Express Northern Cape 27 Feb 2013

TINA JOEMATTPETTERSON: Even beforeshe left the province to become a cabinetminister she was already behaving like aprima donna, seeing provincial politicsas below her worth. But can this feistywoman deliver? Yes, big time. In fact,she can whip the province to its glorydays as number one in everything except soccer. She definitely features highon the wish list. It’s a pity she isrefusing. Photo: Boipelo Mere

TINA JOEMATTPETTERSON: Even beforeshe left the province to become a cabinetminister she was already behaving like aprima donna, seeing provincial politicsas below her worth. But can this feistywoman deliver? Yes, big time. In fact,she can whip the province to its glorydays as number one in everything except soccer. She definitely features highon the wish list. It’s a pity she isrefusing.

GODFREY OLIPHANT: He always appears as a possible candidate, but always falls short ofreaching the destination. Remember, when all were at aloss at the height of JT Gaetseweschools boycott he singlehandendly convinced the riotersto stop as he had secured fundsfor the building of roads. Givethat Warrenton man achance.

GODFREY OLIPHANT: He always appears as a possible candidate, but always falls short ofreaching the destination. Remember, when all were at aloss at the height of JT Gaetseweschools boycott he singlehandendly convinced the riotersto stop as he had secured fundsfor the building of roads. Givethat Warrenton man a

TEL: 053 8312331 WEDNESDAY 27 FEBRUARY 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

BY the time you read this arti-cle it could be that you have al-ready recovered from the shockannouncement of some darkhorse to become the premier ofthe Northern Cape. The thingabout the ANC in general is thatleadership positions are not re-served for anyone, not even tothat capable person the commu-nity prefers.

An unforgettable story inKlerksdorp goes that in a parti-cular ward the ANC removed acandidate preferred by the com-munity and replaced him withanother comrade, the wholecommunity rallied behind therejected Ntate Moleme who wonthe ward by a big margin andshamed those who rejected him.The situation in the NorthernCape is different in that it is notelection time, it is just that onFriday, 1 March, the NorthernCape community does not wantan actress or actor to give thestate of the province address.Here are four people who can fitwell as premiers of theprovince only if wisheswere horses.

Whowill be next?New NC premier to be announced

GRIZELDACJIEKELA: Given her deliveryin the pastyear as an actress she didnot do badly, she isworthy ofa try.

Photo:BoipeloMere

Klerksdorp goes that in a parti-cular ward the ANC removed acandidate preferred by the com-munity and replaced him withanother comrade, the wholecommunity rallied behind therejected Ntate Moleme who wonthe ward by a big margin andshamed those who rejected him.The situation in the NorthernCape is different in that it is notelection time, it is just that onFriday, 1 March, the NorthernCape community does not wantan actress or actor to give thestate of the province address.Here are four people who can fitwell as premiers of theprovince only if wisheswere horses.

GRIZELDACJIEKELA: Given her deliveryin the pastyear as an actress she didnot do badly, she isworthy ofa try.

Photo:

JOHN BLOCK: JB, as he isknown in the underworld ofwheeling and dealing, is ascomplete a politician as theycome.He is a senior politicianand can address the fundingmode used to fund the province at an equal status withnational colleagues. The2% from national treasury is an insult to the

big province. Photo:Charné Kemp?

2 EXPRESS NORTHERN CAPE, WEDNESDAY 27 FEBRUARY 2013

NEWS

} Boipelo Mere

THE Road AccidentFund (RAF)promised toresource theKimberley officethat is based at theKimberley Hospitalas soon as possible.

That happenedafter complaintswere raised bycommunity mem-bers in the North-ern Cape that theynever find anyoneat the office as it isalways closed.

A response wasgiven that a manfrom Colesberg iscurrently helpingout at the officeand is expected toservice the whole of

the province.According to the

RAF, they adver-tised for the job foran office-basedperson before, butno one applied.

The communitycomplained that theoffice was closed allthe time and theycould not getassistance from themale office bearer,whose numberswere on the noticeboard outside theoffice.

They said theywere left hopelessafter submittingclaims at the RAFoffice and hardlyever heard any-thing from theoffice after the

application.That is what led

to the long queuesof desperate RAFclaimants at thecity hall whoneeded to know thestatus of theirclaims.

Some of theclaimants whomade claims in orbefore 2011 saidthey heard fromRAF for the firsttime a week beforetheir visit toKimberley.

The RAF spentthe week beforetheir On the Roadcampaign inKimberley wherethey telephonicallyinvited the claim-ants and made road

blocks where theyhanded out flyers.

