Table of contents for 2021-08-20 in DFA News

Boipelo Mere STAFF REPORTER STUDENTS at Phatsimang College in Galeshewe took to the streets yesterday as they demanded answers regarding exam results that were still pending. The protesting students were dispersed by the police after they started burning tyres and obstructing traffic. Two students were arrested for public violence and intimidation. Police spokesperson Captain Bashoabile Kale said the Public Order Police (POP) responded to a “riotous” situation at Phatsimang College, where students were toyi-toying and burning tyres at the entrance to the campus. He added that the police had tried to “hear the leaders of the protest out”, but it proved impossible because of the disruptive behaviour of a number of students. “Instigators were identified by the police and the police attempted to arrest them,” said Kale. “Two identified instigators…

Kelly Jane Turner staff writer SOUTH Africans over the age of 18 will from today be able to receive their Covid-19 vaccine. Cabinet made the announcement in a statement yesterday and revealed that the national vaccine roll-out will extend to citizens aged between 18 and 35 years. “As part of the vaccination roll-out programme, Cabinet approved the vaccination of persons aged between 18 years and 35 years from August 20, 2021,” read the statement. The roll-out to the age cohort was initially planned to start from the beginning of September. Over 9.9 million vaccines have been administered in the country to date, with 7 million people partially vaccinated and over 4 million people fully vaccinated. Cabinet also approved keeping the country under alert level 3 of the national lockdown, as…

A 52-YEAR-old former senior practitioner at the South African Social Security Agency (Sassa) has been summoned by the Northern Cape Hawks’ Serious Corruption unit to appear in the Kimberley Commercial Court next month. Hawks provincial spokesperson Nomthandazo Mnisi said the former senior practitioner was served with a summons yesterday to appear in court on September 2, 2021 on allegations of corruption and money laundering. “It is alleged that in 2009 and 2010, Trifecta Holdings (Pty) Ltd paid a senior practitioner in the Facility Management and Auxiliary Support of Sassa an amount of R60 000 in a form of gratification. By virtue of her position, the senior practitioner facilitated the execution of lease agreements between the Trifecta group of companies and Sassa. Trifecta Holdings (Pty) Ltd, a company involved in the…

Sandi Kwon Hoo chief reporter SOL PLAATJE Municipality chief financial officer (CFO) Lydia Mahloko has yet to accept or decline an invitation to return to her post. Council decided to reinstate Mahloko, as well as municipal manager Goolam Akharwaray, following a settlement agreement that was reached in the Northern Cape High Court on Monday. Mahloko and Akharwaray, who were placed on precautionary suspension three years ago, applied for an interdict to prevent the recommendations of the section 106 investigation report into irregularities at Sol Plaatje Municipality, which was released in 2018, from being implemented. The officials were placed on precautionary suspension in 2018 following a public outcry over high electricity prices and a call for municipal officials to step down. According to the settlement agreement, the application was withdrawn, while…

More than merely being an old rugby club – Universal RFC is a family Sports Correspondent and Neville Mothlabakwe UNIVERSAL Rugby Football Club, one of the oldest clubs in South Africa in celebrating the club’s 135th anniversary have extended a special invitation to former Griquas scrumhalf and one time South African national team coach Peter De Villiers to honour the occasion with his attendance. Club chairman Romeo Syfers said De Villiers has provisionally been booked to provide coaching clinics over two days to youngsters on September 2-3 at the AR Abass Stadium in Kimberley. This is the second attempt at inviting the former Springboks mentor to coach clinics in the Diamond City. Two previous attempts to get De Villiers to Kimberley fell flat because of the Covid-19 pandemic.…

Benida Phillips staff reporter THE PARENTS of a Grade 12 pupil at Northern Cape High School in Kimberley want the provincial Department of Education to take action against a pupil who allegedly called her daughter and fellow learners the K-word during class. According to the pupil’s mother, her daughter informed her that a white male classmate called her and two other black pupils the K-word in the presence of a teacher. “My daughter said the class was under way and they were discussing a school subject with the teacher. As they were busy interacting with the teacher, the white learner told them to keep quiet and called them the K-word,” said the mother. “They were all shocked and another learner asked the teacher whether she would not address what the…

Kelly Jane Turner staff writer THERE have been no deaths in South Africa to datew directly caused by the Covid-19 vaccine, according to the national immunisation safety expert committee's, Professor Hannelie Meyer. During an online webinar about Covid-19 vaccination safety, Meyer said that while 2 000 adverse events have been reported, most of them were mild cases. "There has been a lot of discussion about the deaths that followed people who got vaccinated and none of those deaths to date have been caused by the vaccine. But deaths are very serious and are investigated," she said. South African Health Products Regulatory Authority (Sahpra) vigilance unit manager, Mafora Matlala, said the health body does not compromise when it comes to monitoring safety and risk with the vaccines. "When we looked at the…

Dudley Carstens in Cape Town WESTERN Province can all but secure a place in the Currie Cup semi-final in Kimberley on Sunday when they face the Tafel Lager Griquas at 1.30pm. A 35-13 win over the Lions on Wednesday thanks to two tries from Man of the Match Evan Roos, saw coach John Dobson’s men climb to third on the tournament log. And with only two rounds to go, Province can put one foot in the door of the top four if they beat their hosts at Tafel Lager Park on the weekend. Griquas are not to be underestimated as the team had shown amazing guts and determination to beat the more fancied and stronger WP side 30-28 in a historical fourth round Carling Currie Cup fixture at the Cape…

