} Teboho Setena

THE Department of Health’s alleged inabilityto address crises in service delivery at theRheeder’s Park Clinic in Welkom has causedan uproar in the community.A wave of discontent swept through the

community following the department’s appar-ent failure to come up with a possible remedyat the facility. Residents demanded action andcaused a scene as they staged a protest and dis-rupted nurses in their duty last week.Disgruntled residents told theGoldfieldsEx-

press that the department’s slow pace in deal-ing with long-standing challenges hadprompted their action.“Our efforts haveproven futile to engage the

department with a view to solve the problemsencountered daily in the community.“Overcrowding is a direct result of the de-

partment’s failure to address the problem ofa shortage of nurses and staff in order to im-prove service delivery. There is an urgentneed to expand the facility to accommodatemore people and employ nurses to improvethe delivery of services.“However, the department seems less con-

cerned because nothing has been done, onlypromises are made,’’ said Lungile Malawu,the chairperson of the clinic committee.Three hourswent by before the situation re-

turned to normal and before nurses could re-turn to their work. This came after M.E.Mohloki, the Matjhabeng Health Depart-ment’s manager, had played peacemaker, andhad addressed the angry crowd.As kings did back in the day, he addressed

people from under a tree outside the premisesof the clinic. Mohloki told them that theirgrievances had been referred to the provincial

department which has the last word about theimmediate future of the clinic.The facility is situated in Rheeder’s Park,

a suburbwest of theWelkomCentral BusinessDistrict. It is run from a privately-ownedhouse leased to the department.The department has converted the three

bedrooms into consulting rooms. The loungeis utilised as a waiting room and administra-tion office. The clinic’s catchment populationis said to be in the region of 7 200 with a headcount of no less than 1 300 patients who livein 7 adjacent residential areas.Adding to the frustration is that men and

women as well as the 15 employees share onlyone toilet.Problems at the clinic emanate from the

shortage of manpower in qualified nurses,andmedication as well as the lack of security.The shortage of nurses results into a backlog

and patients return home unattended.Residents are worried because this situa-

tion hasmade themeasy targets for criminals.“People risk their lives to get up early to

queue outside the premises from 04:00 or 05:00to ensure they are in the first group that willreceive treatment when the clinic opens at07:00. It is unsafe because dangerous crimi-nals take advantage and rob them. Criminalsbreak into vehicles to steal items,’’ saidMalawu.He said the lack of security had seen crimi-

nals target the clinic to steal computers andmedication.) The Goldfields Expresswas unsuccessful ingetting comment from the provincial depart-ment’s spokesperson, Mondli Mvambi, re-garding the situation at the trouble-riddenclinic. At the time of going to print the spokes-person had not yet responded to questions.

Furore over servicesResidents angry over poor service delivery at clinic

RIOT: M.E. Mohloki, the local area manager of the Matjhabeng Municipality’s Health De­partment, addressed angry patients under a tree outside the Rheeder’s Park Clinic lastWednesday. Photos:Teboho Setena

CHAOS: The staff nurses at the Rheeders Park Clinic were temporarily forced to stopwork­ing and stand outside the facility as angry patients’ tempers reached boiling point.

20 November 2013

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NEWS

} Teboho Setena

THE detrimental impact of fraud andcorruption in both the private and publicsector in the Free State is being highlight-ed through a weeklong campaign that is infull swing. Coinciding with the annualinternational fraud awareness campaign,the provincial anti-corruption drive startedyesterday in the capital of Bloemfontein. Itprecedes two events to be held at theKroonstad Prison tomorrow and at Bethle-hem’s town hall on Saturday. It’s beingheld in partnership with the Free Stateprovincial government, the Association ofCertified Fraud Examiners (ACFE),Standard Bank and audit firm Pricewater-

houseCoopers (PwC).The ACFE chairperson Rudolph Laub-

scher says the drive’s objective is two-fold,aimed at highlighting the negative impactfraud and corruption have on the coun-try’s economic growth and it also encour-ages organisations and the public tosupport the fight against the crime.“Fraud and corruption in both the

