Friday 29 May 2015Year 6 151st Edition Tel: 013 262 4416

A case of Irregular Salary Adjustment by the Municipal Manager of Elias Motsoaledi was openedat Groblersdal SAPS by opposition parties at the Elias Motsoaledi Local Municipality. TheMunicipal Manager increased her salary from R984 710-00 to R1 063 486-80 per annum.The case was opened as a result of the Elias Motsoaledi Local Municipality Manager and alsoacting Director of Corporate Services, Mrs Ramagasela Maredi , adjusting her salary by 8%without the knowledge and agreement of the council in the municipaity. Maredi was appointedin the position after the expulsion of Madimabe Monageng who was axed by the municipality formisusing the municipality's R4000-00. After Monageng's expulsion, the municipality spentmillions of rands in legal fees.Oppositions in the municipality say the Elias Motsoaledi Local Municipality Mayor Cllr JuliaMathebe may find herself landing in hot water after authorizing the adjustment without consultingthe council first.The vacant position of Municipal Manager was advertised, at great expense in the publishedmedia, with applicants applying for the position, shortlist of applicants being compiled andinterviews conducted."What needs to be clarified is the fact that the salary that was applicable to the MM position wasin excess of that which the Director Corporate was earning when she was working full time in thatposition," said Mpumalanga Party's Councilor Seun Mogotji.Mogotji said salaries of senior officials within the local council are determined by the council interms of government guidelines based on a number of relevant factors."It was clear that Maredi was the preferred candidate in the municipality for the Managerialposition even before the when the interviews were conducted. Now amazingly after just a fewmonths in the position she increased her salary by 8% whereas there was a procedure that neededto be followed before the council could decide on her increment. She did not even finish her 12month probation in that position to meet the criteria and satisfactory performance," said Mogotji.He added that there were a lot of qualified and experienced candidates who applied for the MMposition in Elias Motsoaledi but they were not considered."Surprisingly one of the criterias needed when applying for an MM position is that the candidatehad to have completed a CPMD course which the current MM has never attended. The councilthen decided not to follow most of the needed criterias in favour of the MM to be appointed inthat position," Mogotji continued said.Mogotji went on and said: "To make matter even worse is the fact that the Municipal Managerwas then Director of Corporate when the post advertised, meaning she advertised the post,applied for it and also appointed for it. She was acting as a referee and a player at the same time,how could that happen?" Mogotji said the MM did not even resign in the Director of Corporate position instead she decided

Irregular SalaryAdjustment case

openedto act and occupy two positions in the munici-pality.Mogotji concluded: "The advertisement clearlystated that a salary increment to that relevantposition will be made after the succesfull can-didate served a 12 month probation working in the council. Now the Municipal Manager hasirregularily increased her salary without the matter tabled in the council for recommendations andresolutions. The entire advertising and interview process was flawed, discriminating against allthose who applied and attended the interview. The whole thing was just made up as an intentionto benefit an individual who ended up occupying the position."The Manager at the Elias Motsoaledi Local Municipality Mayor's Office Mbusi Mahlangu agreedthat a case has been opened at the police station regarding the matter. He said he cannot commentfurther as the matter needs to be discussed during a council seating in the municipality."The allegation is under investigation in the municipality and the matter will be dealt with in acouncil seating," he said.

The Mayor of Elias Motsoaledi Local Municipality (standing), may find herself inhot water after singing and authorizing the Municipal Manager's salary adjust-ment.

2 DISPATCH FRIDAY 29 May 2015

The Marble Hall Police are in search of sus-pects who allegedly drugged a 68 year oldmale between Marble Hall and Tuinplaas onFriday 22 May.According to the police report, the victim wasapproached by middle aged woman whoclaimed to be working at a shop in Marble HallTown. It is alleged that the woman promisedthe victim to sell him meat at a very low price."He followed that lady to check the meat.While walking, that woman gave him a can ofsoft drink to drink. After drinking it, he feltdizzy and from there he did not see anything.He was found by police along the road atTuinplaas," said Constable LethunyaMmuroa from Marble Hall SAPS.He added that the victim was rushed toGroblersdal Hospital for treatment and afterhis recovery he was then taken to Marble HallSAPS to press charges.Mmuroa said the suspect(s) searched thevictim and robbed him of R9 500-00 before

Beware of soft drinkcriminals

An inquest docket is under investigation at Marble Hall SAPS after a 77 year old male was foundhanging inside his son's house at Ga-Botha Village in Ephraim Mogale Local Municipality.According to Constable Lethunya Mmuroa from Marble Hall SAPS, the deceased wasdiscovered by his grand children on Monday 25 May when they were coming back from school."The children rushed to alert the elders after the discovery. The deceased was found hangingwith an electicity cable tied around his neck inside the garage at his son's house," he said."The deceased was taken to Groblersdal Government Mortuary for post mortem to determinethe cause of death. An inquest docket is opened and under investigation," he said.

