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THURSDAY August 27, 2015 |0 047 050 4430 | www.isoexpress.co.za | Facebook: Mthatha Express | Twitter: @MthathaExpress | greg.nota@media24.com or express@media24.com EDITOR: BETTIE GILIOMEE

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YENZA AMATYALA AKHO AFIKELELEKE

Thoba imbuyekezo yamatyala akho

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SIMBONGILE MDLEDLE

THE OR Tambo District Municipality hasmanaged to recover about R2-million of R9-million stolen from it by a former employee.

This follows thorough investigationswhich started last year after the municipali-ty reported the fraud and corruption casesto the National Prosecuting Authority(NPA).

The investigations led to the arrest of theformer employee and her sister in Queens-town last Wednesday (August 19) by corrup-tion task team members in the Directoratefor Priority Crime Investigations (theHawks).

It was also revealed that their two compa-nies, which were fraudulently receivinghuge amounts of money from the municipal-ity, also face prosecution.

The sisters were formally charged withfraud, alternatively theft, of R9 154 307.

During the arrests, the Hawks were ac-companied by members of the Asset Forfei-ture Unit in the NPA, who executed a re-straining order granted by the Graham-stown High Court on August 11 against theremaining assets of the accused, which in-

clude a house in Rowallan Park, Port Eliza-beth, and various motor vehicles.

NPA spokesperson Tsepo Ndwalaza saidthey had managed to recover the R2-millionbecause they had frozen all the suspects’bank accounts and the suspects had not hadaccess to their accounts during the investi-gations.

He expressed his gratitude for the cooper-ation they had received from the municipal-ity during the investigations.

It is alleged that the accused were usingthe money to acquire items like furniture,cars and properties in East London and PortElizabeth.

The fraud allegedly started in 2007 and theaccused, who was working in OR Tambo asan assistant project accountant, allegedlyused double remittances for services pro-vided to the municipality.

Each time, the second payment would beendorsed as that of the service provider,while the actual remittance would be paidinto the personal bank account of the formermunicipality employee or those of two com-panies of which she was a director.

Assets would then be acquired for self-benefit and the balance used to purchasegroceries, airtime and other personal items

as well as to settle debit orders.“In this way, the stolen funds were laun-

dered,” Ndwalaza said.Deputy mayor Thandekile Sabisa said the

municipality was committed to fightingfraud and corruption.

“Fraud represents a significant potentialrisk to the municipality’s assets, service de-

livery efficiency and reputation. This mu-nicipality does not tolerate corrupt or fraud-ulent activities, whether internal or exter-nal,” Sabisa said.

The two sisters are expected to appear be-fore court soon, after the conclusion of theremaining investigations. More arrests areexpected.

OR Tambo District Municipality officials with a cheque for the amount that was recovered duringthe corruption investigation. PHOTO: SIM MDLEDLE

BABALWA NDLANYA

TEACHERS must take thefoundation phase of edu-cation seriously as it wasthe basis for Grade 12 pu-pils, Basic Education An-

gie Motshekga has said.

She was speaking during the hand-ing over of the R20-million Nkonkwa-na Junior Secondary School in Wil-lowvale which was built by the Indus-trial Development Corporation(IDC).

It is one of the IDC’s supportedschoolsaimedat improvingthequali-ty of education, particularly in the ru-ral areas.

“I am happy the IDC has assistedthe department and made the life ofthese pupils easier by building thisbeautiful school,” Motshekga said.

“We hope the teachers will workeven harder to build the future of

these pupils. The department is try-ing by all means to ensure that ourchildren are not suffering from pov-erty. That is why we have nutritionat schools.”

She said they would like teachersto focus on quality, especially in pri-mary schools, and parents and teach-ers must encourage their children toread books and visit libraries.

She promised they would makesure the school had a library and pu-pilswouldalsoget tablets fromthede-partment.

IDC CEO Geoffrey Qhena said asresponsible citizens they could not sitdown and fold their arms when therewas still a lot to be done - like invest-ing in education.

“The IDC has played its role inhelping schools, which is why weadopted 20 schools in the EasternCape, including Nkonkwana JSS. Wedo that because we know the coun-tries which become successful are

those which invest in education.”He said Nkonkwana was very dif-

ferent from other schools as they hadhad to start everything from scratchsince the school had only had a ron-davel and a two-room building.

They had thought they would buildonly three classrooms, but they hadchanged their minds after the exist-ing buildings had been destroyed bynature.

They ended up building eight class-rooms, an admission block and a nu-trition centre.

Principal Patricia Mhlathi said itwas still hard to believe that theirschool had changed into a betterplace.

“We thank IDC for what they havedone for us. The children used to siton crates. This school was estab-lished in 1930, but until today nothinghad been done even though we hadasked several times to get help fromthe government,” Mhlathi said.

MinisterhandsoverR20million school

LEFT: Basic EducationMinister Angie Motshekgaafter unveiling the plaque.RIGHT: Classrooms built bythe IDC for the pupils ofNkonkwana Junior Second­ary School. PHOTOS:BABALWA NDLANYA

District municipality recovers R2­million stolen by employee

2 NEWS ISOLOMZI EXPRESS | THURSDAY 27 AUGUST 2015

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SIMBONGILE MDLEDLE

ELEVEN people who were charged with pub-lic violence after massive protests in Ugiehave been granted bail of R1 000 each by theMaclear Magistrate’s Court.

The accused were arrested in separate pro-tests, but appeared on the same day and inthe same court.Two men and three women were arrested

on Tuesday, August 11, and a woman and fivemenwere arrested onMonday,August 17, aft-er a clash with the police during the protest.In this clash, some community memberswere injured and rushed to hospital.Community leader Phumza Tyaliti con-

firmed that the bail had been granted, butsaid the people were still in custody as thecommunity was trying to raise funds to paythe bail.She said one of those arrested had been a

woman who was released after it was discov-ered that she was pregnant.Residents embarked on a massive strike

that brought Ugie to a standstill following adisagreement with the PG Bison company.They accused it of not fulfilling promisesmadewhen it started to operate in the forestsof that area.The strike started on Tuesday, August 4,

and the town was in chaos, with forests sur-rounding Ugie being burnt and roads enter-ing the town blocked.