private and public sector is a concern andis very serious. It affects both sectors.“A previous survey conducted showed

that on average organisations lose 5% oftheir turnover. When one looks at this inbig organisations and government thepercentage is substantial. But the fact isthat it is value money that could have

been invested to make companies viableand profitable to create jobs to curbunemployment while in government it hasa serious impact because it takes awayfinancial resources resulting in poorservice delivery. The important thing thatwe as stakeholders have to do intensifyingthe fight against fraud and corruption is tohave control systems in place to preventit from happening as well as to try tocreate a culture of integrity and honestywithin the various organisations,’’ Laub-scher says.He says the importance of organisations

working together is that they can effective-ly promote the importance of detection,investigation and deterrence of fraud and

corruption. ‘’Fraud is by its nature ahidden crime. To complicate its detectioneven further, it often overlaps with othercrimes like theft and corruption. Peoplewho are in a position to detect fraud, areoften not legal or fraud experts and workin the finance or IT department as proces-sors,” Laubscher says.PwC’s director Gerhard Geldenhuys says

their organisation’s input will focus on thebest practice available to combat fraud andcorruption.Members of the public and organisations

can support the anti-corruption and fraudcampaign by registering their support onthe fraud week website: www.fraud-week.com

Campaign fights fraud and corruptionANTI­FRAUD: Private and public sector stakeholders spearheading the fraud and corruption campaign in the Free State are from left Rudolph Laubscher, ACFE chairperson, ElzabeRockman, Free State MEC for Finance, Gerhard Geldenhuys, PricewaterhouseCoopers director, and Anton Nicolaison, provincial head Standard Bank. Photo: Teboho Setena

} Selloane Khalane

THE Free State Public Servants Associa-tion (PSA) has threatened legal actionagainst the cash-strapped provincialDepartment of Health over unpaid staffbonuses. According to the PSA provin-cial head Gehart Koorts, staff memberswho qualify to receive annual perform-ance development management system(PDMS) have not yet received theirbonuses which should have been paidout in July.Koorts said the union had written a

follow-up letter to the Office of thePremier, requesting Premier AceMagashule’s intervention into thefinancial woes of the Health Department.The union said the trouble-ridden

department was transgressing its ownfinancial policies. The union saidannually, assessments were finalised inJune, so that outcomes of the auditswere implemented from the first of July.“Some of the employees told the unionthey still had their assessments with

them,” Koorts said.Mondli Mvambi, the Department of

Health spokesperson, said the depart-ment had just completed its PDMSassessments, raising the prospectpayment of bonuses. Bonuses wereexpected to be paid by the end of lastmonth, October, according to Mvambi.Mvambi denied that the department

was struggling to source funds to paysalaries for January and February nextyear. The department is said to be underimmense pressure to also secure anestimated R36 million to pay Cuba foraccommodation, food and other expensesfor about 120 students studying medicinein Cuba.However, Mvambi brushed off the

allegations as “malicious rumours”meant to dent the image of the depart-ment. This is not be the first time thedepartment has been under seriousfinancial strain. In the previous finan-cial year the department admitted tocutting costs, to ensure that primaryhealth services could still be rendered.

FS Health Department isbattling its financial woes

THEFree State is third in SouthAfricawith thehighest proportion of fraud and corruption inci-dents reported, a Victims of Crime Survey re-vealed. Conducted by Statistics South Africa,the survey showed that the Free State has 4,7%,followed by the North-West 4,9% with Gautengin the lead with 10,1%.The statistics were revealed at the launch of

the International Fraud, Corruption and RiskAwareness Seminar on Monday in Bloemfon-tein. Held by PwC, the event was attended byboth stakeholders from the provincial and pri-vate sector. Households were asked if any gov-ernment or public official had asked for money,favours or a gift for a service that he or she hadbeen legally required to perform.According to the survey, 4,5 % of people had

been asked formoney, favours or a gift by a gov-ernment official for service that he or she hadbeen legally required to perform. The leastnumber of incidents of corruption were report-ed in KwaZulu-Natal (2,3%), the Western Cape(1,5%) and the Eastern Cape (1, 1%) respective-ly. The survey revealed that 4,2% had beenasked for money by government officials for aservice, 9,5% was reported in Gauteng, 4,6% inNorth-West and 4,2% in the Free State.Elzabe Rockman, the MEC for Finance, said

that revelation of fraud and corruption wouldafford the community an opportunity to knowthe processes which were in place in govern-ment spheres used to combat fraud.