77 year old found hangingat Ga-Botha

they dropped him off at Tuinplaas.A docket of theft was opened and police areinvestigating. No arrests that have been madeat the stage.The police warn the community that theymust not accept drinks and foods from stran-gers as many similar cases have been re-ported lately around Marble Hall andGroblersdal."The suspects are targeting unsuspectingold people. Most of the victims were robbedafter withdrawing cash from the banks. Thesuspects start by asking the victim to drink afew sips in order to lower their drinks so thatthey can put brandy in it. After just one sipthe victim will feel dizzy and pass out. Theywake up after a few hours in an unknownlocation with their money and other itemsmissing. Anyone with the information is urgedto call Marble Hall Police on 013 261 8614 orcontact the nearest police station," saidMmuroa.

DISPATCH FRIDAY 29 May 2015 3

Law enforcers came in numbers in GroblersdalTown for Operation Fiyela on Friday 22 May.The operation was started by the NationalGovernment aiming to deal with issues such asxenophobic attacks, counterfeited goods in thecommunities, illicit drugs and illegal foreignnationals. Operation Fiyela in Groblersdal wasa joint operation by different police stationsand the Department of Home Affairs.The operation took place in the Groblersdalfarms, taxi ranks and in town and there were anumber of foreign nationals asked for theirdocumentations to show that they are in thecountry legally and also in possession of validwork permits. Some foreign nationals who areemployed were checked on duty by HomeAffairs officials if they have valid work permit.Some illegal immigrants were seen running awayfrom the hundreds of police officials who wereabout to arrest them during the operation. Somefailed to run and were caught and loaded inpolice vans. This led to some illegal immigrantsto go hiding in the farm settlers fearing thepolice. Day care and creche owners aroundtown had a difficulty of taking care of babies asyoung as three months at night after theirmothers were arrested in the operation.It is believed by some of the foreign nationalsthat the operation will affect the economy nega-tively because most skilled workers in the farmsentered the country illegally."I started working in the Groblersdal farms tenyears ago and do not have any passport with

The Ephraim Mogale Local Municipal Mechani-cal Manager has been fired. The dimissal of Mr.Piet Mahlangu comes after a number of hear-ings by the municipality after the former man-ager was held accountable for defrauding themunicipality thousands of rands. Mahlanguwas dismissed by the municipality on Tuesday19 May after he was found guilty for using themunicipality's fuel card to purchase petrol anddiesel for his friend's company vehicles.It is alleged that thousands of rands were spentby Mahlangu when defrauding the municipal-ity for the previous years since his appiointment.Mahlangu was caught on camera footages at afiling station in Marble Hall Town filling upcontainers with petrol and diesel using themunicipality's fuel allowance card.The Ephraim Mogale Local Municipality Com-munications Manager Jan Phasha confirmedthat Mahlangu was dismissed by the munici-pality."He was given a dismissal letter on Tuesday 19May after an investigation conducted by themunicipality. Up to so far, Mahlangu is the onlyperson charged and dismissed for misusing themunicipality's fuel card," he said.

Operation Fiyelain Groblersdal

EphraimMogale

MechanicalManagerfired for

misusing fuelallowance

card

me. I left Zimbabwe when I was a little boy and I never went back to applyfor one. I am a skilled worker in the farm and not sure that I will ever goback to Zimbabwe because there is hunger there, I am doing a livinghere," said a foreign national who doesn't want to be named.He said applying for a passport costs a fortune in his country andsometimes officials deny desperate applicants necessary documentsthat will allow them to go to other countries for greener pastures."You can wait for a long time for your passport to be processed inZimbabwe while you also have to pay a lot of money. That's why someof the people prefer to come to South Africa illegally because theeconomical situation there is unbearable," he said.Warrant Officer Stanley Magaela from Groblersdal SAPS said OperationFiyela was created with the aim of cleaning up the province’s streets ofcriminal elements and keep communities safe.He said 24 illegal immigrants were arrested in Groblersdal Town andsurroundings. He said an additional two people were arrested after theywere found in possession of dagga."The police made a very positive impact by the operation as crime ratesdeclined during the weekend in Groblersdal," he concluded.

