Day: August 14, 2022

The City of Cape Town partnered with SPAR Proteas player, Phumza Maweni for the inaugural Phumza Maweni and Sporting Chance Foundation Netball Tournament in Khayelitsha today. During the tournament, held at the OR Tambo Indoor Centre, Deputy Mayor Alderman Eddie Andrews and Maweni unveiled the latest in a series of Netball World Cup 2023 murals.

The artwork is visible from the N2 highway, just after the Mew Way turnoff.

This is the second mural that the City has commissioned as part of the lead up to the Netball World Cup 2023.

Last month, the City with its Netball World Cup partners, unveiled a 33 x 9 metre artwork on the wall of the Langa Indoor Sports Centre.

The murals are part of the City’s legacy projects as the host city for Africa’s first ever Netball World Cup.

Partnering with Phumza Maweni and the Sporting Chance Foundation for the tournament also forms part of the municipality’s broader efforts to provide platforms for developmental opportunities to Netball players at grassroots level.

‘Phumza is one of our own and we are proud of what she has achieved being instrumental in the resurgence of the national Netball team over the years. When we heard that she was planning a tournament to give back to her community, it was a no-brainer for us to provide support her foundation’s tournament. We believe developmental initiatives such as these will help unearth the next crop of national Netball heroes,’ said Deputy Mayor, Alderman Eddie Andrews.

The City provided the tournament with funding for Events and City services and has waived the costs for the use of the municipal facility.

The tournament featured 10 under-15 teams and 10 under-19 teams from local netball clubs in Khayelitsha, as they battled it out for the coveted trophies.

With the emphasis on mass participation and talent identification, a key aspect for Maweni and her Foundation team will be to identify players that display exceptional talent and flair in order to mentor and monitor their netball progress.

‘Every time I come back home, I have always wanted to host netball tournaments and coaching clinics in Khayelitsha to uplift the young people of my community. I’m very excited that this idea is now coming to fruition. I would like to share my skills and experiences with the young players in Khayelitsha and inspire them to achieve their dreams,’ said Maweni.

In addition to supporting the tournament, the City is partnering with the Cape Town Netball Federation to roll out an afterschool programme focused on developing player skills, rules of play and teamwork as well as mentorships for coaches.

The programme is open to girls aged between 10 and 16.

The pilot project will be launched at 12 City facilities including:

Rebecca van Amsterdam Recreation Centre/ Westfleur Sports Ground, Atlantis

Scottsdene Recreation Centre & Sports Ground, Kraaifontein

Du Noon Recreation Centre

Sarepta Recreation Centre, Kuilsriver

Nomzamo Recreation Centre, Strand

Khayelitsha CBD Centre, Khayelitsha

Ravensmead Recreation Centre

Proteaville Recreation Centre, Bellville South

Gugulethu Indoor Centre

Portlands Indoor Centre, Mitchells Plain

Lotus River Recreation Centre

Ottery Centre/Coniston Park

Those interested in joining the programme can sign up at the participating facilities closest to their homes or schools.

The programme will culminate in a once-off tournament featuring teams from all areas.

Source: City Of Cape Town

POLOKWANE: The Provincial Commissioner in Limpopo Lieutenant General Thembi Hadebe has strongly urged the parents and guardians to take care of their children following an incident of drowning which happened in Seshego Dam near Zone 4 on Saturday 2022-08-13 at about 10:00.

Two young, Kotsema Ramaru aged 9 and his friend 12-year-old Kubu Mashilo, both from Seshego Zone 5 were apparently swimming with their friends when this unfortunate incident occurred.

The information at our disposal is that the boys were swimming and crossing the dam using white foam props as flotation devices; an occurrence which is said to be a usual practice in the area. The unfortunate situation happened when their “boat” capsized in the middle of the dam and both boys drowned.

The South African Police Service Search and Rescue members were called to the scene and the divers managed to retrieve the body of one of the boys yesterday.

The Teams will resume with the search for the remaining body this morning, Sunday 14 August 2022.

Parents are cautioned to ensure that their children do not engage in swimming activities unsupervised and must be wary of this dam as several drowning incidents were reported in the area in the past.

