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Dam levels still a cause for concern
Although widespread rains feel over large parts of the country over the past few weeks, the levels of dams is still a cause for concern, reiterating the fact that the drought is still not over. This week, according to the department of water affairs website, the De Hoop Dam was 83 percent full in comparison to 97.5 percent during the same week last year. Flag Boshielo is 77.8 percent full in comparison to last year’s 41.7 percent, while the Blyderivierpoort Dam is 75.7 percent full in comparison to last year’s 61.8 percent. Buffelskloof Dam is 56 percent full in comparison to last year’s 74.5 percent, while Ohrigstad Dam is 8.5 percent full in comparison to last year’s 37.2 percent.
Participate
Sekhukhune District Municipality led by Member of the Mayoral Council, Cllr Yvonne Mmakola and Speaker of the Council, Cllr Maria Manamela, presented the Draft Annual Report for the year 2017/2018 to Sekhukhune District Municipality staff members on 6 February 2019. According to the municipality the joint annual public participation concerning the draft annual report will take place in diffferent places in the district municipality up until 28 February 2019. Several classes of stakeholders will be targeted for participation, such as the general public, maghoshi, labour, business and rate payers. Watch out for an opportunity near you.
Fetakgomo Tubatse Burgersfort, Steelpoort, Ohrigstad, Apel
8 Februarie 2019
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Brief:
‘Wat gebeur as die kerk se dak inval?’
Matthew 6:2 (NIV) 2
“So when you give to the needy, do not announce it with trumpets, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and on the streets, to be honored by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward in full.
“Op Sondag 26 Januarie 2019 het ons die kerk vroegoggend oopgesluit met die verwagting om saam met die lofprysingspan al die liedere deur te oefen en gereed te maak vir die erediens… Miskien moes die feit dat sewe bome op die terrein ontwortel of afgebreek was, sowel as die feit dat die alarms deur die nag afgegaan het ons gewaarsku het. Maar niks berei jou voor op die skok om in die kerkgebou in te stap en alles in totale chaos te kry nie. Die plafonne het geval en het in stukke op die grond gelê, die kerkbanke was geute vol water en die matte ‘n modder en watergevulde moeras. Daar was slegs ‘n uur voordat die erediens sou begin. Om alles te kroon het die plafonne van ‘n klomp van die kategeseklasse ook uitgeval en sou daar dus ook nie kategese kon plaasvind nie. Die saal moes vinnig voorberei word en almal wat reeds daar was en hulle wat opgedaag het, het ingespring en begin help om stoele uit te pak, klank aan te lê en seker te maak dat die erediens kon voortgaan. Die dataprojektor in die dak was nou net ‘n waterbak en onbruikbaar. Maar om 08:30, presies op tyd, het die erediens begin en kon ons die Here Jesus eer
en prys vir wonderlike reën en die seën van sy goedheid in ons lewens. Een na die ander het die nuus ingekom van huise, tuine, geboue en die Laerskool wat beskadig is en ons kon saam bid en God dank – daar was geen berigte van lewensverliese nie. Na die erediens het helpers ingespring en met grawe, kruiwaens, harke en besems al die rommel in die kerkgebou opgeruim en skoongemaak. So, wat gebeur as die kerk se dak inval? Dit was die vraag wat in baie se harte geleef het. Die antwoord was te sien in dit wat op daardie pragtige Sondag plaasgevind het – die kerk het aangehou om kerk te wees! Ons het saam gesing, saam gebid, saam geluister na God se Woord en ook saam ingespring om ‘n hand by te sit om mekaar te ondersteun en te help waar ons kon. Die kerk van Jesus Christus is nie die gebou nie, hoe mooi dit ook al mag wees, dit is die mense wat in Jesus Christus glo en wat ‘n roeping het om om te gee, te ondersteun en Jesus se hande vir mekaar te wees. Vir die eerste keer sedert 1961 toe die kerkgebou ingewy is, was die erediens weer in ‘n saal. Maar ook dit het niks verander in ons kerkwees en roeping nie. Ek dank die Here vir sy goedheid en vir ‘n geestelike familie soos dié by Burgersfort NG Gemeente. Aan God kom toe al die eer tot in ewigheid”. Johan Koen Predikant, NG Kerk Burgersfort
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Cattle possible cause Boosting beneficiation to develop economy for lethal accident Saturday was a busy day for emergency services in Burgersfort. They responded to various incidents, but at least one which occured on the bridge crossing the Spekboom River on the road from Ohrigstad to Burgersfort, involved roaming cattle. It is suspected that a delivery truck from a local hardware store swerved to try and avoid a cow in the road when the rest of the nearby cattle crossed the road and caused the accident. Three people died on the accident scene. The accident caused heavy traffic congestion in town while authorities attended to the scene and spectators gathered to
see what happened. Various animals hit by the vehicle died. Roaming cattle whose owners are not held accountable for their livestock’s movements are often the cause of accidents in the area. In another incident emergency services responded to a pedestrian being hit in an accident near the taxi rank. A place where people notoriously do not use the bridge (widely known as the white elephant) to cross the road. They are also not taken to book by authorities for jay walking instead of making use of the bridge provided to cross the road.