The Groblersdal Built It, situated at Bareki Mall, has started a win a trailercompetition for its customers. The competition started on Friday 1 May.The winner will walk away with a one ton trailer and Build It buildingmaterial. To enter the competition, a customer has to spend a minimumof R1000-00 in cash to qualify. After purchasing for the required amount,customers fill in their details, including name, surname and telephonenumbers at the back of their till slips and put them into the draw box."This is the way we like to thank and give back to our customers," saidthe Floor Manager at Built It Groblersdal, Pieter Labuschagne.He said only customers using cash will qualify to enter and the important

Groblersdal Build It Wina Trailer Competition

thing about the com-petition is: Build ItGroblersdal only."The lucky winner ofthe competition willwalk away with a oneton trailer and build-ing material all worthR30 000-00. The com-petition ends onThursday 9 July andthe winner will also beannounced the sameday," he said.

The friendly and enthusiastic staffmembers at Build It Groblersdal.

4 DISPATCH FRIDAY 29 May 2015

DISPATCH FRIDAY 29 May 2015 5

Hundreds of Bloempoort Community membersin Moutse blocked the R25 Road on Tuesday19 May with stones and burning tires. Resi-dents were complaining about the dust that iscaused by passing vehicles at the constructionsite on the road. They say the constructioncompany appointed to rehabilitate and main-tain the R25 Road is taking time to tar the roadand also fails to deploy water tankers to wet theroad in order to avoid dust while they are busy."The road is gravel and is alway dry causing ahuge dustcloud every day and night. Thisthreatens our health as community members ofBloempoort," said a community member SepadiMampuru. He said they sent community repre-sentatives to the municipality to try and resolvethe matter but Elias Motsoaledi Local Munici-pality did not respond. "We started negotiat-ing with the municipality in January and theMayor Cllr Julia Mathebe promised to comeand resolve the matter within seven days butshe did not pitch. We then sent representativesto the municipality on Friday 15 May and theydid not promise anything to show that they takeour matter seriously, that's when we decided toprotest," he said. Mampuru hinted that theElias Motsoaledi Municipality is actually ne-glecting the community of Bloempoort in manyways including service delivery. "As you cansee that we are in the centre between Denniltonand Groblersdal but the municipality does notdeliver any services here. We are experiencinga huge service delivery backlog here, mostsenior officials in the municipality even theMayor pass here when they go to work every-day but our issues are not addressed in themunicipality," he said. Mampuru went on andsaid: "The dust caused by the passing vehiclesenter our houses day and night. Our childrencan't play outdoors anymore as they alreadystarted coughing. Our health is at risk, resi-dents often attend clinics and hospitals andthey are told to stay away from the dust but wecan't because the same dust comes to us insideour houses. We can't even clean our housesanymore due to the now and then dust trappedon our furniture all the time." He said schoolchildren are the ones affected the most becausethey cross the road everyday. He said: "Someof the pupils are at risk of being hit by speedingvehicles as sometimes the rising dust coversthe road and makes it hard for the driver to viewa long distance ahead." He further said that heheard a representative from the municipalityspeaking on the radio that the project is delay-ing because some of the contractor's materialwas stolen. "This is not true because the mate-rial was stolen in Elandsdoorn and the contrac-tor knows the people who did that as some aresub-contractors. The stolen material has noth-ing to do with Boempoort," he said. Mampuruconcluded and said: "Our protest on Tuesdaywas stopped when the police came and startedshooting at us while we were fighting for ourrights. Since then the municipality did not makeany efforts and respond to our grievances butI can assure you that we will never stop until ourdemands are met. The least the municipality cando is to make sure that water tankers are pro-vided on the road and wet the road so that ourhealth will not be at risk anymore. The status ofthe road is a burden to everyone in Moutse inparticular all those who use the road daily. Aslong as government officials fail to address ourissues, further protests will errupt very soon."The Gorogang Project CLO Precious Mahlangutold the Dispatch that the project has beenstopped since the sub-contractors engaged onstrike complaining about their outstanding Aprilsalaries. Elias Motsoaledi Manager in the May-or's Office Mbusi Mahlangu told the Dispatchthat residents were not supposed to complainto the municipality as the R25 is a provincialroad. He said that despite the fact that the roadis falling under province, they engaged with theroads department about the matter. "RoadsAgency Limpopo is the department responsi-ble for matters relating to the R25 and as themunicipality it will be unlawful to send a water

Angry Bloempoort residents barricade R25 Roadtanker to a project that is under the Departmentof Roads and Transport," he said.

Bloempoort residents burned tires onthe R25 Road when complaining aboutthe everyday and night dust caused bypassing vehicle saying it threatens theirhealth.

