Author: Motlhaping Modise
In a decisive move following alarming revelations about the dysfunction plaguing several municipalities, the North West provincial government has swiftly acted to address the governance crisis at the Ramotshere Moiloa Local Municipality, located in Zeerust. The intervention plan, laid out by Premier Lazarus Mokgosi, was unveiled during a recent joint sitting of Parliament focused on Cooperative Governance, Traditional Affairs, and Oversight Committees. Just two days after a joint delegation committee highlighted severe operational issues in the municipality, Premier Mokgosi confirmed the establishment of an ad-hoc committee comprised of three seasoned advocates tasked with investigating the conduct of the councillors responsible…
The North West Provincial Legislature has vowed to be indefatigable in playing its role of oversight and interventions to underperforming municipalities in the province. This after a shocking and concerning state of dysfunction discovered by a parliament’s joint delegation comprising the Portfolio Committee on Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs, the Standing Committee on Public Accounts and the Standing Committee on the Auditor-General in Mahikeng. The three-day oversight laid bare shocking political interference, infightings amongst municipal leaders which led to political instability in most of the municipalities, failed service delivery, fraud and corruption, including mismanagement of municipal funds. This was particularly…
The Ngaka Modiri Molema District Municipality in Mahikeng in the North West has urged all striking employees to immediately return to work to allow the restoration of essential services to communities without further interruption as negotiations with the South African Municipal Workers Union (SAMWU) continues to resolve their grievances in the municipality. It is reported that some municipal workers abandoned work and embarked on an industrial action which commenced on Monday, blocking the entrance of the municipality with the water trucks, Executive Mayor, Khumalo Molefe, who was speaking on YOUFM Newshour, said that the municipality is aware of the concerns…
The African National Congress (ANC) structures in Limpopo said they are confused by the party’s provincial chairperson’s unexplained decision to step aside as chairperson. This after Stanley Mathabatha, the former Premier of Limpopo and current Deputy Minister of Land Reform and Rural Development, wrote a letter to the party’s National Executive Committee of the ANC through the party’s Secretary General Fikile Mbalula requesting to step aside from the party. In the letter seen by Newsnote, Mathabatha cited “concerns over misconduct and a departure from the party’s core values during regional conferences in the Vhembe and Waterberg regions.” The ANC Youth…
The misappropriation of clients’ funds allegations remains one of the most common complaints that the Legal Practitioners Council (LPC) in the country deals with on a yearly basis. This according to the council’s North West Provincial Chairperson Gadafi Lehabe who confirmed that some of the complaints include the deferral by some legal practitioners to keep their clients abreast on the developments of their cases, and some practitioners taking a matter which they do not have a capability to handle. He ascribed the increasing number of complaints the LPC received to heightened public awareness. There are 21 legal practitioners in the…
The Western Cape High Court is set to deliberate on a groundbreaking case that could reshape the future of sex work in South Africa. Three weeks after Julius Malema, the leader of the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF), ignited controversy by advocating for the decriminalisation of sex work, the focus now shifts to court proceedings initiated by the Sex Workers Education and Advocacy Taskforce (SWEAT). The group is contesting the criminalisation of sex work, arguing that it is unconstitutional and demands urgent legislative reform. Julius Malema had emphasised that sex work should be viewed as legitimate labour, deserving of legal protection…
The North West Cooperative Governance, Human Settlement and Traditional Affairs MEC, Oageng Molapisi, has called for normalcy to return at the Zeerust-based Ramotshere Moiloa Local Municipality, following weeks of political instability that led to halting of service delivery at the municipality. This after the municipal buildings were temporarily closed from Monday until Wednesday, after a violent shootout ensued between two warring security companies employed at the municipality on Monday morning, leaving one bodyguard wounded after he was shot in the leg and rushed to hospital. The police cordoned off the building, which was declared a crime scene, and municipal employees…
The National Health Department has announced that it is on the verge of finalising a developed framework which will pave a way for the incorporation of African traditional medicine into the country’s healthcare system. This is according to the Department’s Director for the Traditional Medicine Unit Bruce Mbedzi who told YOU FM Newshour that plans are afoot in completing the legislation to merge the two healthcare systems at the primary healthcare level. “As the department we have done our research, we have consulted enough. “We know what is good for the benefit of our client as the health sector and…
Kgosi Kwena Mangope of Bahurutshe Boo Manyana in Lehurutshe outside Zeerust in the North West, has condemned an ongoing illegal mining activities taking place on his community’s land in Masebudule village, where the community’s mining property of Boo Manyana Chrome Mining Company is also operating. Mangope told YOUFM Newshour that the activities are continuing unabated despite the decision of the North West Division of the High Court in Mahikeng two weeks ago, which ordered Symphony of Light company to vacate the area. “The court order was unambiguous that the Johannesburg-based Symphony of Light Company must immediately vacate our area. But…
The grieving family of Kgaogelo Marota, a 20-year-old from Maubane village near Hammanskraal, is calling for justice following the tragic and brutal death of their daughter. Marota was fatally stabbed multiple times outside a local tavern on Thursday, an incident that has shaken the community and left her loved ones in turmoil. Lazarus Lito Antonio, the 26-year-old self-confessed ex-boyfriend of Marota, appeared in Temba Magistrate’s Court on Monday facing serious charges, including murder and attempted murder of his current girlfriend. His alleged actions, compounded by chilling video evidence shared on social media, have intensified the family’s fears and calls for…