TEL: 053 ­ 8312331 WEDNESDAY 13 MARCH 2013 FREE

Northern Cape

Tel. 053 831 2331Fax 053 831 2330

Johan Rossouw

Boipelo Mere

Sales Manager

EditorPO Box 1583Kimberley 8300

Northern Cape

} Boipelo Mere

IT seems like there is hope for Da-vid Valentine (62), who lives undera tree on the corner of Mimosa andMosquito Street.

His sisters are going to build hima shack and instruct him to stay init, whether he likes it or not.

This comes after he ran awayfrom a communal house in Kimber-ley and did time in prison for mali-cious damage to property.

According to him, he was sent toprison after he was forced to breaka window to get inside as his neph-ew, Vaughn Valentine, had lockedhim outside on a cold winter’snight.

Valentine was convinced that theproperty in question, where heused to live with his sister Cathrineuntil she passed away, was his lateparent’s home.

“My sister and I had always livedlike this,’’ said Valentine as heshowed a sign of unity with his fin-gers.

“After she had passed away, I be-came a wandering stranger, not bymy own choice,’’ said Valentine,wiping away his tears.

Valentine said after the funeralof his sister, his nephew, who is thedeceased sister’s son, put him injail, sold the house, took all the pro-ceeds and left for Johannesburgwhere he still lives.

Valentine decided to leave theHuis van Genade commune afterhis stay of ten days where he wasrequired to pay R20 a day for boardand lodge.

That is when he found no home.Instead he found his few earthlypossessions of blankets and clothestossed into a corner.

This is why today he is known asa homeless man who lives in a bur-row under a tree.

He had endured all kinds ofweather and he believes God is pro-tecting him and he will come out ofthis situation a better person.

His other immediate problem is

food which he gets if he visits hisother sister in Kimberley North.

Someone else (a woman whosename and address is in our posses-sion) is in possession of Valentine’s

identity book and Sassa card.Valentine is a recipient of a gov-

ernment pension grant, however,he refuses to be put in an old-agehome as he prefers to be independ-

ent.Similarly, the owner of a nearby

house offered him free accommoda-tion which he declined because hewants his independence. The sad

part is his teenage son from an oldfling lives just opposite his burrow.

“I think this is affecting him neg-atively, but he does greet me whenhe passes by,’’ said Valentine.

However, when NC Expressspoke to Caroline, the sister livingin Kimberley North, she was sur-prised at the distorted informationwe had received from her brother.

“Those are all halftruths and dis-torted information,’’ said Carolinein the presence of her husband.

“The truth is that the house ini-tially belonged to our late parentswho sold it to our sister who livesin Botswana. Later Cathrinebought it and thus Vaughn inherit-ed it following his mother’s death.

“As a family we are trying to helphim get proper accommodation.We hear rumours that his Sassacard is held by a well-known loanshark in Floors and she uses hismoney as she wishes,’’ Carolinesaid.

Joined by other family members,Caroline promised that by winterValentine will have a place to stayand it is up to him to turn his lifearound.

Life will get betterHelp at hand – if Valentine chooses to accept it

DAVID VALENTINE (62) in his burrow under a tree in Florianville, Kimberley. Photos: Boipelo Mere

THE oldman shed tears when hetold theNCExpress reporter howgood his life used to be.

2 EXPRESS NORTHERN CAPE, WEDNESDAY 13 MARCH 2013

NEWS

YCLSA, Northern Cape:

THE Young Communist League ofSouth Africa in the Northern Capenotes theSopa thatwaspresentedby theActing Premier Honourable GrizeldaCjiekella on 1 March 2013.We note the continued crisis of capi-

talism, the likely persistence of its ef-fects in the coming years and its vexingimplications on the province.Weappre-ciate the strides taken to reverse anderadicate the triple challenges, as wellas the cash flow challenges facing theprovince.It is equally important in our view to

address the service delivery challengesexperienced by communities andhouseholds with the working class andthe poor being on the receiving end.This infrastructure expansion will

contribute to the cutting of the unem-ployment rate by increasing the skillscapacity of unemployed graduates andmatriculants through the expanded ac-cess to education and training, whichmust be done in collaborationwith Fur-ther Education and Training (FET) Col-leges, which in our view must be trans-formed to become Vocational Educa-tion and Training Colleges that alsooffer expanded and diversified qualityhigher education programmes includ-ing diplomas up to the first degree.The expansion of education and skills

