the official bokone bophirima government newspaper …semphetenews.co.za/archive/semphete 4 may...

THE OFFICIAL BOKONE BOPHIRIMA GOVERNMENT NEWSPAPER @semphetenews Semphete Bokone Bophirima

Workers unite for dignity

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TOGETHER WE MOVE BOKONE BOPHIRIMA FORWARD

SA turns 24 in style

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Protests victim Thato laid to rest

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Mzansi rallies behind Caster

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MAY 4 2018

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May 4 20182

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Mahumapelo to promote peace and stability in the provinceKagiso Metswamere and Nthu-sang Lefafa

Premier Supra Mahumapelo has committed to promoting peace and stability through the govern-ment’s Reconciliation, Healing

and Renewal programme (RHR), work-ing together with traditional leaders, var-ious churches and other religious organ-izations in Bokone Bophirima province.

Addressing members of the media after a meeting with the Provincial House of Traditional Leaders (NWHTL) in Sun City on Thursday last week, Premier Mahu-mapelo said it was time to move on and rebuild what was lost during the recent violent protests in several parts of the province.

“I have personally met with churches pursuing various beliefs who have indi-cated that they would work with us in gov-ernment through our RHR programme to bring about peace and stability.

“I trust that very soon, depending on how the programme will unfold, we will be having many interactions on peace and stability parades and I must thank vari-ous leaders of churches who have visited me and indicated that they want to help in bringing the situation to normality in the province,” he said.

Traditional leaders invited Premier Ma-humapelo to the meeting after observing the unpleasant unrests that happened over two weeks. The Premier expressed regret over what had happened, saying it was unfortunate and unnecessary for communities to have been put under such violent situations.

“Relations among citizens are now at their lowest and unfortunately some peo-ple have been injured and others lost their lives, may their souls rest in peace, because the police had to act at some point,” he said.

The Premier added that the violence has negatively affected the rebranding, repositioning and renewal programme that the government was pursuing to im-prove the province’s image. He however said he would be using the situation as an opportunity to rebrand, renew and reposition the province.

He also welcomed the decision by the National Cabinet to come up with some interventions for the province.

“I welcome unconditionally the inter-ventions that has been announced by Cabinet, which invoked Section 100 of

the country’s Constitution. It is a correct decision, particularly after the visit by President Cyril Ramaphosa recently and we will cooperate with whatever team is sent to our province to see how best we can deal with challenges we are facing in some of our departments. We will also be sharing some of the information from our engagements with Nehawu with this national task team,” he said.

Chairperson of the North West House of Traditional Leaders, Kgosi Moshe Mabe, said the purpose of the meeting was to hear from the Premier about the protests and serious allegations levelled against him.

“We are in the process of meeting the leadership in this country, our Premier, the President and those who are organ-isers of the protests. Our meeting with the Premier today was to question him around the unrests because we feel that people and leaders did not take us into confidence on what is happening,” he said.

Kgosi Mabe added that as dikgosi they were worried about allegations levelled against the Premier, cited as reasons for these protests.

“It was important for the Premier him-self to come and explain to us what is happening because allegations against him on public courts were of serious na-ture.

We hope and trust that the Presidency will meet us and separately interact with

Executive members of NWHTL Dikgosi Ofentse Maotwe, Gustav Shole, Moshe Mabe, Kgogodi Molefe and Kingsley Motlhabane briefing the media after meeting Premier Mahumapelo last weekPhoto by Mpho Bilwane

Premier Supra Mahumapelo addressing media after the meeting with traditional leaders in Sun CityPhoto by Otukile Mosimanegape

groups calling for the Premier’s removal to share with us reasons that led them to come to such a conclusion,” he said.

Mahumapelo said the Department of Community Safety and Transport will be assessing the damage in the province and various stakeholders are meeting to resolve issues faced by the province.

Meanwhile, Provincial Police Spokes-person, Brigadier Sabata Mokgwabone, encouraged communities in the province

to refrain from participating in criminal activities during protests.

“We would like to urge our communities not to allow criminals to hijack service de-livery protests. We are continuing to de-ploy public order police to various areas in the province. It is important to respect the rule of law at all times and not violate the rights of other citizens because we will arrest all criminals as it is our respon-sibility to do so.”

May 4 2018 3


Ramaphosa explains “inadequate” national minimum wage

Semphete Correspondent “All social partners recognise that at its introduction, the national minimum wage will be less than what we consider to be a living wage. The social partners also agree that it must be our firm determina-tion to move as quickly as possible to a living wage.

“To do this, we need to grow our econo-my, improve levels of productivity, devel-op the skills of our workforce and create jobs on a far greater scale. The Accord on Collective Bargaining and Industrial Action entered into by the social partners is also a victory for workers. Through this accord, all social partners have commit-ted themselves to take all steps neces-sary to prevent violence, intimidation and damage to property and to improve the capacity of employers and employees to resolve disputes peacefully and speedi-ly,” said Ramaphosa.

The national minimum wage was scheduled for implementation this month, but that has since been delayed because the Bill has been referred back to the Department of Labour so that it could re-draft it and include inputs that had been received from stakeholders and individu-al members of the Portfolio Committee on Labour.

President Cyril Ramaphosa has used his Freedom Day and Workers’ Day speeches to as-sure workers that the South Af-

rican government cares about their well-being and will work with them towards achieving a living wage for all.

The President, himself a former union-ist, said government has made important progress in improving the conditions of the working poor.

“Parliament is currently finalising leg-islation so that we can implement a na-tional minimum wage for the first time in our country’s history, fulfilling a demand made at the Congress of the People in 1955. This is a great victory for the work-ers of this country and is a tribute to the social partners who worked so hard to make it a reality,” he said at the Freedom Day celebrations at Dr Rantli Molemela Stadium in Bloemfontein last Friday.

In these speeches, Ramaphosa also responded to critiques of the national minimum wage, who lashed out at gov-ernment for ratifying a slave wage. The national minimum wage has been set at R3 500 for now, but Ramaphosa said this

is just a start. “Some people have argued that the

starting minimum wage of R20 an hour is not a living wage. They are correct. Some argue that the national minimum wage will not end income inequality. They too are correct.

But what the national minimum wage does provide is a firm and unassailable foundation – which is agreed to by all so-cial partners – from which to advance the struggle for a living wage.

“We must remember that the introduc-tion of the national minimum wage will increase the income of over six million working South Africans. A wage increase of that size and that extent is unprece-dented in our history, and we must cel-ebrate it”.

Last week the South African Federation of Trade Unions (Saftu) along with the National Union of Metalworkers of South Africa (Numsa) embarked on a national strike decrying the inadequate minimum wage.

Ramaphosa described the national minimum wage as being like “a great hill that we have climbed, but we dare not linger, because there are still many more hills to climb”.

At the Workers’ Day rally at the Isaac Wolfson Stadium in Port Elizabeth, Ramaphosa again reiterated his call for the national minimum wage to be given a chance.

