Tabla de contenidos para 2023-01-13 en DFA News

THE OLD DFA building in Woodley Street will be turned into an artisan and skills and development training centre in partnership with the Sol Plaatje Municipality to ultimately create jobs for electricians, plumbers, mechanical fitters and turners and millwrights. According to council, various applications were received for the lease of the first floor of the building that is vacant and is in a “poor condition and in need of general maintenance and repairs”. The ground floor is currently being utilised as an office and storeroom for the municipality’s refuse removal workers. The cleansing staff will be relocated to the City Hall. In 2020, council decided to use the building as an emergency call centre. However, funding was availed from the national skills fund under the Department of Higher Education and…

THE SOL Plaatje Municipality has warned the residents of Kimberley about dropping water levels at Newton reservoir and a highlift pump that continues tripping at the Riverton water purification plant. Spokesperson for the municipality, Thoko Riet, said another highlift pump was repaired on January 10, after its electrical panel exploded. She said that water levels started decreasing on January 8. “An investigation was conducted and it was discovered that one of the highlift pumps was tripping at the Riverton water purification plant. The setting on the pump was continuously tripping when the water level at the reservoir reaches 50 percent. This was not supposed to happen. Each time the pump trips, we experienced a downtime of two hours which has resulted in water levels dropping at the Newton reservoir.” Riet…

TSEKE Nkadimeng, a 45-year-old South African businessman and entrepreneur who serves as the Save Soil Ambassador, has taken it upon himself to mobilise public support for a change in direction that would benefit our society and future generations. Together with the international Save Soil Movement, Tseke and his support staff are trekking an incredible 10,000 kilometres throughout South Africa over eight months in an effort to educate his countrymen about the compromised soil health of the country. Starting from his hometown, Dullstroom in Mpumalanga, Tseke passed through Barberton, Nongoma, Durban, Bloemfontein, East London, Middleburg, Cape Town the Karoo and is then heading to Polokwane, Johannesburg and finally Pretoria. Tseke recently completed a 37-kilometre hike, starting from Barkly West. He met with the DFA and provided a rundown of how his…

THE STORMERS will never shy away from using their maul as a weapon, says Rito Hlungwani, but they need to improve their execution in Sunday’s Champions Cup clash against London Irish (3pm SA time kick-off). Despite losing just three games (Cardiff, Clermont and Glasgow) and drawing one (Ospreys) out of 13 this season, the Stormers have come under pressure following last week’s 24-17 United Rugby Championship defeat to the Warriors in Scotland. That perhaps comes with the territory of being the champions of the United Rugby Championship, with the weight of expectation immense in a success-starved rugby city. But it was more the manner of going down to Glasgow at Scotstoun Stadium than the result itself that would have disappointed coach John Dobson and his team, as the Capetonians made…

HERE are the 10 top contenders for the men's and women’s titles at the Australian Open, which starts on Monday. TOP FIVE - MEN NOVAK DJOKOVIC The former world number one is looking to match Rafa Nadal's record of 22 Grand Slam titles and returns to Australia hoping to make headlines on the court following his deportation last year over his Covid vaccine stance. Djokovic overcame a hamstring issue and saved a championship point in Adelaide to win the final and maintain his unbeaten streak in Australia, which now stands at 33 matches since his last loss in the fourth round of the 2018 Australian Open. The 35-year-old is seeking a record-extending 10th title in Melbourne. RAFA NADAL Nadal is looking to defend his hard-earned 2022 crown and is the…

IRATE residents barricaded the intersection on the corner of Church and Recreation roads in Floors with burning tyres yesterday due to service delivery grievances. Residents threatened to shut down the entire Floors area next week if their issues were not attended to. They stated that they were fed up with the potholes, leaking water pipes, unkempt surroundings, illegal dumping and sewage issues. Residents complained that the lives of patients who were dependent on oxygen were at risk due to the six-and-a-half-hour electricity cuts that were implemented twice a day when Stage 6 load shedding was introduced this week. “Patients are unable to cook during load shedding and they cannot take their medication on an empty stomach. One diabetic resident fell into a coma as she was not able to eat…

Now, on to business; to test if the brains are ready for 2023, here’s a riddle I just made up (so it probably won’t make sense). See if you can guess this one. What blows and sucks at the same time? Don’t know? Well, here’s a clue ... this item was patented on this very day 169 years ago by a Philadelphia-based inventor named Anthony Foss. Note, for the record, that I said “patented”, not “invented”. Still not sure? Well, if I said Nico Carstens or “polka” you’d probably guess it. Yes, on this day, Friday, January 13, 1854, Mr Foss secured the patent for the instrument. I also read an interesting fact related to this bit of trivia, according to my research, it has been suggested that having patented…

