Table of contents for 2022-08-05 in DFA News

NORTHERN Cape Premier Dr Zamani Saul has promised that all potholes in the Province will be eradicated. Saul was speaking at the launch of the Northern Cape Construction Company this week. The first task for the 50 youths that will be employed on the project will be a pothole resealing and resurfacing project. The beneficiaries will undergo accredited artisanal skills training for one month and will be employed for a period of six months. Saul indicated that the construction company would be managed by the Northern Cape Economic Development Trade and Investment Promotion Agency and would address poverty, inequality and unemployment in the Province through skills development. “It cannot be that the government cannot build its own RDP houses,” said Saul. He stated that an amount of R10 million had…

AN AMERICAN shorthair kitten that was bred by Kimberley resident Wendy Welham won the best kitten category at the South African Cat Council’s Cat of the Year 2022 competition that was held in Randburg on the weekend. The nine-month-old kitten, Kashew Troika, won a floating trophy, a statue of the patron saint of cats, a rosette, cat food and a range of other paraphernalia. Welham also entered another American shorthair named Kashew Turgut, which came seventh in the neutered cat category. A Cornish rex, Kisamee Delfine, that Welham had bred and sold to another owner achieved 13th place in the neutered cat section. Welham said that although Kashew Troika had previously won competitions in Johannesburg, Cape Town and East London, it was difficult to gauge what the level of competition…

A TEAM of Sol Plaatje University (SPU) data science students have been placed among the top 14 percent of data scientists taking part in a global competition to use historical product and customer metadata to develop a personalised customer recommendation system for international fashion group H&M. SPU senior manager of marketing and communication Kashini Maistry said the five students, under the guidance of SPU data science lecturer Nontokozo Mpofu, took part in the competition via Kaggle, a data science platform that challenges data scientists to participate in real-life data science competitions. “The BSc Data Science students Ngonidzashe Tinago, Risima Da Gama, Hiteko Kevin Maluleke, Rejoice Chitengu and Skhumbuso Maleka were all second-year students,” said Maistry. She added that the group competed against 2,952 teams and 3,759 competitors with skill levels…

LOAD SHEDDING is back. However there is one town in the Northern Cape that is close to producing enough electricity to be self-sufficient. At the end of a gravel track outside the 31-year-old town of Orania in the Northern Cape, a diamond mesh gate opens onto hundreds of photovoltaic panels mounted in rows. South Africa is struggling to provide basic services, including electricity, however the small settlement of 2 500 people is the only town close to reaching energy supply autonomy and freeing itself from the failing national power grid. "The solar farm is quite a huge game changer for us. It brings energy sustainability to the town," said Gawie Snyman, who manages the municipality. "Our big dream is to become an energy exporter." After weeks of some of the…

There are some scores to settle and some statements to be made Friday, August 5 Crystal Palace vs Arsenal • Arsenal will be involved in the opening game of a Premier League campaign for the fifth time. They have won thrice but were beaten 2-0 by Brentford in the 2021/22 season-opener. • Four of the last six league matches between the two teams have ended in draws, with Palace and Arsenal winning one each. • Arsenal lost four out of their last six away league matches in the 2021/22 season. Saturday, August 6 Fulham vs Liverpool • Liverpool won six straight Premier League games against Fulham between 2012 and 2019, but were unable to beat them in the 2021/22 season, drawing 1-1 away and losing 1-0 at home. • Liverpool…

SOL PLAATJE Municipality has admitted that some ratepayers have been incorrectly billed for electricity. Residents complained that their electricity bills had skyrocketed since the tariff increases were approved in the budget. Sol Plaatje Municipality spokesperson Thoko Riet said that July was the start of the financial year, where the approved tariffs to raise revenue for operations for 2022/23 came into effect as from July 1. Tariffs for rates and services - including water, sanitation and refuse - increased by four percent while electricity increased by 4.5 percent. Riet indicated that this was below the National Energy Regulator of South Africa’s set guideline of a 7.47 percent increase. “It has been discovered that there has been a system glitch that caused erroneous billing of rates for July in certain property categories.…

THE CASE of a 23-year-old man who is accused of murdering his three-year-old stepson was postponed to October 4 by the Petrusville District Court. Lawak Lorenzo Henzel is accused of stabbing his young stepson to death following an argument with the child’s mother. National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) provincial spokesperson Mojalefa Senokoatsane said the incident occurred on July 25, 2022. “On that day, the accused, who is the stepfather of the victim, is alleged to have argued with the toddler's mother, who was his former girlfriend. The toddler's mother went to the suspect’s house to collect her clothes and he refused her entry into the house. The mother walked away and the accused refused to hand over the toddler,” said Senokoatsane. “She was later accompanied back to the suspect’s house by…