Source: South African Police Service

The Acting Provincial Commissioner of the police in Free State, Major General Modise strongly condemned the killing of two elderly women; one in E-Section Botshabelo and the other in Kagisanong both by their own sons.

On Friday 12 August 2022 the police received a complaint of murder at Masike Street Rocklands, Kagisanong near Bloemfontein at about 07:00. Upon arrival at the scene, the police were led to the room where the 65-year-old woman lifeless body was laying by the brother. The victim had visible multiple stab wounds on the head and body.

The complainant informed the police that the son to the deceased suspected to be using drugs and had asked money from the deceased to buy drugs however deceased told him that she doesn't have money. The suspect got angry, went out of the house, came back with a piece of iron and stabbed the deceased with it several times. When he was done he turned to the complainant and also stabbed him on the chest. Fortunately the uncle survived but due to the fact that the suspect locked them inside the house they could not get help immediately. They received help the following morning.

The 28-year-old suspect was traced and arrested by police and he will appear in Bloemfontein Magistrate Court Monday 15 August 2022 on charges of Murder of his 65 year old mother and attempted murder of his uncle.

In a similar case, 42-year-old will appear for bail hearing on Monday 15 August 2022 in Botshabelo Magistrate Court for the Murder of his 71-year-old mother. He is alleged to have strangled his biological mother to death in E-Section Botshabelo on Sunday 7 August 2022 at about 10:15. He is also having track history of substance abuse.

Source: South African Police Service

A 38-year-old Bloemendal man is in police custody following his arrest last night for allegedly being in possession of an illegal firearm and ammunition.

According to police information, on Saturday evening, 13/08 at about 23:10, SAPS Bethelsdorp Crime Prevention Unit members were patrolling the gang hotspot area in Bloemendal when they spotted a nervous looking male walk into a yard in Scholtz Street after spotting the police vehicle. The suspect proceeded to knock on the door. The members stopped in front of the house and approached the male. On searching him, a 9mm pistol and 12 rounds of ammunition was found in his possession.

He is detained on charges of illegal possession of a firearm and illegal possession of ammunition. Ownership is yet to be established.

He is expected to appear in the Gqeberha magistrate court on Monday, 15 August 2022.

Source: South African Police Service

On 12 August 2022, the Pietermaritzburg High Court convicted and sentenced Thanduxolo Zungu (40) for two counts of murder, attempted murder, conspiracy to commit murder, malicious damage to property, arson as well as unlawful possession of a firearm and ammunition. The accused committed these crimes between January 2019 and March 2020.

On 28 January 2020 at 04:15 Zungu shot and killed Nhlanhla Dlamini (48) and his 24-year-old son, Nkanyiso Dlamini at Sinating Location in Pietermaritzburg. He was arrested on 5 November 2020 and he was linked to a string of other cases, including being in unlawful possession of a firearm which later confirmed by a ballistic expert as the firearm that was used in the double murder of Dlamini and his son.

Some of the charges were provisionally withdrawn before a hefty sentence was handed to Zungu. He was sentenced to life imprisonment for murder and an additional 51 years for the other charges.

Source: South African Police Service

MPUMALANGA - The Nelspruit Commercial Crime Court have on Thursday last week, 4 August 2022 found guilty and sentenced a mother and son, Ralph Mohlala (23) and Silvia Mohlala (55) for manipulation of information during Reckless and Negligent driving which happened on the 5 August 2018 at Ohrigstad road between Hlabekisa and Matibidi.

It is alleged that on the early hours of the day in question, an accident occurred on R533 Ohrigstad road whereby a Polo VW overturned with five passengers inside, three females and two males and only four were injured in the accident. A case docket of reckless and negligent driving was opened and investigated by Dientjie Detectives.

It is further alleged that during investigation, false statements were obtained and including warning statement from another person who was not the driver of the vehicle during the accident. The matter was reported to the Hawks Nelspruit based Serious Corruption Investigation for further probe.

Investigation by the Hawks revealed that on that day, the driver of the vehicle was Ralph Mohlala, who was driving without driver’s license and not the one who submitted warning statement as per the records. It was further revealed that the investigating officer who was also a Detective commander colluded with Silvia Mohlala, the mother of Ralph to use a civilian who was not present during the accident to give false statement purporting to be the driver during the accident.