The fund broughta bus load ofexperts rangingfrom forensicinvestigators, afinance team and ateam of the PatientOutreach Pro-gramme (POP).

Daniel Long, whoarrived on a bicyclefrom Hopetown,was very dissatis-fied about the paceto sort out hisclaim.

He submitted aclaim in 2010 to amale person whoonly made copies ofhis document andpromised to getback to him.

He has spent a lotof transport moneytravelling betweenHopetown andKimberley, only tofind the officeclosed every timehe went there.

He said he evenwent to the extendof calling theprovided number,whose owneralways claims to beoutside Kimberley.

“They have notresponded to meuntil today.

“What I want toknow is why theyhave to have anoffice that is alwaysclosed,” said thefrustrated Long.

Dr EugeneWatson, who is theCEO of RAF,admitted that theydid not reachenough communitymembers in theprovince due to itsvastness.

He promised toreturn in a month’stime to meet withthe stakeholders todraft a programmein order to be moreaccessible to thecommunity.

He added theNorthern Cape didnot have thehighest accidentrates maybebecause some of thecases were notreported.

RAF in NorthernCape in chaos

QUEUES of frustrated RAF claimants at the city hall. Photo: Boipelo Mere

EXPRESS NORTHERN CAPE , WEDNESDAY 27 FEBRUARY 2013 3

NEWS

} Boipelo Mere

THESE two teenage boys from Galeshewecall themselves ILP Skotanas as they claimto live cheese lives.They were spotted by the Express North-

ern Cape reporter followed by masses ofschool learners during the day where theyperformdifferent dancemoves in themiddleof tar roads.When they were approached in their

strange walk in Adam Nomakola Street, theteenagers shyly denied claims that they arethe township skotanas.According to the followers,mostly 10-year-

olds, they frequently go to the Galeshewe li-brary where most of the learners go on theirway home.On arrival they compete with another

group where they splash 2 F cold drinks onother children and all over, tear theirclothes and their ties and even throw and de-

stroy their phones on the floor.One of them was even seen tearing his

tekkies into pieces and throwing moneyaway.The other group went heavy as they

went to buy custard and squirted it allover the place.A learner of the same age in the audience

said she knew one of the boys and claimedthat he was from a struggling family.“His parents are struggling but he is wast-

ing and pretending to be a real skotana onlyto show off,” said the learner.A disgusted parent who always witnesses

the boys’ behaviour said it was very sad tosee what peer pressure can do to children,especially teenagers.“Even in this poverty-stricken communi-

ty they are still doing that.“Their parents are trying their best to

dress and feed them, but they waste their ef-forts away,” said the parent.

What a waste . . .THESE two boys (pictured in the blue and red Tshirts) from Galeshewe call themselvesILP Skotanas as they claim to live expensive lifestyles. Photo: Boipelo Mere

} Boipelo Mere

THE Phelophepa Health-Care Train willsoon make its precence felt at the Beacons-field Station, Kimberley. The train is expect-ed to stay in town for almost two weekswhich is from 18 to 28 March.Already five towns in the Northern Cape

had an opportunity of experiencing thequality health services that Phelophepa de-livers.After the De Aar Station, the train will be

heading straight to Kimberley.The health-care train, which is reported

to have changed the lives of more than 20million people, is on one of its annual toursaround the country whereby it providesgood quality healthcare free of charge topoorer communi-ties.After the realisa-

tion of the long dis-tances rural pa-tients need towalk in order toaccess health care,the Transnet Foun-dation brought thePhelophepa Trainto life as a social re-sponsibility projectto give back to thecommunities thatare in dire need ofhealth care.The aim of the

train is not just toprovide quality mo-bile health care, butto also offer opportu-nities for communi-ty upliftment.Thus the project

makes use of activemembers in the com-

munity to market the train’s arrival toensure that the surrounding areas areaware of when Phelophepa will be availa-ble and to help with the set-up for thetrain at each station.The train has already covered Colesberg,

Kakamas, Upington, Prieska and De Aar.Phelophepa offers eye and dental care,

screening for diabetes and cancer, as well aspsychological counselling services to thepoor.An on-board pharmacy dispenses the nec-

essary medication either for free or at thelowest prices possible.The 18-coach train has 20 dedicated full-

time staff members, as well as 40 volunteerstudents at any given time.