“Within the next few months, workers are going to achieve another historic victory with the introduction of a nation-al minimum wage for all working South Africans. This is a victory for Cosatu in particular, which has been fighting for a national minimum wage since its forma-tion,” he said.

“The national minimum wage will be-gin at a level of R20 an hour, which will increase the income of over six million working people, while also ensuring that there is minimal negative impact on job creation. The social partners agreed to begin at this level because it will make a significant difference immediately, but will also allow us to measure its effect on the economy”.

The President said government had put mechanisms in place to ensure that as the minimum wage is increased over time, it is done in a way that meaning-fully reduces poverty and inequality and contributes to the inclusive growth of the economy.

President Cyril Ramaphosa and Cosatu President Sdumo Dlamini both addressed the main Workers’ Day rally in Port Elizabeth on TuesdayPhoto by SADTU

May 4 20184


ANC refutes claims it wants Mahumapelo recalledNthusang Lefafa

she said.“Unfortunately for a prolonged period,

concocted, unfounded and untested al-legations have been directed at our Pro-vincial Chairperson by those who have failed to make it in ANC elective confer-ences and are opposed to his approach of economically empowering the Villages Townships and Small Dorpies,” said the provincial ANC in a statement.

The National Working Commit-tee (NWC) of the ANC refuted media reports that it has recom-mended that Bokone Bophirima

Premier, Supra Mahumapelo, be recalled. The NWC - a constitutional structure of

the ANC mandated with the day-to-day running of the organization - met in Cape Town on Wednesday.

In an interview with Semphete, ANC National Spokesperson, Pule Mabe, de-nied that the NWC has recommended Mahumapelo’s sacking. He also said the NWC were only looking into the Health Department and had not looked into oth-er departments because the ANC is not responsible for “micromanaging” govern-ment departments.

“As the NWC we received reports on various issues around the country. The NWC has not recommended that North West Premier, Supra Mahumapelo be

recalled or relieved of his duties. On the issue of the Health Department, a min-isterial task team was appointed to see that the people in the province receive the necessary healthcare. The ANC is a political party and we are not responsible for micromanaging government depart-ments so we only looked into one de-partment that we received a report from,” Mabe said.

The ANC in Bokone Bophirima ex-pressed confidence that working together with the party’s national leadership, it will be able to solve the province’s problems.

It said the Provincial Executive Com-mittee (PEC) is “particularly pleased with the recommendation of the NWC that the National Officials immediately meet with ANC Provincial Chairperson, Cde Su-pra Mahumapelo. This is what we as the PEC in the province have been asking for since the allegations against our Provin-cial Chairperson were made. We also put this request in a report to the ANC NEC

following the undesirable violent protests in our province,” said Acting Provincial Secretary, Susan Dantjie.

She continued: “Earlier this year pro-vincial officials also met national officials and made them aware of a plan to dest-abilise the province. The Premier also made a request to meet national officials during an NEC meeting before all the vi-olence began”.

Dantjie said the ANC PEC believes that it is fair that Mahumapelo gets to state his case.

“When someone is accused of so many things and tried in the court of public opinion, our movement that has taught us the principle of being presumed innocent until proven otherwise, should exercise fairness and get all sides of the story. In meetings and in public platforms our Provincial Chairperson and Premier had never been given an opportunity to speak for himself and we are glad that he will fi-nally be able to say his side of the story,”

Workers demand dignity on May DayObakeng Maje

Workers in Bokone Bophirima have appealed to govern-ment to stop using labour brokers, do away with pri-

vatization and employ those in Expanded Public Works Programme (EPWP) per-manently.

These are some of the demands in a memorandum delivered on Workers Day at Mahikeng Rugby Stadium. Also known as May Day, the day’s proceedings were organized and led by Congress of South African Trade Union (Cosatu).

Cosatu delivered the memorandum to the Department of Labour and North West Provincial Government, represent-ed by Education MEC Sello Lehari who’s also Leader of Government Business.

Cosatu Deputy General Secretary, Sol-ly Phetoe, said Cosatu saw it appropriate to deliver that memorandum to the pro-vincial government and Department of Labour representatives on Workers’ Day.

“The Department of Labour should ensure that there is law enforcement and labour relations are implemented.

Workers marching through the streets of Mahikeng before the provincial May Day rally Photo by Mpho Bilwane

Education MEC Sello Lehari and Cosatu Provincial Secretary Job Dliso signing a memorandum delivered by Cosatu Photo by Mpho Bilwane

There are unsolved issues that workers are faced with. Public service workers at North West Health and Social Develop-ment departments embarked on a strike because of some challenges they faced at the workplace. We also have securi-ty, retail and domestic industries that still need to be transformed,” Phetoe said.

Some of Cosatu and African National Congress-led alliance leaders that at-tended the provincial rally are Minister of Home Affairs, Malusi Gigaba, Minister of Public Works, Thulas Nxesi and ANC National Executive Committee (NEC) de-ployee in the province, Obed Bapela.

Bapela said it was important for workers to be given an opportunity to celebrate their internationally recognized day.

“Workers are sending a message through celebrations and demand cer-tain improvements. In South Africa, we achieved eight working hours method for all workers since the advent of democra-cy. Workers were working 10 to12 hours per day before then. According to labour laws and regulations, anything over eight hours must be treated as overtime and needs to be paid for,” he said.

May 4 2018 5


Church leaders to pray for Bokone BophirimaObakeng Maje ernment around the issues of service

delivery. We will be checking what went wrong and why the services do not reach the people,” he said.

Bapela added that Minister of Finance, Nhlanhla Nene also serves on the task team and he will be looking into allega-tions of corruption, maladministration and fraud raised by some people.

“He will look into the procurement pro-cesses and if anyone is found to be guilty, he or she will be investigated. The task team is expected to table their pre-liminary report to the Cabinet on the 9th of May 2018. The Cabinet is expected to come up with comprehensive interven-tions and deal with all those allegations raised,” Bapela said.

He appealed to the people of Bokone Bophirima province “to give us a chance to test the allegations”.

“Once we found that there are people implicated, they will face the music. The aim is to eradicate corruption, maladmin-istration and fraud in our government,” Bapela said.

The situation might seem to have returned to normal in Mahikeng and other parts of Bokone Bo-phirima province, but a prayer

for repentance and peace is needed. So says Mahikeng Ministers Fellowship (MMF).

Chairperson of MMF - an inter-denom-inational fellowship of church leaders - Senior Pastor Moss Tlalang, said they would be hosting a prayer session at the Great Grace Church in Unit 15 in Mma-batho this Friday [04 May 2018].

“We will hold a second half-night prayer meeting for repentance and peace at 7pm. The prayer session will be under the theme: “A cry for the city”. This is in the aftermath of the health sector strike, including the wave of protests that had gripped Mahikeng and several communi-ties across the province.

