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Northern Cape

} Boipelo Mere

THERE will be dikhori, chicken necks,dumplings, tripe, lerito vegetables and morewhen tourists arrive in the Northern Capeto experience the warmth that the provincehas to offer.That is after the province was named the

leading sports tourism destination in Africaas well as the top leisure tourism andbusiness events destination.“We are honoured to host the National

Tourism Month celebrations in our beautifulprovince and look forward to welcoming youand showcasing the amazing offerings of theNorthern Cape,” said the MEC of Tourism,John Block.Debbie Damant of South African Tourism

and the Northern Cape Tourism Authority,flanked by the National Heritage CouncilCEO, Boitumelo Bopape, were not onlyimpressed, but also made a mark on some ofthe Galeshewe tourism sites to be listed as

their preferred destinations.During their tour through the township

with the team from the tourism authority,local tour guides Joy Thirisi of NativeMinds Tours and Gilbert Matlhaku alsomade a good impression.Apart from the tour, the lunch at the

Ipopeng-based Fusion Kitchen was also a hit.It was during the launch of Tourism

Month that Diana Martin, general manager:marketing and promotions at the tourismauthority, emphasised the importance ofpartnering with the media to encouragepeople to travel in order for them to see theproduct and become an ambassador.Debbie Damant also stated that it was

important for them (officials) to familiarisethemselves with the product.According to Tumi Bopape, it is about

time for the Northern Cape to also tell itsstory and highlight its struggle sites so thatit does not look as if the province was notpart of the struggle.

NC hosts tourism eventProvince named top sports and leisure tourism destination

YUMMY: Fundu Mtwana, Tebogo Velembo and Joy Thirisi enjoying dikhori during theGaleshewe tour. Photos: Boipelo Mere

DIKHORI served on a plate.DEBBIE DAMANT, Diana Martin, general manager: marketing and promotions, and Boitu­melo Bopape of the National Heritage Council at the Fusions Garden Kitchen in Ipopeng.

For more news and photosgo to our website atwww.express-news.co.za

2 EXPRESS NORTHERN CAPE, WEDNESDAY 3 SEPTEMBER 2014

NEWS

} Boipelo Mere

THE Kimberley Hospital (KH)and the Galeshewe Day Hospital(GDH) were applauded for theircommitment in reducing infantmortality rates.Both facilities are reported to

have implemented the ten stepsand three additional items of theMother-Baby-Friendly Initiative(MBFI).The Northern Cape Department

of Health officially launched theBFHI initiative at the Horse ShoeMotel on Friday after it had beenlaunched by the World HealthOrganisation (WHO) and Unicefin 1991, following the InnocentiDeclaration of 1990.Since the 1990’s launch the

BFHI has grown with more than152 countries around the worldimplementing the initiative.South Africa, being one of them,has changed the name to theMother-Baby-Friendly Initiativedue to the important role mother-friendly care is playing in thisinitiative.This initiative is a global effort

to implement practices thatprotect, promote and supportbreastfeeding. The initiative has ameasurable and proven impact,increasing the likelihood of

babies being exclusively breastfedfor the first six months.Milk coming directly from the

breast to the baby was empha-sised by Sister Lindiwe Nyathi-Mokotso who gave the back-ground of the MBFI at the eventwhich was attended by mothersand departmental staff.She reported that malnutrition

was directly or indirectly respon-sible for about one third of deathsamong children under five. Abovetwo thirds of these deaths areoften associated with inappro-priate feeding practices duringthe first year of life, poor vitaminA supplementation and deworm-ing.Nyathi-Mokotso told the

nursing sisters to continueencouraging the mothers onfamily planning, vitamin Asupplementation and dewormingsyrup.“We do not want any dummies,

teats and bottles as they are notallowed in our facilities due tohygienic reasons as diarrhoea isalso one of the biggest killers ofchildren under five,” she said.“We are not playing games

when we encourage mothers torather carry your babies in frontthan on the back. We also refer toKangaroo Mother Care which

should be practised not only forpremature babies, but also forfull-term babies. Skin-to-skincontact is nature’s incubator andhas proven itself to be one of themost effective interventions forthe reduction of mortality rates.”She elaborated how well a

mother could bond with her babyduring Kangaroo Mother Care asshe was able to monitor thebaby’s every movement, includingwhen there was something wrong.Carrying her little bundle of joy

under her T-shirt, VirginiaSpringbok could not find thewords to describe the joy ofbreastfeeding and kangarooingher nine-week-old baby, Letlho-gonolo. Thanking the nursingsisters she said that it was thebest decision that she had evermade as she was a first-timeparent.Magdeline Marabutshe also

testified how breastfeeding andkangaroo parenting has created astrong bond between herself andher six-week-old baby, Realeboga.“Even though her father also

assists me to kangaroo her like Itaught him, when she wants meit must be me. It is amazing howblessed I feel when I look into hertiny eyes during breastfeeding,”she said.