To tighten the belt against the prevalence offraud and corruption she said the provincialgovernment had secured the specialised servic-es of theAssociation of Certified FraudExamin-ers (ACFE) in creating awareness and trainingfor key officials within departments andmunic-ipalities.“Government has also developed fraud pre-

vention and response plans and anti-corruptionstrategies that strive to deal with corruption ina holistic way. Laws and processes have beendeveloped and implemented to protect whistleblowers who report alleged incidents,” saidRockman.“Various units in law enforcement agencies

such as the Special InvestigatingUnited and theCommercial CrimesUnit have been establishedto root out corruption in the public sector.”She said prosecution of all offenders and

blacklistingof peoplewhohadbeen foundguiltywasoneof the stringentmeasuresmeant to curbfraud and corruption.“It is our responsibility as government to take

accountability in our working environment topromote a fraud-free environment. This will inturn enable us to ensure that service deliverygoals are achievedwithin the set timeframes, asefficiently as possible.” Rockman said.Members of the public can also report fraud

and corruption incidents by calling the toll-freenational anti-corrupt hotline on 0800-701-701 orthe departmental SCM hotline on 0800-212-178.

Fraud, corruption rampant in FS

EXPRESS , WEDNESDAY 6 NOVEMBER 2013 3

NEWS

} Selloane Khalane

LOBBYING for support for preferredcandidates to represent the ANC ingovernment began ahead of the country’sgeneral election next year. The rulingparty in the Free State started its race atthe provincial list congress held lastThursday in Welkom with Ace Magashule,the ANC’s chairperson and premier,urging members to give President JacobZuma a vote of confidence by nominatinghim.“President Zuma must be number one on

your list,” said Magashule, addressingmore than 500 delegates from 222 branchesacross the province.Zuma’s nomination will grant him a

second term in office as president of SouthAfrica having already secured a secondterm as party leader. He was re-electedunopposed as the party’s leader at lastyear’s national congress held in Bloemfon-tein.The ANC’s provincial congress, which

was a week ago rescheduled for last Thurs-day, saw members nominate their prefer-red leaders to represent the party in bothprovincial and national legislatures afternext year’s general election. Maga- shuleencouraged delegates to support thecurrent national leadership, adding thatthe party intended to retain 60% of thecurrent members of legislature in theprovince.Referring to rumours of a rift between

his deputy and the Mangaung Metroexecutive mayor, Thabo Manyoni, Ma-gashule said individuals and the mediawould not sow divisions between them.“Manyoni and I are solid,” he said. Thesame sentiments were shared by Manyoni

who pronounced the close bond he haswith his long-time ally Magashule: “Justbecause we don’t always agree does notmean there is fallout between us. “As longas there is Ace Magashule in leadership, Iwill always be comfortable,” he added.The ANC provincial secretary, William

Bulwane, said delegates were to vote for 30candidates provincially who will representthe party locally. According to Bulwane,additional members could be added toensure the party has a reserve list.With the election looming the party is

determined to triple its efforts to reclaimthe four seats the party lost to oppositionparties in the previous election in 2009.Although Bulwane said the Free StateMEC for Sports, Dan Kgothule, remains aloyal member of the party, several dele-gates at the conference who wanted to beanonymous said Kgothule’s head was onthe chopping block. “Kgothule’s namemight not appear on the list when theresults are revealed,” said a delegate.The Free State chairperson of Cosatu

and member of the ANC Free Stateprovincial executive committee, SamMashinini, told journalists that Ma-gashule’s long reign as chairperson of theparty in the province was democratic.“You cannot dictate to democracy,”

Mashinini emphasised. Bulwane said theANC was not worried about the inroadsmade by Julius Malema’s political party,the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF).“It is a matter of concern because or

young comrades are flocking to EFFwithout understanding the economicpolicies of the party,” Bulwane explained.Results of the much anticipated listconference are expected to be revealedafter 10 days from the day of nomination.