“Leaders in the five-fold ministries have to stand in the gap in unity as watchmen of their cities for corporate prayer and

trust God to prevail in the unfolding in-tervention processes. The prayer session is open to all ordained church leaders across denominations serving the King-dom of God,” he said.

Pastor Tlalang added that church lead-ers believe that the ‘Body of Christ’ has to intensify prayer, while it plays its rec-onciliatory role in the current impasse for normality to be restored. He said families that have lost their loved ones as well as displaced foreign nationals who lost everything when their businesses were looted – some even torched – need to be comforted and reintegrated back into the communities.

“We have invited foreign nationals to our MMF’s Global Day of Prayer (GDP) event that will focus on national repentance, unity, reconciliation and against xenopho-bia. A report of the mediation task team that was established by MMF is among reports that will be tabled at our Annu-al General Meeting (AGM) scheduled for Sunday at the Mocoseng Sundown Re-sort,” Tlalang said.

Meanwhile, the governing African Na-tional Congress (ANC) and South Afri-

can president, Cyril Ramaphosa, have assigned a task team to restore stability in the province after violent protests that only calmed down towards the end of last week.

Most people – however - believe that the ‘sponsored’ protests were used to target Bokone Bophirima Premier and ANC pro-vincial chairperson, Supra Mahumapelo. ANC regional leaders allege that there is credible information that R2million has been put down to sponsor these protests by Mahumapelo’s detractors who want to oust him from both positions.

ANC National Executive Committee (NEC) member, Obed Bapela, who is also the party’s convenor of deployees to the province said: “We are very much positive because the people of North West have spoken. We have listened to them…we have heard them. We are now going to be engaging in that exercise with the Cabinet.

“The President has assembled a task team led by Minister in the Presidency for Monitoring and Evaluation, Dr Nkosaza-na Dlamini-Zuma. The task team will be working with North West Provincial Gov-

May 4 20186


Recommit to a better Bokone Bophirima – PremierBonolo Mohlakoana

Premier Supra Mahumapelo has urged Bokone Bophirima com-munities to continue embrac-ing and fostering an agenda of

rebranding, repositioning and renewal (RRR) of the province.

He said this agenda – which is also meant to achieve a provincial govern-ment that works together with communi-ties to improve the quality of life for all, as advocated for in the National Devel-opment Plan (NDP) - should be used to reflect on evident opportunities the dem-ocratic government has brought.

Premier Mahumapelo said this as the country commemorated the 24th anni-versary of the founding of a democratic South Africa, born from the first demo-cratic and non-racial general elections on 27 April in 1994.

“This Freedom Day, we urge North West communities to reflect on the economic development opportunities the 5th Ad-ministration has implemented through, amongst others, the VTSD [Villages, Townships and Small Dorpies] Economic Development initiatives, Comprehensive Agricultural Support Programme, the Skills Development Programme, Infra-structure Development Programmes in

public schools, Scholar Transport servic-es as well as the Culture and Arts pro-grammes.

“This reflection is critical as it will afford us the opportunity to gauge our collective contribution towards realizing our RRR agenda, while at the same time assisting us to identify areas that need to be pri-oritized for the attainment of the goal of building a prosperous society,” he said.

Mahumapelo said violent community protests the province experienced in the past two weeks should not derail or de-focus Bokone Bophirima from its target.

“This year’s Freedom Day coincides with the celebration of Nelson Mandela’s centenary, whose life is an opportunity to recommit ourselves to his principles and build the nation we envisioned at the start of our democracy.

“As we celebrate this Freedom Day with great enthusiasm and paying trib-ute to those who sacrificed their lives for South Africa’s liberation, let us pursue the dreams and aspirations of Nelson Mandela, and continue to respect basic human rights and remain committed to the rule of law and the Constitution,” said the Premier.

This year’s Freedom Day was celebrat-ed under the theme: “The year of Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela: Towards full realisa-tion of our freedom through radical so-cio-economic transformation”.

Your data will not expire…but no price reduction yetNthusang Lefafa to ensure that there is competition in the

sector,” ICASA said in a statement.“In order to enhance this competition,

the authority is required to follow an ex-tensive regulatory process that includes consultation with all relevant stakehold-ers. The process involves defining mar-kets, identification of licensees with sig-nificant market power (where the defined markets are found to be ineffectively competitive) and impose proportionate pro-competitive remedies, including price controls,” the communications authority said.

In short, ICASA has regulatory powers to regulate competition in any of the mar-kets within the Information Communica-tions Technology (ICT) sector of South Africa. This is only after following exten-sive market review processes highlighted in Chapter 10 of the ECA.

The Independent Communica-tions Authority of South Africa (ICASA) has announced that your data will no longer expire

and you can transfer it to other users as long as you are on the same network pro-vider with them.

The new regulations, set to be gazetted in the coming days, will require cellphone companies to notify subscribers when their data falls below 50%, 80% and 100% depletion levels; to rollover unused data; to allow the transfer of data within a network and to stop charging expensive out-of-bundle rates without the custom-er’s knowledge. But ICASA did not spec-ify how long unused data could be rolled

over and this decision might just be left to the National Consumer Commission.

Advocacy group, Right2Know, wel-comed ICASA’s announcement, but said the communications authority should rather focus on ensuring that mobile network operators reduce the high cost of data. ICASA said it was not ready to make an announcement on when data costs will be reduced, but it will do so only after further consultation with the relevant stakeholders.

In the last set of draft regulations (pub-lished in November 2017), ICASA had proposed enforcing an expiry period of a minimum of three years for data bundles but backed away from this position in the final regulations.

ICASA said network operators must also provide consumers with an option to transfer data to other end users, provid-

ed they are on the same network. Fur-thermore, they must conduct educational awareness campaigns aimed at inform-ing end users about the use of smart-phones and how to use data.

It is up to service providers and network operators to determine the rules around data rollover, with communications regu-lator, ICASA, saying its new regulations dealing with data expiry are not “overly prescriptive” on the subject.

In practice, service providers, including mobile operators, will only have to roll over data for a period that is left entirely to their discretion.

“Our role as the regulator is to ensure that all South Africans have access to a wide range of communication services at affordable prices. In order to achieve this, ICASA is mandated by Chapter 10 of the Electronic Communications Act (ECA)

Premier Supra Mahumapelo has called on the people of Bokone Bophirima to commit to rebranding the provincePhoto by Mpho Bilwane

“As we celebrate this Freedom Day with great enthusiasm and paying tribute to those who

sacrificed their lives for South Africa’s liberation, let us pursue the dreams and aspirations of Nelson Mandela, and continue to respect basic human

rights and remain committed to the rule of law and the Constitution,” said the Premier.

May 4 2018 7


Democratic SA introspects as it turns 24

SAnews.gov.za and Semphete Correspondent

try. We are free, but still not truly free. Poverty is imprisoning us. Things are ex-pensive and jobs are few. If government can work on that, then maybe we can celebrate better,” said Martha Molathloe.