Zaahier Adams in Cape Town LAST season Mamelodi Sundowns won the DStv Premiership for the fourth consecutive time. Despite a mid-season blip in late April that saw the Brazilians being held by both KwaZulu-Natal teams AmaZulu and Golden Arrows, which sandwiched a defeat to Kaizer Chiefs, Sundowns still eased to the championship with a 13-point cushion. They’ve lifted the Premiership trophy six times out of the last eight seasons. Last season they scored eight more goals than anybody else and conceded the same number fewer. Their goal difference of 35 was 20 goals superior to their nearest rivals and tonight’s season-opening opponents AmaZulu (5pm kick-off). Can the yellow and blue machine’s dominance even be stopped then? “I think our rivals are much stronger. Chiefs are stronger, Pirates are stronger. Swallows…

Lance Fredericks POETRY, imagery and creative use of language caused me a few headaches growing up. There were some things I heard growing up that caused me quite extreme torment, I even had deep frown lines before I reached the age of nine. The song ‘In the Year 2525’, performed by Zager and Evans and released in 1969, painted a foreboding picture of the future. “In the year 2525, if man is still alive, if woman can survive, they may find …” And then the song tells of the gradual redundancy of basic things that make us human, because in the future these things will no longer be needed. For example, in the year 3535 one’s thoughts will be controlled by a pill you take in the morning. Then in…

Boipelo Mere staff reporter THE PROVINCIAL head of the SAPS Family Violence, Child Protection and Sexual Offences (FCS) units in the Northern Cape, Brigadier Nicky Mills, celebrated Women's Month by placing emphasis on the victims of gender-based violence (GBV) yesterday. Mills handed over comfort packs to the FCS unit commanders of Upington, Kakamas, Port Nolloth, Calvinia, Carnarvon, Springbok and Pofadder at an event at the Kakamas FCS unit yesterday, for distribution to GBV victims. The comfort packs were donated by a non-profit organisation, RISE Development. The comfort packs contain toiletries, underwear, hand sanitiser, masks and refreshments. They aim to serve as a form of comfort to victims and also to “restore their dignity”. During the handover, Mills thanked RISE Development for their generous donation and support. He added that he…

Sandi Kwon Hoo chief reporter THE NORTHERN Cape Department of Roads and Public Works has declared the R31 between Kimberley and Barkly West as safe for driving purposes but has advised motorists to drive with caution in the area. An accident took place on the R31 between Kimberley and Barkly West on Sunday morning, where members from the Kimberley SAPS Search and Rescue unit, together with Flying Squad members, rescued a 31-year-old truck driver from drowning in sewage. The heavy-duty truck plunged into a “lake” of sewage that has formed in the veld after the driver apparently lost control of the vehicle, causing it to veer off the road. The R31 is the only access route for mining trucks in the Province to transport iron ore and manganese, while there…

Dudley Carstens Pollard: Boks will kick it old school against Argentina THE SPRINGBOKS will continue to live from hand to foot when they face Argentina in tomorrow’s Rugby Championship match at the Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium (5.05pm). Criticised for their aerial bombardment of the British and Irish Lions in their 2-1 series win, South Africa – despite making 10 changes to their team – continued their lug-aanvalle in last weekend’s 32-12 Championship opening win over the Pumas. The Springboks kicked a total of 40 times that match, opposed to the 24 made by the Argies. Furthermore, coach Jacques Nienaber’s men made 144 tackles to the 99 made by their opponents. In the first Test against the Lions, the Boks kicked the ball 38 times to the Lions’ 27, with 139…

Neville Motlhabakwe Sports Reporter HUNGRY Lions FC, the newly-promoted champions from the ABC Motsepe League in the Northern Cape will play their first fixture in the Glad Africa semi professional football league at home in Kathu tomorrow. Hungry Lions will play against Uthongathi FC from Kwa-Mashu, KwaZulu-Natal at the Sivos Training Centre stadium in Kathu at 3pm. The Postmasburg-based team have not had a day off since winning the Northern Cape leg of the ABC Motsepe regional league two months ago. As regional champions they had moved on to win the national play-offs of that league which catapulted them into the National First Division (NFD) who administer the corporate-sponsored Glad Africa League. Team manager and coach Henry Bassie almost immediately started with training his squad in anticipation of their matches…

Mihlali Baleka INDEED, the winds of change are blowing at Bafana Bafana! This was evident after coach Hugo Broos selected a relatively youthful squad for the Fifa 2022 World Cup qualifiers against Zimbabwe and Ghana next month. Often players have been recycled at the national team, with some not selected on merit or form, but on popularity or experience. This was almost a “safe card” by coaches who perhaps knew their jobs were on the line. Belgian Broos is instead determined on rebuilding the team and giving youngsters a chance. After all, that had worked for him when Cameroon won the Africa Cup of Nations in 2017. Broos won’t have to stress about the continental showpiece next year, given that his predecessor Molefi Ntseki had failed to inspire the team…