‘New’ rank at robot and slipway When driving in Burgersfort one might be forgiven for being unsure of where exactly approved loading zones, taxi ranks and even bus stops are. Taxis stopping to pick up or drop off passengers anywhere is nothing new, but in the past some attempts at getting out of the road may have occured. This week it was observed over and over how the drivers of these vehicles simply have no regard for the law and stop in slipways or
at a traffic lights to pick up or drop passengers off. Traffic is especially negatively affected when the lights turn to green and the vehicles blocking the slipways are not moving. Some ‘marshalls’ has also been spotted simply stopping taxis in slipways or moving traffic to speak to the drivers. This without being authorised traffic officials or any regard for the law. Unfortunately the areas where this was spotted, there was also no control by traffic officials.
Government has prioritised investment in the mining sector and mineral beneficiation due to its capacity to grow the economy and create jobs, says Trade and Industry Minister Rob Davies. Speaking at the South African Mining Investment Roundtable on the margins on the Mining Indaba on Tuesday, Davies said beneficiation of minerals is an important aspect of value addition. “The beneficiation of our minerals is one of the most critical issues that we as government have prioritised because value addition will go a long way in creating jobs and growing our economy,” said the Minister at the gathering held in Cape Town. He said South Africa can no longer afford to export raw minerals to be beneficiated in other countries. “Beneficiation increases the value of our minerals and if we are stuck on exporting raw minerals, we will not be able to build an economy that will enable us to create jobs and develop our country and the continent in general.” The Departments of Trade and Industry, Mineral Resources and Brand South Africa hosted the roundtable as part of measures to provide potential investors with the opportunity to interact with the country’s political and business leadership. Davies said massive opportunities exist for investment in the beneficiation of South African minerals. He invited investors attend-
ing the session to take advantage of these. “As a department, we are engaged in various initiatives that are aimed at adding value to our minerals. There is a variety of beneficiation projects that offer opportunities for investment.” The development of hydrogen fuel cell-powered buses and vanadium batteries are some of the initiatives aimed at beneficiating South African minerals. Mineral Resources Minister Gwede Mantashe said the deepening of stakeholder relations between government, business, labour and communities, and the Mining Charter will go a long way to provide policy certainty for the industry. Science and Technology Minister Mmamoloko Kubayi-Ngubane, who also attended Tuesday’s session, stressed the importance of technology and skills in developing a sustainable mining sector. Meanwhile, Exxaro Resources Limited committed to investing R20 billion in Limpopo and Mpumalanga, while Vedanta Zinc International committed to conduct a feasibility study to develop a zinc smelter in the Northern Cape. Exxaro CEO Mxolisi Mgojo spoke of the company’s ongoing investment into the local mining industry. Mgojo said the company would inject R20 billion into the industry between 2018 and 2022. The roundtable was held under the theme ‘Invest in South African Mining’.
