when he leads Red Bull’s bid to defeat Ferrari on home soil at the Italian Grand Prix. Buoyed by a luxurious cushion of 109 points ahead of teammate Sergio Perez and Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc, the runaway leader and defending champion knows another victory could set him up to take the title in Singapore or, more likely, Japan early next month. After the boisterous euphoria of his fourth consecutive win, in front of his ‘orange army’ at Zandvoort last weekend, the 24-year-old Dutchman and his…

A GROUP of bikers, who apparently posed as members of the Diamond Knights Bikers Club in Kimberley, could face legal action after being accused of hijacking the club’s annual charity event, which the club postponed. The group, however, went ahead with event, which took place on August 27. The Rambo Motorcycle Council slammed the group of bikers who claimed that they were part of its affiliate club, the Diamond Knights Bikers in Kimberley, The Rambo Council, the mother body of motorcycle clubs, agreed with the Knights to hold an AGM in order to resolve internal matters that hindered the planned event from taking place. The decision was taken after the club approached Rambo for intervention, as an independent mediator, to resolve an internal dispute between members, which was threatening to…

TRAVELLING is fun. Always has been for me. I enjoy everything about it, from the planning to the return trip and everything in-between. These days, with a navigation app on every smart device, road trips are a different experience by quite a margin. I remember holiday road trips as a youngster; Dad would have his old trusty map book that only came out of the book case when we were about to set off. He’d then sit and plot our journey by tracing the route on the map, then jotting down a list indicating the roads we’d use, the towns we would pass through, the distance between towns and occasionally, which potential gremlins to look out for. It was like a game to us, we’d read the route numbers, note…

FAMILY members, friends and colleagues of Chareen Augustine, née May, 56, believe that the police are dragging their feet in investigating her murder. The police opened a murder docket after her body was found with strangulation marks at her home in Stamford Street on August 20. A family member who discovered her body after her children were unable to reach her, indicated that there were no signs of forced entry at the house. “Augustine’s lungs had burst and the bones in her throat were broken due to the brute force that was exerted during the attack. The suspect even cut off her hair. She was dressed in nothing but her underwear. She was left in the bed and was covered with a blanket while the heater was left burning,” said…

If you were in the room when Selvyn Davids spoke about playing in front of the Cape Town crowd during the Rugby World Cup Sevens this weekend, you would have got a good look at what it means to the players. The Blitzboks will run out in front of a packed home crowd when they go out to chase their first Melrose Cup. Forty teams – 24 men’s and 16 women’s – will compete for the respective trophies over the three-day event. Davids also featured at the 2018 World Cup in San Francisco, but this one will be even more special for the Jeffreys Bay-born scrumhalf. ‘My family is one of the reasons I do this, especially my mother’ Speaking on the eve of the tournament, which will be the…

Griquas to get a taste of international rugby in their pre-season A BIG, mouthwatering international rugby tournament is coming up for the Windhoek Draught Griquas later this month as the Diamond City squad prepares to take part in the second instalment of the ‘Toyota Challenge’ along with the Free State Cheetahs and several youth international teams. A week ago the Toyota Cheetahs management made a big news splash with the announcement of the relaunch of the Toyota Challenge which first saw the light of day in 2021. According to the announcement, the Cheetahs, along with neighbours Griquas, were to head up a five-team, short-term rugby tournament to be played at the rugby stadium in Bloemfontein while the two central region teams are in the off-season. The Free State side announced…

Carlos Alcaraz saved a match point in the fourth set before digging deep in the decider to beat Jannik Sinner in a five-set thriller and reach the US Open semi-finals in the early hours of yesterday in New York. The Spanish teenager collapsed on his back after the match lasting more than five hours concluded at 2.50am, beating the previous record for the latest finish of 2.26am, set in three matches in 1993, 2012 and 2014. The 6-3, 6-7 (7/9), 6-7 (0/7), 7-5, 6-3 win keeps alive Alcaraz’s hopes of winning a maiden Grand Slam title and claiming the world No.1 ranking. “Honestly, I still don’t know how I did it,” Alcaraz said in an on-court interview. “The level that I played, the level of the match, the high quality…