Table of contents for 2022-12-02 in DFA News

MINISTER in the Presidency, Mondli Gungubele, said President Cyril Ramaphosa is well, following the release of a damning report. An independent panel, appointed by the speaker of Parliament, on Wednesday found preliminary evidence that Ramaphosa had violated his oath of office, findings that could lead to his eventual impeachment. The president has denied any wrongdoing and has not been charged with any crimes. The recommendations were made by a three-member panel set up to inquire if Ramaphosa should be impeached after millions of dollars in cash was allegedly stolen at his private farm, Phala Phala. Gungubele told journalists in Cape Town that Ramaphosa is studying the detailed report, which has caused tremors on the political scene. “How’s the president? He is fine. He was able to issue a statement yesterday…

FOLLOWING months of steep increases that have seen diesel prices surge to record highs, some relief is on the cards for December, but petrol is still looking set for a small increase. According to unaudited month-end data released by the Central Energy Fund, 95-Unleaded petrol is looking set to go up by around 27 cents per litre while 93-Unleaded should see an increase in the region of 18 cents. Diesel on the other hand is expected to come down substantially, with the data indicating a drop of R1.66 for 500ppm and R1.62 for 50ppm. Keep in mind that these estimations are based on unaudited data and official prices have yet to be announced by the Department of Energy. A 27 cent increase would see the price of 95-Unleaded petrol rising…

THE SPRINGBOK Regional Court earlier this week found Edward Newman, 60, guilty of several counts of fraud, corruption and defeating the ends of justice. The accused was sentenced to a fine of R120 000 or five years imprisonment as well as an additional three years correctional supervision. The crimes were committed between June 2007 and April 2009 when Newman worked as Head of Roads at the Namakwa District Municipality. He identified contractors and promised that they would receive tenders for various projects in exchange for money. The accused accepted gratification from these contractors amounting to approximately R292 000. Meanwhile, the Postmasburg Magistrate’s Court convicted and sentenced Andrew May, 37, on charges of fraud and impersonating a peace officer. The court found May guilty of 10 counts of impersonating a peace…

THE 2022 Galeshewe Cooler Box and Camp Chair Festival promises to make a massive comeback following a two-year break due to the Covid-19 lockdown. Hosted on December 26, 2022, the event, previously known as the Jeppes Town Cooler Box and Camp Chair Festival, will move to the Galeshewe Stadium to allow organisers to expand it. The annual event was started by a young entrepreneur from Club 2000, Anthony Moipolai, in 2014 and has seen massive growth over the years. Moipolai said he never received any funding or sponsorships for previous events, which was hosted at the Club 2000 park. The event allowed young artists to showcase their talents and, in the past, attracted not just visitors from Club 2000, but from across the city. Members of the community turned it…

Australia’s series loss to the Proteas in 2018 and all the drama associated with it, may have been a chastening experience for the “Baggy Green” brigade, but Dean Elgar doesn’t expect it to make the current Australian team a “soft touch” in their three match-Test series. The “sandpaper affair”, which caused ructions across the sport, led Australian cricket to undertake serious introspection. From pre-match handshakes to “elite honesty”, to Pat Cummins’ toothy grin, Australia have sought to sell themselves as a less boorish team. However Elgar isn’t buying a new friendly approach from the Australians. “Purely because we are playing there, I think it will still be pretty feisty,” Elgar said. The first Test starts on December 17 at the Gabba, with the series then heading to Melbourne for the…

During the past weekend, the Northern Cape Bowls Men’s and Women’s Pairs Finals were held at Beaconsfield Park Bowling Club and Kimberley Town Bowling Club respectively. The team of Leon Waldeck and Stephan Bredenkamp from Conroy beat Le Roux Fourie and Michael Siepker from Kalahari 21-9 in the men’s final with Laura Fouche and Suzette van Wyk from Intervaal beating Liezel Kock and Cornemarie Viljoen 18-11 in the women’s final. The standard of competition was very high throughout the weekend but in the end the most consistent bowlers won. Bowls South Africa announced on Monday that Charles Peter Mathewson from Beaconsfield Park Bowling Club in Kimberley has been selected to form part of an all-star Proteas bowls team to represent South Africa in a Multi-Nations international event taking place in…

THE CHARGES against the chief financial officer (CFO) at the Northern Cape Department of Health, Mosiemanegape Daniel Gaborone, and the acting head of department (HOD), Dr Dion Theys, relating to the procurement of personal protective equipment (PPE), are expected to be provisionally withdrawn in the Special Commercial Crime Court next week. The Department of Health awarded PPE tenders to the value of R43 million, where charges of contravention of the Public Finance Management Act (PFMA) were laid against Theys and Gaborone. The matter was set to be transferred to the Northern Cape High Court. The Department of Health has been without a permanent head of department since the deployment of the former HOD, Steven Jonkers, to the Premier's Office in 2020. The department has reportedly paid Theys R1 million in…

THE SEMI-finalists who will be competing in the Northern Cape Talent Expo have vowed to deliver nothing but their A-game during the contest. Thirty youngsters from across the Province have been selected from 150 contenders after the founders of the talent expo went from “dorpie to dorpie” to select the best vocalists. The founders of the Northern Cape Talent Expo, Tsepo Mtwana and Phemelo Nkosi, said they started the project in order to give youth in the music industry much-needed opportunities and to develop not only their talent but also to help them make a successful career in the industry. Five finalists will go head-to-head in a competition where the winner will get the opportunity to record a song with award-winning South African rapper Kiernan Forbes, better known as AKA.…