6 DISPATCH FRIDAY 29 May 2015

Limpopo: 198 applications approved forinitiation schools for this year

Every winter thousands of young boys around the country undergo theinitiation process that takes about a period of two months before a formalgraduation. Unfortunately, some of the boys do not return from themountains in a result of over-bleeding and other diseases that infectedthem while under-going the initiation process. This led the governmentto interfere in the initiation schools affairs and took over the processingand issuing of initiation schools applications.The Chairperson of the Working Committee on Initiation Schools inLimpopo Chief Eric Chauke said there were 253 applications and fifty fivewere turned down due to traditional leaders squabbles over the area ofjurisdiction. He said bush schools are scheduled to commence on the19th of June and close on July 20. "The Working Committee on InitiationSchools approved 77 applications from Sekhukhune, Mopane 33, Cap-ricorn 11, Vhembe 24 and Waterberg 53 applications," he said."We have disqualified 53 applications from Sekhukhune only, Mopaniwithdrew one of its applications, and Capricorn also withdrew one. Hesaid the submission of applications to conduct initiation schools for thisyear has closed two months ago," he said.Chauke further said they will conduct a workshop for all senior traditionalleaders who qualify for initiation school permits. Chauke further said theworkshop is scheduled for the 29th of this month.

Eleven died in a hit andrun fatal accident

between Marble Halland Siyabuswa

"In an effort to prevent the unnecessary loss oflives, we request parents to send their childrento the initiation schools that will are approvedfor 2015. All initiation schools should close onJuly 20," he said.“Last year, a 17-year-old boy died at the Leboenginitiation school near Burgersfort in theSekhukhune district and was buried at Ga-Moraba. The province had 275 approvedschools after 36 applications were declined,"said Chauke.

Eleven people died in a car crash between Marble Hall and Siyabuswanear the Tooitskraal farms. The fatal accident, that claimed lives offarmworkers, who were coming from a soccer match around theTooitskraal farms, took place on Sunday 17 May in the afternoon.According to an eyewitness, the LDV bakkie was full of farmworkerscrossing the main road at Tooitskraal Farms between Marble Hall andSiyabuswa when apparently a Toyota Fortuner crashed in it and killedthe eleven people on the scene. She says the bakkie's head lights werenot working and this resulted in the driver in the Fortuner not noticingit crossing the road.It is alleged that the driver of the Toyota Fortuner fled the scene afterthe accident happened. Limpopo traffic spokesperson, Kagiso Mootane says police arelooking for the driver of the Toyota Fortuner. Mootane said the LDVdriver has also died on the scene."When our SAPS officials arrived on the scene they found that thedriver of the Fortuner ran away from the scene. As we are talking nowthe police have opened a case of culpable homicide, reckless andnegligent driving,” said Mootane.

The government was urged to interfere in the affairs of initiation schools after many deaths reportedin other provinces.

A 29 year old male named Tshepo Selolo was arrested by the MarbleHall police after found in possession of a stolen vehicle. The suspectwas arrested after his parents pressed charges against him after theirvehicle went missing at Tooitskraal Farms on Tuesday 19 May."The suspect was arrested by the police on Saturday 23 May aftera police search and he was charged with theft of motor vehicle," saidConstable Lethunya Mmuroa from Marble Hall SAPS.He said the police found the stolen vehicle in possession of thesuspect when arresting him. He appeared before the GroblersdalMagistrate's Court and is out on bail."He will appear again on Wednesday 3 June at Groblersdal Magis-trate's Court facing charges of motor vehicle theft. An investigationis still ongoing," said Mmuroa.

Arrested for stealinghis parents' vehicle

DISPATCH FRIDAY 29 May 2015 7

Friday 22 May saw dozens of luckau residentsflocking at Sizanani Sports Grounds in LuckauVillage, Elias Motsoaledi Local Municipality toattend the municipal's Moral RegenerationPrayer.The purpose of the Event was to bring togetherthe communities of Elias Motsoaledi to pro-mote ubuntu, social cohesion and the eradica-tion of xenophobic attacks in the communities.It was also aimed to eradicate moral decay andalso to promote moral values in the society. Itwas also to promote the moral regenerationmovement that was formed by the late StatePresident Nelson Mandela after he directed acall by different denominations.The Elias Motsoaledi Moral Regenerationleader Pastor Magudulela said moral regenera-tion specializes in community building andassistance of people so that they will under-stand each other better."This is our first outreach since moral regenera-tion was established in Elias Motsaoledi andwe are happy that the community respondedpositively. Moral regeneration today is simplyabout to go back to the basics and restore loveand respect amongst each other. Because localgovernment is the sphere closer to the commu-nities, it is our role to engage our communitiesin this matter," said Magudulela.He indicated that prayer plays a major role inmoral regeneration and during his speech hequoted the bible verse when he said: "Where isyour brother", meaning people must look aftereach other."Today, people are facing too many challengessuch as crime, xenophobic attacks and dis-