Health train on its way toKby to help community


NEWS

} Boipelo Mere

THE National Federation ofTourist Guides Initiative whichwas achieved in 2009 by govern-ment still remains fractured inthe Northern Cape and otherprovinces.According to the MEC for

Finance, Economic Developmentand Tourism, John Block, anexecutive committee was put inplace, but there are still noassociations in some provinces.The initiative was put in place

as a support and developmentmechanism to ensure that touristguides are successful and becomewell established entrepreneurs.Block highlighted this to the

120 guests and tourist guidesduring a gala event at theFlamingo Casino.The event formed part of the

two day International TouristGuides’ Day celebration hostedby the Provincial EconomicDevelopment and Tourismand National Department ofTourism.It provided a platform to

showcase tourist guiding inSouth Africa by making theindustry and the general publicaware of the tourist guidingprofession.The event also provided a

platform for tourist guides,tourism stakeholders, govern-ment departments and tourismauthorities involved in touristguiding to engage and shareinformation on importantdevelopments and challenges in

the tourist guiding sector.The deputy minister of Tour-

ism, Tokozile Xasa, named thetour guides ‘brand ambassadors’as they act as ambassadorsfor their countries – as wellas help to explain the uniqueculture and heritage of a nationto visitors.She said the theme for the year

being Tourist Guiding in the 21stCentury does not only address thechallenges experienced in thesector, but also the opportunitiesthat are available to touristguides to grow their businesses.Block also highlighted the

huge challenge that the touristguiding fraternity are facedwith of staying relevant in thiscompetitive business tourismenvironment and not beingorganised.He called on mainstream

tourism product owners to assistgovernment’s efforts to extendtheir skills and opportunities tomembers of previously disadvan-taged communities, and urgedthem to assist in giving exposureto local tourist guides and shareit with them in order to ensurean equal spread of the benefitsaccruing from the growth oftourism visitation statistics.According to Block, efforts by

government in tighteninglegislation around complianceand illegal operation within thetourist guiding sector as illegaltourist guiding has proven to bea global challenge.The deputy minister announced

the successful agreement by the

National Department of Tourism(NDT), with the Culture, Arts,Tourism and Hospitality SportsSector Education TrainingAuthority (CATHSSETA) toprioritise tourist guide trainingand development throughoutSouth Africa.“The Memorandum of Under-

standing (MoU) with CATHSSE-TA also seeks to address areasof transformation within thetourist guiding sector, as wellas the maintenance of standardsthrough quality training and

effective skills developmentprogrammes aimed at enhancingthe skills of existing touristguides.“We went further to engage the

Road Traffic ManagementCorporation (RTMC) to educatetraffic officials throughout SouthAfrica on how to enforce thelegislation pertaining to touristguides.“The NDT will also be working

closely with the Department ofTransport with the view ofensuring enforcement of tourist

guiding issues relating to touroperators and related regulationsin the National Land TransportAct,” she explained.Xasa concluded by encouraging

the importance of maintaining awell centralised database oftourist guides in order to startengaging with the Department ofHome Affairs, Justice, and otherrelevant authorities to ensurethat the information received inthe provinces is subjected to avetting process as prescribed inthe Tourism Act of 1993.

Event to promote tourism

THE deputy minister of Tourism,Tokozile Xasa, addressed theguests during the InternationalTour Guides Day celebration inKimberley.

DEE KAMO entertained the guests during the gala event at the Flamingo Casino. Photos: Boipelo Mere

Show theirsupportYONDER, the centre for adultswith intellectual disabilities,held a Cansa Shavathon aspart of their fund raising initiative for cancer. Residents, volunteers and staff members ofthe centre all had a specialtreat of spraying their heads.

Photos: Boipelo Mere

RONEL KRUGER enjoyed the hairdo by Brunnie Botha from Cansa.

THE director of Yonder, Jannie van Zyl, had to be draggedout of his busy schedule tohave his hair painted.

“WHY is my beard bloody” Jannie van Zyl cried out after lookinginto the mirror.



} Boipelo Mere

SAMWU invites the SolPlaatje Municipality to jointheir team of investigatorsin the deaths of the five mu-nicipal workers who died atthe sewerage plant in No-vember last year.The union decided to con-

duct their own investiga-tion in order to compare itwith the one from the De-partment of Labour.According to Duma Le-

bakeng, the provincial sec-retary of Samwu, they areconcerned about the delayin the Department of La-bour’s speed in releasingtheir report concerning theincident.“We understand that they

are still doing inves-tigations, thus we also ap-pointed our own task teamto conduct investigationsalong with the Labour De-partment, because we smell

a rat on the municipality’ssite.“We don’t want to specu-

late, thus we decided to re-lease our own internal re-port,” he emphasised.Lebakeng addressed the

media during the launch oftheir provincial health andsafety structure at the sew-erage plant where their fel-low comrades had died.He further revealed that

the over 7 000 members ofSamwuwere facing challen-ges of health and safety, be-cause the municipality didnot adhere to the labourlaws.According to Lebakeng,

the Sol Plaatje Municipalityforgot about the families ofthe deceased workers.“We requested that after

the funeral themunicipalityhad to appoint at least onefamily member of the de-ceased. They have not donethat yet,” he added.