Ramaphosa seemed to convey a mes-sage of hope in his Freedom Day speech.

“Now we have an opportunity to put our remarkable capabilities as a people to the advancement of human progress. Our duty, as custodians of this democra-cy, is to direct all our resources to con-quer poverty, joblessness, racial hatred, anarchy, violence and lawlessness, illiter-acy and idleness and place our country on a path of growth, development and lasting freedom,” he said.

South Africa marked the 24th anniversary of democracy last Friday – 27 April – with differ-ent events to remind citizens of

where the country comes from and what it has achieved so far.

Known as Freedom Day and observed on 27 April every year, the day commem-orates the first time all South Africans of legal age across the colour spectrum, voted in the country’s first democratic general elections in 1994. The African National Congress (ANC) won those elections and its then President, Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela, became the coun-try’s first democratically elected Presi-dent.

On 27 April 24 years ago, almost 20 mil-lion South Africans queued to vote in the country’s first frqee and democratic elec-tions. While the country’s citizens mark this momentous occasion with a public holiday, many use the opportunity to re-flect on the achievements that the coun-try has recorded since 1994.

This year’s government celebrations fo-cused on five areas that included deep-ening the understanding of where the country comes from and how democracy was achieved, as well as celebrating the legacy of struggle icons Mandela and Mama Albertina Sisulu. Both of them would have turned 100 this year. The theme of the day was: “The year of Nel-son Rolihlahla Mandela: Towards full re-alisation of our freedom through radical socio-economic transformation”.

Freedom Day also celebrated the sto-ries of the unsung heroes and heroines in society. It showcased South Africa’s di-verse background and culture, mobilised society around the implementation of National Development Plan’s Vision 2030 and building a positive image of South Africa as a proud and caring nation.

Freedom Day celebrations took place countrywide, with the main event taking place at Dr Petrus Molemela Stadium in Bloemfontein, Free State, where Pres-ident Cyril Ramaphosa delivered a key-note address.

The President described Freedom Day as “the day on which our rightful place as a people deserving of respect and dig-nity was restored, where the humiliation of racial discrimination formally came to an end.

“With our new democratic constitution embracing equal rights and opportunities for all we ceased to be pariahs in the land of our birth. We had, at last, an opportu-nity to build a new and better life for all our people,” he said.

Ramaphosa, however, admitted that while a lot has been done to address the racial and gender distortions of the past, so much more remains to be done.

“Therefore, as we celebrate the free-

doms we have achieved and the great advances we have made, let us use this Freedom Day to affirm our determination to intensify the struggle for economic freedom for all our people. Our people cannot be truly free if they do not have jobs, if they do not have an education and if they do not have livelihoods,” the President said.

He continued: “We need to grow our economy and create decent work. We need to attract investment on a much greater scale and we need to improve the education and skills of our people. At the same time, we need to transform the ownership, control and management of the economy so that black South Af-ricans and women are fully represented and equally benefit. In short, we need to intensify radical economic transforma-tion”.

SAnews spoke to two generations of South Africans -- the pre-1994 and post-1994 (born frees) -- to get their views on the state of the country 24 years into democracy. Both generations acknowl-edged the progress made in key areas such as health, education and access to basic services. However, they also noted the long road that lies ahead in address-ing unemployment, poverty and inequal-ity.

“Government can do more to curb pov-erty, crime and unemployment and [ex-pedite land expropriation] -- then we’ll be a step closer to being economically free as well,” said Vuyelwa Plaatjie, who turned up to celebrate Freedom Day in Bloemfontein.

Another youth, Tobi Kgaliya, acknowl-edged the work that was being done to level the playing field.

“Government is really trying, but the

road ahead is still very long. At least there are a lot of opportunities for black people compared to the pre-1994 era. I can exercise my freedom of speech, even through social media, without hav-ing to worry about being censored,” Kgal-iya said.

Others felt that government needs to put more effort into widening access and creating awareness of the opportunities available to young people to better them-selves. More must be done to make rural youth aware of education and employ-ment opportunities.

The older generation recalled the day they voted.

“I don’t think any of us can forget that day and where we come from as a coun-

President Cyril Ramaphosa at the Freedom Day celebrations in Bloemfontein last Friday Photo by GCIS

Waving the flag for freedom – South Africans were in a jubilant mood as they celebrated the country’s 24th year of freedomPhoto by GCIS

May 4 20188


SASSA lends a caring hand to displaced foreign nationalsNthabiseng Mosieleng

The South African Social Securi-ty Agency (SASSA) in Bokone Bophirima has distributed close to 500 blankets to displaced

foreign nationals in Mahikeng, to help them keep warm in this chilly autumn and in winter.

These foreign nationals are mostly shopkeepers that were left destitute af-ter their belongings and businesses were looted and burnt down by community members during the recent protests in the province.

SASSA is doing this as part of its Social Relief of Distress programme. The So-cial Relief of Distress is a temporary pro-

vision of assistance intended for persons in such dire need that they are unable to meet their most basic needs.

The destitute business community from Bangladash, Pakistan and Ethopia were moved to a place of safety at a Maddra-sah in Mahikeng Cntral Business District (CDB) and at a Scout Centre at Cookes Lake just over a week ago.

SASSA has been working closely with organisations such as the Red Cross, Disaster Management, the Department of Social Development and a Bangla-deshi non-governmental organisation (NGO) from Gauteng province to ensure that these victims of violent protests re-ceive all the support and care they need during their time of distress.

Poor schooling the biggest obstacle to progress in SASemphete Correspondent ucation, a good maths pass in matric be-

ing a key marker in determining access to the middle class.

“While maths education is poor across the board, the quality is worse in the poorest quintile of schools, leaving no doubt that school education is replicating trends of poverty and inequality in our society”.

The second is the low rate of tertiary education participation for black peo-ple. The labour market absorption rate for tertiary qualified professionals was 75,6% in 2017 as opposed to just 43,3% for the country as a whole – but just 3,1% of black people over the age of 20 have a university degree compared to 13,9% and 18,3% for Indian and white people.

The third concern is the still very high school drop-out rate, with just over half of children completing high school at all.

“In an economy that is evolving in fa-vour of high-skilled tertiary industries and in which political pressure and pol-icy are being used to drive up the cost of unskilled labour, this means that the majority of those children are unlikely to ever find gainful employment.”

The sum of these three concerns leads to the inescapable conclusion that “the education system represents the single greatest obstacle to socio-economic ad-vancement in South Africa”.

Education is the single greatest obstacle to socio-economic ad-vancement in South Africa, ac-cording to the April edition of

Fast Facts from the Centre for Risk Anal-ysis. The report seeks to provide a defini-tive assessment of the quality and output of the South African education system.

The report finds that, while there have been significant gains under the coun-try’s democratic dispensation, serious negative features pose a real threat to socio-economic advancement and are replicating instead of reversing unem-ployment, poverty and inequality.