Ugieprotestersgrantedbail

Ugie community members discuss how they are going to collect money to pay bail for arrestedresidents. PHOTO:SIM MDLEDLE

BABALWA NDLANYA

THREE suspects have appeared briefly be-fore the Butterworth Magistrate’s Courtin connection with the selling of drugs.

They were arrested near the Yako in-formal settlement in Butterworth lastweek.Yamkelani Jijingubo (22), Ayabonga

Mluma (22) and Sibongiseni Qanana (28)were not asked to plead and their case waspostponed for a formal bail application.

They were arrested for the alleged pos-session of tablets suspected to be drugs.Police spokesperson Captain Jackson

Manatha said they had been arrestedwhile they were alighting from a taxi trav-elling to Yako.“A suspect (22) was found in possession

of 1 092 tablets suspected to be drugs, an-other 22-year-old was found in possessionof 50 tablets suspected to be Mandrax andthe third suspect was found with 100 tab-lets.”He said the street value of the tablets was

estimated at R111 782. It was believed thatthe men had purchased the tablets in EastLondon and had intended to sell them inButterworth.

Three alleged drug dealers to apply for bail

Dutywa police show the tablets recovered.PHOTO:SUPPLIED

BABALWA NDLANYA

THE police say they are investigat-ing all leads that could result in thearrest of themurderer(s) of awoman(85) at Debese location in Centanelast week.

Her 11-year-old granddaughterwas lucky to escape alive from the

attack. Police spokesperson CaptainJackson Manatha said the two vic-tims had been fast asleep in theirhome when there was a knock at thedoor at about 1am.“The granddaughter said that be-

fore they could respond to the knock,the door had been pushedwide open.She started to cry and was shot inthe upper body. She hid in the house

as it was dark,” Manatha said.The gunman then fired shots in

the direction of the woman, whodied instantly. Manatha said thesuspect or suspects had then left.“Nothing was taken from the houseand the motive is not known.”The girl was taken to a hospital,

which is not being named for hersafety.

Woman (85)murderednext tohergranddaughter

REPORTER

DUTYWA police arrested three sus-pects at the GPO informal settle-ment in Dutywa last week for al-leged stock theft and illegal posses-sion of firearms.

Two of the suspects, aged 40 and47,were chargedwith the illegal pos-session of .38 revolvers and stocktheft.Police spokesperson Captain

JacksonManatha said theother sus-pect (19) had been charged with theillegal possessionof 47 roundsof am-munition.“The firearms will be sent for bal-

listic testing to establish if theywereused in the commission of crimearound Dutywa,” Manatha said.He said the men would appear in

theDutywaMagistrate’sCourtsoon.

Three held for stock theft and illegal firearms

Meat and firearms were found in the possession of the suspects.PHOTO:CAPTAIN JACKSON MANATHA

ISOLOMZI EXPRESS | THURSDAY 27 AUGUST 2015 NEWS 3

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EC schoolsbenefit frompopular TVgameshow

Ntaphane pupils say thank you to Vodacom Millionaires after receiving 20 computers from theprogramme. PHOTO: SIM MDLEDLEPupils making good use of the newly donated computers. PHOTO:SIM MDLEDLE

ARURAL housing project in Dutywawas an-nounced the best in the country at the nation-al Govan Mbeki awards ceremony held re-cently in Cape Town.TheMbashe localmunicipality,whichwon

the award, has a total of 753 approved benefi-ciaries for the project.Of these, 688 have already occupied their

houses and the remaining 65 are being proc-essed for occupation next month.Human Settlement MEC Helen Sauls-Au-

gust said the project was a stone’s throwaway from the Dutywa CBD and its ameni-ties.

“It is also contributing to reducing home-lessness in the Mbhashe local municipality,”she said.“It is a definingmoment for the entire prov-

ince to have a successful rural project recog-nised as the best in the country because thereare lot of challengesandapathy frombuildersabout going into rural areas and towns. Thisrecognitionmust encourage builders to buildin small towns as well.”The province also won second place in the

best informal settlement upgraded projectcategory - Siyanda New Rest in Butterworth.All provinces in the human settlements sec-

tor compete against each other to promotebest practices in the delivery of the coreman-date, including the acceleration of the use ofstate land.The awards also help to promote excellence

in the human settlements sector in the deliv-ery of good quality human settlements anddignity to South Africans.Mbashe project manager Litha Qunta said

they were happy about the awards.“We did not know ifwewouldmake it since

our municipality is one of the smallest, butwe tried our best and won the award. It wasnot easy, but we did it.” – BABALWA NDLANYA

Mbhashe projects win national awards MbhashemayorNoncebaMfecaneshows off theawards wonby themunicipality.PHOTO:SUPPLIED

Provincial DeptmentChief OperationsOfficer, Mrs T Poswaand Mbhashe Mayor,Councillor NoncebaMMfecane receive thenational Govan MbekiAward in Cape Town.PHOTO:SUPPLIED

SIMBONGILE MDLEDLE

THE VodacomMillionaires, the popular SABCTV game show, donated three computer cen-tres to the Ntapane Junior Secondary Schoolin Mthatha and Lower QoQo Senior PrimarySchool in Flagstaff last Thursday (August 20).

The Vodacom Millionaires programme ispart of Vodacom’s ongoing commitment andsupport to under-resourced schools by expos-ing pupils to the everchanging technology.Eachschool received20pupil laptops,oneed-

ucator laptop, an interactive white board, pro-jector, a server, printer, cartridges and data.