Magashule givesMagashule givesZuma the thumbs upZuma the thumbs up

LOBBYING: The Free State ANC’s chairperson and premier, Ace Magashule, rallies supportfor Jacob Zuma to get him to a second term in office as President of South Africa aheadof next year’s general election. Photo: Sidwell Guduka

4 EXPRESS, WEDNESDAY 6 NOVEMBER 2013

NEWS

}Alet van der Walt

JOURNALISMwasn’t alwayshis firstlove, but in the end it turned out to beTeboho Setena's true love. This prodi-gal son of Media24 recently returned tothe company with the task of establish-ing the Goldfields Express as the Gold-fields’ number-one community paper.He knows it will not be easy asExpressis facing some tough competition fromother well-established community pa-pers in the area, but he is looking for-ward to the challenge.

Lifedidn’t start easy forTeboho,whois a born and bred Free Stater. He grewup in the southern parts of the prov-ince. As a young farm boy from Faure-smith he had to face many obstaclesjust to attend school. At times he hadto walk as far as 14 km just to get toschool before covering the same dis-tance after school to return home.

His family was poor as his motherwas a domestic worker and he spenthis childhood with both his grannies

and an uncle, being sent from oneschool to another until he finally man-aged in1991 to gethismatric certificatewith exemption at the Lereko SeniorSecondary School.

After he matriculated he did a busi-ness course at the Central Universityof the Free State (CUT, formerly theFree State Technikon), but life had oth-er plans in store for this talented manand when Media24 had positions openfor trainee journalists Teboho decidedto test the inky newspaper waterswhere he slowly fell in love with theworld of news. He did his in-housetraining and then decided to studyJournalism. As a qualified journalisthe returned to Media24 where heworked until Ofm advertised a posi-tionat theirnewsdepartment.HereTe-boho learnednew skills as a radio jour-nalist and soon discovered that he alsohad a passion for radio journalism.Many times friends and acquaintancestold him they had heard someone onthe radio sounding exactly like him. It

gave him great pleasure to tell themthat it was indeed his voice they hadheard.

The 2010 Soccer World Cup broughtnew opportunities for this well-round-ed newsman and as a then freelancerhe was contracted by French broad-casters as reporter. He also did voice-overs for the French helping withtranslations from African languagesinto English. The French could thentranslate from English into French fortheir listeners. These were excitingtimes as he sees himself a student oflife. Teboho still cherishes the opportu-nity the 2010 sports spectacle offered.

After the World Cup, Teboho joinedthe independent newspaper Free StateTimes where he mostly worked as asports journalist until he resigned tojoin his first media family.

Life has come full circle for this manwho has acquired enough skills tomake him just the right candidate forthechallengeofnursing theGoldfields’new-born baby into a success.

Ready for a challengeTEBOHO SETENA sees the Goldfields as an exciting challenge. Photo: Alet van der Walt

} How to reach GoldfieldExpress:

WE are housed in The StripBuild, 1st floor, 312 Stateway,Welkom. We cover a range ofnewsworthy events, news andsports as well as communityentertainment events.

We invite readers in thegreater Goldfields and thesurrounding towns’ to phoneus at 057-357-1304 about news-worthy happenings and ad-

vertising. For newsworthyhappenings, news, sports andplacement of community en-tertainment events for theweekly diary readers canemail Teboho Setena at tebo-ho.setena@volksblad.com orfax: 057-357-1300.

For advertising please feelfree to contact the sales execu-tive, Innocent Mncube, on 057-357-1304 or email him on Inno-cent.mncube@volks-blad.com.