The consequence, the report warns, is that failures in our schooling system are denying the majority of young people the chance of a middle class life.

Among positive outcomes highlighted in the report are that:

• Pre-school enrolment is up 270,4% since 2000, setting a much better ba-sis for future school throughput;

• The proportion of people aged 20 or older with no schooling has fallen from 13% in 1995 to 4,8% in 2016;

• The proportion of matric candidates receiving a bachelor’s pass has in-creased from 20,1% in 2008 to 28,7%

in 2017;• Near on 100% of schools now have

clean water and electricity; • University enrolment numbers are up

289,5% since 1985 and up more than 100% since 1995; and

• The ratio of white to black universi-ty graduates was 3,7:1 in 1991 and 0,3:1 in 2015.

But, as author of the report, CRA Direc-tor Frans Cronje, warns, “ultimately it is the negatives that overwhelm”.

Among these are that:• Just under half of children who enrol

in Grade one will make it to Grade 12;• Just 28% of people aged 20 or older

have completed high school; • Just 6,9% of matric candidates will

pass Maths with a grade of 70% to

100% – a smaller proportion than was the case in 2008;

• In the poorest quintile of schools, less than 1/100 matric candidates will receive a distinction in maths;

• The black higher education partic-ipation rate is just 15,6% while that for Indian and white people (aged 20–24) is 49,3% and 52,8%; and

• The unemployment rate for tertiary qualified professionals has increased from 7,7% in 2008 to 13,2% today.

Set against data that shows education to be “the primary indicator that deter-mines the living standards trajectory of a young South African”, three key defi-ciencies are of particular concern, writes Cronje.

The first is the poor quality of maths ed-

Some of the foreign nationals that have been accommodated at relief camps after being displaced by violent protests in MahikengPhoto by Mpho Bilwane

“While maths education is poor across the board, the quality is worse in the poorest quintile of schools, leaving no doubt that school education is replicating trends of

poverty and inequality in our society”.

May 4 2018 9


Health HOD to face the music over Mediosa contract

SAnews.gov.za bile clinic as “an ATM” for the Gupta fam-ily, who were said to have had a hand in the procurement of the mobile clinic. While affected officials are yet to be in-formed, the provincial government has referred all matters relating to the report to the Health MEC.

“In view of the fact that the affected officials have not been informed of the outcomes yet, accordingly all matters relating to the report should be referred to the MEC for Health through the Head of Communication in the Department of Health,” said Office of the Premier.

The suspended head of the North West Health Department, Thabo Lekalakala, will be taken through disciplinary proceed-

ings, according to recommendations in a report that looked into the procurement of medical mobile units from Mediosa.

Lekalakala - along with other implicat-ed officials - face disciplinary procedures following the conclusion of a forensic investigation instituted by the province’s

Premier, Supra Mahumapelo, into the Mediosa contract with the Department of Health.

“The forensic report, which has found some irregularities, was handed over to the Health MEC, Dr Magome Masike, for implementation of the recommendations. The report recommends disciplinary pro-ceedings against the Head of Depart-ment and other implicated officials,” read a statement issued by Office of the Pre-mier last week.

Despite signing for Lekalakala to un-dertake a trip to India shortly after the

procurement of the ambulances, Premier Mahumapelo called for a probe into the contract.

The Premier’s office confirmed in Feb-ruary that Mahumapelo signed per-mission for the trip in principle, after the MEC’s recommendation. In this case, MEC Masike had recommended that the Premier grant permission.

In March, Health Minister Dr Aaron Mot-soaledi, called for the Mediosa contract to be cancelled, saying it was a service that was not needed in South Africa.

Minister Motsoaledi described the mo-

Government intervenes to stabilise Bokone BophirimaSAnews.gov.za solved.

National Commissioner of Police, Gen-eral Khehla Sitole, said over 100 people were arrested in different parts of the province on charges of malicious dam-age to property, public violence, posses-sion of suspected stolen goods and busi-ness robbery.

General Sitole said the SAPS would en-sure that the arrested suspects are taken through the court processes and face the full might of the law in an effort to bring this lawless behaviour to a complete halt.

“Police will continue to enforce the law and bring to book those who continue to terrorize communities in these affected areas,” said General Sitole.

If convicted, the accused could face lengthy jail terms.

In a statement on Thursday, the Justice, Crime Prevention and Security (JCPS) Cluster condemned the violence and criminality accompanying protests in dif-ferent parts of the province.

Government has approved two immediate interventions to restore order and stability for communities of Bokone Bo-

phirima province.One of the interventions includes a

task team of Ministers, which will be dis-patched to the province to establish the facts on the ground.

The Inter-Ministerial Task Team com-prises the Minister in The Presidency for Planning, Monitoring and Evaluation, Dr Nkosazana Dlamini Zuma (Convenor), Minister of Health Dr Aaron Motsoaledi, Minister of Finance Nhlanhla Nene, Min-ister of Cooperative Governance and Tra-ditional Affairs Dr Zweli Mkhize, Minister of Public Works Thulas Nxesi, Minister of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries Sen-zeni Zokwana, Minister of Defence and Military Veterans Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqa-kula, Minister of Police Bheki Cele, Minis-

ter of State Security Dipuo Letsatsi-Duba and Minister of Justice and Correctional Services Advocate Michael Masutha.

“They are expected to submit a report in the next two weeks. The report back will assist in determining any further inter-ventions that may still be required,” Com-munications Minister Nomvula Mokonya-ne said in her briefing to the media last week after a Cabinet meeting in Cape Town.

Another intervention that government has introduced is the invoking of Section 100(1)(b) of the Constitution to address the apparent crisis, particularly in the health sector.

The main objective of this intervention, Minister Mokonyane said, is to restore trust and confidence between labour and government, assist the province to upgrade its systems and capabilities, en-sure compliance with the legislative and regulatory framework of government, stabilize the labour environment, restore sustainable service delivery, ensure se-

curity of staff and improve financial man-agement.

These interventions by the national government follow continued tensions and violent protests in the province amid calls from some quarters for Premier Su-pra Mahumapelo to step down. Criminal elements have infiltrated the protests, with vehicles being set alight, shops and buildings looted, private and government buildings broken into and vandalized.

The President has directed the In-ter-Ministerial Task Team to:

• Conduct an urgent assessment of the state of governance in the province,

• Advise Cabinet on potential risks fac-ing the province,

• Provide Cabinet with a comprehen-sive report on the state of governance in the province at the Cabinet meeting of 9 May 2018. The report should ad-vise on steps to be taken in respect of the Task Team’s findings and

• Remain seized with the North West matter until all critical issues are re-

Suspended Health HOD Thabo Lekalakala and Health MEC Dr Magome Masike when they appeared before lawmakers over the Mediosa contract Photo by Mpho Bilwane

“In view of the fact that the affected officials have not been informed of the outcomes yet,

accordingly all matters relating to the report should be referred to the MEC for Health through the Head of Communication in the Department of

Health,” said Office of the Premier.