All the donated equipment will be main-tained for two years and all teachers will alsoreceive training and continue to receive sup-port via a dedicated call centre.Vodacom Eastern Cape managing executive

CarolHall said, “This project is in linewithVo-dacom’s ongoingdrive toprovide ICT tools andinternet connectivity to communities that donot have access. By providing access to inter-net connectivity and ICT tools, Vodacom iscontributing towards improving educationaloutcomes.“Supporting education is the main focus of

the Vodacom Foundation. The Vodacom Mil-lionaires initiative reflects our commitment to

help improve the standard and quality of edu-cation in our country,” she said.The IT teacher at Ntaphane, Simphiwe Hla-

kula, welcomed the donation and said it wouldbring a lot of change at the school and advancethe pupils.“This is a lifetime opportunity that will em-

power our pupils and it makes it easier for theteachers and pupils to do their studies,” hesaid.Grade 8 pupil Khanya Fumbata said the sup-

port from Vodacom would help them do re-search and also to submit their assignments intime.“We used to travel to libraries in town to

search for the information,butnowthat isoveras we are going to use our laptops to do so.”The Vodacom Millionaires initiative, found-

ed in 2005, is now in its 10th year. The projecthasbenefittedmore than 270 000 pupils all overSouth Africa.Vodacom Millionaires encourages all public

schools that are in need of computer centresto apply.Application forms can be obtained from the

Vodacom website or by calling the VodacomMillionaires call centre on 082 24 32082 freefrom a Vodacom phone. Through this initia-tive they have equipped and connected 61teacher centres countrywide.

REPORTER

THEEasternCapegovernment’splans toestab-lish Mega Agri Parks in the province are at anadvanced stage.

President JacobZumaannounced the launchof theAgri Parks duringhis 2015 state of thena-tion address.The government has set key milestones for

each province as part of establishing the AgriParks.These are, selecting sites for the parks, devel-

oping business and production plans, consulta-tion with all stakeholders, farm assessments,market analysis, implementing plans to in-crease production, identifying gateways andfeeder sites, deciding on enterprises or com-modities for each Agri Park and indicating thetype of support required for each park.Business plans for Agri Parks in the Alfred

Nzo, OR Tambo, Chris Hani, Sarah Baartman,AmatholeandJoeGqabidistrictmunicipalitieshave been finalised and submitted to the De-partment of Rural Development and Land Re-form for consideration.At this stage, the Chris Hani Agri Park busi-

ness plan had been processed and approved by

Rural Development andLandReform,which isprocessing all business plans.The process will see the transfer of multimil-

lion-rand funding for identified, approved AgriPark sites.“We have engaged various commodity

groups, farmers and communities in decidingthe sites of all Agri Parks, developing produc-tion plans, gateways and feeder sites linked tothe Agri Parks,” Eastern Cape Rural Develop-ment and Agrarian Reform MEC Mlibo Qobo-shiyane said.“We can confirm that we have agreed on the

sites of the parks.We are certain now that evenin areas where there were concerns, we haveaddressed all issues and all of us aremoving to-wards the establishment of theparks inunison.“We will now focus our energies on approv-

ing theother five remainingbusinessplansandperfecting implementation.”AgriParks in theprovincewill be inMatatie-

le, Butterworth, the Sundays River valley,Queenstown, Aliwal North and Mthatha, sup-ported by feeders in Ingquza Hill, Ngqushwa,Nkonkobe, Great Kei, BCMM and Mbashe,MakanaandBlueCraneRoute,EmalahleniandIntsika Yethu, Elundini and Mthatha.Matatiele, Butterworth, the Sundays River

valley,Queenstown,MaletswaiandKingSabat-ha Dalindyebo will be gateways for all theparks.The province has also resolved the types of

commodities and enterprises each of the Agriparks will focus on.The Alfred Nzo district will focus on beef,

sheep, maize, vegetables, poultry, fishing, fruitand goats.Amathole will focus on beef, sheep (wool),

goats, horticulture, pineapple, chicory, citrus,pomegranates, tomatoes, poultry, piggeries,dairy, high value crops and vegetables.Saraha Baartman’s enterprise focus will be

onmaize,citrus,chicory, fodderanddeciduous,withChrisHani focusingonmaize, soya,beans,dairy and vegetables.Joe Gqabi will invest inmaize, lucerne, beef,

poultry, peaches and vegetables, with ORTam-bo focusing on sheep (wool), beef, milk, high-value crops, fruit, vegetables and maize.“I am satisfied with the status report and we

will continue toworkwith the national govern-ment, ministers leading these departments,municipalities and various agencies of govern-ment to realise these Agri parks for the benefitofourpeopleandtheeconomyofthisprovince,”Qoboshiyane said.

EasternCapeAgri Parkson track

4 NEWS ISOLOMZI EXPRESS | THURSDAY 27 AUGUST 2015

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SIMBONGILE MDLEDLE

THE town of Libode came to a standstill lastTuesday (August 18) when Maqhingeni lo-cation residents marched to demand thatthe municipality take action over the condi-tion of a road used by buses and taxis carry-ing schoolchildren.

More than 1 000 residents marched to theNyandeni municipal offices carrying plac-ards calling for the municipality to save thelives of their children, who travel on theroad to the Xhentse Senior SecondarySchool in Libode.

Protest convener Fezile Manina said the

government always took action only afterincidents occurred, but “we as parents needto act before accidents take place on thisroad”.

“We need the municipality to attend to itas soon as possible, especially as the sum-mer season is around the corner. Once therain comes, no one can drive on that roadunless you take risks.

“This roadwas last graded or reconstruct-ed in 2005 and it is now so bad that it couldendanger the lives of our children who useit every day when they go to school,” Man-ina said.