trainingmust also be done through Sec-torEducation andTrainingAuthorities(Seta) which must be seen fulfillingtheir mandate.By welcoming government’s inten-

tion to continue investing in education,health and infrastructure development,we are excited about the infrastructureroll-out for the university which willtakeplace this yearand the intendeden-rolment by the university in the prov-ince by 2014.As much as we appreciate and sup-

port our provincial government initia-tives in skills development and job crea-tion by a variety of sectors, we wouldlike to re-emphasise and encourage ourprovincial government to disembarkand disinvest from useless projects,which will bear no fruits to kids frompoor and rural communities, but to ben-efit only those who have the means toaccess them wherever they are takingplace.If government is serious about sport

and recreation, itmust build infrastruc-ture in or closer to poor communities,as well as to invest in sporting codesthat thrives in our communities.We welcome the priority of govern-

ment in tackling increased level ofcrime towards women and children,killing of young men with knives,especially at places trading with alco-hol.We have learnt with disappointment

and disgrace about the recent walk-outat the House Sitting in the Legislatureduring the acting premier’s response toSopa. Not only is this offensive pushedby the likes of the DA and Cope, but itsprincipal ideological platform andmouthpiece is mainstream print mediaand the courts.This is consistently demonstrated by

the recent events by the DA and Copefailing to debate issue(s) in the Legisla-ture and run either to the courts or me-dia. In fact, this (anti-majoritarian) li-beral agenda seeks to defend, protectand advance the interests of the whitecapitalist class and the petty bourgeoi-sie, without explicitly saying so likeduring the era of the racist apartheid re-gime; and yet in a manner not differentfrom white minority rule, but in condi-tions of black majority rule.In addition, we are calling on govern-

ment to act against a government em-ployee by the user name TWhittakerwho used the government email devise– GROUPWISE to promote Cope reac-tionary view of the Sopa by sending itto all government employees.

Expandtraining

LettersExpress Letters, P.O. Box 1583,

Kby, 8300Boipelo Mere

Boipelo.mere@volksblad.comTel: 053-831-2331. Fax: 053-831-2330

} Boipelo Mere

ANDREW LOOTS was appointed as thenew executive head of Operations KumbaIron Ore at the Sishen Mine.Loots, who has been the mine’s general

manager, took over the position witheffect from the beginning of March.He has had a successful career within

the Anglo American Group, mainly withinThermal Coal where he held variouspositions including general manager ofAsset Optimization before his appoint-ment as general manager of the SishenMine in June 2008.Loots graduated from the University of

Pretoria (UP) with a Bachelors degree inMechanical Engineering and has aMasters in Business Administration fromthe Heriott-Watt University in Scotland.This new role was created following a

strategic organisational review of Kum-ba’s ExCo structure in 2012. Congratulat-ing Andrew, the CEO of Kumba, NormanMbazima, said: “Kumba has moved on tobecome a multi-mine company. Introdu-cing an executive head of Operations thatwill create the right environment tointegrate current and future operationsand drive synergies, and I am pleased thatAndrew, with his knowledge of operationsand experience of our business, has beenappointed to drive these synergies.”Reflecting on his appointment, Andrew

commented in his farewell message:“What a journey. I went to Sishen toexpand my operational experience and gotmuch more than what I bargained for. In

just more than four and a half years I wasflooded with great experiences in allspheres of leadership, management andmine matters,” he added.According to Loots, the most important

lessons are the ones he collected from allthe people that he worked with at Sishen.The position of Loots is temporarily

being filled by Hannes Cronjé.Hannes, who has a Bachelors degree in

Mining Engineering and MBA qualifica-tion, has joined the Anglo AmericanGroup in 2007.

He was appointed as Sishen’s minemanager in 2010 and will be acting asgeneral manager until the position ispermanently filled.“I am excited to lead this world-class

mine into a next era. With the Sishenteam behind me I am confident that wewill grow further on the solid foundationthat Andrew has provided,” he saidproudly.Wynand Smith, Technical Services

manager, will now act as manager Miningin the place of Hannes.

New executive appointed

SISHENMINE’SFORMERGENERALMAN-AGER ANDREW LOOTS.