Share newswith‘Express’

} Teboho Setena

THE Lejweleputswa District Municipalitylaunched a far-reaching educational initiativethrough which young women get anotherchance to obtain their National Senior Certifi-cates (NSC). A first of its kind and known as theYoung Women Gr. 12 Upgrade Project, it waslaunched last Thursday in Welkom. It is a part-nershippilot initiativebetween theLejweleput-swa District Municipality and the SharpevilleTechnical College in Gauteng.

A group of 40 women from the ages of 25 to35 have enrolled for the life-changing initiative.Candidates have enrolled for a trimester pro-

gramme and wrote their first paper exam onMonday at the Sharpeville Technical College’smain campus in Gauteng. The LejweleputswaMunicipality has paid out R100 000 to ensure itmaterialises.

Funding includes study material and accom-modation. Enrolled students are from the Gold-fields towns of Welkom, Virginia, Allenridge,Odendaalrus, Hennenman and Ventersburg.

Lejweleputswa municipal manager, PalesaKaota, said they intended to run the project toensure long-term success intervention to im-prove the lives of women. The project’s successwill be determined by funding and the successrate of students enrolled.

“The plan is to run the project on an ongoingbasis to enable young women to change theirlives through education as the key to improvetheir lives,” said Kaota.

She said the long-term need to address thechallenges facingwomenpromptedLejweleput-swa’s management led by the mayor, MathaboLeeto, to start the initiative.Kaota said enrolledstudents were screened to ensure they met therequirements set out.

“We discovered that the majority of the stu-dentswereunable toreturn toschool to success-fully complete gr. 12 and obtain their NationalSenior Certificate. There were various factorsand money was a major factor hence we funded

their studies in the hope they would work hardto obtain their National Senior Certificate. Onthe municipality’s side I believe we have doneour best to enable them to positively changetheir lives and achieve their dream to even fur-ther their studies at the academic institutionsof their choice. It is significant that all of thesewomen grabbed the opportunity, because thereare many of them who are equally desperate toget a chance to get financial aid to realise theirdreams and help us as a nation in the goal wewant toachieveof changing the livesofoursoci-ety through education,” said Kaota. She saidthe commitment of all the candidates would goa long way to build a proud nation.

Women given chance to get NSCEDUCATINGTHENATION: The LejwelputswaDistrictMunicipality launched the YoungWomen’sGr. 12 Project last Thursday inWelkom. From the left are DrMaramaneMatabane­Tsha­balala, Palesa Kaota, Lejweleputswa’s municipal manager, Itumeleng Mantsoe (student), Sharpeville Technical College Welkom Campus principal, Molefe Maphutse, and studentsMoshebi Nkoane, Evodia Madisa and Nana Motsoane. Photo: Teboho Setena

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NEWS

AMALE resident of the Phomolong townshipin Hennenman will spend 16 of a 19-year sen-tence inprison formurder andattemptedmur-der. Three years have been suspended.The 21-year-old Abel Moeketsi was sen-

tenced in the Virginia High Court last Thurs-day. He appeared before the prosecutor ColinSteynand themagistrateLewisPhöl oncountsof murder and attempted murder. Moeketsiwas found guilty of the murder of the 19-year-old Mavis Medupe and the attempted murder

of a man who had accompanied the deceased.Moeketsi’s sentencing in this complicated

case followed an in-depth investigation by in-vestigating officer Sthokothezi Ndayi of theHennenman SAPS Detective Unit.On the ill-fated night of 4 December, the ac-

cused first stabbed the deceased’s boyfriend inthe neck before he attacked Medupe with aknife. The deceased’s body was discovered inthe morning near a graveyard by two cattleowners who were doing a routine inspection

at their kraal. They informed the police whofound the deceased with two stab wounds, onein the neck and another below the left breast.The police spokesperson Malebo Khosana

said after investigation the assailant wastracedandarrested inRandfontein inGautengon the same day in connection with the mur-der and attempted murder.“The motive was disclosed to be jealousy as

Moeketsi suspected thatMaviswas seeing oth-er men,” said Malebo.

