Table of contents for 2021-09-17 in DFA News

Sandi Kwon Hoo CHIEF REPORTER STAFF members at Phokwane Local Municipality are concerned that they may not receive their salaries this month after Frances Baard District Municipality recalled the acting municipal manager, Kealeboga Gaborone. Gaborone had applied for the position of municipal manager, but Zithuele Nikani was appointed on September 13. However, according to a court order obtained by the EFF last week, Nikani has been interdicted from executing his duties as municipal manager. The court ordered that the acting municipal manager (Gaborone) be reinstated. Municipal employees pointed out that, in terms of the court order, Gaborone was the only official with the authority to sign off payrolls, which closed on September 15. Staff members also stated that Gaborone was still occupying her office at Phokwane Municipality. “Some councillors confiscated…

Sandi Kwon Hoo CHIEF REPORTER A NORTHERN Cape teenager, Dino Jacobs, 19, who was convicted of raping a 15-year-old girl, as well as the attempted rape of a woman, was sentenced to 26 years’ imprisonment by the Postmasburg Regional Court on Tuesday. Northern Cape police spokesperson Captain Sergio Kock said the first incident took place on March 6, 2019, when the 15-year-old girl was accosted by Jacobs while she was on her way to Shoprite from Postdene. “He threatened her with a knife and demanded money. He forced her into an abandoned house where he raped her,” said Kock. He added that three days later, on March 9, 2019, Jacobs accosted a 26-year-old woman in the veld near Postmasburg High School. “He threatened her with a knife and demanded that…

Loyiso Sidimba staff writer MUNICIPAL workers who scored a 3.5% salary increase that could rise to 4.5% in 2023 have been warned that while it has been backdated to July the wage hike may not be reflected this month. The SA Local Government Association (Salga) signed a three-year salary and wage agreement with the SA Municipal Workers’ Union (Samwu) and the Independent Municipal and Allied Trade Union (Imatu), following lengthy negotiations that started in March. Salga, which is the employer body representing the country’s 257 municipalities, and the two unions agreed on an across-the-board increase of 3.5% backdated to July 1 this year as well as once-off cash payments, which will be R4 000 for employees earning R12 500 and below and R3 000 for those paid R12 501 and…

Daily Voice writer THE MATRIC exams, which were initially scheduled to start on November 1, will now commence on October 27 with the papers, English (Home Language, First Additional Language and Second Additional Language) P1, and Business Studies P1 written on 27 and 28 October respectively. The department said the decision was taken on Wednesday after the Council of Education Ministers held a meeting, following a series of consultations with the key stakeholders in the Basic Education sector. “The purpose of the consultation sessions was to deliberate on what would be the most appropriate option regarding a change to the timetable, given that there are five weeks away from the commencement of the examination,” they said. “There are 207 question papers to be written over 25 days (5 weeks),…

Sandi Kwon Hoo c hief reporter A LOCAL fruit and veg store, A-Z Distributors, in Barkly Road was issued with a directive to remove a makeshift structure and fence that has been erected around its business after it relocated from across the road. It is believed that the business was only awarded a street vendor’s licence, while Sol Plaatje Municipality had instructed for the removal of all structures erected on municipal-owned land last month. Local residents have complained about increased traffic in front of their homes, while other land applicants, who were interested in purchasing the land, are disgruntled that A-Z Distributors was given preference to occupy the land, which measures roughly 3 000 square metres. According to the grievances, the complainants are also unhappy that the business has been…

Mike Greenaway In Durban The Springbok forward pack is “hurting” and will attack the Wallabies harder than ever in tomorrow’s return match between the teams at the Suncorp Stadium in Brisbane (9am SA time kick-off). That is the word from loosehead prop Trevor Nyakane, who has replaced Steven Kitshoff in one of just two changes to the starting line-up that narrowly lost 28-26 to the Australians last Sunday. The significant change is in the second row where Lood de Jager suffered a concussion last week and is replaced by Marvin Orie. The Springbok scrum had mixed fortunes against the Wallabies in that a fairly dominant display was bookmarked by two implosions at vital times. A minute before half-time, the Wallabies had a scrum in front of the South African posts…

