Monday 18 May 2015 Year 6 150 th Edition Tel: 013 262 4416 The water shortages protest that started re- cently in Tafelkop resulted in foreign nationals being victimized by demonstrators. Residents, mainly young people, blocked the roads with burning tyres protesting against water short- ages. The area has experienced a shortage of clean drinkable water despite millions of Rands spent to alleviate the problem in the area. A Great North Transport bus was also burned down at Ga-Matsepe Section by the angry protestors. A number of foreign nationals owned shops were looted. This resulted in some of the shops being closed. It is believed that the looting of these foreign owned shops were motivated by the xenopho- bic attacks that continue to take place in most parts of the country currently. A young person, who doesn't want to be named, told the Dispatch that they demand foreigners to leave the area because they are the cause the government doesn’t give them services. He Water shortages lead to xenophobic attacks in Tafelkop said services such as water and RDP houses could not reach them because of an overcrowd- ing caused by foreign nationals. He said he also blames the government by failing to regulate laws that will control the migration of foreign nationals to the country. He said many undocumented immigrants pay corrupt immigration officers to gain entry into South Africa and this is what needs to be dealt with urgently and decisively An Ethiopian shop owner who immigrated to South Africa in 2009 is one of the victims who had his goods stolen in Tafelkop. He told the Dispatch that he had no choice but to close his shop for days fearing that the looters will come back to steal his goods. “They entered my shop in numbers singing and started to take my goods. I was shocked and also frightened at the same time as some were shouting that I must go back to my own coun- try,” he said. He said he was not thinking that something like that could ever happen as Tafelkop people were welcoming and praising that his prices were affordable. He says although he went back to open his shop, he is still traumatized and lives in fear that the looters may come to strike again. A Somali shop owner Mohammed Zakbar said that what is happening in South Africa is worse than what he feared back home when he came to the country. He said he was terrified when a gang of young men came to his shop in the mid- night kicking the door demanding that he must open his shop. “They took almost everything and some were also throwing eggs at me telling me to go back where I belong. I was scared and could do nothing while I was watching them emptying my shop. I had to close my shop for days and came back when I heard that the police are in control of the situation but I am still scared,” he said. Constable Boitumelo Matlala from Motetema SAPS told the Dispatch that a total of eighteen suspects were arrested in Tafelkop and charged with public violence. They are out on R500-00 bail each and will appear in court 18 June this year. Tafelkop residents barricaded the roads with burning tyres when pro- testing against water shortages in the village. The Great North Transport bus that was torched by the angry community of Tafelkop. The demonstrators later at- tacked foreign nationals and looted a number of shops.
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Monday 18 May 2015Year 6 150 th Edition Tel: 013 262 4416
The water shortages protest that started re-cently in Tafelkop resulted in foreign nationalsbeing victimized by demonstrators. Residents,mainly young people, blocked the roads withburning tyres protesting against water short-ages. The area has experienced a shortage ofclean drinkable water despite millions of Randsspent to alleviate the problem in the area.A Great North Transport bus was also burneddown at Ga-Matsepe Section by the angryprotestors. A number of foreign nationalsowned shops were looted.This resulted in some of the shops being closed.It is believed that the looting of these foreignowned shops were motivated by the xenopho-bic attacks that continue to take place in mostparts of the country currently.A young person, who doesn't want to be named,told the Dispatch that they demand foreignersto leave the area because they are the cause thegovernment doesn’t give them services. He
Water shortages lead toxenophobic attacks in Tafelkop
said services such as water and RDP housescould not reach them because of an overcrowd-ing caused by foreign nationals.He said he also blames the government byfailing to regulate laws that will control themigration of foreign nationals to the country.He said many undocumented immigrants paycorrupt immigration officers to gain entry intoSouth Africa and this is what needs to be dealtwith urgently and decisivelyAn Ethiopian shop owner who immigrated toSouth Africa in 2009 is one of the victims whohad his goods stolen in Tafelkop. He told theDispatch that he had no choice but to close hisshop for days fearing that the looters will comeback to steal his goods.“They entered my shop in numbers singing andstarted to take my goods. I was shocked andalso frightened at the same time as some wereshouting that I must go back to my own coun-try,” he said.
