Table of contents for 2021-09-03 in DFA News

Benida Phillips staff reporter A COUPLE from Bobo Se Plaas in Kimberley have been spending their nights outside the gutted remains of their shanty after they lost everything in a fire this week. The couple, Marie and Edwin Julies, said that their son had come to tell them, while they were visiting family in Homevale Extension, that their shanty was on fire on Tuesday. According to Edwin, their 25-year-old son was at home when the incident occurred and was lucky to escape the blaze. “We left our son at home and we went to Homevale Extension. While we were there, our son came and told us that the shanty was burning. When we came rushing back home, we saw the thick, black clouds of smoke and could not believe that it…

Sandi Kwon Hoo CHIEF REPORTER COSATU and the SA Democratic Teachers Union (Sadtu) in the Northern Cape have “dismissed with contempt” the explanation provided by the provincial Department of Education for the non-payment of temporary teachers, cleaners and screeners across the Province. Sadtu provincial secretary Palesa Nqumashe said that the Department of Education had not paid workers for up to three months. “We are in the midst of the Covid-19 pandemic, where we have to observe Covid-19 protocols in order to preserve lives, livelihoods and make learning institutions a safe environment for teaching and learning. The schools will be expected to produce results at the end of the year, where the government does not care about the conditions of service of these employees and, by extension, the pupils,” said Nqumashe.…

Aneez Salie THE ISSUE of journalists and social media commentators arrested for their tweets is an outright attack on freedom of speech and that of the rights the media have to report/opine/comment on issues of the day – in whichever country this occurs. Whether it is Turkey, which has the highest recorded number of jailed media commentators in the world, or South Africa, where we are once again beginning to experience a suppression of voices. It was a feature of the hated and brutal apartheid regime that it regarded the black masses of South Africa as “slow thinkers”, lacking the ability to think for themselves and come to their own decisions; that they were easily swayed and misled by “instigators and agitators” and thus needed to be hand-fed a…

Lance Fredericks I HAVE always been a hard, unforgiving person. I know how to hold a grudge. In fact, the day I was born, someone slapped my bottom and it made me cry out in pain. I was so upset at this unexpected and unfair assault, that I refused to speak for another 18 months. I think that slap could also be the reason that I have trust issues. That doctor that beat me needed to restudy the Hippocratic Oath, or read Steven Covey’s tips on winning friends. That’s not how you treat a new resident to your city. Wait, so while we are not on the subject of a new city … have you noticed how things are slowly but steadily being ironed out, filled in and pulled straight?…

WORLD No.3 Stefanos Tsitsipas fired down a career-high 27 aces on the way to a 6-3, 6-4, 6-7 (7/4), 6-0 win over second-round opponent Adrian Mannarino on Wednesday, but another protracted bathroom break drew jeers from the US Open crowd. Greek Tsitsipas won all of his first-serve points in the opening set and fired off 53 winners in the match to Mannarino's 26 and looked set for a straightforward win at Arthur Ashe Stadium before the Frenchman won a third-set tiebreak. Tsitsipas then retreated to the locker room for a bathroom break of more than seven minutes, leaving Mannarino to ask for some balls to be brought out so that he could stay loose ahead of the fourth set. Tsitsipas, who infuriated Andy Murray in the last round by taking…

Sandi Kwon Hoo chief reporter THE TRIAL involving seven men who are accused of the murder of 16-year-old Kimberley Boys’ High School pupil Tshepiso Thompson in 2019 will proceed in March next year. Tshepiso was robbed of his clothes and sneakers and stabbed to death in Hulana Street in Vergenoeg, while one of his friends was also stabbed during the incident. The seven accused – Phemelo Matlakaka, Godfrey Mothibi, Khaya Ntsenge, George Mothibi, Lebogang Saal, Serame Ntsiane and Lebogang Masilo – appeared in the Kimberley Magistrate’s Court this week. Community members picketed outside the court in support of Tshepiso’s family. They called for the accused to remain in custody until the finalisation of the court case. The accused are facing six charges of robbery, participating in a gang, attempted murder…

Chad Williams AN ITALIAN student has had his Covid-19 vaccine QR (Quick Response) code tattooed on his arm, according to reports. A QR code, once scanned, provides information and operates much like barcodes and can be used to log and transfer important personal data from one data system to another. As Covid-19 ‘vaccine passes’ become more prominent across the world to access public spaces, it seems that the world is heading in the direction that requires proof of being vaccinated against Covid-19, and this young man decided to permanently prove that he in fact is vaccinated. Andrea Colonnetta, 22, became an overnight internet sensation after he posted his new ink on the social media network, Instagram, recently. “The idea was born by talking to my tattooist, Gabriele Pellerone, on what…