The memorandum was received by mu-nicipal manager Nomalungelo Nomandela,

who promised to look into their concerns.The community also urged the Depart-

ment of Education to rebuild Xhentse Sen-ior Secondary because it had only one blockwith four classrooms, which had been builtby the community with their own funds.

They said the school was overcrowdedand there was a shortage of school furni-ture.

The school was established in 1997 and ithas never had a pass rate lower than 90%.

Department of Education MEC MandlaMakupula recently announced that his de-partment had allocated R1,8-billion to buildschools throughout the province, but it isnot clear if Xhentse will benefit from that.

Residentsprotest about stateof road to school

SIMBONGILE MDLEDLE

UKUZAMA ukunqanda ukumithakwabantwana kwakunye nokusety-enziswa kweziyobisi ngabantwanaezikolweni, isikolo samabangaaphantsi iMadwaleni Senior Prima-ry School eLibode sithe sasingathaiphulo lokulwa nalo mkhwa ngo-Lwesithathu odlulileyo.

Into yokusetyenziswa kweziyobisinomitho lwabantwana ezikolweniyinto ebhebhetheka okomlilo ween-diza nekuyinto ehlabe lophukela ku-matshantliziyo alwisana noku.

Omnye wabaququzeli kwidabi lo-kulwa kokusetyenziswa kweziyobi-so nomitho lwabantwana ezikolwe-ni, uMadodomzi Manina uthi babo-ne kunyanzelekile ukuba lamaphulo bawa-qhube kwezi kolozamabanga aphantsi ukuze babago-be besebatsha abantwana ukuze ba-khule besazi ukuba kunxamnye no-bomi bomntwana ukusetyenziswakweziyobisi nokumitha.

“Sifuna bakhule besazi ukuxabise-ka kwemizimba yabo kwakunye no-bungozi bokusebenzisa iziyobi,”uthethe watsho. Uthe abantwana ku-fanele bazi ukuba oko kuthi kubekeiimpilo zabo esichengeni nakwizifi-so ezosulelayo kwezesondo yaye ba-zi kananjalo ukuba ikamva labo bal-enza mfiliba ngokuzibandakanyekwezi nto sezikhankanyiwe. Ubesi-thethe sembeko ngolu suku uNkosa-zana Lumka Matyabazi ubhenelekubantwana ukuba baluphephengako konke abanako into yomithongelixa besafunda kwakunye noku-sebenzisa iziyobisi.

“Oku kuthi kukubeke apho ubun-gafanelanga kubakhona uphelelwenabu buwena. Ngalo lonke ixeshauphakathi kwamasango esikolo yaziinto oyithunyelelwe ngabazali bak-ho,” ubeke ngelitshoyo.

Ubagxibhe kabukhali ootitshalaabathi bathandane nabantwana be-sikolo esitsho ukuba babulala ikam-va labantwana ngelixa bona sebena-lo elabo.

Lo msitho ubuhanjelwe ngabazali,ootitshala kwakunye noluntu ngo-bubanzi. Kubekhona nemidlalwanaibibonisa ubungozi bokuzibandaka-nya nesondo kwakunye neziyobisingelixa usakhula.

Bagotywabesebatsha

Aba babantwana abathe bazimasaiphulo lokulwa nokusetyenziswakweziyobisi kwakunye nomitho ezikol­weni. PHOTO:SIM MDLEDLE

August 27, 2015 Isolomzi Express Advertisement 5

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6 NEWS ISOLOMZI EXPRESS | THURSDAY 27 AUGUST 2015

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SIMBONGILE MDLEDLE

THE Eastern Cape government launched har-vest seasonintheNcoraRuralEnterpriseDevel-opmentHub inCofimvaba lastTuesday (August18).

The community is expected to harvest a totalof 3 167 tons ofwhitemaize from thehuband thelocalities surrounding Ncora are also expectedto benefit from this initiative.

A total of 1 003ha of white maize was plantedin the hub,made up of 10 primary cooperatives.

Ncora is one of four hubs in the province,which planted 2 925ha of white maize.

The establishment of the hubs came after thedevelopment financier Eastern Cape Develop-mentCorporation (ECDC)andEasternCapeRu-ral Development Agency (ECRDA) submitted ajoint application to the Development Bank ofSouthernAfrica jobs fund to develop agricultur-al and beneficiating hubs in the province.

The bank made available R91-million over athree-year period for the development of thesehubs in Ncora and Mqanduli.

In terms of the agreement the DBSA wouldfork out 80% of the funds, while 20% would besplit equally between the ECDC and ECRDA asthe implementing agents.

At the launch, ECRDA CEO Thozi Gwanyasaid in practice the hub concept meant thatmaize should be grown by the community,milled in the community, processed and packa-ges in the community and even sold back intothe community, with the whole process beingowned by these communities.

Gwanya said the ECRDA managed a total offour hubs in the province - Mqanduli (936ha),

Mbizana (983ha) and Emalahleni (829ha).“In the last financial year, R51-million was

spentonthedevelopmentof thetwohubs,Ncoraand Mqanduli.

“Thefundswerespentonprimaryproductionofwhitemaizeonbothsites,onthedevelopmentof mechanisation units in the form of machin-eryandimplementsandinfrastructuredevelop-ment,” Gwanya said.

Both Ncora and Mqanduli are in the secondyear of harvesting.

ECDC agro-processing specialist Mlamli No-dada said a total of 16 tractors and two bakkieshad been bought for both sites, a self-propelledcombine harvester inMqanduli, two-tailed har-vesters in Ncorha as well as implements suchas disc, planters, cultivators andboomsprayersamong other implements.

“Funds were also spent on the establishmentof grain silos and thepurchase of anewone-ton-per-hour processing capacity mill for Ncorhawhich can be extended to three tons per hourand the servicing of an existing 1,5-tons-per-hour mill in Mqanduli,” he said.