Hospitals applauded for commitment

VIRGINIA SPRINGBOK, a first­time mother, says that breastfeedingis the best advice she got.

FACILITYMANAGERSof theKimberleyHospital (KH) and theGalesheweDayHospital (GDH)were present­ed with plaques to put on their facilities. They are Bulelwa Mogotsi of the Galeshewe Day Hospital andMaryMdokwanaof theKimberleyHospitalwhowere handed the plaques bySister LindiweNyathi­Mokot­so. Photos: Boipelo Mere

Sold mosttickets and wonbicycles

TWO learners from the KurumanPrimary School were the luckywinners of brand­new bicycles.Russels in Kuruman lauched aproject where learners had to sellraffle tickets to the community.The learners who sold the mosttickets both received a brand­new bicycle from Russels. Rus­sels also donated a laptop andprinter to the school. All the pro­ceeds of the collection (R38 848)are also ploughed back into theschool. Pictured here are far right,front: Thabi Mathe with her pur­ple bycicle; from the left, back:Sergio French with his new blackbicyle, Louise Lottering (branchmanager: Russels in Kuruman),FahimaGroenewald (teacher: Ku­ruman Primary School), IreneBuys (teacher: Kuruman PrimarySchool), Floyd Turner (principal:Kuruman Primary School) andDavid Fourie (area manager: Rus­sels). Photo: Ilse Watson

THE Campbell police seek help aboutthe whereabouts of Magretha Cloete(37). Cloete was last seen on 30 Maywith her boyfriend at Plakkerskamp inCampbell. At the time of her disappear­ance she was dressed in a black andwhite shirt, brown striped top andbrown shoes. She resided at 3 KuduStreet in Campbell. The police appeal tothe public for assistance to trace and re­unite Magretha with her family. Any in­formation can be communicated toConst. Amanuel Visser of the Campbellpolice on 078­894­3241 or 053­297­2901.

Photo: Supplied

EXPRESS NORTHERN CAPE , WEDNESDAY 3 SEPTEMBER 2014 3

NEWS

} Boipelo Mere

MARGARET MALGAS (61), her twochildren and grand-daughter have to waitfor the sun to set in order to relievethemselves in the nearby veld.

Residing in the Homevale extension, shedoes have a toilet in her yard, but theycannot use it anymore due to it beingcontinuously blocked.

According to her, they only survivethrough the day by using a bucket insidethe house that they have to empty twice aday.

“But when we have stomach problems, itis a nightmare, because then we have tobother the neighbours, who have alsobecome tired of us,” she reveals.

In response to why they have locked thetoilet in their backyard, Malgas toldExpress Northern Cape to come and have alook at the toilet.

“The only sign that there is a toilet inthe yard is this key that I keep. That is toprevent my four-year-old granddaughterform entering the stinky mess.”

She said they needed another plan as toprevent them from calling the municipalitytime and again to come and unblock thedrains.

They were told by the municipality tocall whenever the toilet was blocked.

She further explained that even at timesafter the system had been unblocked,the water remained brown when theyflushed.

The whole system inside the toilet isrusted, causing it not to be able to flush atall.

She is even too tired of calling themunicipality, because they take too longto come and even though they do unblockthe system, it continues to becomeblocked.

“The municipality instructed us to call

them whenever the system blocks. Theyunblock the toilets using their longwires to do it.”

She even highlighted that they had beensending the same complaints to themunicipality for years.

“Even our previous councillor, LorettaWilliams, knew about our pleas.”

One of the ward committee members,Vincent Swart, agreed that Malgas hadbeen one of the regular complainantsof toilet blockages for the past tenyears.

In her old age, Malgas is lookingforward to the planned communitymeeting in her ward (3) where theywant to meet the mayor of Sol Plaatje,David Molusi, and the speaker, Manga-liso Matika, to address their grievan-ces.

The community needs answers as towhether their concerns are amongstthe community concerns that are de-bated on a daily basis at the councilmeetings.

Attempts to get the mayor and speakerto address the community failed when theydid not show up at the planned meetingsfor Monday, 18 August, and Tuesday, 19August.

