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A hearing by the Com-plaints and Com-pliance Committee

(CCC) on the DA’s adver-tisement complaint case against the SABC was ad-journed on Tuesday night.The hearing would resume on Wednesday at 18:00 to give the SABC more time to consult with its legal team, CCC chairperson Wandile Tutani told those present at the Independent Communi-cations Authority of SA (Ica-sa) headquarters in Sandton, north of Johannesburg.The committee was hear-ing arguments from the DA and the SABC regarding the pulling of a DA television advert which was paid for, after airing it only three times.Ronnie Bokwa, for the SABC, said the advert was aired twice last Tuesday and once last Wednesday before it was taken off the air.“Ayisafani” TV advertThe DA laid a complaint with Icasa on Saturday after the SABC failed to broad-cast its election advertise-ment. The “Ayisafani” TV advert was pulled off the air last week, along with five radio advertisements.The advert shows the DA’s

Gauteng premier candidate and spokesperson, Mmusi Maimane, standing in front of a mirror talking about the current state of the country. He says life today is better than it was 20 years ago and gives credit to great leaders who he believes have taken the country forward.“But since 2008 we’ve seen President Jacob Zuma’s ANC. An ANC that is cor-rupt. An ANC for the connected few. An ANC that is taking us backwards. An ANC where more than 1.4 million people have lost jobs.” Maimane then asks Zuma where are the jobs.The SABC did not broad-cast the advertisement and gave the DA a letter. In it, SABC acting group CEO Tian Olivier informed the party that it would not be able to broadcast the advert on radio or television on four grounds:- The Icasa regulations on political advertising state clearly that there may not be incitement of violence;- That the Electoral Code of Conduct includes a clause prohibiting the publication of false information about other candidates or parties;- That the Advertising Stan-

dards Authority of South Africa (ASA) did not permit attacking another product to promote its own; and that- The SABC would not per-mit personal attacks on any party member or leader by any other party, as was be-ing done in the DA’s advert in respect of Zuma.The SABC stood by its deci-sion. It said the party could submit an amended version of the advertisement.”We acted properly,” Bokwa said at the hearing.DA leader Helen Zille and the SABC’s acting COO Hlaudi Motsoeneng were present at the hearing.Bok-wa said the DA’s video ad-vert included a part where a picture appeared of a police official pointing his firearm at two members of the pub-lic wearing blue shirts.The voice along with the picture said: “We have seen the police force killing our people.”InflammatoryBokwa said the use of lan-guage and the visuals used were inflammatory and could not be seen as free-dom of speech.He said the current climate in the country and the media reports of police brutality portrayed a negative image

of the police.“From a responsible broad-caster’s point of view, we felt to flight the advert would create the impression that there is an imminent threat of violence.”Bokwa said he had an issue with the use of the word “our”.”Does it mean police are killing the

DA’s people?” he asked. A member of the CCC asked whether the broadcaster had a checklist for all adverts aired on the broadcaster’s channels. The SABC asked for an adjournment before responding.The broadcaster is yet to an-swer a number of questions

posed by members of the committee.The CCC - established in terms of the Icasa Act, is an independent statutory body empowered to adjudicate, hear and make a finding on all matters referred to it, not only by theauthority, but also by the public.

DA ADvert heAring ADjourneD

DA Leader: Helen Zille

Buccleuh Marlboro Kelvin Woodmead Wendywood

20 April 2014

Dear Reader

Just a few more days until the 2014 democratic elec-tions, a day on which most young people will be cast-ing their vote for the very first time. Home Affairs Minister Naledi Pandor, who is also a part of the JCPS cluster, said all Home Affairs offices throughout the country will be open from 7am on Election Day, to enable people to collect their identity documents.According to Minister Pandor, there are 122 000 un-collected IDs and 23 000 uncollected smartcard IDs.Home Affairs has 117 mobile offices to provide extra capacity to process applications. All border posts will be open and functioning on Election Day to allow South Africans to come home to vote.Correctional Services Minister Sibusiso Ndebele said all 155 000 inmates in 242 correctional facilities across the country are registered to vote. The IEC, working with the Department of Correc-tional Services, has made the necessary arrangements to ensure that inmates exercise their democratic right to vote.Special votes will take place on 5 and 6 May. The IEC says 25 390 150 voters are eligible to cast their votes come 7 May.

N’wa Hlungwani (Patrica)