SISHEN MINE’S ACTING GENERAL MAN-AGER HANNES CRONJÉ. Photos: Supplied

} Boipelo Mere

THE exciting Diamonds and Dorings Festi-val will revive the entertaining spirit for thepeople of the Northern Cape once again.The festival, which is the flagship carnival

on the province’s entertainment calendar,now in its 12th year, promises not to disap-point.It is also expected to empower the economy

by including local talent. All service provid-ers will be from the Sol Plaatje Municipalityand surrounding areas within the province.A local company, Botlhale Communica-

tions, together with Umfana Events and theSol Plaatje Municipality is reported to behosting this year’s music festival at LanglegResort on Sunday, 31 March.Although the biggest attraction will be the

jazz festival, the event was extended to a six-

day one as more local activities such as com-edy and traditional and fashion events wasadded to feature local talent.All service providers are further invited to

make bookings with the organisers of theevent for vending stalls to those who wishto sell their wares, be it food and beverages.Local artists like old Simphiwe Gwegwe

(23), who is the only person from the North-ern Cape who made it to the top 18 of 2012’sSouth African Idols, and Lefa Pike (29) fromKimberley, who left Idols in 2011 with onlyfour contestants remaining in the competi-tion, and whose elimination made Idolsjudge Unathi Msengana cry, will be sharingthe stage.Other artists include Mafikizolo, Stimela,

Dr Malinga, Lira, The Soil, Toya Delazy andZahara.Tickets are available at Computicket.

Diamonds and Dorings to be held

THE Northern Cape local artist Lefa Pike isto share the stage with Zahara during theDiamonds and Dorings Festival.

Photo: Boipelo Mere

EXPRESS NORTHERN CAPE , WEDNESDAY 13 MARCH 2013 3

NEWS

Fivebehindbars forcellphonescam} Boipelo Mere

THE three men and twowomen who were arrestedfor defrauding the city cell-phone retailers with frau-dulent identity documentsare expected to appear beforethe Kimberley Magistrate’sCourt on charges of fraudtoday.

The suspects, aged between25 and 48, have been in policecustody since their arrest lastweek.

They allegedly confessed tobeing originally from Gautengand being in town to hit theretailers around Northern Capehard.

That is after one of them wasarrested inside the retailerwhile waiting for an applica-tion to upgrade an existingcontract phone to be processedwhilst his accomplices werearrested in a Nissan bakkie onthe N12 just outside theNorthern Cape Mall.

According to the police, theywere alerted by a retailer afterbecoming suspicious of anidentity document (ID) whichone of the suspects used.

The vigilant service providernoticed that something was notup to standard with the ID thatthe client had presented andhad already made a successfulapplication from anotherretailer earlier during the day,with the very same ID.

It was only when the policeinterrogated him that thesuspect told the police that he

was not alone in this scam.He allegedly directed them to

his crew who were waiting forhim outside in a white NissanHard Body bakkie with Gau-teng registration number

plates.After a thorough search

inside the bakkie, four fraudu-lent ID’s were found hiddeninside the speaker box, includ-ing expensive cellphones such

as a Blackberry Z10, I Phone 5,Motorola, as well as a SamsungSIII Galaxy phone, still sealedin boxes which they hadobtained from the retailersusing the fraudulent ID’s.

More than ten second-handcellphones, bank debit cardsand credit cards found in theirpossession were also confiscat-ed, as well as the Nissanbakkie.

FRAUDULENT identity documents and different cellphones and accessories were confiscated from the suspects. They are expectedto appear before the Kimberley Magistrate’s Court today. Photo: Supplied

4 EXPRESS NORTHERN CAPE, WEDNESDAY 13 MARCH 2013

NEWS

} Boipelo Mere

RIAAN BOTHA, owner of theHighway Driving School in JanKempdorp, refuted claims thathis driving school was racist.This followed after some of hisdisgruntled students raisedseveral complaints regarding hisschool.The students quoted two

occasions where differentstudents were instructed by theowner to get out of the vehiclesto give white people a chance totake lessons.“We have to spend the whole

day under a tree without toiletsor chairs to sit on and when awhite person arrives we have toget out of the truck and allowthem to have their lessons, evenif they were not part of thosewaiting under the tree,” said thestudents.“I am not stupid enough to be

racist. 99% of my clientele isblack people. Whenever some-thing white happens, it is calledracism,” said an irate Botha.According to the students, the

tree is used as a basis forstarting the lessons. They haveto be at the tree at 07:30 regard-less of their lesson time.In certain instances some of

the students don’t even get thechance to drive but they stillhave to be there at 07:30.According to the students,

some of whom are women, thereare no chairs, water or eventoilets.“This is appalling. I have