They said that they had only beeninformed after the protest that themayor and speaker had been inKuruman.

The community was so fed up that theybarricaded the R31 road (leading to BarklyWest) with burning tyres and had to bedispersed by the police.

They hope that they are not put inanother position where they will be forcedto take their grievances to the streetsagain.

Thus they are planning on sendinganother invite to the mayor and speaker toaddress them.

Blocked andrusted toiletof no use

THE permanently­locked toilet. Photos: Boipelo MereTHE rusty mess inside the toilet is a health hazard to the family.

‘The only sign that thereis a toilet in the yard isthis key that I keep. Thatis to prevent my four­year­old granddaughterform entering the stinkymess.’– Margaret Malgas

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NEWS

THE Centenary Methodist Choir members are confident that they will be returning with another trophy from the choir competition in Wepener. According to thechairperson of the choir, Peter Mogotsi, they are hoping for at least two more trophies to add to their collection. Last month the choir won a trophy during theregional competition in Kuruman in the Section A African Section. “That was our first step to winning the district competitions where we have competed countlesstimes before. We will turn the tables when we compete with at least 15 choirs from all phases,” said Mogotsi. Photo: Boipelo MereH

opingtowintrophy

Ilse Watson

MEMBERS of the Kathu police,Kuruman police, immigration officers,Community Policing Forum (CPF) andsocial workers held a mass parade lastFriday through Kuruman.They conducted stop-and-check-sear-

ches and they also held a road blocknear Wrenchville.“We are closing Women’s Month with

high load patrols in Kuruman, stop andsearching of vehicles, as well aschecking immigrants’ documents.“We will also hold a road block for

two hours near the entrance to Wrench-ville,” said Col Cecilia Kgobe, stationcommander of the Kathu police.“We want to show the community

that we as women can lead.“Those years of women sitting in an

office is long gone.“We are excited about today’s event

and we want to support women inmatters such as domestic violence.”The police are once again warning

the residents of Kuruman of thefollowing:) Drive with locked doors and closedwindows.) Do not leave valuable items in thecar – put it in the trunk.) Manually check that your car islocked when you lock it using a remotecontrol.) Hijacking hot spots: the fourway stopnear Leach Toyota; the park near LeachToyota and the areas around Cashbuild.Residents are requested to stay vigilant.S If you want to report a crime(anonymous) call 08600-10111.S Childline: 0800-0555-55.

Kuruman given the shake-down by police

MEMBERS of the Kathu police, Kuruman police, immigration officers, Community Policing Forum(CPF) and social workers who took part in various operations in Kuruman last Friday. This specialday was in celebration (and the end of) Women’s Month. Photos: Ilse Watson

My viewSidwell GudukaExpress Sport Editor

THE first coach to be shown the door inthe Premier Soccer League (PSL) thisseason has been none other than GavinJohnson who joined Supersport Unitedfrom Platinum Stars at the beginning ofthe last term.Johnson was only in charge of the

Tshwane-based outfit for just four matchesin the 2014-’15 campaign.He got sacked for poor results as he had

only managed to win one game out of fourmatches. He had lost the other threefixtures.The writing was on the wall as criticism

continued to mount against Johnson whostruggled to turn around failing Amatsat-santsa’s fortunes.It was only a matter of time, if what the

club’s insiders have been saying wasanything to go by.The pressure had been building for

Johnson after every loss and there wasalways discontentment.United’s 1-0 defeat at home against

Mpumalanga Black Aces last Wednesdaywas the last straw for him as he got fireda day later.Now the former Bafana Bafana coach

Gordon Igesund, whose contract with Safaexpired on Sunday, is being linked toJohnson’s job.The firing, or “amicable separation”

– the new term used in football for firingcoaches these days – of Johnson fromUnited was obviously going to set the catamong the pigeons.The ink from Johnson’s story had hardly

dried on the pages when speculation aroseas who was next to bite the dust.A number of names are being bandied

about, but none as much as the embattledAmazulu coach, Craig Rosslee. His namekeeps cropping up whenever this subject israised.After five rounds of fixtures, Rosslee’s

side are sitting at the basement of the logand they remain the only team without aleague win.The Cape Town-born mentor saw

speculation about his future double after a2-0 defeat at the hands of the star-studdedMamelodi Sundowns this past weekend.

