Posts tagged with 'Africa'

 

Police officers spent R5.3m on fake EFF and Fees Must Fall investigations

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A pair of top officers are believed to have paid money from a crime intelligence slush fund to ‘informants’ which didn’t exist. A report in the Sunday Independent accuses top police officers of looting crime intelligence funds to the tune of R5.3 million.

The publication says an internal report shows that these officials embarked on supposed investigations into the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) and Fees Must Fall movement leadership, but spent the money meant for these investigations on luxury hotels.

They also allegedly paid various amounts to non-existent “informants”.

According to the report, Major-General Deena Moodley and Colonel Preadhashni Govender spent a night at the Drakensburg Sun Resort in December, 2016, under the pretext that they were “attending a meeting by EFF members planning a rally” due to “conspiracy to commit arson by EFF Student Command”, changing theirs stories to say they were investigating a plot to
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Nzimande will not allow Afrikaans-based occupational training college, Sol-Tech to operate if it excludes certain groups

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Higher education minister Blade Nzimande says he will not allow a proposed Afrikaans college to operate if it contravenes the bill of rights by excluding certain groups based on race or culture.

Nzimande was speaking in Durban on Monday regarding the construction of an Afrikaans-based occupational training college, Sol-Tech, in Centurion, Pretoria.

Construction has already begun on the college, which is being spearheaded by trade union Solidarity.
Nzimande said the constitution is clear in that there is nothing wrong with private companies or entities establishing higher education institutions – but should any institution go against the bill of rights, he would not sign off on it.

“As you might be aware, there are media reports that Solidarity aims to build a R300m private Afrikaans university in Centurion. As a department, we have not received any application for any such institution,” he said.

Nzimande said the c
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Shocking discovery: 108 illegal firearms and 134 round of ammunition seized from Limpopo security companies

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A total of 108 firearms and 134 rounds of ammunition were confiscated from 19 closed down security companies in the Thohoyandou Cluster.

LIMPOPO – The operation, which was conducted by a Flash Unit team put together by the Provincial Police Commissioner, Lt Genl Nneke Jim Ledwaba, is aimed at eliminating all the possibilities of criminals accessing these firearms and committing violent crimes, said Police Spokesperson, Col Moatshe Ngoepe.

Review Online reports that during the operation one person was arrested for possession of unlicensed firearms and ammunition.

Ngoepe said the recovered firearms and ammunition will be destroyed after all procedures have been followed.

The accused (48) will appear in the Thohoyandou Magistrate’s Court soon. More arrests are expected and the police urge anyone with information about companies that are still operating, to contact Lt Col Justice Nchabeleng at 082 468 3848 or any Flash Unit coordinator at
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Cash-strapped state arms company, Denel failed to supply R250 million worth of military Casspirs to the government of Chad after already receiving R100 million deposit

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Despite having been paid a R100 million deposit almost two years ago, the state arms company Denel has failed to supply R250 million worth of army vehicles to the government of Chad.

In 2017, Chad bought 40 military Casspirs from Denel, but the company could not deliver them while officials squabbled over the ownership of the lucrative intellectual property (IP) rights – which had been given to the Gupta family for free – to build the vehicles.

Chad has since cancelled the contract and demanded its deposit back from the cash-strapped arms company.

Denel’s failure to deliver comes at a time when the firm is struggling with liquidity issues.

Last month, Denel received a much-needed bailout of R1.8 billion from Treasury.

At the time, Treasury said the company would get another billion next year.

In recent months the company, which has been implicated in state capture, has struggled to pay employees on time. At the end of
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Stupid cable thief digs his own grave after he shocks himself to death at substation

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A thief who tried to steal cables at a Westfield substation near Modderfontein caused his own death.

A spokesman for power supply Isaac Mangena says the body of the alleged thief was found at the substation by technical personnel.

The dead man’s body hung on one of the transformers, indicating that he had a thousand volts through his body.

It is suspected that he wanted to sabotage the substation and steal copper cables connected to the transformer.

It is unknown how long the thief hung on the transformer, and his identity could not be ascertained.

Two days earlier, another person with serious burns was admitted to hospital after also trying to steal cables near Westdene, but improper handling caused a cable to explode, leaving the thief with numerous burns.