THE NORTHERN Cape police have welcomed the life sentence handed down to John Muller, 49, by the Kuruman Regional Court for raping a minor. Muller was sentenced earlier this week. The incident dates back to October 26, 2017 when, at about 4.20pm, the accused met a 12-year-old girl in Bankara Village, Kuruman, and asked her to accompany him to a tuck shop. On the way to the tuck shop he dragged her into the veld and raped her. He then assaulted her before taking her to his shanty where he raped her again. The victim's mother and members of the local Community Police Forum (CPF) started looking for the girl and found her in the suspect’s shanty. The suspect was immediately arrested with the assistance of the police. Muller was…

AUSTRALIA will put their bodies on the line to stop Lionel Messi and spring a surprise against Argentina in the World Cup last 16, tough-tackling Milos Degenek warned yesterday. The defender, who made his World Cup debut in Australia's 1-0 group win over Denmark on Wednesday, said Messi is his hero but all sentiments will be thrown aside when they meet tomorrow. “You know I have always loved Messi, I think he is the greatest to have played the game,” said the 28-year-old. “It’s not an honour to play against him because he is just a human, as we all are. It is an honour to be in the round of 16 of a World Cup. That is the honour in itself.” Australian goalkeeper Mathew Ryan has kept two clean…

A look ahead to Kimberley Golf Club competitions for the upcoming weeks The following is planned for December 2-18 • Players please note that you must putt out in a competition else your score will not count and that your score card must be correctly filled in. Today: New Vaal Motors sponsored KGC Club fund-raiser 18-hole IPS competition Tomorrow: The Airport Hotel – Kalahari Lodge – Horseshoe sponsored KGC Club competition as well as weekly Charlies outing. Sunday, December 4: Social golf with special rates applying. Monday, December 5: Course closed as usual but the office is open for business. Tuesday, December 6: Social golf with special rates applying. Wednesday, December 7: The Darsha sponsored 18-hole IPS competition Thursday, December 8: The KWV sponsored Niner. Friday, December…

Tomorrow and Sunday, the Kimberley Clay Target Club will be hosting the last Kimberley Compak Trial for 2022. FITASC Compak, a clay target shooting discipline that has been around since 1992, is owned and overseen by the International Authority for this discipline, FITASC (Federation Internationale De Tir Aux Armes Sportives De Chasse). FITASC created the Compak discipline with the express purpose of luring not only the best shooters in the world but also creating a sport where shooters of all skill levels may join and those who want to attain the highest honours have the opportunity to do so. Compak is also a great spectator sport because both onlookers and shooters may take pleasure in it. But it’s bigger than just plinking away at clay targets. There’s international recognition within…

THE NORTHERN Cape MEC for Health, Maruping Lekwene, launched the Move for Health campaign in Tsineng near Kuruman earlier this week as part of the department’s continued efforts to promote physical activity, nutrition and a healthy lifestyle. The event was attended by councillors from Joe Morolong Local Municipality, tribal council member Kgosi Shuping, senior management and community members. The day’s programme included full physical activity, due to the main focus being on the importance of an active lifestyle. The programme aims to help members of the community take the first step towards a healthy lifestyle. Department spokesperson Lebogang Majaha explained that the core message was that physical activity, a healthy diet and a tobacco and alcohol-free lifestyle are effective for a healthy lifestyle and, in principle, an easy and cheap…

Proteas skipper confident his vice-captain will be in the ‘right space’ ahead of Australia tour Proteas’ men’s Test captain Dean Elgar “is respecting the space” his vice-captain Temba Bavuma is currently in. Bavuma has been the centre-point of criticism over the past few months, having been made the scapegoat for the Proteas’ embarrassing exit from the T20 World Cup in Australia last month, where a defeat to the lowly Netherlands saw them miss out on the semi-finals. Furthermore, Bavuma’s T20 form has constantly been scrutinised since returning from an elbow injury in October. Equally, the furore surrounding his omission from all six SA20 squads at the inaugural auction placed further strain on Bavuma, with the criticism on social media being particularly vile. The 32-year-old has since returned from Australia and…

Irish Dancers from the Noleen Andrews School of Dance excelled at the South African Irish Dance Championships held in Gauteng recently. Two of the dancers from the studio are the South African Champions for their sections. They are Zoe Abrahams for the Advanced Tus Ghrad Section and Hannah Abrahams for Mean Ghrad Section. The competition had more than 200 dancers participating and was judged by three international judges.…

NORTHERN Cape Cricket (NCC) have rebranded and renamed the provincial women’s cricket squad the Northern Cape Heat Women’s XI. The provincial cricket body introduced the full squad at a dinner event held on Friday night at the Diamond Oval’s Country Club in Cassandra. The women’s team used the occasion to nail their colours to the mast regarding the current scourge of gender based violence. NCC board member Dr Laverene Accom spoke at length on the subject and encouraged especially males to become exponents of anti gender based violence. The NCC also used the occasion to crow about how they successfully brought on board, for the first time ever in women's sports and cricket in the province, sports betting management company Hollywoodbets as underwriters of the team. The Hollywoodbets sponsorship announcement…

BEING the only South African team to go down to their Welsh opponents in the United Rugby Championship last weekend, all eyes will be on the Sharks when they host the Ospreys at Kings Park tonight at 7pm. Such was the shock of their 35-0 defeat to Cardiff last Sunday night that they sacked coach Sean Everitt, with immediate effect. New director of rugby, former Blitzboks coach Neil Powell, will take charge of tonight’s encounter, with the Sharks looking to bounce back against a team who lost 43-26 to the Bulls last weekend. Coach Jake White’s Loftus Versfeld outfit, meanwhile, will be hoping they don’t fall into the same trap as the Sharks against Cardiff at 8pm tomorrow night. With the Stormers hosting their Welsh opponents the Dragons earlier in…