REEZA Hendricks is chasing T20I history when the Proteas face Ireland in their second match in Bristol tonight at 7.30pm. With four T20I fifties in a row, the Proteas opener, who won the Man of the Series award in the 2-1 series win over England recently, equalled the world record set by Chris Gayle and Brendon McCullum when he smashed 74 runs off 53 balls as SA klapped Ireland by 21 runs in the first T20 on Wednesday. With scores of 57, 53, 70 and 74 in his last four innings, Hendricks now has a chance to make the record his own tonight. Of equalling Gayle and McCullum, Hendricks says: “I didn’t know [of that record] before – those are some big names to rub shoulders with. They achieved a…

HOMEVALE High School captured the Sanlam Kay Motsepe Schools Cup Under-19 Sol Plaatje district championship with a 13-12 penalty win over Emang Mmogo High in an exciting match that was played at AR Abass Stadium on Tuesday. The teams were tied 2-all at full-time, which forced the match to go directly to penalty kicks for a decision. Both teams executed their penalty kicks with precision, standing the score level at 7-7 and calling for another round of spot kicks. Homevale eventually emerged victorious when Emang Mmogo failed to convert on the sudden death penalty take. Homevale’s win wraps up the Sanlam-Kay Motsepe schools football contest in the Sol Plaatje district. The Kimberley-based school will join the three other ultimate district winners from Magareng (Warrenton), Dikgatlong (Barkly West) and Phokwane (Jan…

WHILE a renovation project is under way at the Lerato Park housing development, residents feel short-changed and would prefer it if their homes were demolished and rebuilt. Community leader Alfred Itumeleg Selloane said a forensic audit conducted by the National Home Builders Registration Council found that the quality of construction was sub-standard. “All of the 491 houses are falling into disrepair. The presidential nodal project is being used like an ATM. Work is not being done according to specification. The geotechnical report on the suitability of the soil was never done. This could be the reason why the cracks in the walls are always reappearing,” said Selloane. He stated that millions of rand worth of maintenance and repairs that were carried out in 2013 and 2018 was “wasted” as no…

SALLY Aucamp Home, situated in Cassandra, Kimberley, is the only adult home for physically disabled people in the Northern Cape and currently cares for 13 physically disabled people. According to Letticia Sterley, the secretary of Sally Aucamp, the home receives a subsidy from the government for each resident, but this is not enough to run the home and they are dependent on the Kimberley community and the National Lotto Distribution Trust Fund (NLDTF) for donations and sponsorships to keep their doors open. "We are very reliant on donations from outside and without those donations, it would not be possible to run this home like it should be run," says Sterley. The home recently received a welcome donation from Women in Mining and Ekapa Mining. Women in Mining is a group…

All Premier League teams have something to prove – some more than others Arsenal’s trip to Crystal Palace lifts the curtain on the new Premier League season today, with Erling Haaland’s debut in the English top flight the highlight of the weekend as champions Manchester City travel to West Ham. Haaland has been the marquee arrival to the Premier League from over £1 billion spent on transfer fees ahead of the new campaign. The Norwegian is expected to further strengthen Pep Guardiola’s side, who have won the title in four of the last five seasons. However, Haaland and City’s season did not get off to a good start as perennial title rivals Liverpool won the Community Shield 3-1 last weekend. A trip to the London Stadium is a good early…

THE CONTRACTORS have vacated the worksite at Rooirand Primary School in Barkly West due to non-payment. The contractors, Stimos Maintenance and Projects, have apparently not received payment since April. They are struggling with cash flow problems and cannot purchase building materials, pay salaries or pay subcontractors. Notice was given that they would vacate the site as of August 1. Two invoices amounting to R6.1 million and R2 million were submitted although no payment has been received. The chairperson of the project steering committee, Tebogo Raadt, said 70 general and skilled workers were now sitting at home, unemployed. “The contractor has been paying salaries and wages out of his pocket. The last payment was received in March,” said Raadt. “Non-payment is ruining his reputation as he is not able to purchase…

Premier League players will no longer take the knee before every match in the upcoming season, confining the anti-racism gesture to selected games, a statement said on Wednesday. “We have decided to select significant moments to take the knee during the season to highlight our unity against all forms of racism, and in so doing we continue to show solidarity for a common cause,” club captains said in the announcement on the Premier League website. The Premier League said it supported the captains’ decision, and would elevate anti-racism messaging as part of its “No Room for Racism” campaign – words that already feature on players’ sleeves. Premier League players began taking the knee at the start of every game in June 2020, when the season resumed following a Covid-19 shutdown,…

PIETER-STEPH du Toit, the quietest man in the Springbok team, probably said the loudest of all the words spoken before tomorrow’s mighty clash between the Springboks and the All Blacks when he called on his team to show the mettle that won them the World Cup three years ago. Du Toit won World Rugby’s Player of the Year award in 2019 and while he, personally, is fighting hard to regain that form after a run of crippling injuries, there can be no excuse for the rest of the Boks and they really need to kick on this year and prove they can defend their title next year in France. The All Blacks are vulnerable, especially up front, and the Boks need to put them away if they are to be…