never seen anything like this inmy life. I thought it was a giveand take situation. We give aman business and he gives ustraining. But no, once you havepaid you become a nonentity tothis man. Keep in mind that ‘norefund’ is written in smallletters on your receipt – youonly see this once you’re giventhe receipt,” said MathapeloPhasha.She admitted that she had

taken on Botha which resultedin her being banned fromdriving any of the vehicles, withno refund.Another student who wanted

to remain anonymous said thatshe had come to the drivingschool and had paid for a code14 licence.She was forced to train in a

code 10 for no apparent reasonand she was not refunded thedifference in price between thecodes.“I am trapped because I have

already paid and I cannot askfor my money back becausethe receipt clearly states ‘norefund.’“Now I understand why some

of the students just packed theirbags and left without theirhard-earned money.“I will never recommend this

school to anyone, even my worstenemy,” she said.Another student said: “We are

like abandoned children. Wemeet next to another group fromanother driving school thatprovides services, including atime-table for its students.“That one is black-owned, but

its students just come to thespot, take a lesson, then leave.Finding and leaving us sittingunder the tree.”On the day Express Northern

Cape visited the driving schoolin Jan Kempdorp the studentshad been sitting under the treesince morning waiting for achance to drive which never

came. They said the instructorhad just come and told themthat the trucks had brokendown.Joseph Matebese, another

student from Kimberley who isan accomplished driver, revealedthat he had also been shiftedfrom code 14 to code 10.“I can drive code-14 trucks,

but I do not have a licence. Mycoming here was to polish mydriving skills so that I could gofor testing.“Now they tell me that I’ll

break their trucks. The saddestthing is that I took leave fromwork with the hope that I wouldreturn with a licence.

“When I paid my money, and Iam poor, we had an agreement.Now they break the agreementand do not want to refund me.“I count myself as one of the

statistics of the great Jan Kemprobbery,” he added.The students told many sad

stories about the driving school,including that they alwaysreceived negative remarksconcerning their choice of schoolat the testing centre.They said that they had lost

confidence in the school becausethey had been forced to usefaulty vehicles that had resultedin at least two students failingtheir test.

Students complainabout driving school

THE board of the Highway Driving School is visible in many townsaround the Northern Cape.

THIRSTY, tired and drained students of the driving school have to sit under this tree every day.Photos: Boipelo Mere

‘ W e h a v e t ospend the wholeday under a treewithout toilets orchairs to sit on andwhen a white per­s o n a rr i v e s w ehave to get out ofthe truck and allowthem to have theirlessons, even ifthey were not partof those waitingunder the tree.’

Express Northern Cape called thedriving school and the ownerwent ballistic when he heardthat he was speaking to areporter.“Do not speak rubbish, do not

even think of printing thisnonsense because you will sufferthe consequences,” Riaan Botha,the owner of the driving school,said.After explaining the role of a

journalist and the importance ofgiving his side of the story, hecalmed down.“Why do you think those

students failed to file a com-plaint with the state advocate?There are no irregularities at myschool. All contracts that thestudents sign are drawn up by alawyer. We advise all ourstudents to read the contractsbefore they sign,” Botha respond-ed.He added that he expected his

students to use public toilets andaccess water from nearbygarages and shops if they neededto.In response to the unavailabili-

ty of chairs he said that thestudents were wasteful and kepton breaking his chairs.“I told them to sit on the

cement next to the train rail ifthey wanted to sit. I am notprepared to buy any more chairsbecause I bought 15 for previousgroups and there are only threeleft.”Botha said he had been

running the school for the past25 years with his father who hadpassed away last year.“The Traffic Department does

not allow unroadworthy vehicleson the testing ground. Even Ifollow the K53 rule of renewingmy instructor’s certificate everyyear. The hard workers alwayspass, but failures will always failand end up blaming someoneelse,” he responded to questionsregarding the school’s credibili-ty.He concluded by promising

that he usually made an agree-ment with the students beforechanging their codes.According to Botes, the white

students that did not wait underthe tree with the whole groupwere the ones who had madeprevious arrangements as theyworked during the day. He saidhe had an agreement with thegroup to allow them to practiseand then leave.In response to why he could

not meet his students, especiallythe groups that stayed at hishostel halfway and transportthem to the tree used as a basisfor training like the otherdriving schools, he respondedthat there was not enough timeas the instructor was expected towork nine hours a day.