Jealousy leads to 16 years behind barsFor more photos and

news visitwww.expressnews.co.za

A FAREWELL FUNCTIONwas held for LieutenantMabinda George Radebe. Hejoined the police force in 1985and retired as commander inone of the shifts in the CrimeRoom where he has workedsince 2011.Radebe was trained at the

Hammanskraal College.After he had graduated

from the college he startedworking at the OdendaalsrusPolice Station in 1986 as aconstable.In 1991 he was promoted to

the rank of lance sergeantand in 1993 he became a fullsergeant.Because of his dedication

and hard work he waspromoted to the rank ofwarrant officer in 1995.In 2011 he was promoted to

the rank of lieutenant andtransferred to the WelkomDetective Service.

He decided to resign fromthe police after 28 years ofloyal service.In his speech Radebe

thanked all his colleaguesback at Odendaalsrus andWelkom and thanked themanagement of the WelkomPolice Station for trusting inhim and giving him theopportunity to be the com-mander in his environment.He continued by saying:“I love the police and I will

always cherish my bestmoments I spent within thePolice Service.”He is going to become a

businessman.

SAPS bids dedicated officer farewell

LIEUTENANT MABINDARADEBE (left) receives a giftfrom Major Willem Boshof.

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NEWS

GROWINGSTRONG: The joyful pair of The Rock community radio station inWelkom, oper­ations director Azio Thate and presenter Siziwe Maruping (right), share in the station’sachievement of one year of broadcasting last Thursday. The station has its footprints firmlyrooted in the greater Goldfields and Lejweleputswa Region.

MOMENT IN TIME: The trio from left, Nthabeleng Chabangu, Jeje Phakoe and Loubi­sa Dithebe, attended the launch of the YoungWomen’sGr. 12Upgrade Projectwhichthey are part of. Launched last Thursday in Welkom the initiative is a brain childof the Lejweleputswa District Municipality offering young women that failed gr. 12another chance to obtain their National Senior Certificate (NSC) .

WORKINGTOGETH­ER: Employees oftheMatjhabengMu­nicipality’s roadsdepartment, that in­clude four men onthe left and threewomen on right,captured workingtogether to clean ablockedstormwaterdrain along thetown’s busy State­way on Wednesday.

BUDDING STARS: Buddingand prospective future footballgreats of Juventus FC capturedperfecting their skills at a train­ing session at a field in Las Ve­gas in Thabong. Photos: TebohoSetena

THE SURVIVORS: It is case of survival of the fitness for several unemployed youth inThabong as three captured in the middle of traffic at a stop sign in the busy ConstantiaRoad, adjacent to the infamous G Hostel, selling sweets, cigarettes and ice to earn a living.

Working together making Goldfields great

Showcasingsoccer skills

EXPRESS , WEDNESDAY 6 NOVEMBER 2013 7

NEWS

Lesego Ditheko

NAVAL HILL, formerlyknownas theFran-klin Nature Reserve, has much yet to be ex-pected on it.One of the projects expected was the oper-

ating of a digital planetarium at the LamontHussey Observatory which was launchedlast Friday by the National Department ofScience and Technology, Free State Depart-ment of Economic Development, TourismandEconomicAffairs togetherwith theUni-versity of the Free State and the MangaungMetropolitan Municipality.For prospectile scientists, astronauts and

universe fanatics around the province, evenaround thecountry, someofwhohashadon-ly a glimpse through a home telescope andthrough sci-fi movies, Naval Hill has madeit possible and the Science subjects learnersto take a virtual trip around the 400 millionlight-year sized universe.Astronauts fromSouthAfrica andAmeri-

ca were part of the amazing launch of the full3-D view of theworld. It is our universe and theother universes within the 400 million lightyears spectrum.Amongst the guests present were the deputy

minister of Science andTechnology,MikeMas-utha, the UFS chancellor, Khotso Mokhele, to-gether with Professor Nicky Morgan, vice-rec-tor, the MEC of Education, Tate Makgoe, theMEC of Tourism, Mosebenzi Zwane, and Pro-fessor Pat Seitzer of theUniversity ofMichiganin America.“Jwale ke nako ya kotulo” (today we are har-

vesting onwhatwehave planted four years go).We are taking a historic step that will changethe astro-tourism forever in this country. Na-valHill will become the home of the first digitalplanetarium in the Sub-Saharan Africa andtruly will be a huge success,” said Zwane.Amongst the guests therewere fivemembers

from the Unicom Primary School in Twee-spruit: Lizeppe vonMolendorff, the principal ofthe school, the school’s science teacher, Susan