Own investigation doneOwnOwn investigationinvestigation donedone

THE waste removal reactors where the bugs eat up allthe harmful particles in the water before the water istransferred to the activators.

THE secondary settlementtanks which pump the waterto the garden fields and themines. Photo: Boipelo Mere

NEWS


NEWS

} Boipelo Mere

ALL gold award winners of who participat-ed in the Eco Schools programme during the2012 academic year will have the opportuni-ty of competing for the international GreenFlag next year.

The announcement was made during theaward ceremony gala dinner that was host-ed by the MEC for Environment and NatureConservation, Sylvia Lucas.

A total of 60 schools throughout the prov-ince participated in the programme where-by they were awarded gold, silver andbronze medals and a Green Flag.

The bronze certificate winners are thefirst year entrants, silver are the secondyear, the Green Flag are the third year andthe gold winners are the fourth year en-trants of the project.

To enter the competition all schools sub-

mitted their portfolios which were evaluat-ed by the department.

The department in return made quarterlyvisits to the schools and awarded them theawards if their portfolios were up to stand-ard.

The Eco Schools programme is a pro-gramme of the Foundation for Environmen-tal Education and operates in more than 46countries worldwide. It aims at improvingenvironmental learning at the school andeco-tourism in the respective areas.

In South Africa, Eco Schools support theNational Curriculum Statement from gr. Rup to gr. 12.

The acting premier, Crizelda Cjiekella, ap-plauded the Northern Cape in its achieve-ment of being awarded the number one per-forming province in the Eco Schools pro-gramme by the Wildlife and EnvironmentSociety of South Africa (Wessa) in 2012.

Gold winners to participate

PICTURED are Sandile Ckebekule, the Francis Baard coordinator of the Eco Schoolsprogramme, Ronnie Morwe, who was the acting mayor of the Sol Plaatje Municipality,and a Thabane High School teacher, NeoModise. Thabane High was one of the schoolsthat were awarded a Green Flag. Photo: Boipelo Mere


company just to sent SMS’s to residents to re-mind them to pay their rates.Meanwhile people have already mapped

their stands in the empty, but swampy landbetween Tambo Square and West End.Land already approvedAccording to the leading committee, land

has long been approved as a residential areaand was shown to the residents at an IDPmeeting held in the Bantu Hall.According to them, fundswere allocated for

mapping and infrastructure development,but the municipality seems to be dragging itsfeet.“The municipality is looking at ways to in-

terdict us, but we have resolved to go aheadand erect our shacks. They will follow laterwhen they have made peace with reality,”said Simon Lekau, coordinator.He further revealed they were doing the

municipality a favour by using the area as ithad turned into a haven for criminals whohide there and rob, rape and attack passers-by. He said they were aware that West Endresidents live in fear of criminals who hidein the veld.A nearby house owner said although he un-

derstood the plight of those people hewas justconcerned the value of his house was goingto drop. They had arranged to build 250shacks, but they are confronted with a list ofmore than 500 land seekers.They planned to give the list to government

so they should appreciate the severity of theproblem.Last week Friday the municipality tried to

stop the residents by sending members of theSAPS to threaten them.The residents demanded to see the mayor

and municipal manager who did not respondto their demands,which resulted in the policeleaving the scene.

themselves rather than wait for people in themunicipality or Human Settlement Depart-ment who seem contend to be reactionaries.Speaking toacommunity leader inFloorsandColville, Shane Griqua, Express NorthernCape found that people have endured unbear-able hardship in the hands of their leaders fordecades.Colville has been ignored“Colville has been the most ignored part of

the town for so long that one wonders if weare part of Kimberley. There is no develop-ment in terms of infrastructure, recreationalfacilities or roads taking place here. Every-thing is going to Galeshewe and the suburbs.“It is unbelievable that we don’t even have

an ATM in our township.“We are dying fromdust here aswe are sur-

rounded by mining dumps,’’ said Griqua.He further revealed that De Beers allocated

the community of Colville the land it usednear Colville and Hull Street for housing pur-poses and nothing has been done so far. Gri-quamentioned a four-roomed housewhere 26people lived in. He also quoted a situationwhere a poor man dug a hole to sleep and an-other wheelchair-bound man slept outsideunder a tree.Government knows“It is not like government does not know

these things, theydo. It is just that the govern-ment has decided to ignore us. There is a so-cial worker who comes to the makeshift halland only stays for 30minutes or anhour twicea week,” continued Griqua.With regard to the building of shacks Gri-

qua said themunicipalityhad toprovide sani-tation, water and other services.Griqua threw in a passing shot that apart

from the exorbitant municipal manager’s sixdigit salary, the municipality is at presentpaying R6 million per month to a Gauteng

