Table of contents for 2024-11-01 in DFA News

IN A POWERFUL initiative aimed at celebrating excellence and fostering mentorship, the Galeshewe Gentlemen’s Dinner is set to return this year, promising to ignite hope in young men by connecting them with established mentors and role models. Founded by Pule Tau in 2016, this annual event brings together successful men from various sectors to share their stories and inspire and empower young men, particularly those from households with absent fathers. Tau emphasised the importance of equipping boys to become supportive leaders and fathers, just as girls are empowered to be future leaders. “Over the years, this event has not only highlighted the achievements of men from Galeshewe who have made significant strides across various sectors, both locally and globally, but has also served as a beacon of hope for younger…

THE DEPARTMENT of Water and Sanitation is engaging with Magareng Local Municipality in the Northern Cape regarding non-compliance with water and wastewater management, following concerns that raw sewage is contaminating the Vaal River. Residents have been cautioned against consuming untreated river water in the Magareng, Frances Baard, Dikgatlong, Sol Plaatje, Siyancuma, and Phokwane municipal areas following a cholera alert. The founder of the Municipal Public People’s Participation Forum, Jan Louw, stated that raw sewage was flowing from Warrenton’s wards 1, 3 and 6 into the Vaal River. “There is an unattended manhole in Agosi Street in Ikhutseng that is also leaking sewage,” Louw noted. He highlighted that the pumps at the Warrenton wastewater treatment plant were switched off periodically in order to save electricity due to the debt owed to…

Landboudal Tug of War team’s effort impresses reigning world champions THE LANDBOUDAL Under-19 Tug of War team is headed to the World Championships. Yes, read that again, a high school team from Jacobsdal, just a stone’s throw away, and due south from Kimberely, will be representing South Africa at the GENSB Tournament, set to be held in the Netherlands in 2025. GENSB is the initials of the tournament’s founding countries: Germany, the Netherlands, Switzerland (Schweiz), and Belgium. It was established to encourage young athletes in these nations to compete in and enjoy tug-of-war, fostering both sportsmanship and international camaraderie. Now here’s the beautiful part of the story: Landboudal will be taking the place of three-time world champion team Oakdale, from the Western Cape. The two teams recently faced off in…

IT WAS December 1992. A head popped in at the door. “I’m Johan du Plessis,” the voice said. “Charles Guild hired me, I’m here to start, I’ve just finished my national diploma at Pretoria Tech.” There was only one problem: Charles Guild was dead. He’d passed on literally between the aisles at Shorty’s Café (Madeira Café on Bean Street) a couple of months before. That was an administrative nicety that was quickly overlooked, the DFA was understaffed – woefully so – and anyone with a pulse would have been welcome. Johan du Plessis was more than a pulse; in fact, he would quickly become the pulse of the paper. Thrown in at the deep end, sub-editing and then overseeing the final production of the edition before the week was out…

A SOUTH African Police Service (SAPS) trainee from Kimberley will not be able to graduate this year after she blew the lid on alleged gender-based violence and sexual harassment within the police training academy. The 32-year-old trainee said she was suspended from SAPS Academy Tshwane in Pretoria last week after reporting that she was sexually harassed by her trainer. She added that she realised that it was necessary to speak out to stop the abuse and to be a voice for those too afraid to do so. She attempted suicide in September, as she felt powerless and dreaded the thought of returning home without completing her training. “I was afraid to speak out, but I couldn’t endure his sexual advances any longer. What was I going to tell my family,…

IN A PROUD achievement, 20 students from the Northern Cape recently graduated with Child and Youth Care certificates from Continuing Education for Africa (Cefa) during a ceremony held in Kimberley. Family and friends travelled from across the Province, including places as far as Springbok, to celebrate this achievement and witness the graduates' dedication to making a difference in their communities. Cefa, founded in 2004, has a long-standing reputation as a training provider committed to community upliftment. Operating across South Africa and the rest of Africa, Cefa’s training model emphasises outcome-based learning within communities, offering accredited programmes through the National Qualifications Framework (NQF). The organisation’s focus is on equipping students with knowledge and practical skills to create lasting impacts, particularly in under-served areas. Cefa’s programmes range from full-time courses in social…

Just two years ago, the team had one mission: To discover and nurture local rugby talent, and catapult these young players onto the global stage. And in just those two short years, the team’s mission is being realised as they have already achieved remarkable success, putting Kimberley back on the rugby map. The DFA caught up with the mastermind behind this initiative, coach Elsheino ‘Bizzo’ Thomas, to learn more about the team’s journey so far. “Kimberley is brimming with untapped talent,” Thomas explained. “When we invest in our local players and give them the support they need, incredible things happen.” And incredible things have already begun to happen. Two standout players, Shakeel Rosen and Hilroy Baatjies, have secured one-year contracts in Germany, showcasing the international appeal of Kimberley’s rugby talent.…

THE ROODEPAN police are investigating a case of common assault after a commotion broke out during an ANC Youth League (ANCYL) branch general meeting at the Homevale community hall in Roodepan this week. A branch member, Laura Ezem, stated that she and others decided to remain at the hall after being informed that the October 29 meeting would be cancelled as there were not enough members to form a quorum. “We did not want to take the chance of the meeting continuing without us, as the other group remained seated inside the hall,” she explained. She added that a group of men, led by the ANC ward councillor, arrived at the hall with the attendance register that they had signed. “We grabbed the register as we wanted the elected leadership…

OLDER folk are a crafty bunch. They have been around the block several times, and they know the tricks of the trade. In fact, a friend told me that his grandfather once told him that when he was a young boy, you could walk into a grocery store with a shilling coin in your pocket and walk out with a loaf of bread, a dozen eggs, a little butter and some change. The old man sighed. “But not these days though … These days there are too many damn cameras!” All I am suggesting is that young people should be wary of summing up the ‘oldsters’ as incompetent fools when they observe their doddering steps and how the old folk just take so long to do the simplest of tasks.…

NARE Boutique Hotel in Kimberley has impacted the lives of 60 young learners at a struggling early childhood centre (ECD) in Kgomotso village, near Pampierstad, by constructing a building equipped with classrooms, a kitchen and an ablution facility. The boutique’s owner, Tsholo Wesi, said the new building will replace the RDP building that educators had been utilising as a classroom as well as the shanty building that served as a kitchen. Wesi said the funds for the initiative were raised through a golf day held in Magersfontein. Recently. “We managed to raise R115,000 during our golf day. The funds will be spent towards building materials, food for the centre and paint. We saw how this ECD centre had to survive with the bare minimum. All 60 children were taught inside…