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29 April 2014

The Guardian

South Africa’s Public Pro-tector Thuli Madonsela,

who took on the country’s president over the use of tax-payer’s money to upgrade his residence, has been named as one of Time Magazine’s 100 most influential people.The citation was written by the former governor of the central bank of Nigeria, Lamido Sanu-si, who describes Madonsela as “an inspirational example of what African public officers need to be”, adding that it re-quired “extraordinary courage and patriotism to do what Thu-li Madonsela has done”.Yet in South Africa, Madonse-la has been subjected to scorn, attacks on her integrity and in-sults by many in the ruling co-alition. The Time list is by no means the best and brightest citizens of the world – it has Miley Cyrus and Pharrell Wil-liams on it – but the magazine rightfully states that Madonse-la “has assured herself a place in the history of modern South Africa”.Madonsela is definite-ly not defined by the Nkandla investigation report, now the most common reference to her name, even though it has been the biggest challenge of her outstanding career. By taking on a probe into the upgrades at President Jacob Zuma’s resi-dence, she went where most others fear to tread. She pro-nounced on the conduct of the most politically powerful peo-ple in the country, withstanding intense pressure throughout the course of the investigation, but was determined to preserve its integrity.The report is now a testament, exposing the full extent of the “toxic concoction of a lack of leadership, a lack of con-trol and focused self-interest” which led to the “unconscio-nable” R246m-upgrade to Zuma’s private residence at state’s expense.But Madonsela and the office she heads is much more than the two-year investigation into the Nkandla upgrades. Madon-sela excelled at whatever she has touched, as a teacher, in constitutional law and race and gender activism.But when she became the Pub-lic Protector in 2009, she be-

gan to mould the office around her own values, that of justice, humanity, integrity, high mor-als and public service.In 2011, Daily Maverick named Madonsela South Af-rican Person of the Year for her exceptional work as an ombudsman to the exercise of executive power with unwav-ering commitment to truth. We could have done so every year since then as Madonsela has continued to shine, expos-ing maladministration and im-proper conduct in government, building her office as a centre of excellence and displaying deep respect for the people of South Africa by acting as their guardian.But it is perhaps how she her-self describes her role that is most insightful. At the media conference to release her Nk-andla report, Madonsela said the ombud was a fairly recent innovation in the area of pub-lic accountability globally. In South Africa, she said, there were parallels between the Protector as an institution and non-political institutions that served to curb excesses in the exercise of public power.“One institution is the Makhadzi which we have ad-opted as one of our symbols. The Makhadzi, an aunt, is a non-political figure who serves as a buffer between the ruler and the people,” Madonsela said. “The Public Protector is part innovative constitutional institutions that are meant to help the people exact account-ability in the exercise of state power and control over state resources through administra-tive scrutiny.” The Makhadzi “enhances the voice of the peo-ple while serving as the king’s eyes, ears and conscience”. He ignores her “at his own peril”.Not all cases dealt with by her office receive the media atten-tion that the Nkandla report has drawn. “Most are resolved through the Makhadzi way of whispering to appropriate au-thorities about wrongdoing.” Like the Makhadzi, she did not make the rules, Madonsela said. “They are made by those who are governed and those who govern. We are just the keepers of such rules.”There is no doubt that in the

exercise of her work, Madon-sela rates communicating with the public highly. Some might say – mostly her critics in the ANC, the ANC Youth League and the South African Com-munist Party – that she thrives on media attention and feeds the news monster, which is why she is the darling of South African newsrooms. She sees public engagement as part of her responsibility and also uses it to promote confidence in her office.Very few people or institu-tions in the public service know how to do that. It is part of the reason so many people in government resent her. Ma-donsela rarely says no to being interviewed; she understands that the media is the conduit to her audience and therefore makes herself available to ex-plain her work – whether it is on early morning television to late night radio talk shows, or sitting down to tell Daily Mav-erick how her work sometimes makes her cry.Madonsela’s ability to mar-ket herself and her work has been used against her. She has been accused of campaigning through the media and blamed for leaks of her provisional re-ports. After the release of the Nkandla report and the damn-ing findings of ethical breaches by the president and malad-ministration by members of his Cabinet, the criticism and attacks reached a peak, with accusations that she had a po-litical agenda and even crude commentary about her appear-ance.Neither Zuma nor his govern-ment have responded formally to Madonsela’s report yet, with the president deferring his re-sponse until he has receipt of the Special Investigating Unit probe into the upgrades. A par-liamentary ad hoc committee has now been constituted to look into the matter, but it ap-pears from its first meeting that the ANC is trying to undermine any proper interrogation and is trying to run out the clock. The committee has to complete its work by 30 April.From the comments made by the ANC MPs in the commit-tee meeting on Thursday, they appear not to have read the re-port even though it is widely accessible and pronounces on the conduct of their party leader. The subtext is that they have not taken Madonsela’s re-port seriously enough to have read it.Most recently, Madonsela has been trying to fend off an on-slaught by a group of Kwa-Zulu-Natal lawyers who have embarked on a roadshow to discredit her Nkandla report. The Mail & Guardian reported this week that the lawyers say they are in the process of pre-paring a court application to seek a review of the Nkandla report. In the meantime they are addressing public events, presenting their views on Ma-donsela’s report, which they have apparently likened to a “joke”, claimed lacks credibil-