Kimberley is the capital of the NorthernCape and is bound to have public servantswho are largelymiddle-income earners. Theycannot afford houses that are in the marketbecause they are overpriced.The sad thing is that public servants cannot

by law ownRDPhouses as they are preservedfor poor and low-income earners. These arepeople who earn less than R3 500 per month.Naturally when there are land grabs, publicservantswill be involved as they are stuck be-tween a rock and a hard place.However, the recent acts of land grabbing

inWest End near the VIP Shopping Complex,near Vuyolethu High School and the muchtalked about Colville shacks, is an indicationof people who are determined to do things for

} Boipelo Mere

THE season for land grabbing is upon the SolPlaatje Municipality and this time it is likelyto spread to all suburbs of the city if the frus-trated residents have their way.What frustrates people is the failure of the

municipality to provide land for housing tothe people. Themunicipality rather gives theland that belongs to the community to indi-viduals through auctioning.For many years the people in the black and

coloured areas never had an opportunity tosee housing development of their choice ex-cept when national government allocatedmoney for RDP housing and even then onlyfew sub-standard houses were build.

NEWS

Frustration leads to land grabbing

SHANE GRIQUA in Piritjie Steyn’s shack in Colville. Steyn is grateful for the plot andis already staying in it on a permanent basis. He said he was praying day and nightfor the municipality not to remove them as he had nowhere else to go.

THE residents of Tambo Square also said they are going ahead with the process of building their shacks next to West End. Photo: Boipelo Mere


} Boipelo Mere

AT FACE value anyone passingthrough Colville, a depressingsuburb in Kimberley, can feel theheavy air of poverty whistling asresidents crisscross St Paul Streetand disappear into the few shortstreets on either side.This is the place were many

residents, who are mainly col-oureds, live a life of no hope.Grabbing the land to build shacks

along the sloot running betweenFlorianville and Colville seems tohave worked a trick as Colville isnow on the spotlight.Speaking to youths who hang

around the shops in Lucy Streeteveryday, Express NC learned thateveryone felt sure that they wereforgotten people.The group call themselves ‘die

stoepsitters’ as they sit on the stoepmost of the time.They think that it would be a

waste of time for them to fight forthe land by the new shacks becausethey would never get a plot, eventhough they will be making effortsof reducing the overcrowdedness intheir homes.Most of them revealed they were

living at least ten or more in afour-room house. They would alsonot qualify because they had nochildren given their age.“We need a direction to start

something of our own. We have no

sports facilities, no jobs, skills oreven projects. We are clearlysidelined,” said a disgruntled youthwho looks like the leader of thepack.The youth says there is no

difference between the present DAcouncillor and the former ANCcouncillors. They all go to sleep andenjoy their monthly salaries as soonas they are voted in.“It is a disgrace to see a failed

former councillor pretending to befighting alongside the people whenthey are fighting for the right to theland.“He and his party did nothing for

us and were voted out and now hewants to sneak in some sympathyfrom the community so that he canrise again.“To hell with him, man.”Another youth pointed out they

mostly drop out of school at gr. 10because there is no motivation tocarry on with their schooling. Buthe admitted that peer pressure andsubstance abuse play a role in theirdropping out of school.Another youth, who once be-

longed to a dance group calledZanion Flames which used tomesmerise people with their silkydiski dance during the 2010 FifaWorld Cup, says many talentedyouths end up turning to drugssince they receive no support eitherfrom the Sol Plaatjie Municipalityor Northern Cape ProvincialGovernment. “The interest in diskidance stopped long ago just afterthe final whistle of the final gameof Fifa World Cup in 2010, as ifthere is no soccer anymore in thecountry,” says the dejected dancer.Asked about the reputation of

Colville as a place of gangsters,Brinsley Griqua answered that theplace is now peaceful as well-knowngangsters have retired. According toGriqua their main challenge isdrugs and glue, but they refuse toclassify marijuana as drugs.Griqua intimated that he was

proud to live in Colville as it had apool of talented youth.