Ownerrefutesclaims

EXPRESS NORTHERN CAPE , WEDNESDAY 13 MARCH 2013 5

6 EXPRESS NORTHERN CAPE, WEDNESDAY 13 MARCH 2013

NEWS

}Boipelo Mere

IT is still not clearwho the next premierof the Northern Capewill be. TheANC pro-vincial office still re-mains tight-lipped asto who will step up orstep down.

Grizelda Cjiekella,the MEC for Educa-tion, has been tempo-rarily filling the posi-tion since the pre-mier, Hazel Jenkins,collapsed in Febru-ary last year.

The announce-ment failed tomateri-alise during a 30-minute house sittingon 26 February, just two days before the Stateof the ProvinceAddress delivered byCjiekellaon 1 March. Although correspondence camethrough Mpho Masina, the spokesperson inthe speaker’s office, that there would be noswearing in of members during a specialhouse sitting at the legislature, journalists,ANC alliance partners, NGO’s and oppositionparties filled the public gallery in anticipationthat the announcement would take place dur-ing the sitting.Masinacreated suspicionwhenshe announced that something important wasgoing to be announced.

Rumours are rife that Luthuli House chosethe MEC for Nature Conservation, Sylvia Lu-cas, who is also the provincial deputy chair-person of the Women’s League to fill the posi-tion, but that the choice was rebuffed by theprovincial executive committee.

Opposition sources later revealed thatHazelJenkins had refused to resign due to internalANC fighting and unhappiness in the ANCconcerning the appointment.

Strangely enough, the rumours aboutJenkins’s refusal to step down surfaced just af-ter Lucas’s name was mentioned.

According to an internal source, Lucas waschosen by the ANC national executive com-mittee weeks after her name and that ofCjiekella and Pauline Williams, MEC forSport, Arts and Culture, had been submittedto Luthuli House.

The provincial office said they would let themediaknowduringanenquiryconcerning theappointment of the new premier.

NC still hasno premier

GRIZELDACJIEKELLA, MECfor Education, isstill is still holdingthe fort.

Photo: Boipelo Mere

} Boipelo Mere

“GOD sees those who sit in theircomfortable offices and cannot even sayhello or thank you to those who had putthem there,” said a bitter Sophie Molusifrom Kimberley.

For more than 15 years Molusi hasbeen a member of the volunteer servicesteam at pension pay-points.

She had hopes for a better futurebecause Nelson Mandela, who waspresident at the time, strove for a betterlife for all. But all she received were anachiever award certificate dated 1998, andfour certificates of appreciation that shehad received in 2002, 2003, 2004 and 2005,and a green marshal's apron for her tolook presentable in in the eyes of thepublic.

“I started volunteering at pensioncentres when Makhulupas was stillthe pay-point where we would get astipend.

“All that changed when Sassa cameinto being, and our own black peopletook charge. That’s when the ‘elkeen virhomself en God vir ons almal’ attitudebefell us.

“Even the little food we received wastaken from us,” said Molusi.

Steve Mokalane, another volunteer,said that they were a registered volun-teer committee.

“We even compiled a business plan thatwas approved by CPS to render voluntaryservices at pay-points and even went fortraining.

“It is so sad that from a group of 35members we have dwindled since some ofour members have passed away withoutseeing a solution to our problem,” saidMokalane, who is the vice chairperson ofthe volunteer committee.

“The most astonishing part of the storyis that we are required to sign in andout, and provide our ID numbers forevery shift.

“This makes us suspicious that theyare possibly claiming pay with ourregisters. We know that corruption likethis is possible.”

Molusi said they were being treatedlike they were nothing by officials whosat in their offices, always holding acellphone and car keys and in a hurryto go somewhere.

“In 2011 we (pay-point volunteers)were invited to a meeting for the firsttime where we were presented withaprons with Sassa and CPS logos onthem.

“That was when they bought ussomething to eat and drink and informedus that government had allocated moneyfor us.

“The Sassa officials told us that themoney was not enough to pay us andtherefore they had decided to buy usthese aprons so that we could lookpresentable in the eyes of the public,”said the woman furiously.

“We love doing this job and feel that itis in the best interest of our elders. Werisk our health and safety to go to workonly to be treated like nothing.

“The pensioners even knock on ourdoors after hours to seek clarity regard-

ing their payment.“Some of them do not even trust the

officials at pay-points and prefer that weassist them,” she said.

The team said they had attended ameeting with Sassa, which was requestedby them.