Elias Motsoaledi MoralRegeneration Prayer held at

Luckaueases because of moral decay. To restore love and respect amongst thecommunities people must learn to go back to the basics of moralregenerations so that they will live in peace and harmony," saidMagudulela.Acting Elias Motsoaledi Local Municipality Mayor MMC Tladi hintedthat crime, child and women abuse are the results of moral decay. He saidthe promotion of ubuntu will lead to a safe South Africa where everyonewill learn to live in peace. He said the theme of the day was to enhancesound families and community values, to ensure harmony in culturebelieve."Let us encourage respect and end gender based violence. And let uslearn to love and respect our neighbouring Africans. ," he concluded.People were entertained by local artists such as Makgakgasa, poems bylearners from nearby schools, basadi ba dikiba, and many more.

The EliasMotsoaledi MoralRegenerat ionPrayer leader Pas-tor Magudulela

Basadi ba dinaka Cultural Group.

Four heavily armed suspects left with an undisclosed amount of moneyafter robbing the Standard Bank and First National Bank (FNB) ATMsat Bareki Mall in Groblersdal the police said. The armed robbery tookplace on Friday 22 May. "The four suspects entered the mall in theevening and held the on duty security guards at gun point. They gainedentry after making a hole in the wall to access the two ATMs. They thenused a grinding machine and other objects to dislocate the ATMs fromthe wall before they gained access to the cash," said Warrant OfficerStanley Magaela from Groblersdal SAPS. He said the suspects triedunsuccessfully to pull out another ATM during the robbery. "When the

Armed robbers fledafter robbing ATM at

Bareki Mall

The remains ofthe robbed ATMat Bareki Mallafter criminalsused a grindingmachine to gainaccess to money.

police arrived at thescene, the suspectsalready fled with anundisclosed amountof money they tookafter robbing the twoATMs," he said. Hesaid a docket of armedrobbery was openedat the GroblersdalSAPS and is under in-vestigation.

The criminals gained entry throughthe wall.

8 DISPATCH FRIDAY 29 May 2015

Motetema Football DevelopmentLeague launched

The Motetema Football Development Leaguekicked off on Sunday 24 May at MamokgalakeChuene Sports Grounds. Eight teams fromMotetema form part of the newly launchedsoccer league that attracted hundreds of spec-tators. Disco A FC, Janipo FC, Disco B FC,Masehla FC, Barwa FC, Shakes FC, Kotze FCand Balasto FC were Motetema teams thatclashed at Mamokgalake Chuene SportsGrounds for the opening and launching of theleague. "At this stage our main focus is onMotetema based soccer teams. Our intention isto take these young stars out of the streets andalso from doing drugs," said the MotetemaFootball Development League ChairpersonKhutso Masehla. He said they also aim toestablish other sporting activities in future asa part of community development. "I want tomake it clear that we are not a part of any politicalparty and all the ideas come from politicallyneutral members of Motetema community," hesaid. Masehla said they are busy with a processof establishing a netball league in Motetemaand have already gathered forty ladies to takepart. He says the idea of accomodating womencomes after they have experienced a largenumber of female involvement in crime anddrugs in the township. He said they are alsogoing to establish other sporting activities inthe township before the end of this year. "I canassure you that by the end of August, aboutnine sporting activities will be already estab-lished and running in Motetema. We are hop-ing to register more teams at the end of theseason as it is planned to run for 14 weeks. Anadditional seven teams will be registered whichwill make the number of 15 teams in the MotetemaFootball Development League. " he said. Hesaid they are currently training under-12 soccerboys who will be joining the league in a few

years time. He added that some of the playerswill be selected by the league management togo on trials with PSL soccer teams. "By expos-ing them to big soccer teams in the country wewill be unleashing the hidden talents and po-tential from these young stars and also makingthem to get used to the professional soccerenvironment," he concluded. The results of thematches played on Sunday 24 May for MotetemaFootball Development League are as follows:Disco A FC 5-0 Janipo FC, Disco B FC 0-4Masehla FC, Barwa FC 2-2 Shakes FC and KotzeFC 1-2 Balasto FC.

Disco A FC won with a 5-0 score duringthe first match played at MamokgalakeChuene Sports Ground in MotetemaTownship.

Janipo FC ready to face Disco A justbefore they were humiliated with a 5-0lose.