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Your input - Eskom’s proposed tariff hike Eskom on Monday confirmed that it is now seeking approval for a 17,4% increase in tariff for the upcoming financial year from the National Energy Regulator of South Africa (Nersa). According to Khulu Phasiswe, Eskom’s spokesperson, they had “adjusted the application for the first year of the multi-year price determination period by about two percent. Eskom has made an appeal that its operational requirements that pass the regulator’s prudency test need to be compensated through the regulatory process to enable it to recover technically and financially”. Last year Eskom’s chief financial officer, Calib Cassim addressed the expected loss in the company’s interim results for the period that ended in September 2018. “We are projecting a net loss of close to R20 billion at financial year end and it is clear that while we have maintained operating cost escalations around inflation level, Eskom cannot solve financial and operational sustainability challenges that it faces alone”. The application currently being reviewed by Nersa has strong opposition from the public sector, pressure groups, political parties and even the general public. Business Unity South Africa has called on Nersa to only approve an inflation linked tariff increase until the electricity supply industry has been restructured. On Friday last week the Minerals Council of South Africa’s chief economist, Henk Langenhoven also told Nersa that a 15% tariff increase would have a devastating impact on the economy with thousands of jobs in the mining industry being put at risk. According to a presentation delivered the cost of electricity of some mining companies have risen by about 523% since 2006, this while load shedding also interrupted their productivity. Peter Major from Cadiz Corporate Solutions said in the media that a stable, reliable, cheap energy provider is necessary to operate especially mines at a cost effective level. He said that profit margins have shrunk to between 5 and 10% and that an increase of 15% or more from Eskom would simply eat any profits in some of these mines and that would result in closure for some of them. The Democratic Alliance’s Shadow Minister of Public Enterprises, Natasha Mazzone on Tuesday said: “The DA notes reports of mining giant, Anglo-American’s concerns regarding Eskom’s tariff increase request. Eskom has made a multi-year tariff increase application to Nersa, for tariff increases amounting to almost 50% over the next three years. Anglo-American has warned that should these increases be approved, the mining industry will have to cut over 150 000 jobs in order to pay their electricity bills… this will have catastrophic results on our already ailing economy and unemployment crisis.” Numsa rejected Eskom’s application. They said that the requested tariff hike is not in the interest of the working-class majority and the poor. “If energy prices go up, it will mean the cost of all basic goods, food, transportation, etc. will also go up and this will worsen conditions for the poor and the working class. This will also affect small and medium firms negatively as the high cost of energy will impact negatively on the bottom line, resulting in massive job losses,” Numsa said. A task team appointed by President Ramaphosa has recommended that Eskom be broken into two state-owned companies. Their plan will see a generation company that will run Eskom’s power stations and a transmission company that will own and operate the national grid. It was widely expected that an announcement on this will be made in the State of the Nation Address, but nothing formal was released by the time the newspaper went to print. Platinum Gazette asked readers what they think about this whole issue.
Ms Charity Mohlala said: “Eskom must fix their problems. It is not fair that jobs are at risk because of Eskom. We cannot afford to have unemployment increase”. Mr Leo Mogale said: “I support the increase from Eskom. Remember that Eskom has many employees and that Eskom supplies electricity for free to some rural areas through the illegal connections. This increase will cover that inzinyokanyoka (people with illegal connections)”. Left: Ms Gugu Zulu said: “15% is too much. 7% or 8 % will be better. Companies pay a lot. Mines use a lot of electricity and this will kill companies. They will get a lot of retrenchments because of this. Many households will now also go the illegal route”.
Mr Kettle Mola and Mr Tiisetso Makofane said: “15% is not fair. It will be bad because everything will increase because of this. People cannot afford this. If people starts to lose jobs, it is an even bigger problem. If they do an increase like that it will also increase the theft of electricity and that is not what we want”.
Ms Kate Koma said: “15% is too much. We don’t want people to lose their jobs because of Eskom”.
Mr Petrus Magaba and Mr Johannes Masina said: “It is not fair. They (Eskom) waste and steal money and now they want people to assist them. They bought expensive cars and paid extraordinary bonuses. An increase of less than 5% will be ok”.
Right: Mr Ernest Mogale said: “Electricity is life. It is like water. Without it, there is no life. We must support Eskom. It will cost some jobs now, but later businesses will employ those people again because at least they will still have electricity. If there is no electricity, there is no doing business and then jobs are lost anyway”.
Links: Mnr Justice Mogalaka sê: “Ek dink 6% is goed. Nie 15% of meer nie. Hulle gaan werke verloor as daai 15% increase kom. Dit sal sleg wees, want ek werk ook by die myn”. Regs: Mnr. Daniël Kgotle sê: “Voor hulle kyk om daai increase te gee, moet hulle eers die mense wat die bridging doen en nie betaal nie vasvat. Kry die geld van almal wat skuld soos die munisipaliteite. Daar is net te veel bribes en corruption. Na 25 jaar, wat het die regering gedoen? Hulle speel nou met mense. Hulle gaan nog groot moeilikheid kry”.
Mr Deon Sigudla and Ms Jeanette Masinga said: “They need to sort themselves out before they can ask for anything. They need to target the ones who owe them, like the municipalities. They should make a fire under them to get that money, make haste with collecting that money”.
Mr Costa Montwedi and Ms Nolo Matlakale said: “If the impact of the increase can result in jobs being lost it is not fair. A company such as Eskom should get the municipalities and others that owe them lots of money to pay. They should get their management in order”.
Left: Ms Mokadi Motebejane said: “I’m not supporting Eskom in this. We are not working. We are surviving on social grants and prices are already too high. Government must intervene”.
Ms Modipadi Tjatji and Ms Membry Mokwena said: “A smaller increase will be fine. Something like 5%. They were wasting the money before”.