NEWS

} Boipelo Mere

THE ceremonial sent off for the40 offenders who will berepresenting the Free State andNorthern Cape region duringthe upcoming national offenderstournament in Pretoria Correc-tional Centre was hosted.The Regional Commissioner

for Free State and NorthernCape, Subashni Moodley,together with her entire execu-tive council treated the team toa banquet at Tswelopele Correc-tional Centre.The 40 members constituted

by 20 males and 20 femalesoffenders who were carefullyselected from all managementareas within the two regions are

expected to put the region onthe map during the two-daytournament.At least 200 offenders from

across the country are expectedto participate in the nationalsoccer tournament.Their selection to the top

squad is a culmination of a veryprudent and rigorous assort-ment process which wasembarked upon in January forall offenders with keen interestin this sporting code.They are therefore expected to

put the name of this region onthe map.The event was regarded by

the centres as a historic andmomentous landmark as it willmark and highlight the impor-

tance of ensuring that offenderwell-being is being taken careof. Correctional Services alsoconsiders sports as the corner-stone for correcting offendingbehaviour and rehabilitatingthose within their care.It was during the ceremony

that Moodley told the offendersthat they were chosen becausethey were amongst the best inthe region.“And for that reason you

should really applaud your-selves for having gone thisfar.“I would like to thank all of

you today for having made theright decision and tapping intothose opportunities,” saidMoodley.

Ceremony held for soccer players

COACH JAKE MATHABA with some of the offenders who were hosted.

Colville – place without hope

THE diski dancers Zanion Flames (front) andMario Angelo ended up joining the ‘stoepsitters’ who say theyspend the day hanging out at the shops, discussinglife. They claim not to have any hope left.

LEVERTHVANWYK’S dream is to become a dog trainer as he can communicate well with dogs.

ASPIRING cyclist AlcinoAnthony belongs to PWC.comcycling group. He is the only onewithout sponsorship.

RAHJENDRA BEUKES with the music box that he buildwith his own hands. Photos: Boipelo Mere

‘It is a disgrace to see afailed former councillorpretending to be fightingalongside the peoplewhen they are fightingfor the right to the land.He and his party did nothing for us and were votedout and now he wants tosneak in some sympathyfrom the community sothat he rise again. To hellwith him, man.’


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NEWS

} Boipelo Mere

THE Northern Cape will form part of thecountrywide events to raise awareness aboutthe repercussions of the Natives Land Act of1913.

The provincial celebration is expected tobe coordinated by the Department of RuralDevelopment and Land Reform in Upingtonand other towns in June.

The June 2013 centenary commemorationis expected to be an important educationaland historic event whereby South Africansare able to say “never again shall it be thatthe natural resources of this wonderful landbe shared by some to the exclusion of oth-ers”.

The Natives LandAct of 1913 carved a deepwound on the inhabitants of South Africa asit was the start of a long road of modern op-pression. The full repercussions of the act ledto much hardship and poverty and divided

communities and families and scattered peo-ple to other parts of our country.

The sole objective of this act by parliamentwas to regulate the acquisition of land by thenatives, which formed an integral part of thesystem of apartheid.

The Native’s Land Act was the first majorpiece of legislationpromulgatedby theUnionParliament, and remained a cornerstone ofapartheid until the 1990s when it was re-placed by the current policy of land restitu-tion.

The act decreed that only certain areas ofthe country could be owned by natives. Thenatives could only “own” approximately 7%of the total land of South Africa.

The act created a systemof land tenure thatdeprived the majority of South Africa’s in-habitants of the right to own land. Conse-quently, this regulatory framework had ma-jor socio-economic repercussions, and the re-sult of this deprivation is still evident today.

Event an educational tool

CREATE AWARENESS: Beautiful Beginning observed cancer by allowing the children’sand teachers’ heads to be sprayed and gelled to create awareness for cancer. The centrealso did this in loving memory of their fouryearold fellowlearner, Lufuno Leleka (pictured in the photo frame), who died last week due to cancer. Photo: Ruan Bruwer


NEWS

LettersExpress Letters, P.O. Box 1583,

Kby, 8300Boipelo Mere

[email protected]: 053-831-2331. Fax: 053-831-2330

An open letter to Oscar Pistorius

} ABDULAFEEZANIMASHAUN:

OKAY, Mr Oscar Pistorius, let meget this straight, you were awarethat Reeva Steenkamp was stayingat yourhouse thatnight, right?And,from the look of things, you bothslept in the same bed.