He said he was not thinking that something likethat could ever happen as Tafelkop peoplewere welcoming and praising that his priceswere affordable. He says although he wentback to open his shop, he is still traumatized andlives in fear that the looters may come to strikeagain.A Somali shop owner Mohammed Zakbar saidthat what is happening in South Africa is worsethan what he feared back home when he cameto the country. He said he was terrified when agang of young men came to his shop in the mid-night kicking the door demanding that he mustopen his shop.“They took almost everything and some werealso throwing eggs at me telling me to go backwhere I belong. I was scared and could do
nothing while I was watching them emptyingmy shop. I had to close my shop for days andcame back when I heard that the police are incontrol of the situation but I am still scared,” hesaid.Constable Boitumelo Matlala from MotetemaSAPS told the Dispatch that a total of eighteensuspects were arrested in Tafelkop and chargedwith public violence. They are out on R500-00bail each and will appear in court 18 June thisyear.
Tafelkop residents barricaded theroads with burning tyres when pro-testing against water shortages inthe village.
The Great North Transport bus that wastorched by the angry community ofTafelkop. The demonstrators later at-tacked foreign nationals and looted anumber of shops.
2 DISPATCH MONDAY 18 May 2015
Twenty RDP housing beneficiaries were lefthanging after the Mayor of Elias MotsoalediLocal Municipality Cllr Julia Mathebe instructedthe contractor to stop building houses for someof the beneficiaries. This includes only benefi-ciaries residing at Taiwan in Dennilton. Ward11 Councillor Ali ka Maloba received a letterfrom the MEC stating that the RDP housingproject was surrendered due to indifferencesbetween community members.A beneficiary, Priscilla Maboa said they waitedfor the verification of their houses since 2012and she was happy now the project started.Now some of the community members hadsecret meetings with the mayor influencing herto stop the project. Residents say the issuemight be politically connected as the wardcouncillor belongs to an opposite political or-ganization and he is been sabotaged.She says the mayor did not consult CDW, wardcouncillors and beneficiaries before she wrotea letter to the MEC requesting that the projectmust be stopped. Ward 11 Councillor Ali kaMaloba said he was surprised to receive a letterfrom the MEC’s office stating that the project
Elias Motsoaledi Mayor withdrawsRDP houses meant for the poor
Some of the beneficiaries standing helplessly at TaiwanVillage after receiving the news that the Mayor of EliasMotsoaledi Local Municipality Cllr Julia Mathebe requestedthe Coghsta MEC to stop the RDP project.
A beneficiary Lillian Boroko and her children standing nearthe shack that her family lived in for five years. She says sheis disappointed the Mayor stopped the RDP project thatwould provide shelter for her family this winter.
Kgaogelo andK e l e t s oMalapane outsidethe shack theirparents builtmany years agoat Taiwan Village.They are also dis-appointed that theMayor withdrewthe RDP projectthat would pro-vide them with aproper house.
will be stopped immediately. “This is not the first time these individuals stop projects in the village.A project that was supposed to supply the area with drinking water wasalso stopped by these people. They demanded that an excavator shouldleave saying they will dig with their own hands. We don’t have drinkingwater since they failed to dig up trenches for water pipes. The Mayormust call a community meeting and come to hear from us, not just certainindividuals who are after a political and personal ideologies that willleave poor residents homeless,” she said.Priscilla said most of the community members in Taiwan are very poorand cannot afford to build houses on their own.She says some of the people who demanded that the Mayor should stopthe project are already living in RDP houses.“I am a single parent and have three children. I work as a general workerand could not afford to build myself and children a descent house. Thishouse is very important to me. The Mayor should just let service deliverygo to the people,” she said.Another beneficiary Lillian Boroko said her family has lived in a shackfor five years and they were happy after they were told their house willbe built.“We are a family of eight and living in a shack. I was happy when I heardthat the RDP house we have been waiting for since 2012 will finally bebuilt. Now I am disappointed to hear that the Mayor is stopping theproject that is supposed to help the poor. It is already winter and I amafraid that my family will be freezing in that shack again this year. I wishthe Mayor can change her mind and withdraw her decision,” she said.Ward 11 Councillor Ali ka Maloba told the Dispatch that the Mayor tookthe decision without consulting the affected parties. He says he organ-ized a meeting engaging all involved parties including Elias MotsoalediLocal Municipality Mayor and Coghsta representatives to try andresolve the matter.“The Mayor did not pitch in the meeting. She did not even delegate arepresentative to come and attend on her behalf,” he said.Maloba further said the confusion is caused by some ruling partymembers who are just after their personal agendas.“The said community members who had a meeting with the Mayordemanding that the project must be stopped are just interested intobusiness and not beneficiaries at all. They don’t care about servicesgoing to the people. They are only pushing their political agenda anddon’t care about the interest of the people,” he said.The Elias Motsoaledi Communications Manager Marinda Burger prom-ised to respond by e-mail but her comment did not reach the Dispatchat time of going to print.