A 52-YEAR-old Rosedale tuck shop owner was arrested for possession of stolen property after copper cables, copper taps, fittings and pipes with an estimated value of R25 000 were found on his premises earlier this week. The arrest was made by Upington Border Police members who reacted to information received about a tuck shop that was allegedly buying stolen goods in Rosedale. Northern Cape police spokesperson Sergeant Omphile Masegela said the police members visited the shop and upon further investigation came across the items. “Different types of electrical tools, including grinders, drills and extension cords with an estimated value of R20 000 were also found at the tuck shop,” said Masegela. “All items were seized and the suspect is expected to appear in court soon.”…

PAARL Royals skipper David Miller feels that playing for the first time at home will certainly help his team after their opening defeat to MI Cape Town at Newlands. The Royals are set to open their account at Boland Park today as they host the Joburg Super Kings. “I think being at home will be nice. It is a big ground where there will be a lot of twos and a lot of running, and we need to be clever about the way we approach our innings,” Miller said. “The wicket is always nice, and it’s mostly slower than the other ones, but it’s consistent. I believe we’ve got all the departments covered and now it’s just about going out there and entertaining our fans at home, who I know…

KESHAV Maharaj believes there were sufficient "positives" despite Durban's Super Giants going down by 16 runs to the Joburg Super Kings in their BetwaySA20 opener at Kingsmead. The Super Giants controlled the first half with ball and bat, but let the game slip towards the backend of both innings that allowed the Super Kings to claim the honours. The plan of utilising their strong spin contingent certainly reaped dividends at the outset with Maharaj and Prenalyn Subrayen playing a pivotal role in reducing the Super Kings to 27/4. However, the visitors recovered through a breakout 82 from Donovan Ferreira. The Super Kings "finisher" received solid support from captain Faf du Plessis (39) and Romario Shepherd (40) to set up the visitors’ 190/6. "Donovan obviously played exceptionally well. There were a…

SOL PLAATJE Municipality will have to fork out an estimated R5 million to cover damages incurred due to the flooding of houses when the Tlhageng dam overflowed, as the insurance claim has been rejected. Houses were damaged in ward 7 and ward 17 following heavy rains during 2008/09. Guardrisk, the appointed insurance brokers, declined the claim as it indicated that the incident claimed for was not a new occurrence in the Vergenoeg area. “There were prior incidents relating to the same merits which the insured was made aware of in 2013 and there are similar claims made against the insured for the same cause of damage.” The brokers added that the municipality had made “no effort to mitigate the loss and or effect of the damage to their infrastructure”. “As…

TO RAISE awareness of cystic fibrosis and money for the Skema 2 Sea project's star, local 15-year-old Shiloh Grewar, a group of eight cyclists from Hartswater have decided to bike from Hartswater in the Northern Cape all the way to Cape Agulhas in the Western Cape. Over a nine-day period, they will cover a distance of 1 240 kilometres. So what is cystic fibrosis? Cystic fibrosis (CF) is a hereditary disease that causes serious injury to the lungs, digestive system and other body organs. It affects and harms the cells that create mucus, sweat and digestive secretions. The body then secretes a very thick, sticky mucus. The mucus significantly impacts the pancreas, lungs and other organs. CF currently has no known treatment. William White, who founded Skema 2 Sea in…

CENTENARIAN World War II veteran Oupa William Peter van Wyk is enjoying his newly-built house in St Simons Street, Colville, that was handed over on December 16. The house was dilapidated and had to be demolished and rebuilt after the South African Defence Force (SANDF) managed to raise funds to do so. Van Wyk stated that he was extremely grateful and was very happy in his new home. Van Wyk was initially not recognised as a WWII veteran as he was a member of the Cape Coloured Corps. According to the SANDF, Van Wyk, who was born in Beaconsfield, Kimberley, on June 9, 1922, is the oldest WWII veteran in the country and the last who served in the South African Cape Coloured Corps ex-servicemen’s legion. He was enlisted in…

MICHAEL Andretti labelled Formula One team owners as "greedy" and said them putting their self interest ahead of the sport was the reason for the tepid reaction to his bid to bring an all-American team to the series. Formula One owners have expressed indifference to the announcement last week that Andretti Global and General Motors brand Cadillac were joining forces in a bid to become the sport's 11th team. Andretti, who has been doggedly pursuing an F1 team for several years, hit back this week in an interview with Forbes, putting the lukewarm reception down to greed. "It’s all about money," Andretti told Forbes. "First, they think they are going to get diluted one-tenth of their prize money, but they also get very greedy thinking we will take all the…

MAMELODI Sundowns coach Rhulani Mokwena says he’s not the best coach in the top flight, but he’s the most hard-working individual you’ll find. After failing in his maiden head coaching role at Orlando Pirates, Mokwena returned to the top late last year when he was appointed Downs’ sole custodian. Mokwena has won five league games on the trot since taking over as Sundowns claimed 10 successive wins. They extended their lead on top of the standings to 13 points clear of second-placed SuperSport United who they will meet on Monday. Mokwena, who is still wet behind the ears in his head coaching duties, isn’t taking sole credit for their form, lauding the contribution of the entire team. “I don’t like talking about myself, I really don’t. It’s one of the…