Usher, and her learners Mbotywase Mafereka,Kagisho Motale, Boitumelo Mokoena andThabisoMphakalatsiwhowon theNationalAs-troQuizz Schools competitionwhich tookplaceon 10 May this year.According to Usher, the learners only took a

month to prepare for the competition and thecriteria sheused to choose the teamwassimple.She said she placed the learners in groups andshe identified thosewhowere interestednot ac-cording to who was intelligent in the subject.TheOldMutual Foundation’s head, Clarence

Tshitereke, was also called to the podium andhe announced that next year in June the foun-dationwill be taking the four learners and theirteacher to an all-expenses paid trip to Suther-land as, according to Pat Seitzer, it has themostnatural but splendid viewof theMilkyWayandis the place where an astronomer should startvisiting when doing research.Makgoe shared the experience felt in the

planetarium when it was displayed.“This was an exciting and phenomenal expe-

rience. This experience makes you feel likeyou are an astronaut,” saidMakgoe. He alsooutlined that the institution would be thebest place for aspiring learners to come andexperience the horizon opening atmos-phere.“One important detail which should be

taken note of is that we can’t be importingscientists as astronauts from abroadwhere-as we have the tools and infrastructure togroom our own scientists and astronauts,”said Makgoe.Prof Matie Hoffman from the Department

of Physics at the UFS was delighted by thevisit fromMinister DirekHanekom, thoughin absentia, who said, this recognition andnational interest in the project demonstrat-ed the importance of the first digital plane-tarium in Sub-Saharan Africa to the ad-vancement of science and astronomy.“It is evidence for a facility like this to

train the next generation of scientists,” hesaid.

Naval Hill stairway to skyFS open first 3-D planetarium in Sub-Saharan Africa

LAUNCHED: The structure of the digital planetarium.

THEFree State TourismAuthority (FSTA) ini-tiative of developing water sports is beginningto bear fruit.Testimony is the steady progress made by

one of the candidates in the programme, Kele-bogile Malebo. The youngster claimed secondposition in the junior category of the F1 Na-tional Powerboat Championships and Life-style event held last weekend at the Parys Golfand Country Estate.A development wing of the FSTA, the event

provided an entertaining race and was won byNikita Tromps.This yearwas the fifth edition of this adrena-

line-pumping competitionwhichwas split intofive categories: juniors, F30, F1, jet ski and in-flatables. The F30, which comprises graduatesfrom the junior category, also sets the scene forthe F1 through a high-speed race. Althoughnone of theFSTAdevelopment sides in this cat-egory won any top-three positions, the occa-sion was never short of excitement with top-seeded contestants showcasing their versatili-ty fighting for top positions. Attie Tromp,Andre Kemp and Willie Meyer claimed thefirst, second and third positions respectively.TheF1 event paved theway for the forthcom-

ing Free State Grand Prix (F2 InternationalPowerboat Championships) set to be staged inSasolburg on 14 and 15 December.Mosebenzi Zwane, the MEC for the Depart-

ment of Economic Development, Tourism andEnvironmental Affairs, said the Free Statewould continue to stage water sports to pro-mote tourism inandoutside the province to en-sure that such natural resources were fully ex-plored for the benefit of the industry.