DISPATCH MONDAY 18 May 2015 3
Sub-contractors and workers at the R25 Gorogang Project embarked on a strike starting Monday11 May. The workers, mainly sub-contractors, are appointed in the project that is busy maintainingand rehabilitating the road from Moutse to Groblersdal Town. Workers are complaining about thecontractor’s failure to pay their April salaries as promised.They say they have been in fruitless meetings with the Project Manager Rolter Thobakgale to tryand resolve the matter but they did not reach a solid agreement.The project was earlier stopped by Moutse residents when claiming that the construction is notmeeting the required standard. It was later agreed by the community and the Roads Departmentthat the project will continue and the company should meet the required standard whenmaintaining and rehabilitating the road.According to the sub-contractors, the Department of Roads and Transport paid GorogangCompany the amount of R8 Million to resume with the project. They say the money, that wassupposed to run the R25 project, was used by the company to sustain other projects such asReyavaya in Polokwane.“We submitted our invoices on 22 April to the project manager so that we will get paid at the endof the month. We were surprised when the company failed to pay the money as promised,” saidone of the sub-contractors Shlanu Mbokane.He said they have been in a meeting with the project manager on Tuesday 5 May. “We were toldthe company is currently struggling for money and they will pay at least half of our salaries. Wedid not agree to those terms and we were told our full money will be paid on Friday 8 May,” hesaid.Mbokane added that the company failed to pay on Friday as promised and these made sub-contractors and their employees very angry and they immediately contacted the project managerwho was then did not answering and returning their calls.“We made an effort and tried to reach the main CEO but he did was not answering either. We thenwaited until Saturday to see if something will come up but it never did,” he said.Mbokane went on and said when the angry sub-contractors and their labours pitched at the siteoffice on Monday 11 May, the project manager did not give them clear answers about their salaries
R25 Gorogang Project sub-contractors on strike
and that’s when they decided to stop the project and protest.“The project manager told us the head office needed some outstandingpapers so that they could process the money. We then allowed theproject manager to fax the papers to the head office. This process tookhim the rest of the day. He returned at 16:H00 and still he was not givingpositive feedback. This made the matters even worse. Furious workersdemanded that the project manager will not leave the site office until theirmoney is paid,” said Mbokane.Hundreds of workers and other community members held the projectmanager hostage until he was rescued by the police from Dennilton,Groblersdal and Motetema around 23:H00.According to Mbokane, the sub-contractors will stop doing their dutiesuntil the contractor pays their salaries. Despite the backlog in the project,Mbokane says the project is supposed to be completed on 21 Mayaccording to the contract signed by the department and the contractor.Now they are afraid that the company will leave without paying theirsalaries.“We are going to continue with the strike until we get our money. Wewant to be paid our April salaries and have a solid agreement about thismonth’s money before we can continue with the project,” he said.Gorogang Project CLO Precious Mahlangu told the Dispatch that thecompany is currently facing a cash flow crisis. She said this problemaffected only sub-contractors. Gorogang workers were fully paid.
Sub contractors and other workers of the R25 projectgathered at the Gorogang Site Office in Elandsdoorn de-manding that the Project Manager, Rolter Thobakgale doesn’tleave until they get paid.
The police vans were seen in number patrolling the area andmanaged to rescue the project manager after he was heldhostage by workers and other community members.
The sub contractors say their tipper trucks will stop working until they are paidtheir outstanding salaries in full by Gorogang Company.