After the completion of the investigation, the matter was brought before court for decision. Warrant of arrest was authorised by court on 14 December 2021 and four suspects were arrested and appeared before court on the same day. They were all released on R10 000 bail each. The investigator persuaded the case until last week Thursday when two accused out of the four were found guilty and sentenced as follows:

Accused 2. Silvia Mohlala: sentenced on count 1: Conspiracy to commit a crime of fraud. She was sentenced to 24 months correctional supervision in terms of section 276(1) (h) of the CPA 56 of 1977.

Accused 1. Ralph Mohlala was sentenced on Count 2: Reckless and negligent driving: R3000.00 or six month imprisonment wholly suspended for 3 years

Count 3: Driving motor vehicle without a driver’s license, sentenced to 12 months wholly suspended for a period of 3 years and

Count 4. Defeating or obstructing the administration of justice: sentenced to 12 months wholly suspended for 3 years.

The Provincial Head of the Hawks Major General Mokoena welcomed the sentence believing that this will serve as an example to the police officers who think that they are above the law, the eye of the Hawks is watching. She further applauded the investigating officer and Judiciary for ensuring that proper sentence was imposed to the accused.

Source: South African Police Service

The City of Cape Town is the first city in Africa to make a significant investment in the rehabilitation of the rainfall catchment areas which feed our water supply dams. The City is contributing R50 million in the 22/23 financial year to a partnership coordinated by The Nature Conservancy, which clears thirsty alien invasive plants (AIPs) so that more water reaches our dams. This cost-effective programme and the highly-skilled and brave individuals who clear the hectares of alien invasive plants under difficult conditions were celebrated at a recent event that was also attended by Mayor Geordin Hill-Lewis.

Climate change is a reality, and the City is taking proactive steps to ensure that our water sources are conserved and protected. Clearing of alien invasive plants is a key component of the City’s Water Strategy. By removing water-guzzling plants from key parts of the dam catchment, our surface water supply is maximised as more rain water can flow into the dams.

The City recognises the importance of healthy catchments in our water future and that’s why we’ve invested actively through a multi-partnership programme, the Greater Cape Town Water Fund (GCTWF) restoring the catchments of Wemmershoek, Berg River and Steenbras dams. This was in response to scientific reports which showed that over 55 billion litres of water - about two months of water for Cape Town - was being lost every year to alien invasive plants such as pine, gum and wattle trees.

Experts estimated that this loss was set to double to 100 billion litres of water every year, within 20 years, if not addressed. This is the most cost-effective supply intervention we have as part of our diverse mix of sources we’re bringing online to ensure a more secure water supply in future. It’s estimated that Cape Town will grow substantially over the coming decades, so this is an important initiative.

‘To turn the water losses into gains, this programme is tackling 54,300 hectares which should be cleared to increase water yield into our dams. To date, through the GCTWF, the City contributed to clearing 4,617 hectares, 370 green job opportunities have been created (165 women and 103 youth) and 243 people have been trained.

At a recent event held on 27 July 2022, this progress was celebrated and the highly-skilled and brave individuals who clear the hectares of alien invasive plants under difficult conditions high up in the mountains were recognised. It requires nerve and the ability to scale difficult, steep mountain terrain and remove the alien invasive plants from the high-angle slopes in the upper reaches of the catchment areas. The City also thanked The Nature Conservancy (TNC) for coordinating the programme, and the many other organisations and companies which contribute to this partnership.

‘The City will continue to work with stakeholders and partners to make the most of opportunities to optimise the economic, social and ecological benefits of our regional water resources,’ said Councillor Zahid Badroodien, the City’s Mayoral Committee Member for Water and Sanitation.

Caption 1: Alungile Mayekiso (left) and Asavela Ncaphayi (right).

Caption 2: Ademola Ajagbe, TNC Africa Regional Managing Director; Louise Stafford TNC South Africa Program Director; Mayor Geordin Hill-Lewis and Mike Webster, the City’s Executive Director for Water and Sanitation.

Caption 3: Group photo.

Source: City Of Cape Town