27 march 2015

Friday 27 March 2015Year 6 147 th Edition Tel: 013 262 4416

Fed up residents of Mathyzensloop torched aPutco bus on the Moloto Road (R573) whenprotesting about water scarcity in the area. Theunrest started on Monday 16 March after resi-dents experienced water shortages for morethan three weeks. The community then mobi-lized and started to block the access road withstones and burning tyres.The community was also complaining aboutthe ward councillor Saddam Mahlangu that hedoes not address their issues in the municipal-ity and he is not holding any community meet-ings. More community mobilized and decidedto block the Provincial Moloto Road later thatday. The police were called to disperse theangry crowd by firing rubber bullets but theydid not stop as hundreds of residents joined theprotest. The police visibility angered residentsand they started throwing stones at the policeand other vehicles passing on the MolotoRoad. A Putco bus that was coming from Pre-toria heading to Moteti was stopped and usedto barricade the Moloto Road. The bus was

Bus torched during watershortage protest

later set alight. Community members fromMoteti, Boekenhouthoek and other surround-ing villages were forced to walk more thanseven kilometres home after the bus was burnedto ashes. On Wednesday a large number ofpupils were seen on the streets during schoolhours after they were recruited to join thedemonstration.“They tell us that the municipality is bankruptwhen we ask about water. Where did all themillions that were put aside by the municipalityfor water supply go?” asked one of the demon-strators. Simphiwe Mashiyane from ThembisileHani Local Municipality told the Dispatch thatthe municipality is currently facing water chal-lenges. “The entire municipality has been hit bywater shortages at the stage,” she said.Although the community says the municipalitydid not inform them about the scarcity of water,Simphiwe said they communicated the issuewith the community through the radio stations.“We deployed ten water tankers to differentparts of the municipality to supply people with

drinking water. A water pump from Dr JS MorokaLocal Municipality that suppliesMathyzensloop and other areas was brokenand it is now fixed,” she said.When asked about the ward councillor’s failureto cooperate with the community, Simphiwesaid: “Councillors report to the speaker and ifthe community have complaints about the wardcouncillor, they are more than welcome to cometo the speaker’s office and address their griev-ances.”

The torched Putco Bus barricaded theMoloto Road when residents protestagainst water shortages.

2 DISPATCH FRIDAY 27 March 2015

The Marble Hall Business Chamber was askedto make comments on the 2013/14 annual reportfor the Ephriam Mogale Local Municipality.The Chairman of the Marble Hall BusinessChamber Mr. Paissopoulos acknowledged therequest and submitted his comments in a letterthat was sent to the office of the Minister of theDepartment of Co-operative Governance, Hu-man Settlement and Traditional Affairs Mr.Pravin Gordhan. "We note that COGHSTA hasfacilitated another strategic planning exercisefor the staff of this municipality. This is in nodoubt based on their continued poor perform-ance for the period under review. In layman’sterms this means: the financial statement of theinstitution were presented in such a poor state,that the auditor general was unable to satisfyhimself as to the correctness of the financialstate of the institution.” he said. He added thatwith respect to the office of Minister Gordhan, they have seen this all before with year afteryear attending turnabout, turn around, turnover, back to basics and strategic objectivemeetings and nothing has ever changed. Wedon’t expect anything different this time around.There remains little doubt that if one notes thechallenges of this municipality. What is neededis for the rotten to be removed and some sort ofaccountability and discipline to be enforced.At the moment we only see the official’s politi-cal survival matters the most,” he said.Paissopoulos concluded: “Whilst we knowand understand that putting this municipalityunder administration is no mean feat, howeverunder the present situation this is what themunicipality needs if we want to avoid anotherdisclaimer,” he concluded.

Ephraim MogaleMunicipalityDisclaimer

Sixty trainees of the Water and Waste WaterReticulation Training programme are complain-ing about the Sekhukhune District Municipali-ty’s failure to comply with the contract agree-ment signed during the start of the programme.The trainees started with the programme atSeetjeng Primary School from Monday 9 toThursday 12 March where they were busy withtheory.The programme is offered by the Department ofPublic Works in partnership with SekhukhuneDistrict Municipality. Khosiphi Training Insti-tute was appointed to offer the training.Thetrainees say the problem started when theywere about to start with practical training. Theysay they were told that only fifteen trainees arerequired by the department to do practicaltraining on site. “We should have been starteddoing practical work since Wednesday 18March but we were told that only fifteen train-ees needed to go on site for practical. We didnot agree with the decision after the departmentfailed to give us clear answers,” said one of thetrainees who wishes to remain anonymous. Shesays their contract states that they are sup-posed to get weekly stipends but now it hasbeen the second week the money is not paid.She says when they approach the KhosiphiTraining Institute about their stipends; theywere told that the Department of Public Worksdid not pay. “We are supposed to graduate on10 April but now we have done only 70% of thetraining. We are left with the practical training.How are we going to get certificates if we are notdone with the whole training? She asked. TheDispatch spoke to Mr Tlaka from the Depart-ment of Public Works and we were referred tospeak with the facilitator but she did not answerher phone.....Continue on page 3