4 DISPATCH MONDAY 18 May 2015
The poorly constructed road at the intersections between Kwarilaagte and Thabakhubedu inMoutse has raised a concern to the community members in the area. The community says the roadis poorly done and a number of accidents already happened since the construction companycompleted the project.They claim that the construction company that was appointed for the project belongs to an ANCward councillor in Elias Motsoaledi Local Municipality who is also an EXCO member. The latestaccident to take place in the area is when a Citi Golf collided with a bakkie and resulted in occupantsfrom both vehicles sustaining serious injuries.A community member, Nnana Malefahlo, told the Dispatch that they warned the contractor aboutthe danger of the road when he was still busy with the project but he did not take it seriously."Accidents frequently happen there but we are not surprised because we told the contractor aboutthe possibilities but he ignored us. He was given enough money to build the road to the requiredstandard. We also raised the issue in the municipality but it fell in deaf ears. Perhaps it is becausethe contractor is from the ruling party and also forms a part of the executive committee in thecouncil," he said.He added that the problem lies with people who use the road on a daily basis because they couldbe victims of accidents at anytime in result of ignorance by the contractor and the municipality."If greed for money will put the community in danger of being killed our government must thinkagain. Quality must not be compromised especially when people's lives are involved. Responsiblepeople such as inspectors and engineers are not even acting to correct such irregularitiescommitting by these irresponsible constructors in the country. Something must be done aboutthe issue before we start losing lives in this intersection," he said.
Poor road construction leads to accidents
A Citi Golf was damaged after itcollided with a bakkie at theKwarilaagte and Thabakhubeduintersection.
The Sekhukhune Region disrupted the African National Congress Youth League’s electiveconference that was held in a lodge outside Tzaneen. The conference was meant to start on Friday1 May but was moved to Saturday after the Sekhukhune Region demanded the conference to bestopped due to the exclusion of four branches from the region.The conference came two years after the African National Congress (ANC) disbanded the nationaland provincial leagues following acts of factionalism. The Sekhukhune delegates were reportedlyunhappy about other delegates who are now over 35 years old.The delegates were said to be elected by their branches to participate in the conference late lastyear. A court interdict was immediately applied by Sekhukhune delegates to stop the conferenceuntil the matter is sorted.The conference continued on Sunday despite a court interdict by some branches from theSekhukhune region.The league's provincial task team spokesperson Onicca Moloi told reporters that they took adecision to continue with the conference after consulting the ANC legal team from the LuthuliHouse.
Occupants fromboth vehicleswere injured andhospitalized dueto the poor con-struction standardof the road.
Sekhukhune Region disrupts theprovincial ANC Youth League
elective conference
The Sekhukhune Region disrupted the African National Congress Youth League’s electiveconference that was held in a lodge outside Tzaneen. The conference was meant to start on Friday1 May but was moved to Saturday after the Sekhukhune Region demanded the conference to bestopped due to the exclusion of four branches from the region.The conference came two years after the African National Congress (ANC) disbanded the nationaland provincial leagues following acts of factionalism. The Sekhukhune delegates were reportedlyunhappy about other delegates who are now over 35 years old.The delegates were said to be elected by their branches to participate in the conference late lastyear. A court interdict was immediately applied by Sekhukhune delegates to stop the conferenceuntil the matter is sorted.The conference continued on Sunday despite a court interdict by some branches from theSekhukhune region.The league's provincial task team spokesperson Onicca Moloi told reporters that they took adecision to continue with the conference after consulting the ANC legal team from the LuthuliHouse.
Sekhukhune Region disruptsthe provincial ANC Youth
League elective conference
DISPATCH MONDAY 18 May 2015 5
The Mayor of Elias Motsoaledi Local Municipality Cllr Julia Mathebehanded over two access roads to the community. The Mayor handedover the OR Tambo to Walter Sisulu Access Bus Road to the communityof OR Tambo Village and surroundings.“The project was an upgrade of the road from gravel to tar and it created34 jobs to unemployed local residents,” said the communications officerin Elias Motsoaledi Local Municipality Simon Makua.He said the road is a 1.2 KM and it is used by about 4000 people on a dailybasis. He added the Mayor has also recently handed over the 800 MetersMonsterlus to Magopheng Access Road to the community.“The project created 24 temporary jobs to community members toeradicate poverty. The road was also an upgrade from gravel to tar andit is 800 Meters long,” said Makua.During the hand-over of both projects, the Mayor pleaded to thecommunity not to damage the roads during protests. She urged thecommunity to take care of the projects and make sure that they last long.“These roads belong to you as the community and you must take careof them. Residents should not act violently and vandalise governmentresources because these resources belong to them. My door is alwaysopen to resolve any matters between the municipality and the commu-nity,” she said.