May 4 201810


Grade 12s. “We urge those who are behind those

protests to refrain from prohibiting pupils from going to school. These protests will affect those children in future. The de-partment understands that communities are angry and their demands are valid, however, it is absurd and irresponsible to prohibit children from attending school.

“We will come up with remedial actions and assist those who are affected. Our teachers will organise extra classes, es-pecially during June school adjournment to recover time lost during unrests,” he said.

On Thursday Pudimoe Police Station cluster spokesperson, Sergeant Tebogo Thebe, said: “We have agreed with the department and Baga-Maidi communi-ty that children will be allowed to go to school. We have reached an agreement with schools that they will call us if they experience any challenges. However, we have not received any complaint thus far and we will continue to monitor the situ-ation.”

Violent protests will affect the province’s economy – Analyst

Obakeng Maje that the suspects were arrested following positive information that was given to the police about possession of suspected stolen goods.

“During the track and recovery oper-ations, the police found goods such as building and plumbing materials. Grocer-ies that were looted from a local hard-ware business and tuck-shops during the protests were also recovered. One of the accused was granted R300 bail and will appear in court again on 28 May 2018. Other eight accused were remanded in custody until 10 May 2018,” Mokgwab-one said.

North West Provincial Police Commis-sioner, Lieutenant General Baile Mots-wenyane applauded the community for working together with the police to help find the looters.

It’s going to be hard for the economy of Bokone Bophirima province to recover after violent and destructive protests that took place in several

parts of the province recently. This is the view of a political analyst

from University of Free State, Dr Sethule-go Matebesi, who added that these vio-lent protests would also affect the judge-ment of potential investors who would have liked to invest in the province.

“The economy of the province might take a nosedive after violent protests that took place recently. More foreign-owned shops were looted and others torched. Those foreigners are destitute because of the situation. These eruptions of vio-lence are serious economic shocks and

setbacks.“Now potential investors will be skepti-

cal to come and invest in the province. The violent protests harmed the econo-my in many different ways and retarded the province’s economic development. It is important for protesters to embark on peaceful protests and stop disrupting the normal functioning of economic activi-ties,” Matebesi said.

He said because many shops were closed due to protests, that has de-creased production in several sectors of the economy, deterred foreign investment and indirectly impaired tourism.

Police have recovered most of the goods that were stolen during the loot-ing of shops. Provincial police spokes-person, Brigadier Sabata Mokgwabone, said: “As part of asserting the authority

of the State and dealing with the crim-inality that accompanied the recent vio-lent protests that erupted in the province, 65 suspects appeared at the Klerksdorp and Mmabatho Magistrate’’s Courts re-spectively on Monday.

“The suspects were arrested after they were found to be in possession of sus-pected stolen goods and for business burglary. Out of this number, 56 ap-peared in the Klerksdorp Magistrate’s Court following their arrest last week in Jouberton. They were granted R300 bail each and will appear again in court on the 30th of May 2018.”

Mokgwabone said the other nine ac-cused aged between 18 and 48 appeared in the Mmabatho Magistrate’s Court after being arrested during the weekend in Mmabatho and Lomanyaneng. He added

Still no school for Molelema learners…months onObakeng Maje High School said he was sad because he

knew that learners were losing a lot of time.

“I believe that those who demand tar roads must let us attend school. Their grievances are valid, but two wrongs do not make right. I do not want to repeat my class and I hope the department of ed-ucation comes up with a solution before it’s too late”.

One of community leaders, Mothibi Ma-koro, agreed that the situation is unfair on school children.

“We had a meeting with those who are affected and the parents of those chil-dren agreed that there will be no school until our demands are met. However, we agreed that those who want to go back to school should do so without being pro-hibited. Some of these school children also agreed with the decision and say they understand the demands are valid,” he said.

Spokesperson for Education and Sport Development, Freddy Sepeng said the protests affected many pupils, especially

Fear of school disruption and vio-lence has robbed learners of Ba-ga-Maidi community of yet anoth-er day of education because of

residents’ demand for a tar road. Most of school children in Manthe and surround-ing villages in Taung failed to go to school because they feel unsafe.

This despite community leaders who have been leading the protests saying on Wednesday that parents who want to send their children to school are free to do so. Parents also raised concern about their children’s safety and preferred that police guard the school premises.

One of the parents in Tlapeng village who refused to be identified for the fear of victimization said: “We want the po-lice to accompany our children to go to school to ensure that they are safe. We cannot risk and send our young ones to school without any guarantees. What will happen if they are attacked?

A Grade 11 pupil from Walter Letsie

Some of the stolen goods recovered from homes in Mmabatho and Lomanyaneng following police operationsPhoto supplied by SAPS

Molelema Community Leader Mothibi MakoroPhoto by Obakeng Maje

May 4 2018 11


One of the known victims of the violent protests in Mahikeng, 30-year-old Thato Motale, was laid to rest this past weekend. The South African National Defence Force (SANDF) member was shot dead in the early days of the protests in Bokone Bophirima’s capital. Circumstances around his killing are still unclear and the Independent Police Investigative Directorate (IPID) is investigating the murder. Semphete photographer, Mpho Bilwane, brings you the story of his final journey to rest in pictures.

May 4 201812


Kagisano-Molopo municipality leaders meet business

Thomas Matlapeng

The Mayor reminded the community that the current administration has made a commitment to render quality services, engage communities on planning and governance and to work with them to find solutions for any concern experienced in the journey of bettering their lives and developing their areas.

Kagisano-Molopo Local Municipality has requested community members to exercise patience and allow government to listen to their concerns and work with them to find solutions.

Mayor Lenkopane further appealed to the people of Kagisano-Molopo to refrain from violent protests.

Kagisano-Molopo Local Munic-ipality has begun engaging the community last week in an effort to find solutions to their

concerns.The municipality’s Mayor, Bitsa Len-

kopane, has so far held talks with the Kagisano-Molopo business community to respond to discuss ways of bringing stability to the local business community amid unrest in the community.

Among issues raised by local business people is the support role that the mu-nicipality needs to play to ensure growth and sustainability of local entrepreneur-

ship. Other concerns were related to perceived fraudulent activities allegedly taking place in the municipality.

The move is seen a great step by the municipality and its residents that laid a strong foundation and presented an op-portunity for discussions that are expect-ed to bring lasting solutions.

The Kagisano-Molopo Local Munici-pality has also experienced protests that resulted in the destruction of business property and looting, with those protest-ing bemoaning lack of service delivery and government’s failure to respond to their concerns.

Mayor Lenkopane was satisfied with the engagement that she described as “a well from which both the people of Kag-

isano-Molopo and government can draw from for further development and guid-ance in future”.

She encouraged both her municipality and the business community to engage in good faith in order to build trust among the parties.