ECRDA agronomist Luvo Qongqo said in thesecond quarter of 2014/15 white maize plantedin 2013/14 had been harvested on the 911ha and955ha planted in Mqanduli and Ncorha respec-tively.

Thelocalcooperatives inNcorawelcomedtheopportunity with both hands.

Community member Zimele Gebane ex-pressed his gratitude to the provincial govern-ment for comingupwith such initiatives toalle-viatepoverty in thepoorcommunitiesofCofim-vaba. “Itwasourpassion toplough the land, butwe had no energy to do so because of the lackof resources.”

Ncoraharvest seasonofficially launched

ECRDA agronomist Luvo Qongqo at the harvest site in Ncora during the launch of harvestingseason. PHOTO:SIM MDLEDLE

REPORTER

THE first group of 48 South African firefight-ers, who received high praise from the Cana-dian Interagency Forest Fire Centre for theirhigh work ethic as part of international wild-land teams fighting fires inCanada lastmonthand thismonth, are back in the Eastern Cape.

Among the heroes who returned home areThabisaNogwina fromPortStJohnsandBon-gani Jackson Mjuleni from Ugie.

Following their first weeks in Canada, thecentre issued a performance report whichlauded theSouthAfricans andothers for theirphysical fitness, productivity,healthandsafe-ty monitoring and mopping-up operations.

Eastern Cape communication officer Ntha-bisengMokone said thatwhen they arrived inCanada they had already known that theSouth African training standards and qualifi-cations were equal to the Canadian, Ameri-can, Mexican, Australian and New Zealandsystems and their training was compatible

with international standards.“Our crew members are excited to be back

home and once they have spent some timewith their families they will rejoin their re-spective Working on Fire teams throughoutthe county.

“All of them have expressed joy at havingbeen able to assist Canada with its wildfires.

They have described their journey as hav-ing changed their perspective on life in gener-al and say they also learned a lot while theywere there,” Mokone said.

Firefighting heroes back home

Two of the firefighting heroes back home areThabisa Nogwina from Port St Johns andBongani Jackson Mjuleni from Ugie.PHOTO:SUPPLIED

BABALWA NDLANYA

UKUQALA umsebenzi wokucheba iigushaakubanga lula kwindoda yaseMafusiniphantsi kwedolophu yaseLibode, nanjengo-ko ibanga ukuba iwuqale lo msebenzi iyo-dwa ngonyaka ka-2003.

UMnuHlanganisaMakama uyiqale le ntoyokucheba iigusha emva koku fumana isim-emo kwilali iGxididiwafikawafumanawak-huthazeka, ze wabuya wazo kuthetha nam-afana engingqi yakhe, ngeli zama ukuwa-

bonisa ukubaluleka kweegusha.“Eyona nto endifike ndayixelela amafama

ale ngingqi yam kukubaluleka koku gcinwakwegusha, nexabiso layo xa umfuyi ethewayi gcina yondlekile ze wayitofa iza nema-li eku pheleni kosuku. Yilo nto ke eyenzaukuba ndidibanise la mafama ze saqalisaukucheba ngo-2003 ukuza kutsho namhlan-je. Kudala ke sisokola nanjengoko inga-khange ibe lula le ndlela kuba besi ngenabonabachebi abo baza kuthi basi chebele kod-wa ke asi khange siphose tawula,” kubekauMakama.

Woleke ngelithi kungoku nje iigusha zabozise mgangathweni ngeyona ndlela. Ukuzakuthi ga ngoku uMnu Makama uthi kungo-ku nje sele bengama lungu anga phezulu ku-ka 60. Ukanti abahlali abathabatha inxaxhe-ba kulo msebenzi kubalwa abahlali belaliyase Dininkosi naseMafusini.

Uveze ukuba bathengisa kwiNkampaniebizwa ngokuba nguBKB uboya babo kodwake noxa sele bengenile nje kweli shishinikodwa ingxaki abasa jongana nayo zizithut-hi zoku hambisa uboya, watsho esithi ngaseurhulumente aba xhase naku lona umba.

Likhulile iphulo loku cheba iigusha

REPORTER

EASTERNCapeRuralDevelopmentandAgrar-ian ReformMECMlibo Qoboshiyane and LandBank CEO TP Nchocho have met to discusspartnerships between the department and thebank in a bid to help black farmers gain accessto finance.

Qoboshiyane said his department had identi-fied the Land Bank as a strategic partner in itsefforts to reviveprovincial agriculture to createabundant jobs and business opportunities.

“We are trying to revive all agriculture com-modities such as sugar, pineapple and chicoryand we are connecting farmers with the mar-kets.

“Weareoptimistic that thismeetingwill helpus revive agriculture and give farmers accessto finance and markets so that they create andsustain jobs and business opportunities for the

people of the province.”Qoboshiyane said in the main the govern-

ment wanted to help farmers relate better withtheLandBankandunderstand its processes forthem to tap into what it offered.

“If we plough the available arable land in theprovince, we canmake it the food basket of thecountry.

“Ourgoal is tosupport these farmers for themto have bankable businesses that improve oureconomy.

“The partnership with the Land Bank willhelpusaccomplish thatgoal.Thecountryneedssuch result- and development-oriented collabo-rations,” Qoboshiyane said.

Nchocho said the bank was committed toworking more closely with all its partners, in-cludingprovincial government departments, toachieve the government’s development goals.

“We are clear on what we want to do and weknow that we will never accomplish our devel-

opmental goals without relevant partners, in-cluding the Rural Development and AgrarianReform Department as well as the farmers,henceweareengaginginthesestrategicconver-sations to understand each other’s priorities,plans and challenges,” Nchocho said.

The Land Bankwanted to have institutional-ised agreements with partners and stakehold-ers that had follow-through mechanisms andsystems to ensure success.

