} 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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2 EXPRESS, WEDNESDAY 6 NOVEMBER 2013
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} 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 [email protected] orfax: 057-357-1300.
For advertising please feelfree to contact the sales execu-tive, Innocent Mncube, on 057-357-1304 or email him on [email protected].
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: [email protected]
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: [email protected]
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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