Chaos aftermunicipality fails to

comply withtrainee’s contract

agreement

DISPATCH FRIDAY 27 March 2015 3

One of the two protectors of the late Ministerof Public Service and Administration CollinsChabane, Sergeant Lawrence Lentswane wasburied at Ga-Marishane VillageMakhuduthamaga Local Municipality,Sekhukhune. The funeral service of SergeantLawrence Lentswane was attended by theMinister in the Presidency Jeff Radebe, PoliceMinister Nathi Nhleko, National Police Com-missioner Riah Phiyega and some deputy min-isters. Ahead of the funeral service, churchgroups were performing as police officials camein their numbers to pay their last respect toLentsoane.Lentsoane died alongside his colleague LesebaSekele and Public Service and AdministrationMinister Collins Chabane in an accident on theN1 Road outside Polokwane. Lentsoane, whowas described as a community builder, was alsopassionate about politics. He had worked withMinister Chabane since 2009 when Chabanewas Minister in the Presidency before he be-came Minister of Public Service and Adminis-tration. During the funeral service, Minister inthe Presidency Jeff Radebe has urged all SouthAfricans to make road safety their priority, inorder to save lives on South African roads. Hesaid road carnage has a negative impact on thecountry's economy.Speaker after speaker described Lentsoane asa dedicated member of the SAPS who made it apoint that Chabane was always protected.The Police Minister Nathi Nhleko has urged

Sergeant LawrenceLentswane laid to rest

members of the police and the general public toemulate Lentsoane in making a positive contri-bution to society. He said a positive contribu-tion to human kind helps to build communities.Sekhukhune District Municipality Spokesper-son Willie Mosoma told reporters thatLentsoane was receiving an official police fu-neral.“Today we bid our final farewell to a man whoperished in battle protecting the leadership ofthis country. The status of this funeral is thatof an official police funeral and this means thatthe South African Police Service is taking fullcontrol of what is happening today and we areproviding a supporting role,” said Mosomo.

Sergeant Lawrence Lentswane was bur-ied at Ga-Marishane VillageMakhuduthamaga Local Municipality,Sekhukhune.

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Chaos after municipality fails to comply withtrainee’s contract agreement

Mr Molato fromKhosiphi Training In-stitute said that he gotinstructions from themunicipality that onlyfifteen traineesshould be taken forpractical training. “Irefused as I am work-ing on a time frame.We are appointed totrain all students at thesame time and we can-not comply with thenew rules made by themunicipality. Istopped the classeswaiting for the munici-pality to respond onthe matter and if theyfail they must just can-cel the training as wecan’t afford to trainonly fifteen students,”he said.


Employees at Elias Motsoaledi Local Municipality are on strike. Theworkers mainly under the South African Municipal Workers Union(SAMWU) are protesting against the municipality’s failure to pay theirNon Pension Fund (NPF). The protest erupted on Wednesday 25 Marchwhere hundreds of employees from the municipality were engaged bythe union to stop performing their duties. Workers say they were innegotiations with senior officials in the municipality and they were toldthat their money will be paid at the end of March. Now they were told bythe union representatives that the municipality will no longer pay themoney. “The money was previously given to certain employees in themunicipality but we fought to be accommodated too,” said one of theemployees in Elias Motsoaledi Local Municipality who doesn’t want tobe named. He said they have been in negotiation with Elias MotsoalediLocal Municipality Municipal Manager Mrs Maredi and it was resolved

EMLM workers embarked on strikethat the money will be paid at the end of thismonth. “We were surprised by the report givenby our union leaders informing us that we willno longer get the money until further notice.Now we decided to down tools until the moneyis paid,” he said. He added that the money mustbe paid to every individual according to theyears they served working in the municipality.“If a person has served ten years working here,he or she must be paid for those years. We areworried because the money was only given tocertain people. But we occupy the same posi-tions,” he further said.He said the strike is not affecting only SAMWUmembers but other members of IMATU are alsocomplaining and demand the money too.The Dispatch spoke to Marinda Burger, theCommunications Manager in Elias MotsoalediLocal Municipality and she promised to com-ment to the issue via e-mail. Her e-mail failed toreach the Dispatch at the time of going to print.

Employees at Elias Motsoaledi Local Municipality on strikedemanding to be paid their outstanding Non Pension Fundmoney.

The Mayor of Elias Motsoaledi Local Municipality Cllr Julia Mathebeengaged with the Tafelkop community on Friday 20 March for a Mayor’sOutreach Campaign. The campaign is the mayoral quarterly platformwhere residents interact directly with the mayor to raise their concernsabout service delivery. Hundreds of residents of Elias Motsoaledi LocalMunicipality Ward 26, filled the Tafelkop Sports Grounds to take part inthe outreach campaign. It was addressed during the campaign that thereis a huge service delivery backlog in the communities. Water shortages,poor internal roads standard, shortage of high mast lights and lack ofaccess bridges in the main roads were raised by the community. Themayor responded to the community that the government is busy withother projects to eradicate the backlog in the community. She high-lighted the Kgoshi Rammupudu internal road upgrade from gravel topaving as one of the municipality’s project which is underway to makethe people’s life better.