Nchocho said the Land Bank’s focus was tobemore accessible to farmers and improve ser-viceoffering toall farmers,particularly toblackfarmers, to help them graduate from emergingto commercial farming.

The meeting agreed that Eastern Cape RuralDevelopment Agency chief executive ThoziGwanya, Nchocho and Rural Development andAgrarian Reform officials must meet soon toconcretise the partnership between the depart-ment and the Land Bank.

Move to help farmers with finance

In accordance with the editorial policy of theExpress, we invite readers to comment on mistakesin the newspaper and shall correct significanterrors as soon as possible. Send info to theOmbudsman of Media24’s Local Press, GeorgeClaassen, at george.claassen@media24.com or callhim at 021 851 3232. Readers can also contactthe SA Press Ombudsman at 011 484 3612 ore-mail ombudsman@presscouncil.org.za.

OMBUDSMAN

ISOLOMZI EXPRESS | THURSDAY 27 AUGUST 2015 NEWS 7

X1QDTFY1-270815-IE-ebnnon-ranger

SIMBONGILE MDLEDLE

MTHATHA-BORNgospel sensationYongamaMrwetyana will do thefirst live DVD shootingfor all three of his al-bums at the MthathaTown Hall on Saturday.(August 29).

Mrwetyana’s break-through in the music in-dustry came in 2011when he released hisfirst album, Ebenezer.The following year hereleased his second al-bum,Undithandile. Thisalbum featured well-known Eastern Capegospel artist MxolisiMbethe.This year he cameoutwith a red-hot album,

Kuzohlatyelelwa, featuring Bulela M.“This album includesworship songs aswell

as praise songs and it accommodates every-body,” he said.Mrwetyana startedhismusic career inSun-

day school and continuedwith it while he was at theKhwezi Community School.During morning assem-

blies he excelled in leadingthe singing and his teacheraskedhim to join the choir asshe saw his potential.“That teacher built up my

confidence and I saw my po-tential. I focused on gospelmusic,” he said.He became a backing vo-

calist for Eastern Cape gos-pel singers like ThembalethiMack until he released hisfirst album.Mrwatyana’s DVD shoot

will feature Mxolosi Mbeth,Youth Vision from Port Elizabeth, KhayaNoranga and many more local artists. Theevent starts at 3pm and will finish late.

Risinggospel star toshoot firstDVD

Yongama Mrwetyana.

BABALWA NDLANYA

KUBE yimpumelelo ukuphehlelelwakwecwecwe kunye neDVD yeemvumi ezi-mbini nezizalwakunyekwi lali yaseLowerGwadu kwidolophu yakuGatyana.

UBunono Mxokwana kunye noMfowa-bo u-AnathiMxokwana bathe benza izintozamehlo kwiholo yesikolo iKing HintsaFET College kwidolophu yase Dutywa ku-le veki igqithileyo.Echaza uBunono uthe oko kuqala babu-

lela kakhulu inkxaso abathe bayi fumanakubahlali kunye nezi phaluka zaseDuty-wa. Kwaye baphinde babamba ngazo zoz-ibini kuSodolophu wase Mbhashe, UCebaNonceba Mfecane naye othe wazi masa lomsitho.“Into esiyenzileyo sithathe iingoma

kwicwecwe lethu lokuqala elithi, Masi-bambisane Makholwa. Ingoma esizikhethuleyo kuzo zithi, Umntu omtsha en-ye ithi Ndiyazi,” kubeka uBunono.Woleke ngelithi, kwakhona baphinde

bacaphula kwicwecwe labo elitsha elithi

Khangelani. Ukanti uveze ukuba kungekudala iDVD iza kuba sele iphumile kulenyanga izayo. Ulebele ngelithi abahlalimaba qhubeke nokuba nika inkxaso kulomsebenzi wabo bawenzayo.

Kube yimpumelelo ukuphehlelelwakwecwecwe neDVD

UBunono kunye nomfawobo u­AnathiMxokwana benze into zamehlo eDutywa.IFOTO:BABALWA NDLANYA

A BUTTERWORTH gospel artist has beennominatedintheBestGospelLocalcategoryfor the Eastern Cape Music Awards 2015 inEast London on September 26.Patrick Msengana said he had not be-

lieved his ears when he heard he had beennominated.“This is an honour tome because it is the

second time this year that I havebeennomi-nated. Iwasalsonominated for theMnqumaGospelAwards inMnqumainFebruaryandI won. I thank God for the opportunity hegranted me. I am highly favoured by him,”Msengana said.His album titled Yesu Langa had done

marvellous things for him, he said. One ofhis advantages was that he was singing hisownmusicandnot fakingotherpeople’sandwas why he was always nominated.He said these awards were the initiative

of gospel singer Kholeka Dubula and East-ern Cape Music Awards CEO Koko Godlo,who had decided to host them to acknowl-edgeEasternCapeartists.TovoteforPatrickMsengana, you can SMS: Best Gospel LocalPat Msengana to 33459. – BABALWA NDLANYA

Gospel artistnominated again

Patrick Msengana. PHOTO:SUPPLIED

ANELE RAZIYA

UMPHATHISWA wezeMidlalo kwiPhondo leMpuma Kapa uPe-mmy Majodina uvakaliseuchulumanco ngabathandi bebhola ekha-ty-wayo ebebephumembambo zone beyokuxhasaiqela labouMthathaBucks,xeshikweniuqubis-ana ne Vasco Da Gama kumdlalo wokuvulaisizini kwi-nqanaba le National First DivisionLeague kwibala i-Mthatha Stadium ngempelaveki.