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Hospitals held up due to shortage of basic medical supplies – ANC regime want to implement NHI, but is currently unable to manage hospitals

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Due to a lack of basic medical supplies, all non-emergency operations were discontinued at the Johannesburg Hospital.

The problems have been going on for weeks and doctors now have to “beg” for medical supplies at neighboring hospitals to deal with serious cases.

The Gauteng Health ministry has confirmed that non-emergency surgery for some patients had to be rescheduled at Charlotte Maxeke hospital in Johannesburg due to a shortage of medical supplies.

This was in response to a statement from the Democratic Alliance’s spokesperson on health, Jack Bloom, who said about 20 patients had been told that their operations could not go ahead. Kwara Kekana, spokesperson for the province’s health MEC, Dr Bandile Masuku, said eight patients were affected by the issue. The patients were all scheduled for arthroplasty.

“There has been a problem for some weeks with procurement at this hospital,” Bloom said in his statement.

S
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All South Africans deserve to share in Rugby World Cup joy, not just premium DSTV subscribers

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“It is a pity that the SABC’s inability to broadcast the Rugby World Cup will deprive millions of South Africans of the opportunity to participate in the euphoria and cohesion that the tournament brings to everyone in the country,” says Heloïse Jordaan, FF Plus MP and chief spokesperson for sport.

“The mandate of the Department of Sport, Arts and Culture is to promote nation-building and social cohesion. The World Cup is the ideal opportunity to do so.”

“It is therefore regrettable that the SABC does not go the extra mile to make plans in partnership with the government and the broadcaster of the spectacle, as with Absa’s Soccer Premier League series, to make the broadcast possible on the SABC’s channels, even if it’s just the matches in South Africa.

“In the case of the broadcasting rights for the football series, Minister Nathi Mthethwa (sport, arts and culture) played a leading role
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All South Africans deserve to share in Rugby World Cup joy, not just premium DSTV subscribers

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“It is a pity that the SABC’s inability to broadcast the Rugby World Cup will deprive millions of South Africans of the opportunity to participate in the euphoria and cohesion that the tournament brings to everyone in the country,” says Heloïse Jordaan, FF Plus MP and chief spokesperson for sport.

“The mandate of the Department of Sport, Arts and Culture is to promote nation-building and social cohesion. The World Cup is the ideal opportunity to do so.”

“It is therefore regrettable that the SABC does not go the extra mile to make plans in partnership with the government and the broadcaster of the spectacle, as with Absa’s Soccer Premier League series, to make the broadcast possible on the SABC’s channels, even if it’s just the matches in South Africa.

“In the case of the broadcasting rights for the football series, Minister Nathi Mthethwa (sport, arts and culture) played a leading role
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ANC regime gets billed for R100m for 35,000 election posters – The taxpayer will probably now have to shake his pockets to pay the bill?

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The ANC Treasury General, Paul Mashatile, was apparently unaware that an invoice was made for the debt to be paid.

It was apparently only when the invoice, with an amount of R102 million, was shown to him, that the sparks flew.

An investigation has now been ordered following the invoice issued for the delivery of 35,000 election posters that were apparently not approved by the party.

Mashatile was apparently unaware of the deal until the invoice was brought to his eyes, and an investigation is now underway as to who is responsible for the mess.

However, it appears that the ANC did receive and use the posters, and will thereby also be responsible for paying the bill.

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Trump’s new security adviser speaks Afrikaans fluently

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Last week, Trump abruptly fired John Bolton, a vigorous proponent of using US military force abroad and one of the main hawks in the administration on Iran. Robert O’Brien has until now served as Trump’s envoy for situations involving US hostages abroad. He comes into the new job with backing from Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and senior Republicans in Congress.

US President Donald Trump has chosen Robert O’Brien to replace John Bolton as his national security adviser.

Robert O’Brien learnt to speak the language while an exchange student in Bloemfontein during apartheid.

According to lobby group AfriForum’s deputy CEO, Ernst Roets, “O’Brien speaks fluent Afrikaans and AfriForum has interacted with him in the past”.

This is a reference to an interview with O’Brien AfriForum published in 2017, which the lobby group’s CEO, Kallie Kriel, also tweeted about on hearing of his new appointment.

According to th
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