Mayor hands-over roads to
thecommunity
The Elias Motsoaledi Local Municipality Mayor Cllr JuliaMathebe cutting the ribbon to officially hand over the ORTambo to Walter Sisulu Access Bus Road at Tambo Villagein Dennilton.
Since Moutse Community members marched to the Elias MotsoalediLocal Municipality offices in 2012 protesting against poor servicedelivery and the formalization of Zenzele Village in Dennilton, themunicipality did not respond to their memorandum.The community says they managed to locate the Zenzele land ownersbut the municipality is not doing enough to engage into negotiations tostart with the formalization process of the place. The place is owned bythree families, the Masoga, Nonyane and Nyembe who owns the largestpotion.The two families, Masoga and Nonyane are still residing around Moutseand according to residents they do not have a problem to meet agree-ments with the municipality to formalize the place. Now the problem waslying with the Nyembes as they own the largest portion of the land inZenzele.The community says they managed to locate the Nyembe family inTembisa a few years ago and they connected them with the EliasMotsoaledi Local Municipality to start with the formalization processes.They say the municipal officials drag their feet and are not doing enoughto resolve the issue of Zenzele. Now the community is urged to livewithout services, mainly water and electricity."We have been here for more than 13 years now. We never experienceany service delivery from the government all these years. We are told thatthe land is still private but the property owners say they have no problemwith services coming to Zenzele. We demand basic services such as
The Mayor of Elias Motsoaledi Local Municipality Cllr JuliaMathebe with other municipal councillors and officialsduring the hand-over of the Monsterlus to MagophengAccess Road.
Zenzele still not formalizedafter 13 years
electricity and water. We hear of democracy but we don’t know the meaning of the word at all," said a community leaderDouglas Kekana.He says they have been promised by the municipality to take the matter of Zenzele as urgent and resolve it soon but theyare still in vain waiting for answers. "Every time when the elections are around the corner municipal officials and the rulingparty representatives come to the village and tell us to address our problems promising to give us first priority. They thenvanish without keeping their promises just after every election. " he said.Kekana says he has also taken the matter to provincial level and he received a letter stating that the issue of Zenzele willbe attended to urgently. "I was promised that the province will install solar power systems but they were stopped by theward councilor when he claimed that there is no concrete agreement between the municipality and land owners," claimKekana. He concluded by saying: "It is too difficult to live under these circumstances where we do not have water andelectricity. We are urged to go to the rivers and wells to find water to drink. Most community members cannot afford tobuy gas and paraffin stoves. We go to the nearby bushes to gather wood to cook food for our families.”Elias Motsoaledi Local Municipality Communications Manager failed to comment to the issue as her e-mail did not reachthe Dispatch.
The Zenzele community leaderDouglass Kekana, says the EliasMotsoaledi Local Municipality fails thecommunity by not putting more effortin the formalization process of thevillage. He says he has been in thevillage for over 13 years and did notexperience any service delivery sincethen.
6 DISPATCH MONDAY 18 May 2015
Under this year’s theme ‘EmbracingMotherhood’, the Women of InfluenceNetwork (WOINET) held a NationalWomen’s Day celebration in style onSunday 10 May at Five Morgan inDennilton. The organization, lead bythe former Elias Motsoaledi Local Mu-nicipality Municipal Manager MrsMaggie Skhosana, identified and do-nated to a 33 year old Anna Nyalunguwho lives with a disability. AnnaNyalungu’s condition came elevenyears ago when she was involved in acar accident that led to her disability.She ended up in a wheelchair. Thewoman was using a wheelchair that shewas given by the hospital and it wasnot suitable for her condition as she isparalyzed. The former Elias MotsoalediMunicipal Manager Mrs MaggieSkhosana, who lives with a disabilityherself, donated a wheelchair that isspecifically designed for Anna’s con-dition. The former MM also donated alaptop to the beneficiary that will makeit easier for the woman to communicateand also to assist her in doing shop-ping without any outside assistance.Dignitaries described Mother's Day asa modern celebration honoring one'sown mother, as well as motherhood,maternal bonds, and the influence ofmothers in society. Anna was veryhappy after receiving the gifts fromWOINET representative. She thankedthe former Elias Motsoaledi MunicipalManager Mrs Maggie Skhosana andother women such as KhomotsoMagolego for their efforts.