Stuart Hess A MAJOR part of the groundwork for many national teams’ challenge at the T20 World Cup will be laid over the next few weeks when the Indian Premier League, following a four-month Covid-induced hiatus, resumes. Cricket’s most lucrative competition had started in India in April but, after a month of play, with some teams having players test positive for Covid-19 and with India in the midst of a devastating wave, the tournament was suspended in the first week of May. Financial demands meant it had to be completed this year and with India still in the grips of a Covid crisis, and the logistical problems created by bio-secure bubbles, the tournament was moved to the United Arab Emirates. The International Cricket Council piggy-backed on that, and moved the…

Benida Phillips staff reporter THE DANGERS of underage drinking, alcohol abuse and teenage pregnancy were highlighted during a collective awareness campaign by the Postmasburg police, the Northern Cape Liquor Board, the Northern Cape Gambling Board, Families South Africa (Famsa) and the local Community Policing Forum (CPF). Northern Cape police spokesperson Colonel Mashay Gamieldien said the campaign in Postmasburg was being held as part of Sobriety Week. “The multidisciplinary team conducted door-to-door visits in the Mountain View and Carnation Informal settlement on September 15 to create awareness around alcohol abuse and underage drinking. The team was joined by the chief executive officer (CEO) of the Northern Cape Liquor Board, Thandi Modebela, who distributed pamphlets and interacted with the residents,” said Gamieldien. She said the campaign will end this week. “Sobriety Week…

The Conversation PAUL HUNTER AFTER over 18 months of this pandemic, with the social distancing, mask wearing and on-off lockdowns, what we all want to know more than anything else is when it will all be over and how it will end. While nothing is certain, we have a lot of evidence on which to build some realistic expectations about how the pandemic will progress over the next year or so. Covid-19 may not be the first time a coronavirus has caused a dreadful global pandemic. It’s been hypothesised that the “Russian flu”, which emerged in 1889, wasn’t actually influenza, but was caused by another coronavirus, OC43. The Russian flu pandemic caused four or five waves of disease over the following five years, after which it seemed to disappear. In…

IT ALWAYS seemed that Kimberley’s summer days were hotter when I was a youngster than they are now, and that the winters were colder. I remember walking across a tarred road from school and feeling the sun heat up the upper leather of my shoes, while the hot tar scorched my soles from beneath. Oh, and if you dared stand still long enough and dug your heel into the road, you could actually dig into the sticky, molten tar. But besides the extremes in temperature, there were other things that were different. Like sitting under a cool grapevine on a scorching day gorging yourself on grapes right off the vine. Grapes have never been sweeter. Peaches picked straight off the tree are still far superior to any of the fruit…

INORDINATELY long toilet breaks or medical time-outs at critical moments could soon be a thing of the past in men’s tennis with the ATP Tour planning to impose stricter rules, a source at the men’s governing body said. The practice has long been a bugbear of players, most recently at the US Open where Stefanos Tsitsipas (pictured) was accused of gamesmanship by Andy Murray for taking a lengthy trip to the bathroom at a critical point in their first-round match. The Greek world number three, who won the match, denied the charge and said he had broken no rules as there were no time limits on bathroom breaks. “There will be a change to the rules for bathroom breaks and on-court medical time-outs as well,” an ATP source said. “I…

Matthew Marcus In Cape Town MANCHESTER United and Cristiano Ronaldo’s honeymoon is over already. It was all moonlight and roses when the former darling of Old Trafford returned on transfer deadline day. You know what they say, if you let something go and it comes back to you, it was yours all along. And Red Devils fans were gushing like a man with the prettiest wife at home. They couldn’t wait to see him and brag how great he is and they had to wait until Saturday against Newcastle for them to finally consummate their reunion. And it was fireworks and everyone felt the earthquake as Ronaldo scored twice on his second debut. Oh it was magical – orgasmic even. But then some young guy, or rather Young Boys, ruined…

Mayibongwe Maqhina staff writer Political Bureau AS ASPIRANT councillors look to secure a seat in the upcoming elections, Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs Minister Nkosazana Dlamini Zuma has issued a warning to those who turn “rogue” when they are elected. Dlamini Zuma warned that councillors who violated the code of conduct faced being removed from office for two years. She said this in response to written questions from Freedom Front Plus MP Michal Groenewald, who asked about the steps Dlamini Zuma’s department had taken to address the negative impact of widespread political infighting at local government level, on service delivery to local communities. In her response, the minister said political and administrative levels in municipalities should work together to improve on service delivery. “Instability at any of the levels has…