Lenkopane was deeply concerned about reports of new patches of violence that erupted in Tlakgameng village. Local retail shops were vandalised and robbed of their stock, traumatising traders and the local community. The Mayor said these unruly actions were setting back the gains made to improve the lives of community members and render better services

Moses Kotane Local Municipality holds IDP public participation meetingsBerlina Lekgethwane

Community Consultation: 2nd Schedule IDP Review – 2018/2019

Cluster Wards Venue Host Councillors Date Time8. 14, 28, 30 Mahobieskraal Community Hall Clr Tryphosa Botlhokwane Friday, 04 May 2018 10H009. 18, 20, 21 Tlokweng Tribal Office (ward 20)

Batlokwa Ba Bogatsu OfficeClr Motsisi Mogapi Wednesday, 09 May 2018 10H00

10. 15, 16, 17, 32 Lerome Community Hall (Ward 17) Clr Solomon Manganye Thursday,10 May 2018 10H0011. 10 Sandfontein Community Hall Clr George Moatshe Friday, 11 May 2018 10H00

The Mayor of Moses Kotane Local Municipality, Ralesole Diale, is currently leading the Integrated Development Plan

(IDP) public participation meetings in terms of Chapter 4 of the Local Govern-ment: Municipal Systems Act 32 of 2000, encouraging local municipalities to hold their IDP and Budget Public Participa-tion Meetings for 2018/19 Financial Year. The public participation roadshows with communities commenced on 17 April at Siga Village for Ward 1, 2 and 3 and will be concluded at Sanfontein village on 11 May 2018. The Mayor is encouraging communities to make time to participate in government programmes by attending the IDP public participation roadshows and exercise their constitutional right as citizens.

Some of the members of the business community who attended a meeting with Mayor Bitsa Lenkopane

Mayor Bitsa Lenkopane was accompanied by the municipality’s CFO Morufa Moloto and Acting Municipal Manager Olebile Ntsimane to meet the Kagisano-Molopo business community

Mayor of Moses Kotane Local Municipality, Cllr Ralesole Diale

Members of the public who attended some of the Moses Kotane Local Municipality’s IDP meetings

May 4 2018 13


Cuban doctors training programme will stay

Obakeng Maje there is a shortage of doctors in the country. Doctors in Cuba do not train in teaching hospitals, but train in villages instead. Those who train in teaching hos-pitals are those who qualified as doctors and are now specialists,” he said.

The minister said the reason govern-ment took a large number to Cuba was that it aimed to deploy many doctors at primary healthcare centres as stipulated by NHI.

“Cuba is the first country in the world to completely stop Mother-To-Child trans-mission of HIV. Now you no longer find significant number of children who are born with HIV. Remember 70 000 ba-bies were born with HIV in South Afri-ca in 2004. But through our prevention of Mother-To-Child transmission pro-gramme, which is a primary healthcare programme, we have significantly re-duced that number to 4000,” he said.

Minister of Health, Dr Aaron Motsoaledi, has dismissed as untrue reports that the National Health Council

would cancel the Cuban Programme. The South Africa government has been collaborating with Cuba for years now to train young aspirant doctors in order to curb the shortage in the country.

This follows reports that said the pro-gramme might just be ended. But Mot-soaledi said the country needs the Cu-ban medical training programme like never before.

“We will never scrap that programme, but we have taken a decision to run it in cycles. So, what we have done as the National Health Council (NHC) was to

run the programme in three-years cycles. This will assist us to unclog the system because it is too huge now. Remember, in the past 20 years only 60 students were going to Cuba per year. However, we have increased the number of students,” he said.

“Back in 2012 the number was in-creased to 80 and now we are taking 1000 per year. This number is massive and in fact when they come in for their eight months training at medical schools, it is like having 50% of all doctors pro-duced by eight medical schools in the country. So those institutions cannot cope. They were not designed to accom-modate that huge number,” the Health Minister told Semphete.

Seven hundred fifth-year students will be returning home in July to complete the last leg of their training. Business Live reported last week that a question mark hangs over the future of this doctor

training programme because both gov-ernments were not coping with the large number of trainees.

Motsoaledi said government wants to clear those who are already in the sys-tem first before any intake of new train-ees. This programme was too important for South Africa to be terminated, he said.

“The Cuban programme trains our doc-tors in primary healthcare and it is the heartbeat of national health institutions. So, it is important to have primary health-care practitioners. In South Africa and the rest of the world, we are purely running a curative primary healthcare system. Cuba is the only country in the world with a clear, visible, well-structured primary healthcare system.

“Those doctors who went to Cuba were supposed to be redeployed at primary healthcare centres in our villages. How-ever, we send them to hospitals because

Call for entries, nominations for Youth in Agriculture Awards Thebe Itumeleng The closing date for nominations and

entries is Tuesday 15 May 2018.A nominee should be a young person

(male or female) between the ages of 18 and 35, who owns an enterprise with the necessary documentation. The enter-prises should be 80% run, managed and owned by youth.

Entry forms can be obtained from any READ district offices across the province.

For further enquiries interested parties can contact Provincial Coordinator, Ms Thandiwe Moripe-Thabethe on 079 543 4165 or 018 389 5337/8 or 018 389 5719

The Department of Rural, Envi-ronment and Agricultural De-velopment (READ) in Bokone Bophirima has invited members

of the public to nominate young people in

the province who have showed passion

and determination in the agricultural sec-

tor to enter the 2018 Youth in Agriculture

Awards competition.

These awards recognize excellence displayed in the agricultural sector and the field of rural development by young people of Bokone Bophirima.

READ is scheduled to hold the awards ceremony in June, already declared Youth Month in South Africa. With this initiative, the department does not only want to recognize these young people’s contribution to society, but also to provide further inducement to keep the youth go-ing in their chosen agricultural stream.

Agriculture is one of the most important role players in Bokone Bophirima’s eco-

nomic development and the Provincial Government has adopted Agriculture, Culture and Tourism (ACT) as the key drivers of the province’s economy.

The categories for the 2018 Youth Awards competitions are as follows:

Best Youth Enterprise Award, Best Youth Entrepreneur Award, Best Innova-tive Enterprise Award, Best Researched Journal Award, Best Youth-based Co-op-erative Award, Best Youth Commercial Farmer Award, Best Agro-Processing Enterprise Award and Overall Achiever Award.

Newly qualified Bokone Bophirima doctors who received training in Cuba and graduated last year

Minister of Health Aaron Motsoaledi says South Africa needs Cuba’s medical training expertisePhoto by Mpho Bilwane

May 4 201814


Parliament salutes SA workers

Semphete Correspondent contained in the Bill pass Constitution-

al muster. The two Acts that are being

amended are the BCEA and the Labour

Relations Act (LRA). The amendments to

the BCEA seeks to repeal the provisions

dealing with sectoral determinations and

the Employment Conditions Commission

and provide for daily wage payments ap-

plicable to certain employees, amongst

others. Proposed amendments to the

LRA includes, amongst others, amending

section 32 of the Act to provide for the

process and criteria for the extension of

bargaining agreements to non-parties by

the Minister of Labour,” they said.