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Calvin Prep’s Tigers and Lions face-off Calvin Prep School held it’s inter-house athletics on Friday last week. The sport took place on the field behind the school and the two teams - the Lions and the Tigers were eager to compete in field and track items. They also eagerly
encouraged their fellow athletes as they competed. Each team had a group of cheer leaders taking the lead in supporting the teams’ athletes. The top three in every item also received a medal in recognition of the achievement. (Some photographs: Calvin Prep School)
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Human Communications 145396
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Friendly athletics at Laerskool Ohrigstad On Wednesday afternoon Laerskool Ohrigstad hosted a friendly athletics meet with surrounding schools. Laerskool Lydenburg, Steelpoort Academy and Laerskool Burgersfort visited to compete in field and track items. The top three athletes in every item received a medal of their effort. The event was held in good sportsmanship and the children enjoyed the friendly competition while being encouraged by parents and teachers.
Athletes in the top three spots of every item received a medal for their achievement. They also had their moment of glory of the podium while their results were read and the medals handed over in accordance.
Young and old came to support the event.
Athletes participated in short and long distance running, shot put, long jump and high jump as well as hurdles.
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Enjoying friendly competition Young athletes enjoyed participating in a friendly athletics competition at Laerskool Ohrigstad. The event took place on Wednesday afternoon.
Every athlete gave their best and that in itself did their schools proud. The participating schools annual host such friendly competitions to prepare the athletes for the inter-schools athletics later in the month.
Parents and family seat on the school’s pavilion and stoep to watch.
Parents ensured that there was more than enough food available to keep the energy levels topped up.
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SPORT Sunshine Tour Steelie athletes introduces compete in circuit athletics at Phalaborwa Limpopo leg of championship
Athletes from Steelpoort Academy headed to the circuit athletics over the last two weeks. The group first participated in a competition hosted at Red School Phalaborwa and this week at the Green School in Phalaborwa. These rounds determine who will eventually progress to compete on provincial level. They participated in both field and track events. They are from left to right at the back: Shané Fourie,
Thabo Thaesa, Jerry Tichareva, Josca Easton, Lilly Gwanyanya and Dimakatso Maroga. Middle left to right: Reenetse Mkhabela, Kgaogelo Nkopodi, Anika Greeff, Angel Machipi and Mbali Ntuli. Front left to right: Ashley Morwaswi, Kutloano Makabate and Tshepiso Mokwena. With them are their teacher and athletics co-ordinator, Ms Danelle Davel.
The Sunshine Tour this week announced the launch of the new R1.5-million Limpopo Championship tee off at the Euphoria Golf and Lifestyle Estate from 7-10 March 2019. This latest Sunshine Tour tournament is powered by the Limpopo Tourism Agency (LTA) and will feature a field of 156 professionals competing in a 72-hole stroke play format. The addition of Limpopo Championship is much welcome by all in the golf fraternity. “We are delighted to announce the new Limpopo Championship, which is one of several new tournaments we will be announcing and which gives us a really strong local base for our professionals to start their year off at home,” said Selwyn Nathan, Commissioner of the Sunshine Tour. The Limpopo Championship is poised to attract a strong field vying to qualify for the season ending Tour Championship. The organisers will make a concerted effort to attract more players from the SADC region and even further into the continent to make this a truly African Spectacle. “Limpopo is a leading tourism destination but also well known for a golf and game experience in Southern Africa. The addition of the Limpopo Championship to our already diverse destination portfolio is a natural fit. The tournament compliments our brand offering and promotion of diverse tourism experiences in collaboration with the private sector in order to drive for sector transformation,” said Nomasonto Ndlovu, Chief Executive Officer of LTA. The four-day golf extravaganza offers golfers and non-golfers an opportunity to sample the numerous tourist offerings of the region, venue and surrounding communities. Participants and spectators can enjoy tailor-made tournament packages that include entertainment, spa treatments, cable car rides, excursions and local food sampling. Endaweni Media, who is the event organiser is very excited to form part of the Sunshine Tour golf offering in the Limpopo province. “The golf tournament will become an annual spectacle that partners with local communities and government in order to stimulate economic growth and all inclusive participation,” said Jimmy Headbush, Managing Director of Endaweni Media.
Athletes at 5 in 1 race Athletes from Modikwa Marathon Club participated in the Glencore Izimbiwa Coal 5 in 1 race on 2 February 2019. Rudolph Mokgomola and Isaac Mkhabela took on the 15km and 42,2km races respectively. Rudolph finished 6th overall with a time of 58min. Isaac finished in 7th position with a time of 03:08:00min. (Information and photographs: Willem Montgomery)