“For the three-hour meeting with twoSassa officials there were food anddrinks.

“Something they could not affordfor those of us who worked on anempty stomach in the field,” theycomplained.

Sassa clarified their relationship andposition regarding the pay-point volun-teers in the Northern Cape. They willnot pay the volunteers.

Even though Sassa stated that theyappreciated the services of the volun-teers, they reminded them that they cameforth on their own to volunteer theirservices free of charge, based on thespirit of ubuntu.

This came after Express Northern Capemade an enquiry on behalf of thevolunteers who had complained that theyhad not been getting a stipend fromSassa.

The agency also clarified that it did notneed to employ staff for queue marshal-ling as they were only needed on a fewpayment days and were then idle for therest of the month.

The agency said that the register wasfor internal control purposes and todetermine whether all members werepresent or available at the pay-pointsduring the payment days, as well as todetermine the size of the volunteer groupin relation to the capacity of the hall andthe number of beneficiaries per pay-point.

Sassa pointed out that maybe after there-registration of the new cards, the issueof stipends and other matters might berevisited.

Volunteers not happy

SOPHIE MOLUSI wearing her green Sassamarshal's apron and holding her achieveraward certificate and certificates of appre-ciation that she had received over theyears as a volunteer. Photo: Boipelo Mere

EXPRESS NORTHERN CAPE , WEDNESDAY 13 MARCH 2013 7

NEWS

Family ‘failed’ by police} Boipelo Mere

THE Rifels family from Del-portshoop are still in thedark about the progress oftheir case after a member oftheir family, MoatlhodiRifels, was allegedly stabbedto death by a group of mi-nors.According to the family, a

group of seven boys had al-legedly attacked and stabbedMoatlhodi. They were aston-ished to hear from themediathat only one of the minorswas arrested and is out onbail, as they were not issuedwith a case number.The family feel they are

failed by the police as theyheard that one of the minorshad moved to another town,Kuruman, where he is at-

tending school.They see the others just

walking freely as if nothinghappened.“No one is keeping us in-

formed concerning the casethat was opened in Januaryalready. The last time wewent to enquire wewere justtold that the case willresume inApril. Not a singledocument was issued to us,”said Daniel Rifels, the broth-er of the deceased.Daniel said after the mur-

der had been reported, one ofthe boys had turned himselfin at the local police stationand had exposed the others.He said the last time they

had heard from the policehad been when they had ac-companied them to thecrime scene. Following the

blood tracks from where thedeceased was found, theyfound empty bottles of gluewhere the boys sat before theattack.“All we want is justice so

that we must have closure.”In response to an enquiry

from Express Northern Capethe SAPS responded throughLt Olebogeng Tawana: “Thisoffice confirms that the Del-portshoop police are investi-gating a case of murder fol-lowing the death of RoosMoatlhodi. The incidenthappened on 8 January inthe evening and the accusedwas arrested shortly afterthe incident. A 16-year-oldboy was arrested andcharged with murder. Cur-rently he is out on bail. Theinvestigation continues.”

Science labbrings hope tolearners} Boipelo Mere

DUWAYNE OOR, a gr. 12Science learner of the Pesco-dia High School in Roode-pan, was pleased that a solu-tionwas found for their emp-ty laboratory challenge athis school.This after amobile science

laboratory project waslaunched by the NationalYouth Development Agency(NYDA) in collaborationwith the provincial Educa-tion Department.Themobile science labora-

tories are meant to improveteaching and learning meth-ods for Physical Science ex-periments.Initiated by the NYDA

(National Youth Develop-ment Agency) three yearsago, the project is aimed atsupporting underprivilegedschools with mobile sciencelaboratories equipped withlab apparatus that providesteachers and learners with aplatform to perform experi-ments which they could oth-erwise not do due to lack offacilities.“Now I can look forward to

getting my five distinc-tions,” said an excited Oor.The enthusiastic learner,

who aims to study ChemicalEngineering, said he hadnever felt demotivated bythe fact that their school wasleft with almost no equip-ment to do experiments.He revealed that their

school was constantly beingburgled, causing the learn-ers to suffer more.“This is an answer to our

prayers as the lab will assist

us with Science and Chemis-try.“Now we’ll also be able to

understand the experimentsbetter and change the waythat the learners see Sci-ence,” he added.“My results are satisfy-

ing given my situation, butthey will surely improve,”he added with confidence.The launch was attended