Initiativebeginning tobear fruit

THE deadline for submission of events in-tended for the What’s On diary is Thursdaysat 10:00. Send information via email to: tebo-ho.setena@volksblad.com

WelkomS Tswelopele Arts meetingTswelopele PerformingArts invites parents

whose children participate in the organisa-tion’s programme to a meeting set to start onSaturday at 14:00 at no. 18788 MoriqitlaneStreet in Sunrise View.Issues to be discussed include the formation

of a management committee, finalising a pro-gramme for the school holidays in Decemberand Days of Activism Against Women andChild Abuse. Call Mamello Mosala on 073-113-6007 for more details.S Success Quito Crèche graduationThis year’s annual graduation of the Suc-

cess Quito Crèche will be on 3 December.The graduation will be held at the centre’s

premises at no.17566, Shuping, starting at10:00.S Anti-rape campaign

On 9 December the AME Church will hostan anti-rape awareness campaign in partner-ship with the Success Cultural Group, Ts-welopele Performing Arts, Reabetswe YouthCentre and Reitz Park Soul Buddyz. Commu-nity organisations are invited to participatein the event. Call Teko Matieane on 084-089-9656 or Rebecca Mogoera on 079-832- 6992.

Get your event in the Express ‘What’s On’ diary

THE Khotsong Pri­mary School’smana­gement presentedmerit awards tothree educators asvoted for by the lear­ners for their invalu­able contribution inteaching and uphol­ding values of tea­chers in the public ata prize­giving cere­mony held recently.The event wrappedup a month­longcommemoration ofWorld Teachers Dayin October. The reci­pients are from theleft NV Mokoena, PTMorake andNMatle­be. The aim of theannual World Tea­chers’ Day is to mo­bilise more supportfor teachers.

Photo: Supplied

What’s onEmail: teboho.setena@volksblad.com

Before 10:00 on Fridays

8 EXPRESS, WEDNESDAY 6 NOVEMBER 2013

} Teboho Setena

FOOTBALL TEAMS in the Free Statecampaigning in the South AfricanFootball Association’s (Safa) SecondDivision are set to commence with theirfixture this weekend.The cash-strapped football association

last Wednesday issued a statementinforming clubs that the kick-off hadbeen re-scheduled; the reason being thatreferees in the Free State had not yetundergone fitness and theory tests todetermine their readiness for the startof the season.Safa had initially decided that the

league would start last weekend.Normally the league starts in Septem-ber, but this year’s was delayed due to

financial problems facing Safa. Thekick-off was delayed because the footballbody had been trying to address non-pay-ment of monies towards the 144 teams thatcampaigned in the Second Division.An urgent meeting between the owners

of the clubs and Safa’s national executiveled by the newly-elected president DannyJordaan was held to address the issue ofoutstanding monies. The meeting was helda week ago in Gauteng.The monies owed to teams include

travelling allowances, match officials andprizes for the just-ended 2012-’13 term.The federation failed to pay teams their

monies due to financial crisis, apparentlyarising from alleged mismanagement offunds.This past season the majority of the

clubs had to provide for themselves andhad to also take responsibility to paymonies for the match officials assigned totheir entire league fixture.Due to non-payment of monies to clubs

Safa decided to delay the start of the2013-’14 season second-tier competition bytwo months during which it strove tosource funding to pay teams their monies.The Goldfields Express reliably learnt

that the owners of the clubs had at thetwo-day meeting reached a consensus toplay first league fixtures only if Safafulfilled its promise to pay teams moniesowed for the 2012-’13 season.The football federation’s executive had

apparently made a commitment to pay allmonies owed to clubs at the latest thisweek.

The 2013-’14 term will see 147 clubsinstead of 144 compete for this year’sSafa Second Division Championship.The increase in the number of the

participating clubs by three came afterjudgement had been passed against Safain legal matters in three provinces –Free State, Limpopo and North-West.The provinces in question will each

have 17 teams in the league instead ofthe expected 16 as with the otherprovinces.Safa’s financial crisis developed after

long-time sponsor Vodacom ended itssponsorship towards the league twoyears ago.The association has since then been

unsuccessful in securing sponsorshipdeals for the second-tier league.

Division starts on lowOFM MANGAUNG METROPOLITAN CYCLING RACE: The trio who took top honours in the race are from the left Reynard Butler (third), HB Kruger (winner) and Carl Pasio(second). Photo: Voight Mokone

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