So, a strange sound wakes you updeep into the night, and what woulda “vulnerable” persondo in that sce-nario?If Reeva was indeed sleeping next

to you, you’d tap her gently, shewakes and you ask her: “Did youhear that sound? It’s coming fromthe bathroom.” And Reeva wouldhave said: “It could be aburglar, callthe police” or “Bring your gun, let’sgo check it out”.But,no, thatdidn’thappen,MrOs-

car, you didn’t first check to knowwhere your girlfriendwas. You sim-ply picked up your gun and headedstraight to where the “strangenoise”wascoming from–yourbath-

room.Though I do not know the level of

sophistication or stupidity of the av-erage South African burglar or in-truder, but back home in Nigeriawhere I come from, burglars or in-truders don’t enter your house justto use the bathroom, like seriously?I understand, Mr Oscar, that you

live in one of those highbrow neigh-bourhoods in Pretoria, a fortifiedhousing estate with armed privatesecurity guards and all, and a bur-glar/intruder beats all this andheads straight to your bathroom?For argument’s sake, let’s agree

that you truly thought she was aburglar/intruder hiding in your

bathroom. So, Oscar, you come outwith your gun pointed towards thebathroom door, you still don’t knowwhere Reeva is. You were not wor-ried if this “intruder” hadmolested,was still molesting or murderedyour girlfriend or if she was beingheld hostage right there in the bath-room.Anormal gun owner in that situa-

tion would probably have asked:“Who’s there? Reeva, is that you?”but NO . . . our dear “blade runner”closed his eyes and opened fire, fourtimes hitting his target spot on.For now you have been granted

bail until June, you now have moretime to improve on your story.

TheSouthAfricanpolicealsonowhave more time to further scuttlethis murder case and probably lookfor an ex-police officer on death-rowto come lead this investigation.It does look like several “power-

ful” elements in South Africa (andthesportsbrandingworld)wantyouto become a free man. You are oneof those international inspirationaliconswhomakes this “rainbow”na-tion look good. Mandela is alreadytoo old.Another thing you have got on

your side is that you are not a fire-brand critic of President Jacob Zu-ma or the ANC and so they may letyou off the hook.

THE Nedbank Cup pits the minnows of thegame against the giants of the Premiershipand there have been some shock results overthe last four decades.1971:PimvilleChampionsbeatLamontville

Golden Arrows, one of the founder membersof the NPSL, 6-2 in their Life Challenge Cupquarter-final after the two teams had drawntheir first encounter 1-1 after extra time, butthen refused to hold a penalty shoot-out, pre-ferring toreplay thematch instead.This is stilla record loss for a top league sideagainst lowerleague opposition.1978: A hat-trick from Johannes Simelane

helped Alexandria Blackpool beat Arcadia 4-3in the quarter-final of the Mainstay Cup to be-come the first side from lower leagues to reachthe semi-final of the major cup competition inthe multi-racial era. Blackpool lost to Chiefsin the semi-final, who in turn lost to Wits inthe final.1980:Highlands Park were League champi-

ons in 1980, but they fell in the first round ofthe Mainstay Cup to Mamelodi United, whosescored thewinning goal in extra-time throughJan Msiza to win 3-2 at Mamelodi. They laterwon promotion to the top flight as well.1991:ZolaYoungStars beatOrlandoPirates

5-3 on post-match penalties after a thrilling 3-3draw in the first round of the Bob Save SuperBowl. TheBucs team that day includeBernardLushozi, Johnny Masegela, Aubrey Lekwane,Lawrence Maake and current Maritzburgcoach Ian Palmer.1996: Hellenic finished in the top six in the

League, but lost in the first round of the SuperBowl 0-1 to Park United on the night the PSLwas officially launched. It was the second suc-cessive season the amateurs had taken a top-flight scalp. Hellenic lost to Mannenberg Dol-phins in the first round the next year as well.1997:GavinHunt took First Division Seven

Stars all the way to the Super Bowl semi-finalas they beat Umtata Bush Bucks 3-1 in the lasteight, but then lost on penalties to Sundownsin the semi-finals. Some 5 000 spectatorspacked into the Nyanga Stadium which couldonly hold 2 000 for the win over Bucks.1998: Bloemfontein Young Tigers had two

easy rounds, but then beat Santos 2-0 in thequarter-final before Chiefs were knocked outin the last four. It was after this that the Capeside bought Abram Raselemane, who went onto play for Bafana Bafana, from Tigers.2003: Surprise Moriri and Koeketso Mmo-

tong were unknowns from the Second Divi-sion when they scored the goals that beat Pi-rates 2-0 in the second round of the Absa Cup.Owen da Gama’s Stars were then beaten by

