Author: newsnote correspondent
The North West House of Traditional Leaders Chairperson, Kgosi Thari Maotwe, has appealed to residents to report illegal initiation schools within their communities. This follows last week’s arrest of three men in Ventersdorp operating an unlawful initiation school, where an initiate died. Kgosi Maotwe said people who want to operate initiation schools must apply with the relevant authorities. “According to the customary initiation act, every parent or guardian must know where their children are going to and which school. And before the child can attend initiation school, there must be a medical examination to check if the child is fit…
– By Thabang Morutloa The National Education Health and Allied Workers Union (Nehawu) in the North West calls on the Department of Social Development to address workers’ challenges. On Wednesday, the union handed a memorandum of grievances to MEC Boitumelo Moiloa in Mahikeng. Nehawu’s provincial secretary, Ntombi Moepeng, said employees could not do their jobs due to a lack of suitable equipment. “Workers of this department are supposed to render effective and efficient services to the poor and the vulnerable people of this province. But these social workers and community development practitioners don’t have the tools of the trade. So how…
By Thabang Morutloa The Mahikeng local municipality in the North West has been accused of paying R6400 daily for a rented excavator to work at the town’s landfill site. The DA in the province has called on the municipality’s Municipal Public Accounts Committee (MPAC) to investigate the matter. The DA’s councilor, Arista Annandale, said the municipality must explain the excavator contract. “We will request the MPAC Chairperson to investigate all details concerning the hiring of the excavator, including adjudication report, name of the contractor, and lease agreement; “Reasons why other machineries on the premises have been in a state of…
By Gomolemo Mothomogolo Action SA has vowed to continue its bid to have the container with the three lily mineworkers retrieved. It has been six years since Pretty Nkambule, Solomon Nyirenda, and Yvonne Mnisi were trapped underground when the Lily mine container collapsed in Mpumalanga in 2016. Action SA leader Herman Mashaba led a picket outside the Department of Mineral and Energy in Sunnyside on Tuesday. “Our legal team will await the Minister’s response. We have given him 14 days to revert; if not, we will look at our other options. Fortunate enough, we operate in a constitutional democracy. We…
By Gomolemo Mothomogolo Contract workers of Reagetswe mining group, one of the three companies facing an Indefinite strike by Numsa, are expected to return to work on Wednesday. The company approached the court on an urgent basis to request an interdict against its striking employees. The urgent application to interdict the ongoing strike at Impala Platinum’s Rustenburg operations was heard on Tuesday afternoon in the Labour Court. Thousands of contract workers affiliated with the metalworkers union Numsa gathered in Freedom Park on day two of the indefinite strike against exploitation by the three labour brokering companies, Newrak, Reagetswe mining group…
The National Union of Metalworkers (NUMSA) has stressed that its members will not be intimidated by a court application to interdict the strike at shaft 8 of the Impala Platinum Mine in Freedom Park near Rustenburg. This involves contract workers employed by three mining groups; all contracted to provide services to Implats. This came after one of the companies contracted to the mine, approached the Labour Court in Braamfontein to interdict the strike, which has now entered its second day. Numsa’s Enoch Manyoni said efforts by one of the companies to interdict the strike would not deter them. “They went…
Gauteng Premier David Makhura believes young people are in the process of self-discovery. Makhura was addressing the youth at Morris Isaacs High School to commemorate youth day on Thursday. He said the self-identity of the youth comes with economic opportunities. “That self-definition also has a relationship with power in all forms of it that’s why we say self-identify of youth the first struggle they must win is to define themselves,” he said. Makhura said the government shouldn’t ask for experience when hiring youth. “We mustn’t ask for experience from young people in government; they bring new energy, ideas, and skills…
Around 1000 truck drivers have stalled traffic between Bloemhof and Wolmaranstand, demanding that South African trucking companies prioritize South African drivers over foreign nationals. The drivers who have been on strike since Tuesday have vowed to continue until transport minister Fikile Mbalula addresses their issues. Truck driver Lefaso Mohome said foreign nationals stifle the country’s economy. “They come here to work, take the money back to their home countries, and leave South Africans with nothing. The problem with foreign countries is that they are willing to work for less money, which is why companies don’t want to hire us and…
Minister of Transport, Fikile Mbalula, is expected to release the investigation report into the M17 fatal crash on Friday. This comes after a bus and truck collided head-on on the M17 road in Patryshoek, near the Bundu Inn Resort, last Friday. The horrific collision killed 15 people and sent 37 others to the Dr. George Mukhari, Steve Biko, and Kalafong Hospitals. “The investigators will submit a report to me through Road Traffic Management Corporation, and we will make the report public. We will make it a point that all the family gets the report,” said Mbalula. He added: “The report…
The mysterious death of a mineworker at Impala mine in Rustenburg, North West, still has tongues wagging as his co-workers learned that they had to return to work the next day, working the entire day without spotting a body lying next to them. It wasn’t until Tuesday night that they were advised to cease working because one of their co-workers had died. Workers believe he was killed by a rock, but mine management was quick to dismiss this theory, stating that he died within the mine but not due to a rock fall. Impala Platinum Mine Spokesperson,Johan Theron, has confirmed…