UMajodina uthi kube luvuyo ukubona ulun-tu luphume ngobuninzi ukuyakuxhasa iBuckskumdlalo wangeCawa kwakunye ne Vasco DaGama nalapho uphele zintanganye ngenqaku

elinye macala.Oku ukuthethe ngexesha kuhla-tywe ikhefu

kulomdlalo ubutakisa iintlantsi nalapho iVas-co Da Gama yaseNtshona Kapa ibinkqenkqezaphambili ngenqaku elinye eqandeni.UMajodina uqhube wathi aba-thandi be-

bhola ekhatywayo kwisixeko saseMthathama-bathi gqolo bexhasa iqela labo kuba lilo lodwaelidlala kulomgangathoweNFDLeaguekweli-phondo.Ukwathi uluntu maluthobe izi-bilini malun-

ga nemeko yebala elibonakala lingekagqitywaukwakhiwa, kuba uMasipala weKing SabathaDalindyebo uphantsi phezulu usenza iinzamezokuba kufakelwe izitulo kwiindawo ezingena-zo.

“Singurhulumente wephondo siyinikeingqwalasela imekoyelibala, kwayengoku sin-cedisana noMasipala walapha e KSD ukuba li-gqityezelweelibalakwezondawoliseneziphenekuzo,” utshilo uMajodina.Uthi ngezinzame zabo bazenzayo bathintela

ukuba iqela le Mthatha Bucks lingaziboni selelifuduka lisiyakudlalela kwezinye iidolophulishiya abathandi balo ngabasemva.Ukanti uyigxininisile eyokuba Amathole

Amnyama awayi ndawo ayakuhlala edlalelaeMthatha imidlalo yawo yonke yasekhayeni.La mazwi ebewabhekisa kuba-landeli boM-

thatha Bucks ebebonwabele umdlalo weliqelawokuqala wokuvula i sizini ka 2015/2016 kwiNational First Division League.

UMphathiswauMajodinawonwabileyinkxasoefunyenweyiMthathaBucks

Do you know where the Ben 10 tendencyis on the rise?AS you know, we are in Express land to tell

what is happening ezweni sokhile.Recently we conducted our own research

about the grizaz (old women) and Ben 10s andwe found that the areawhere this Ben 10 tend-ency is in practice is none other than North-crest in UTA.Bafethu every boy there has his own griza

and they are driving the cars of these oldwom-en.Evenourbuddywhomweused to staywithin KZN uzibambele elakhe and umfethu isstaying in this woman’s home.I wonder iintanga zabo zinabani balibala

ngoomagriza nje. Mara what we saw in one ofthe guys who was driving a Polo Vivo of thiswoman.Wafika umagogo wa-shouter le ntwana

phambi kwethu de kwacaca ukuba uzaku-yiqhwaba kuba umfana bekufanele ngexeshaelithileuthunywee-Spar for collectionof somegrocery ngoku walibala ziziphuzo eGwebilan-ga.Bafanabam there is no future in these gogos

because you are going nowhere with the oldwoman who is the same age as you mothers.Mmm,safankosi yamngamagrizabut at the

end it is a fact. “Nicingasizobathathaphiaban-tuxanisithimasiyekeababantwanakubaabasilingana nabo sebabethwa ziswekile andbane families zabo kunzima ukuba bafuman-eke,” nabo sibeva bebuza.But even if you try to protect your action it

doesnotnecessarymean thatyoumustuse theyoung boys because of such lame excuses.Nanihlalele ntoni nina ningakhethi abenu

oondofa ngamaxesha enu obutsha. Mna Gesh

angayibeka apha icholwe ziinkukhumakhuluongalinge nje asondele kowam uSam Pammyeldest son.

Wow!!! What an astonishmentDear readers, things are amazing in thisEx-

press land and sometimes is too difficult to be-lieve them.I wonder what these gossip boys are going

to tell us? Okay recently, uGesh was asked bytheguywhomI thinkhe trustedbecause itwasnot a long time they had met and knew eachother to be among his representatives ekhwe-ni lakhe to pay ilobola for his fiancee.Okay it was not a problem to do so because

uGesh iswell experiencedkulezizinto.Mfethuusigayile u-cash andwe droveGesh’s Turu-tu-ru to the fiancee’s home in Small Pot (Mbi-zana).And ke usisi lo uGesh ebengakaze ambone

mara amajita la be sihamba nawo ebesithiayamazi because she stays in UTA where theguy is also working.We were warmly welcomed ekhweni sayi-

tsho nesize ngayo kwabizwa umakoti ukubauyabazi na aba bantu. OWW!! Nkosi yamamehlo kaGesh abona ntoni ngoku. Lo sisingulo iGossip yake yabhala ngaye isithi ufu-maneka kuzo zonke ii-clubs and kuze kusesimshiye khona but the following day youwillfind her there again with the same clothes.Mmm, wanentloni usisi xa ebona uGesh.

But ke any way love is blind and ke besinga-zanga ngezasemajiki apho besolobola qha. Ve-le some of thewomenbathathwakwezi ndawobalungiswa. Hoping that nomfethu uzakuzih-lambela ixolo lakhe lide libe right.Kubake en-yanisweni there are good women there but

some situations put them there kona bengasi-babo abantu sicinga ukuba bababo. Sizibe-thile futhi strong iinkomo kwanconywa. Sisichange the style now. I hope we will never seeandmeetyou in the clubsnow,hoyananomye-ni wakho okukhuphe entlungwini yasety-waleni. Uvile moss.

Club owners daai ding inganifaka engxa-kiniAs you know ukuthi we are all overExpress

land trying to gather information for you dearreaders.LastweekendwevisitedFlag (Flagstaff).We

had a good time there as we visited clubs likeBizana and FNB trying to check the style ofFlag and how the patrons behave.Ja, they behave like any drunkard but we

were worried a little bit with the ages of thegirls that danced all night long in the Bizanaclub.You need to check and look at the faces of

the womenwhom you allow to enter your pla-ces.Therewere five young girls whose facial ap-

pearance told that they were young.Mara ke once yahamba iiclubs surely inda-

la. But it can hit back to the owner of the clubif something happens kuthiwe ngumntwanaebefunantoni lowoeclubini ebusuku.Remem-ber the storyofCapeTown tavern.Butkekwa-banye abafethu bezi-clubs if uzisa imali the is-sue of age does not count.Before sidike umntu ngale mbudane yethu

yokuthanda iindaba zabantu masike sithatheamasibawethu siyozingela kwakhonaumgosifor our next edition. Watch this space mhlaw-umbe soba sivela neyakho idolophu.