The Presiding Officers said in process-

ing these laws, Parliament is clearly

putting to expression its commitment to

“Learning from Madiba” – its theme for

this year – by passing laws that aim to

unlock bottlenecks and tackle the triple

challenges of poverty, inequality and

unemployment consistent with the aspi-

ration of those who fought for our democ-

racy.

Great strides have been made since 1994 to transform the labour legislative landscape in South Africa to eliminate

restrictive and oppressive labour laws. This was to ensure progressive laws that guarantees inalienable rights such as freedom of association, collective bargaining, right to strike and workplace freedom. This was the observation by Parliament’s Presiding Officers – Speak-er Baleka Mbete and Chairperson of the National Council of Provinces (NCOP) Thandi Modise.

They shared their observation as South Africa joined the world to celebrate Work-ers’ Day.

“While we recognise these strides in the last 24 years, the Presiding Officers of Parliament acknowledge that more still needs to be done to ensure that South Africa’s working class truly enjoys the fruits of our maturing democracy whose

anniversary our nation celebrated a few days ago. South Africans are obliged by our political history to work together, unit-ed in their diversity, to build a better coun-try, to build an economy that takes care of its people by absorbing more people into the labour market, guaranteeing their job security, decent wages and labour rights. The objectives and goals of the Freedom Charter and the National Development Plan, of a truly non-racial, non-sexist and prosperous nation, requires united efforts towards their fulfillment,” the Pre-siding Officers said.

They said South Africa’s battle for bet-ter and improved rights in the workplace, which were intertwined with the struggle for social justice, freedom and democra-cy, has come a long way.

“Parliament continues to improve the legislative landscape to consolidate work-ers’ victories and rights. As we commem-orate May Day during the year in which we mark the 100 birthday of the founding president of our democratic South Africa Nelson Mandela, Parliament is amending two existing legislations while also intro-ducing two more to ensure that the laws

governing the employer and employee relations in South Africa further bolster the successes that we have achieved since the advent of democracy in 1994. The new National Minimum Wage Bill, in-troduced by the Minister of Labour in No-vember last year aims to provide for the national minimum wage and the estab-lishment of the National Minimum Wage Commission with clear functions and composition,” Mbete and Modise said.

They added that once passed into a law, the Bill will advance economic develop-ment and social justice by improving the wages of lowest paid workers, protecting them from unreasonably low wages and promoting collective bargaining as well as supporting economic policy.

The other new Bill, the Labour Laws Amendment Bill, is a Private Member’s Bill that was drafted in line with the Afri-can Christian Democratic Party (ACDP) policy on family values.

“It deals with parental leave and also provides for adoption and surrogacy leave and it is drafted to ensure harmony with the Basic Conditions of Employment Act (BCEA) and to ensure the provisions

May 4 2018 15


May 4 201816


SA fully behind Caster Semenya Nthusang Lefafa

clude her from taking part in sport. “We call on government to challenge

this grossly unfair, unjust and blatant racist attempt by the IAAF to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) and have these regulations set aside. The ANC will stand with Caster Semenya in yet anoth-er attempt by international sport bodies to exclude and discriminate against her”.

Even Parliament hit back at the discrim-inatory rules.

Speaker of the National Assembly Baleka Mbete and Chairperson of the National Council of Provinces Thandi Modise called the regulations “unjust, sexist, dehumanising and should be con-demned by all human rights proponents in the world”.

“Physiques of African women have and continue to suffer unjustified and racial-ly humiliating scrutiny and mockery. This must stop,” they said.

Athletics South Africa (ASA) Limpopo President, Tshifiwa Makhoshi, said ASA would stand by Semenya through this dif-ficult time.

“As an organisation we promise to sup-port Semenya and use all channels to ensure that she is not stopped from com-peting. This policy affects African women in sport and prevents them from excel-ling on an international stage,” Makhoshi said.

Semenya has been battling with IAAF since 2009 when she was first investigat-ed at Berlin world championships. Over the past decade, the IAAF has been con-structing regulations that would, in effect, remove her from competition.

South Africa has rallied behind its golden girl, long distance athlete, Caster Semenya fol-lowing new restricting rules by

the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) on female athletes who have high levels of testosterone.

Last week, the IAAF announced that it would ban female hyperandrogenic ath-letes – including those with naturally oc-curring high levels of testosterone - from taking part in specific events such as the 800 metres and 1500 metres long dis-tance running competitions.

The rule changes may end the career of the successful middle distance runner and it has led to the resignation of South African Law professor, Steve Cornelius, from the IAAF committee.

Cornelius slammed the controversial rule that is believed to target gold med-al-winning South African runner Semen-ya. He said he could not continue with his role in “good conscience”.

“The adoption of the new eligibility reg-ulations for female classification is based on the same kind of ideology that has led to some of the worst injustices and atroc-ities in the history of the planet,” Profes-sor Cornelius said.

In his resignation letter the South Af-rican law professor accused the IAAF president, Lord Sebastian Coe, of empty reform promises.

“How the IAAF Council can, in the 21st Century, when we are meant to be more tolerant and aware of fundamental hu-man rights, even contemplate these kinds of objectionable regulations, is a sad re-flection on the fact that the antiquated views of the ‘old’ scandal-hit IAAF still prevails and that your promises of reform have been empty indeed,” said Professor Cornelius in the letter.

The IAAF’s investigation also found no advantage in the 1500 metres event but it was included, leading to accusations that the new rule is indeed targeting Semen-ya, whose participation always sparks speculation and unwanted debate.

The governing African National Con-gress (ANC) said Semenya has been a target of the IAAF over the past decade.

“These laws target amongst others Caster Semenya who has been over the past decade constantly put under undue pressure. We have always un-derstood sport as a unifier and a tool to bring people and nations together. It is for this reason and many that the ANC cannot ignore the attempt by the IAAF to discriminate and exclude athletes. These new regulations infringe on the human rights of athletes, targeting mainly those in East Europe, Asia and the African con-tinent. The racial undertones of this can-not go unnoticed.

“The regulations are a painful reminder of our past where an unjust government specifically legislated laws for certain ac-tivists in society to stifle their fight against an unjust system. The IAAF uses the same tactic to exclude those who have defined the past decade as champions

and treasures of their home countries,” said the ANC.

Semenya won two gold medals – for 800m and 1500m - at this year’s Com-monwealth Games held in Australia.

The ANC has promised to stand by Se-menya all the way as the IAAF tries to ex-

Caster Semenya after winning gold at the Commonwealth Games last month

This week Caster Semenya fired back through this post on social media

the official bokone bophirima government newspaper …semphetenews.co.za/archive/semphete 4 may...

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