Matthew Marcus in Cape Town BAFANA Bafana must be prepared for an early knockout attempt when they face Zimbabwe in their opening World Cup 2022 qualifier in Harare at 3pm today. Coach Hugo Broos believes their northern neighbours will show no hospitality and go straight for the kill against his fresh-faced team. With just skipper Ronwen Williams and Percy Tau among a tiny handful of players who have earned more than 10 international caps, Broos has been getting his manne mentally ready for the big stage. He says: “I know Zimbabwe are lying in wait and want to beat us. “They are our neighbours and several of their players play in South Africa “So they will be fired up to beat us. It will be tough. “We will suffer,…

Ashfak Mohamed DUANE Vermeulen, speaking from the Gold Coast in Australia this week, said he had been impressed by his No.8 replacement Jasper Wiese during the Springboks’ triumph over the British & Irish Lions. Wiese almost came of age against Argentina in the first two Rugby Championship matches in Gqeberha, though, where his trademark ball-carrying was more evident than against the Lions. He produced a man-of-the-match display in the first Pumas encounter as well. But now that the 35-year-old Vermeulen is fit and healthy again after recovering from an ankle injury that kept him out of the Lions series, what should the Bok loose trio look like for next Sunday’s first clash against Australia at Robina Stadium? With 2019 World Player of the Year Pieter-Steph du Toit a long-term injury…

Sandi Kwon Hoo CHIEF REPORTER CARNARVON Hospital is severely short-staffed, where there are only two professional nurses on duty per shift. One nurse has to attend to the maternity ward, paediatric ward and casualties, while the other nurse is assigned to the Covid-19 ward. Staff have stated that although the facility was downgraded to a community health clinic it was still operating as a hospital. “The security guards have to assist with patients as there is a shortage of staff. Only one ambulance is operating in the area,” the staff said. “The hospital also has no water supply and buckets have to be used to wash patients and flush the toilets. It appears as if the water pipes freeze during winter, resulting in the water supply being cut off. “Sections…

THE JEWISH New Year, or Rosh Hashanah, begins this year on the evening of Monday, September 6, 2021 and the Jewish community in Kimberley along with the rest of the Jewish world will celebrate it in the traditional way. During the last year we have lost many former congregants all over the world, but, luckily, no one within the local community itself has passed away. The year itself has been traumatic, being dominated by the coronavirus pandemic, which has greatly impacted on all faiths in the way that they have been able to worship. The new year is a new dawn and we will immerse ourselves in prayers to strengthen our bond with G-d and to pray for the forgiveness of our transgressions and for universal peace and progress in…

THE JEWISH New Year Festival (Rosh Hashanah) is celebrated on the 1st and 2nd days of the Hebrew month of ‘Tishrei’, which usually falls in September. Rosh Hashanah was originally a one-day holiday and was known as ‘Yom Teruah’ (Day of Sounding the ‘Shofar’ or ‘Ram's Horn’) and ‘Zikaron Teruah’ (Day of Remembering), based on the passage in Leviticus 23:23-25 which proclaims: “In the seventh month, on the first day of the month, you shall have a rest day, a day of remembrance, horn blowing, and holy assembly.” Later on, near the end of the Second Temple period (circa 516 BCE), Rosh Hashanah was extended to become a two-day holiday to ensure that all Jews are united by celebrating the festival at the same time around the globe - the…

Benida Phillips staff reporter A CALL to the police during a domestic quarrel turned deadly after a constable attached to the Roodepan police station shot and killed a 35-year-old man at close range. Benjamin Sampie died after he was shot in the neck by a police officer who was called to intervene in a domestic quarrel between the deceased and his wife, Yolanda Kuyane. There was shock and disbelief yesterday as community members quietly watched the deceased being loaded into a forensic pathology vehicle after the incident. There was a heavy presence of police, as well as SANDF members, on the scene. Sampie and Kuyane had four children, aged 15, 13, eight and four years old. The four-year daughter, who apparently witnessed the incident, was wailing and refused to return…

FORMULA One hopes a return to ‘a proper old-school track’ in the Netherlands this weekend can wipe away memories of last Sunday’s farcical washout in Belgium. The first Dutch Grand Prix since 1985 is the second leg of a triple-header of three races in three weeks. The opener was a damp squib that is still causing bickering in Formula One. It ended in a controversial ‘race’ of two completed laps behind a safety car in a downpour at Spa-Francorchamps. Red Bull’s Max Verstappen simply led unchallenged from pole position until the race was red-flagged and abandoned and received half points for his hollow triumph. It was enough for him to trim Lewis Hamilton’s advantage to three points. The Dutch driver could take the lead before his enthusiastic fans as Formula…