Jomo Cosmos in the quarter-finals, but wonpromotion the same season.2008: Mpumalanga Black Aces became the

first lower league side since Florida Albion inthe old whites-only league in 1973 to reach thefinal of the major South African knockoutcompetition. But they played three lowerleague sides before upsetting Free State Starsin the semi-final.2009:TheUniversity of Pretoria became the

first lower league side since Seshego Stone-breakers in the late 1970s to beat Chiefs in acup tie, winning a thrilling 4-3 triumph in thesecond round with the decisive goal netted byPhenyo Mongala. AmaTuks then upset Celticand Ajax Cape Town to reach the final.2010: Puk Tawana started a run of upsets

witha triumphoverPlatinumStars in the firstround and FC Cape Town. They then beatChiefs at Botshabelo in the second roundwitha stunning goal from teenager Lyle Lakay.2011: Part-timers Baroka FC beat Swallows

and thenChiefson theirway to thesemi-finals.They defeat both sides 2-1, Swallows in the

second round and Chiefs in the quarter-finals.2013: The QwaQwa-based Maluti FET Col-

lege,which is campaigning in theSecondDivi-sion,hammeredOrlandoPirates4-1 in theLast32 stage of the Nedbank Cup at the weekend.

Many lostto minnows


Pupil versatile in sport} Boipelo Mere

CONNORNORMAN is an eight-year-old pupil at the Herlear Pri-mary School in the diamond richKimberley.

His achievements in kickbox-ing, athletics, cricket and soccerhave led him to be chosen as Ex-press Northern Cape’s Let’s PlaySports Star of the Month.

Although he only took up kick-boxing in 2011 he has alreadycompeted in threemajor sportingevents and has achieved successin both provincial and nationallevels. His first competition tookplace in Cape Town at the SouthAfricanOpenSportsMartialArtsChampionships, where he wasawarded a gold medal for pointsfighting in the six- to seven-year-old Novice category and a bronzemedal for continuous fighting inthe six- to seven-year-old OpenDivision.

That same year he competed atthe NMA/ISKA Diamond Classicin Kimberley where he won agoldmedal forpoints fightingandtwo bronze medals for continu-ous fighting and high kicks.

At the NMA/ISKA NorthernClassic held in Johannesburg hewon two gold medals for pointsfighting and continuous fightingin addition to a bronze medal forhigh kicks. Furthermore, thissporting dynamo was voted BestJunior Beginner and secondplace Overall Best Beginner by

the Lessing Martial Arts Acade-my in 2011. He was also selectedas a member of the Official SouthAfrican NMA/ISKA Sports Mar-tial Arts Team to attend the 2012ISKA World Championshipswhere he achieved first place increative forms and third placesrespectively in points fighting,continuous fighting and clashsparring.

The avid kick boxer is also aseasoned athlete havingwon goldmedals in all his athletics meet-ings including the Frances BaardJunior Athletics meeting in 2011for u.7 60 m and 8 m and again in2012 for u.8 60 m and 80 m as wellas the Kimberley Schools JuniorAthletics meeting in 2013 for theu.9 60 m and 80 m.

His athletics achievements sawhimbeingnamedhis school’s vic-tor ludorum for athletics.

Connor also plays for hisschool’s u.9 soccer and u.11 crick-et teams.

With his motivation, focus andhard work, Connor has a brightsporting future ahead of him.

Send your Sports Star nomina-tion for school learners betweenthe ages of 6 and 18 today (nomi-nations received before the 20thof each month will be included inthat month’s selection). You canemail your nomination to [email protected] or fax to 086-552-4922.

For information contact Lynneor Juanré at Z PR on 051-430-3027.

CONNOR NORMAN(8) was chosen as Sports Star of the Month.

Receivegear

THE Northern Cape Amateur Boxing Organisation (NCABO) hosted an interclub boxing tournamentwhereby five selected boxers will represent the province at the national trials in New Castle in March.The teams that participated in the tournament were Tetlanyo, Bushy, Freedom, Boys in the Hood, HomeDefenders and Tseketseke Boxing Club. During the tournament NCABO handed over boxing materialto all the teamswhich consisted of speed balls, skipping ropes, pairs of gloves, head guards and kitbags.Pictured are the proud beneficiaries of the Just Do It Boxing Club, Wilson Habi and Andries Phete, withtheir equipment. Photo: Boipelo Mere

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Express Northern Cape 27 Feb 2013