by principals, Science teach-ers and learners of selectedschools in each of the fivedistricts of the provincewhere different schoolsweregiven letters by the MEC ofEducation in the province,Grizelda Cjiekella, and Wil-liam Tawuli of NYDA gavean overview and back-ground information aboutthe project.Cjiekella welcomed the do-

nation and expressed hersatisfaction that the North-ern Cape’s turn had eventu-ally come as she had beenmonitoring the project as itwas being launched in Lim-popo, the Eastern Cape andthe Free State.“All our schools across the

province and indeed wherethese mobile science labswill be placed, are expectedto produce many top-classschool leavers, and we hopethat a large number of themwill,with thehelp of these fa-cilities, be motivated to en-ter the fields of science, tech-nology, engineering andmathematics, and help tomake our province and ourcountry internationallyeven more competitive inthese critical fields,’’ saidCjiekella.

She further said that thesescience laboratories wouldfurther enhance the partici-pation and performance inMaths, Technology and Sci-ence, with the hope that theencouraging gr. 12 resultsachieved last year in Scienceand Maths, would improveeven further and encouragemore young people to enrolin these critical gatewaysubjects.“As we work hard to in-

crease participation and per-formance in Maths and Sci-ence, we need to link learn-ing to employmentopportunities or at least tothe development of life andentrepreneurial skills,’’ con-tinued the MEC.“These mobile science

labs will also enable ourlearners to participate moremeaningfully in campaignssuch as National ScienceWeek, as well as our scienceand maths festivals and sim-ilar platforms,’’ said Cjiekel-la.None was as happy as Ed-

die de Villiers, a teacher ofthe Bongani High School inDouglas in the Pixley ka Se-me Education District.“Our school’s equipment

is outdated, so this mobilelab is going to help. We areparticularly grateful for themicroscope, as we have a lotof children doing Science.“It has always been diffi-

cult to get chemicals, but Inoted a booklet with contactnumbers for a chemicals out-let. This is exciting,’’ said DeVilliers, who was accompa-nied by a gr. 12 learner,Nosi-pho Tshazibane.

FROM the left are, front: Volente Peters, a gr. 12 learner of the Pescodia High School,and the MEC of Education, Grizelda Cjiekella; back: Duwayne Oor, Chad Popham andWilliam Tawuli of NYDA with their brand-new science lab. Photo: Boipelo Mere

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8 EXPRESS NORTHERN CAPE, WEDNESDAY 13 MARCH 2013

THE Midway Mayhem, which marks thehalfway mark to the next Maloof MoneyCup World Skateboarding Championshipsin September, was hosted earlier thismonth where top skaters competed in theamateur contest.

With free entry to the SkateboardingPlaza members of the public, includinghopeful skateboarding enthusiasts, packedthe venue to witness their favouriteskaters perform miracles.

Great spot prizes were up for grabs andlocal performers provided live entertain-ment to create a festive atmosphere at thestate-of-the-art skate park.

The line-up also included skate clinicsand a trick jam contest for the youngsters.

The event saw Shawn Burger, a skaterfrom Pretoria, scooping first price for TheBest Trick.

Dlamini Dlamini from Durban got thecourtesy of being personally congratulated

by Tim McFerran of Maloof Skateboardingamongst the crowd just before the price-giving ceremony.

He walked straight to the skater whowas sitting amongst the crowd and shookhis hand.

Dlamini was evidently the audience’sfavourite as everyone was cheering forhim whenever he skated.

He was later awarded for the bestswitch double flip where he got R4 000.

According to the MEC for Finance,Economic Development and Tourism, JohnBlock, this will be a perfect opportunity toturn the spotlight back on the sport ofskateboarding.

“This event will give the skateboardersthe chance to experience the incrediblemagic of the Maloof Money Cup and theamazing facilities at the skate park,”added Block.

The Northern Cape has been home to

the Maloof Money Cup SkateboardingWorld Championships for the past twoyears and will once again host thegreatest skateboarding event in the worldthis September.

Spotlight on skateboardingFROM the left are the MEC for Finance, Economic Development and Tourism, John Block, the winner of the best switch doubleflip, Dlamini Dlamini, Juanita Beukes, the deputy speaker of the Northern Cape Legislature, and TimMcFerran ofMaloof Skateboard-ing. Photo: Boipelo Mere

‘This event will give the skateboarders thechance to experience the incredible magicof theMaloof Money Cup and the amazingfacilities at the skate park.’ – John Block