Banele Ginindza staff writer BUSINESS REPORT AS THE HAGGLING between Eskom, its insurers and the Department of Labour goes on in the background over damages to Medupi's unit 4 generator, the power utility is considering transplanting the unit 6 generator from Kusile to Medupi and then ordering a new one from France to replace the Kusile one. The Medupi generator was damaged by an explosion in August, which led it to suspend several of its employees. Kusile is not due to be commissioned until 2023. Sources, who did not want to be named, said on Wednesday the move by Eskom was feasible, but would come at a heavy cost as unit 6 had already been installed and the transplant would be a difficult one. This as Eskom claimed the cost…

Sandi Kwon Hoo chief reporter PARENTS are strongly objecting to the proposal to close down the senior phase of Zingisa Intermediate School in Kimberley, which they believe is being done without consultation. One of the parents, Mthuthuzeli Matshoba, stated that letters were sent out last week informing them that the senior phase would be closed down in 2022. “The letter implies that the Department of Education has already taken a decision. The department failed to provide adequate reasons as to why the senior phase will be closed. We want to know what the motive is and how the vacant classrooms will be utilised,” Matshoba said. “Parents were not adequately consulted and we wonder if the trade unions were informed.” He pointed out that if the decision was final, then parents…

Kailene Pillay staff writer WHILE President Cyril Ramaphosa has positioned himself as an anti-corruption leader, a recent survey found that South Africans perceived corruption as increasing during his tenure – even in the Office of the Presidency itself. The survey found that most citizens were dissatisfied with the way the government handled its fight against corruption, suggesting that the national anti-corruption strategy and other efforts to strengthen independent oversight have not yet had their desired impact. Despite an emphasis on anti-corruption efforts focusing on the Presidency, more than half (53%) of South Africans believe that “most” or “all” officials in the Presidency were involved in corruption. It also found that a growing number of people feared retaliation if they reported corruption to the authorities. The survey further found there was…

Stuart Hess in Johannesburg The Proteas, under the leadership of stand-in skipper Keshav Maharaj, played some brilliant cricket as they completed a series whitewash over Sri Lanka. Here are five things we learned during the series. Fielding: The improvements seen in the Caribbean, still need to be upgraded, but more importantly is the need for consistency. Mistakes will happen in the field, but what the Proteas need to do is limit them. Back-to-back misfields that turned singles into boundaries as happened at the start of the fifth over in the last match, illustrate bad discipline. Players and coaches have talked of the need to polish up in that area, and the World Cup will be the ultimate testing area to see if that occurs. Kagiso Rabada: Two good performances…

Neville Motlhabakwe and Staff Reporter NORTHERN Cape youngsters keen on the Gentleman’s game can once again look forward to getting back onto the cricket field after being out of action for 18 months, thanks to the coronavirus lockdown, when South Africa’s leading cricket development programme – KFC Mini-Cricket – kicks off again. The season got off to a smashing start with the all-important KFC Mini-Cricket Provincial Seminars where all the volunteers, administrators, and key stakeholders of the programme got together to strategise the new season which has been called “Imvuselelo” or “Recovery”. “KFC Mini-Cricket is critical for us as this is the platform we use to identify our talented youngsters,” explained Buhle Motshegoa, Cricket South Africa’s mass participation manager. “It is where we source our skilled future players that…

Mihlali Baleka in Johannesburg Banyana Banyana appear ready to set the Aisha Buhari Cup alight after coach Desiree Ellis’s side was bolstered with the arrival of internationally based players in camp ahead of their opening game against Ghana tomorrow in Nigeria. It’s been almost two years since Ellis assembled a full strength squad, given that 2020 was disrupted by the outbreak of Covid-19. Since then Ellis and her slightly inexperienced side thrived in different competitions. They defended their Cosafa Cup in Gqeberha late last year, while they opened the year with back-to-back wins over Zambia and Botswana at home. But the Buhari Cup will be a different kettle of fish for Ellis and her charges. Banyana are participating in the tournament as guests. They’ll use the games to prepare for…