Mother’s Daydonation A 24 year old suspect named Lucky Charuley from Motetema Rangers
Section was captured by the Motetema SAPS on Sunday 3 May after heescaped from police custody on Saturday 4 April. According to thepolice report, the suspect was facing a charge of possession of unli-censed firearm before he escaped from custody."He managed to escape and elude the police by the time he was escortedto the holding cells at the Motetema Police Station," said ConstableBoitumelo Matlala from Motetema SAPS.He said the police were hunting the suspect since his escape until theyfinally captured him at Luckau Village after a tip off by some communitymembers."The suspect was found in possession of a police firearm when he wasarrested before his escape. He was captured again and he will be facingan additional charge of escaping from lawful custody. He appearedbefore the Motetema Magistrate’s Court on Tuesday 12 May on bothpossession of unlicensed firearm and escaping from lawful custody andhe was granted a R500-00 bail. He will appear again on 29 July 2015. Aninvestigation is continuing," said Matlala.
The beneficiary Anna Nyalungu (Left) the former Elias MotsoalediLocal Municipality Municipal Manager Maggie Skhosana (Cen-tre) and Women of Influence Network representative KhomotsoMagolego.
A 36 year old male is fighting for his life in hospital after he was shot andinjured by a 30 year old suspect the police said. The incident took placeat Motetema Township on Sunday 10 May. According to ConstableBoitumelo Matlala from Motetema SAPS, the victim and suspect had anargument that led to the suspect producing a firearm and shooting thevictim.“He was arrested the same day and charged with attempted murder. Hewill appear before the Motetema Magistrate’s Court on Wednesday 20May for a formal bail application,” said Matlala.He added that late at night after the shooting incident, another suspectentered the victim’s house and burned two vehicles. The suspect wasarrested on Monday 11 May and charged with malicious damage toproperty.“It is not clear that the two suspects, the one who shot the victim andthe one who burned the victim’s vehicles during the night were related.At this stage we have opened two different cases: one for attemptedmurder and another one for malicious damage to property. The suspectwill appear in court soon on charges of malicious damage to property andthe police are investigating,” concluded Matlala.
Suspect escapesfrom police custody
and caught again
Man shot and later histwo vehicles torched
DISPATCH MONDAY 18 May 2015 7
Elias MotsoalediLocal MunicipalitySoccer League in
actionDespite the fact that Elias Motsoaledi Local Municipality sports depart-ment fails to clear playing fields in the villages, the Elias Motsoaledi LocalMunicipality Soccer League has begun. The league includes the Under-13, Under-15, Under-17 and the promotional leagues.According to the Coordinator of the League Jeffrey Mtshweni, they arecurrently using the Tafelkop Stadium for all matches in all leaguecategories. He says they have been experiencing some challenges wherethey had a little shortage in a number of teams registered to take part inthe league but the number is increasing rapidly."Some of the teams’ representatives did not attend meetings before westarted but little by little we are getting there. We currently have six teamsin the under-13, six in the Under-15 and six teams in the Under-17. Wehave the largest number of teams in the promotional category which iseleven," he said.Jeffrey says they have teams in almost all sections in Tafelkop. He saidthey find it difficult to use a single sporting field for all matches."I engaged the municipality through formal letters and telephonicallywith no success. Now I am going to write another formal letter perhapsthis time they will respond positively. I am volunteering to do thisbecause it is my calling to help these young people so that they will focusand become better people in future," added Jeffrey.He went on and said: "It is preached in every household and governmentdepartment that young people must engaged in sports in order to takethem away from the streets where they will end up using drugs. But thesame government is neglecting young people by not providing neededresources to the young up and coming soccer professionals. One canask what these young people will do when they are roaming the streetseveryday doing nothing."He revealed that the municipality recently handed over the fleet ma-chines and promised it will serve people in the villages but nothing hasbeen done to prove that."Bad things such as xenophobic attacks that are taking place are doneby young people who are supposed to be taking part in different sportingactivities. You can blame them but they find that as an alternative afterthe government fails to provide proper essential resources that will takethem off the streets into the playing fields," he said.
