Author: Motlhaping Modise

The Parliament’s Portfolio Committee on Human Settlements has expressed confidence with the plan presented by the North West Human Settlement Department to unblock the blocked housing projects in the province. This emerged during the committee’s three-day oversight visit in the province, focusing on the Dr Ruth Segomotsi Mompati, Dr Ngaka Modiri Molema, and Bojanala District Municipalities. The aim of the visit is to assess the delivery of quality housing and the implementation of human settlements programmes as part of parliament’s constitutional mandate to exercise oversight over the executive. Speaking on YOUFM Newshour, the committee chairperson Nocks Seabi said the provincial…

The nephew of the late anti-apartheid activist Matthew Goniwe, Mbulelo, has told the second sitting of the Cradock Four inquest at the Gqeberha High Court in the Eastern Cape that his uncle was threatened with death by an extremely gun slinging police officer days before he was murdered. Goniwe was giving evidence on the murder of his uncle and three of his fellow comrades Fort Calata, Sicelo Mhlauli, and Sparrow Mkonto on June 27 1985. The four anti-apartheid activists were abducted, tortured, murdered, and their bodies burned by members of the Security Branch of the South African Police. Mbulelo recalled…

The Chairperson of the North West Provincial Legislature’s Ad Hoc committee established to investigate serious allegations of improper conduct against the Premier Lazarus Mokgosi, Nathan Oliphant, said work has begun and an evidence leader appointed to help probe the matter. Mokgosi is accused by Naledi Local Municipality Mayor John Groep of instructing a former municipal employee Thabo Apolus to alter a report concerning the appointment of the Municipal Manager, Modisenyane Segapo. This emerged during the recent oversight visit of the Parliament’s Joint Portfolio Committee on Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs, the Standing Committee on Public Accounts and the Standing Committee…

The North West Department of Economic Development, Environment, Conservation and Tourism (DEDECT) says it has recorded significant performance improvements across its operations and associated entities, even as the province faces mounting concerns over job losses in the mining sector. Speaking during a special YOUFM Newshour broadcast at the Mahikeng Archives building, MEC Bitsa Lenkopane said the department and its entities — the North West Development Corporation (NWDC), North West Parks and Tourism Board (NWP&TB), and North West Gambling Board (NWGB) — have demonstrated steady progress in governance and service delivery. “We have seen remarkable improvement, including clean audits recorded by…

Several Christian organisations, including the African Christian Democratic Party (ACDP), have strongly condemned the CRL Rights Commission’s decision to establish a new consultative body to oversee churches and faith institutions in South Africa. The groups have also called for the removal of the commission’s chairperson, Thoko Mkhwanazi-Xaluva, accusing her of undermining religious freedom. The organisations participated in the National Christian March to the Union Buildings on Wednesday under the banner “Xaluva Must Go”, claiming that the commission’s actions amount to an attack on faith and freedom of worship. The march was led by prominent and controversial religious leaders, including Bishop…

The Government Employees Pension Fund (GEPF) has rejected reports that it has run out of funds hence it temporarily suspended applications of savings withdrawal from the two-pot retirement system for the next 10-days.   The two-pot retirement system was enacted in the country in September last year, following the enactment of the Revenue Laws Amendment Act 12 of 2024. The fund spokesperson Smanga Selemeni told YOUFM Newshour that the suspension was because of the requirement by the GEPF law of 1996 that at least after every three years, “it must undergo a process of valuation which will establish the financial wellness…

Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs Minister Velenkosini Hlabisa has vowed to tackle the persisting challenge of ghost employees plaguing the troubled Lichtenburg-based Ditsobotla Local Municipality in the North West. Hlabisa undertook an oversight visit to the municipality hardly a month after he placed it under administration for the ninth time and immediately introduced a national government intervention to resolve long standing governance failures, financial mismanagement, and a breakdown in basic service delivery to the community. Speaking on YOUFM Newshour, Hlabisa has, however, applauded the progress made by the National Cabinet Representative (NCR) Kopung Ralikontsane and his team in a short…

The founding Vice-Chancellor of the erstwhile University of Bophuthatswana (UNIBO), now known as North West University (NWU), Professor John Makhene, expressed deep concern regarding the staggeringly low student graduation rates across South African universities. At the age of 90, Prof Makhene continues to emit a sense of urgency about the educational landscape of the nation, even as he was recently honoured at a colloquium celebrating his groundbreaking contributions to higher education in Mahikeng. The event, held at the Mmabatho Palms on Friday, attracted an audience of former students now leading distinguished careers as professors in various fields, all of whom…

The North West Public Works and Roads Department has called on the private sector to contemplate joining hands with the provincial government to help improve the dilapidating province’s road network. The Department’s MEC Sempe Elizabeth Mokua told a special broadcast of YOUFM Newshour in Mahikeng on Thursday that most of the roads across the province are still in dire conditions. ‘Since I assumed the responsibility of the MEC of Public works and roads in the province (about 12 months ago) I have been knocking on the offices of the private sector, particularly the mining houses in the province. So far,…

The North West Department of Arts, Culture, Sport and Recreation has acknowledged that despite a slow pace in refurbishing Mmabana Arts Centre that was destroyed seven years ago in Mahikeng, efforts to restore it to its former glory are well underway. The building was looted and set alight by protesters on April 19, 2018, almost destroying a crucial hub of creative excellence and talent development in the province including negatively impacting on the cultural, social, and economic life of the North West province. The department’s MEC Galebekwe Tsotso Tlhapi told YOUFM Newshour, that the R13m financial assistance they received from…