EMLM Mayor interacts withcommunity

Kgoshi Boleu Rammupudu welcom-ing the people in Elias MotsoalediWard 26 during the Mayor’s OutreachCampaign.


Linah Matseke, a 16 year old pupil at NalaSenior Secondary School in Thabakhubeduwill be participating abroad for athletics. Linahwon the Rhino Poaching Fun Run Champion-ship Campaign earlier this year at the NdlovuSports Grounds. She never looked back andwon the race again in Nelspruit paving a way toreserve herself a chance to take part in theRhino Poaching Campaign Fun Run that will betaking place in Southern California, USA inApril this year. Nala Secondary School held afarewell ceremony for Linah on Tuesday 24March to wish her good luck for her journey tothe USA where she will be taking part in the funrun race. “I feel grateful to go and participateabroad. I started participating in races when Iwas in grade three. I am currently working hardpreparing for the journey and hope I will comeback with the first prize from the USA,” she said.“Besides her outstanding performance, thisyoung person is in need of sponsors as shedoesn’t have a proper attire to perform duringthe races,” said Linah’s coach and educator

Moutse young runner to take part in theUSA fun run race

The 16 year old Linah Matseke willtake part in the Fun Run race in South-ern California in USA.

Of the 17 students of the Horangi Dojang Tae Kwon Do club, 6 studentscompeted in the Provincial Tournament in Pretoria on 21 March. A totalof 11 medals were won. All students got their provincial colors. It wasthe very first tournament for these students and coach Gerhard Louw isvery proud of them.The Tae Kwon Do Club is based in Bareki mall, Groblersdal. Tae KwonDo is a Korean discipline and is known all over the globe. The nexttournament, Open championships, will be on the 11th of April, whereinternational students will be represented as well. On the 30th of May,there’s the ATC invitational. Both championships will be in Pretoria andstudents of the Groblersdal club will be participating.For more information, please contact BooSabumnim Gerhard Louw 083667 2106.

Tae Kwon Do growing

Linah Matseke with some of schoolmates holding her ticket to the USAafter winning the Rhino Poaching FunRun Championship Campaign inNelspruit.

Mrs Mashilo from Nala Secondary School. Shesaid the learner is performing outstanding inschool sports under the 800m and 1500m cat-egory. She added Lina performed well in theMoutse East Circuit Championships this yearand managed to be included in the top ten.“She was groomed at the school and last yearshe managed to reach the National Champion-ships representing Limpopo Province. Thisyear she also did well and managed to go andrepresent Sekhukhune District in the LimpopoProvincial Championships. Unfortunately shehad to withdraw during the race after develop-ing blisters because she was running bare footed,” she added. Mashilosaid although Linah’s fare and accommodation to Southern Californiain USA is fully paid, she is still in need of some other important items thatare not catered for such as sun blocks and proper attire. “I first met Linahlast year. I was her class teacher when she was coming from the localprimary school. I then started coaching and mentoring her. She is a verycool and quite girl. She is also disciplined and I think she will return withthe prize from USA,” she said. Anyone who can assist the 16 year oldathlete, Linah Matseke with needed items and attire is welcome tocontact her coach Mrs Mashilo on 073 445 4277.

Hussain Zahidi 2x brons en 1x silwer ;Tlotlo Moche 1x goud; KatlegoMkwanazi 1x silwer en 1x brons; SenaManyeli 1x silwer; Andreas Styliano1x goud en 1x brons.Back left to right: Gerhard Louw 2deDan (instrukteur); Stephani Fouche 2x silwer.


Every year 2.5 million children from over 34 000schools and 11 000 clubs from around the globetake part in the local, regional and the interna-tional Danone Nations Cup. The winners thenfly off to compete in the grand World Final. Thisis the dream of the Bantwane Primary Schoolfrom Ntwane Village in Elias Motsoaledi LocalMunicipality after their good performance inthe tournament.Run under the auspices of the South AfricanSchools Football Association (SASFA), theSouth African leg of the Danone Nations Cupincludes over 2 500 schools from all corners ofSouth Africa. Milo will support the South Af-rican teams with sports apparel as well as kit outthe team that will travel to the world champion-ships.

Bantwane Primary School toplay in the Danone Nations Cup

under the regional levelThe Bantwane Pri-mary School un-der 12 soccer teamwill now take partregionally afterd e f e a t i n gMorwathebe Pri-mary in theDanone MoutseCluster CircuitsChampionships.

The Bantwane Primary School under 12 soccerteam is through to take part in the under-12Danone Nations Cup soccer competition onDistrict level.The school qualified after defeatingMoroathebe Primary in the Moutse ClusterCircuit finals held at the OR Tambo Stadium inDennilton on Friday 20 March. The school isconfident that they are going far in the compe-tition this year after their outstanding perform-ance in their previous matches. With a 1-0 winthey scored in the second half of the match, theBantwane Primary School is hoping to go fur-ther this year after their journey ended in thenational championships when they were de-feated at Clive Solomon Stadium inBloemfontein last year.

27 march 2015

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