On Wednesday 6 May Educators, learners and community members gathered in numbers atMorarela Combined School in Elandskraal Village near Marble Hall, Ephraim Mogale LocalMunicipality for the renaming of the school’s three blocks. Teachers unions such as SADTU andPEU were also represented.The school’s blocks were named after the late Mr. MJ Maloba who dedicated his whole lifeensuring that young people have a bright future through education. Maloba also assisted in theestablishment of new schools around Limpopo Province.At first the purpose of Morarela Combined School management was to rename the whole schoolafter this late educational icon but it was discovered that there was already a primary school inTzaneen that is already named after MJ Maloba. Speaker after speaker including his formercolleagues and pupils praised Maloba’s commitments and dedication for the when serving in theDepartment of Education.During his time, Maloba would leave an established school with all the facilities to start a new onewhere there is a need. Maloba was working hand in hand with the media to expose the inefficiencyof the government in educational matters.Maloba is also recognized by the development of Masete Public School after he found itunregistered and using old farm sheds and store rooms as classrooms. He turned the school intoone of the most beautiful schools and improved academically.He then left Masete to start Morarela Combined School in Elandskraal where the school was firstbuilt in sheets.“He did not hesitate to leave that well known beautiful school that he started literally from anunregistered rural school to a highly regarded school with beautiful flowers and gardens. He lefta well furnished modern principal’s office to work in a tin house,” said Morarela School PrincipalMr. Mogale. His compassionate love of teaching saw other unqualified educators who were working with him
Three school blocks renamed aftereducational icon
returning to colleges to become qualified educators. He also involvedhimself in social issues in the community where he was granted fundingby a brewery in Polokwane to pursue a research on HIV/AIDS relatedmatters in the community.He then started his research on HIV/AIDS working with educationalleaders from neighbouring Southern African countries such as Zimba-bwe, Lesotho, Malawi, Mozambique, Swaziland and Zambia. Malobapassed away still pursuing HIV/AIDS education in different schools inthe country and other countries outside South Africa.Maloba founded Morarela Primary School in 1994 and he served until2008 when he retired as school principal.
Morarela School Principal Mr.Mogale (Centre) standing with otherformer educators at the newly re-named block to MJ Maloba Block atElandskraal in Ephraim MogaleLocal Municipality.
8 DISPATCH MONDAY 18 May 2015
The annualSiyanqoba Cup sea-son kicked off inMoutse for the 2015tournament on Satur-day 9 May. Seventeenteams from Moutseand other surround-ing places clashed atvarious sports fieldsfor the opening of thetournament on theweekend of Saturday9 and Sunday 10 May.The Group A partici-pating teams formatches took place atMarapong , Ntwaneand Thabakhubeduwere Callies F.C, F.C20, Bonhomie F.C, CityStar F.C and Real StarsF.C. In Group B formatches at Mphelengwe saw teams such asSweepers F.C, ZebrasF.C, Sunday CrocodileF.C and Brazil F.C.For group C at
Siyanqoba Cup kicked off in Moutse
Magakadimeng participants were Vultures F.C,Braince F.C, Gunners F.C and Masokolara F.C.Group D at Stompo and Malaeneng SportsGrounds occupied Ajax forest F.C, Arsenal F.C,Sun Roses F.C and Fire Birds F.C.“Our main aim with the tournament is to encour-age young people to play soccer on profes-sional level,” says the coordinator of the tour-nament Kholofelo Motau.He says the tournament accommodates onlyplayers under the age of 19 and it is adminis-
trated by the Mpheleng Youth DevelopmentForum and has Mohlake Civil Construction astheir main sponsors.“We are going to take two teams that will be ontop of the groups, meaning position one andtwo to go through to the quarter finals of thetournament. Every team that will be in thequarter finals will get soccer balls,” saysKholofelo.He revealed that the winner of the tournamentis going to get gold medals, soccer kits and a R3
500-00 cheque. Losers in the finals will earnthemselves silver medals and a R1 500-00 cheque.FC 20 Head Coach Doctor Iwi Mokone says heis very happy about the tournament.“The tournament will help in the recognitionand exposure of young talent in the community.I like the way the organizers planned the tour-nament by giving only under 19 years old achance to unleash their potential on the soccerfields,” says Mokone.He says he used most players from the devel-
opment side in order to reach the quarter finalswhere scouts from the biggest soccer teams willbe interested in signing some players of histeam.“We teach these boys the basics of soccer andprepare them to be professional soccer stars infuture. If the tournament will take place everyyear, I tell you that there will be many youngprofessional soccer players coming from thearea of Moutse and other surrounding areas,”he said.
Sun Roses FC and Ajax Forest FC during the opening of the Siyanqoba Soccer Tournament at Mpheleng Village Sports Grounds.
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