8 SPORT ISOLOMZI EXPRESS | THURSDAY 27 AUGUST 2015

X1QDV71H-200815-IE-mfnnon-mazdaaouto

X1QDJM61-270815-TE-mfnnon-debt

York Road1 FloorOffice number 201ACity CentreMthatha

st

047 531 0129

078 200 3578

076 371 6640

SIMBONGILE MDLEDLE

NEWLY promoted soccer outfit Mthatha Bucksshowed no respect for the seasoned Cape Townside,VascoDaGama, in aNationalFirstDivisionmatch at a packed Mthatha Stadium on Sunday.

The newcomers showed their intention to wininthe first fiveminutes,butascoringopportunitywaswastedby theBucks right-winger,who failedto beat the Vasco goalie.

Bucks continuedwithanicedisplaywhen theywere in position, but Vasco’s strong defence gavethem no chance.

It it isclearthatsoccerfanaticsinMthathahavebeen hungry for the game for a long time.

The stadium was full to capacity and some fanshad to be turned away at the gates because theyhad not bought tickets in time.

Some used other gates to enter the stadium be-causetheywereeagertoseeMthathaBucksagain

afterithadvanishedforatimefromtop-flightfoot-ball. They cheered until the game ended.

“As you know, Mthatha used to be a home ofsoccer. The promotion of the Bucks will bringback memories of those days and we are fully be-hind the team. Look at the crowd. It shows thatMthathapeople lovesoccer,” saidSkaraMoyana,whodroveallthewayfromPortStJohnstoattendthe firstgameofAmatholamnyama,asBucksareaffectionately known.

The game was graced by the presence of PSLgeneral manager Derek Blanckensee, who wasimpressed by what he saw in Mthatha.

“It is very rare in National First Divisiongamestohavesuchahugecrowd. It showsthereis potential for soccer in this area.”

He said they were on a mission to ensure thatfacilities lacking at the stadium were put inplace.

The match ended in a 0-0 draw, which was aconfidence-booster for the newcomers.

MthathaBucks showcharacter in first game

Mthatha Bucks players tussle with their Vasco counterparts in the match at the Mthatha Stadium.PHOTO: SIM MDLEDLE

SIMBONGILE MDLEDLE

THE boxing fraternity in the OR Tambo re-gion is mourning the death of a former box-er who died recently in a tragic car acci-dent on the R61 near Fortgale, Mthatha.

Thabo Madikizela, who was born inNgqeleni, was a well-known boxer and aft-er his retirement from boxing he got in-volved in developing the young boxersthroughout the region.

Thabo started his boxing career whilsthe was still a student in Mthatha. He par-ticpated at regional and national level. Heturned professional but he did not havefights and retired after that.

After his retirement he established hisown club called Vukani Developmentwhich catered for all sporting codes but hismain focus was boxing. He assembled theyouth around Mthatha to train them in hisclub. His club also produced well-knownboxers in Mthatha like Siphamandla Bale-ni.

His friend and homeboy who used towork with him in boxing, Mnikelo Nxity-wa, said he recently told him that he wants

to produce a national champion before heturns 40. But sadly he did not fulfil thatdream.

General manager of the Department ofSport, Recreation, Arts and Culture in theOR Tambo region, Mike Sodo describedThabo as an outstanding boxer and a greatthinker.

During his boxing days Thabo trained inthe stable of Mike Sodo which was calledIkhwezi Boxing Club (IBC). It was well-known for having strong boxers and Thabowas amongst those boxers.

Sodo said Thabo drafted a constitutionfor the club. “Thabo knew how to build aboxer. As a result – after his retirement– we went to Coffee Bay where he estab-lished a boxing club and he brought homegold medals in the national champion-ships.

“As OR Tambo region and Eastern Capeas whole we have lost a very committed ad-ministrator who was dreaming of takingboxing to another level,” said Sodo.

Tbos – as he was affectionately known –is expected to be buried in his home locali-ty of Malungeni in Ngqeleni this comingSaturday.

Boxing fraternitymourns thedeathof legend

SIMBONGILE MDLEDLE

MTHATHA was very busy at the weekend,hosting the provincial winter games of theEastern Cape Schools Association for the In-tellectually Impaired at the Rotary Stadium.

Schools for people with disabilities fromall the districts in the Eastern Cape partici-pated in the games on Friday and Saturday.

All school sportingcodeswere included inthegames,whichwereaimedatestablishinga team to represent the province in the na-tional games in September in Secunda,Mpumalanga.

The players were selected from all sevendistricts which participated in this tourna-ment.

Association spokesman Mnikelo Nxitywaexpressed his gratitude to the people ofMthatha for showing support throughoutthegames.He said it showed that therewerepeople who supported those with disabili-ties.

He said the standard of this year’s gameshad been high and the association could as-sure thepeopleof thisprovince that theplay-ers would bring medals back from the na-tional games.

OR Tambo netball team coach NomnikeloZilimbolasaidshehadaplanforthenationalgames and had no fear about her girls.

“Wehaveastrongteamwhichispreparedto play and lift up the flag of this provinceandshowSouthAfricaaswholewhatwearecapable of,” she said.

Mthata buzzeswithwintergames excitement

The OR Tambo netball team (in blue kit) inaction against the Chris Hani team at theRotary Stadium at the weekend.

PHOTOS: SIM MDLEDLE

The OR Tambo team before the start of the games last weekend.