So, it looks increasingly like a matter of“when” rather than “if” Rosslee will walkthe plank.Another coach whose job is not safe, is

none other than Kosta Papic of PSLreturnees Chippa United. People know thatSiviwe “Chippa” Mpengesi is trigger happyand he fires coaches faster than hechanges his underwear.Since the Port Elizabeth outfit were

promoted to the elite league for the firsttime two seasons ago, no less than eightcoaches had been fired by Mpengesi.They were Roger Sikhakhane, Julius

Dube, Ian Palmer, Wilfred Mugeyi, Man-qoba Mngqithi, Farouk Abrahams, MarkHarrison and Vladislav Heric.So, judging by Mpengesi’s insatiable love

for the trigger, Papic should be welladvised to keep his suitcase packed.The Yugoslavian was brought on board

to replace Heric during the off season.It remains to be seen how long he will

occupy the hot seat before he gets fired aswell.Boebie Solomons is also walking a

tightrope up in Limpopo. Polokwane Cityis placed 15th on the table, just one spotabove Amazulu who are propping up thelog. Only one point separates the twosides.Yes, it is still early in the season, but

club bosses in South Africa are veryimpatient.They want positive results always.The question remains, who will be next

to be shown the door?Your guess is as good as mine.

) Send your MyView contribution, ofno more than 500 words, to Jabu-lani.Dlamini@volksblad.com or call051-404-7910.

Soccer’s ‘silly season’ has begun

The firing, or “amicable separation” – the new termused in football for firing coaches these days – of

Johnson from United was obviously going to set thecat among the pigeons.

6 EXPRESS NORTHERN CAPE, WEDNESDAY 3 SEPTEMBER 2014

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8 EXPRESS NORTHERN CAPE, WEDNESDAY 3 SEPTEMBER 2014

IT was a surprise that Upington’s A.J. Ferreira High School won the 2014 provincial Sanlam KayMotsepe Schools Cup over the weekend.Photos: Supplied

VAUGHEN HANGOME (left) of the A.J. Ferreira High School and Richard Dryers of theOkiep High School chase the ball.

A.J. Ferreiramakes historyUPINGTON’S A.J. Ferreira High Schoolmade history this weekend after many yearsof drought on the soccer field. The schoolscooped the winning trophy in the provincialleg of the Sanlam Kay Motsepe Schools Cupat the A.R. Abass Stadium over the weekend.The win comes after competing in this

soccer competition for years without everadvancing beyond the cluster stage of thetournament. This time the team did not onlyreach the provincial final, but went on towin it and will now compete in the nationalfinal.A.J. Ferreira beat veterans Okiep High

School 3-1. Now both schools progress to thenational final at Soshaguve.They have earned R100 000 to be used to

fund legacy projects for the school.An exuberant coach, Monty Swaartbooi,

said this was a long overdue victory, butadmitted it was also unexpected.“Every year we go into the tournament

with the hope of progressing to the provin-cials. This year was different, as everymember of the team was new to the tourna-ment and I did not think that we wouldprogress very far, so this is a surprise,” saidSwaartbooi.“The players rose to the occasion and

proved me wrong. I thought that Okiep andRietvale would beat us, because they havemore experience and have been successful atthis level before.”Swaartbooi was surprised at how easy it

was to get into the provincials.“We only played three games in our cluster

and won them all,” he said.“I honestly thought that we would finish

last at the provincials, but I must give creditto my team who showed guts and determina-tion. We even beat Okiep convincingly in thefinal game.”Swaartbooi is not sure what the school will

do with their winnings, as it will be for theprincipal and the school governing body(SGB) to decide, but he does say they need aproper field and training equipment. Thereare also lots of broken windows and doors inthe school building that need fixing.Now it is down to preparing for the

nationals and Swaartbooi says they will stickto their programme of training four times aweek and playing friendlies against localteams on Fridays.Swaartbooi realises that some of the teams

at the nationals will be academies and hewants to bring in outside coaches to helphim prepare tactically and technically.“I coach for the love of the game and have

no qualifications. If we are to prepareproperly, I am going to have to seek support

from coaches at our local clubs,” he said.Winning the provincial title has been the

most rewarding outcome of the coach’scareer.“To have finally made it, fills my heart

with pride. And it doesn’t end with playingsoccer. Another reason I started coachingsoccer was to keep the learners away fromthe bad influences that are prevalent in ourcommunity – so I also act as their advisor.“I always tell the players to work hard in

everything that they do, be it soccer, schoolwork or in their personal lives.“Putting in the extra work will always

bring positive results. They now know andunderstand why they have to put in 110%into their training.”The nationals will be held from 5 to 9

October where teams will get a chance towin the R1 million first prize.

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