ity and that her findings have no basis in law.Madonsela’s office responded to the lawyers’ claims by ex-plaining that the report’s find-ings are final and binding. “Their comments are totally unfounded and clearly show that they are confusing the public protector’s inquisitorial justice with the adversarial jus-tice of our courts,” the Public Protector’s communications manager Oupa Segalwe told the Mail & Guardian.“The public protector is not aware of any inconsistencies, as alleged by this group. The report is evidence-based and speaks for itself.”Amid the continuing contro-versy over Nkandla, Time magazine announced its an-nual list of 100 most influential people in the world. Madon-sela is named in the category of “leaders”, which include US President Barack Obama, his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin, German Chancellor An-gela Merkel and Chinese Pres-ident Xi Jinping. North Korean leader Kim Jong Un is also on the list, underlining the point that the list recognised influ-ence rather than the smartest, most upstanding leaders.Other categories feature per-formers Beyonce, Miley Cyrus and Pharrell Williams, and ac-tress Kerry Washington. Soc-cer star Christiano Ronaldo joins Pope Francis and Paki-stani education activist Malala Yousafzai in the category of “icons”.Madonsela said in a statement that she was “taken by surprise that the modest efforts of her office were not only been rec-ognised at home but elsewhere in the world too”.“I also hope that this gesture

will put the Public Protector or the Ombudsman institution on the world map, therefore alerting governments of the potential of this institution as a partner in promoting good governance, thus strengthen-ing constitutional democracy.”The global recognition for Ma-donsela and her office is well deserved, even though the list might be a hodge-podge of the world’s biggest movers and shakers, not all of whom aspire to the same values she does. But the best recognition for Madonsela would be from the people whom she serves and whom she hopes to guide to greater standards of ethical conduct.In her citation, the former gov-ernor of the Central Bank of Nigeria Lamido Sanusi, him-self suspended from office by the president, Goodluck Jona-than, says: “To speak about corruption in high places is often subversive and always embarrassing. The machinery of state can be called upon to intimidate or even destroy and eliminate whistle-blowers.“It therefore requires extraor-dinary courage and patriotism to do what Thuli Madonsela has done. Yet in standing up for the truth as she sees it, she has assured herself a place in the history of modern South Africa and among the tiny but growing band of African pub-lic servants giving us hope for the future of our continent.”Thuli Madonsela is indeed a symbol of hope and personifies what is good and great about South Africa. She has per-formed an outstanding service to this country and now the world too has acknowledged that she is no ordinary human being.

Honour for THuli Madonsela - THe woMan wHo Took on Jacob ZuMa

Public Protector: Thuli Madonsela

Editor’s Note

29 April 2014 Pioneer North PAGE 3www.pioneernews.co.za

GAUTENG BUDGET 2014/15Gauteng is home to just under a quarter of South Af-

rica’s population and contributes 36 percent of the country’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP). Because of its central location, it is also a gateway to other provinces and the rest of the African continent in terms of movement of people and goods. Increased economic activity through the public and private sectors create opportunities for in-dividuals to find shelter and make their livelihoods in this province. This is demonstrated by year-on year increase in the number of learners seeking education spaces in our schools. According to the 2-13 Mid-year population esti-mates released by Statistics South Africa, Gauteng popula-tion has increased slightly from 12.4million to 12.7 million.

It is for this reason that the Gauteng Provincial Govern-ment (GPG) continues to work on strategies that are aimed at yielding socio-economic benefits for all. Our response to addressing challenges such as unemployment, poverty and inequality are central to our business. There are continued and concerted efforts to accelerate service delivery by im-plementing programmes and projects that leads to improved quality of life of our communities. These include food se-curity, youth employment, Zivuseni, Bana Pele, Second-ary School Improvement Programme (SSIP) and Violence Against Women and Children (VAWAC) to name but a few.

As a way of demonstrating our continued commitment to improved social service delivery, Health, Education and Social Development account for the lion’s share of the 2014 Medium Term Expenditure Framework (MTEF) budget and lays the foundation for the improvement of education outcomes, provide quality healthcare and building a hedge of protection for our vulnerable and affected communities.

Gauteng is indeed a better place to live and will con-tinue to be as we direct our energies to live in and con-tinue to be as we direct our energies to addressing chal-lenges that confront us and sustain the momentum of delivering quality services. The following sources deter-mine the quality of services delivered to Gauteng citizens:• National Treasury (R85.608bn divided into R68.673bn equitable Share and R16.935 Conditional Grants)• Gauteng Provincial Government (R4.266bn)• Direct Charges (R69.63m)

Over and above this, other sources of provincial revenue are Gambling and Taxes, Motor Vehicle Licenses, Hos-pital patient fees and other revenue streams. The condi-tional grants are mostly used for the Comprehensive HIV and AIDS grant (15%), Further Education and Train-ing (4%), Education Infrastructure Grant (4%), Nation-al Treasury Services Grant (21%), Human Settlement Development Grant (26%), National School Nutrition Programme (4%), Public Transport Operations Grant (11%) and (15%) of the budget will be spent on Other.

Comments on the budget are welcome and can be forwarded to:

Head of DepartmentGauteng Provincial TreasuryPrivate Bag X12Marshalltown2017

www.pioneernews.co.za 29 April 2014 Pioneer North Page 4News

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DESK BAGS RECYCLED FOR THE BETTER

Wellington Nobele

Lack of school desks is a problem faced by many

South African schools. Min-ister of basic education An-gie Motshega, estimated that school across South Africa need approximately three million desks. This is a statistic we cannot ignore. It is our duty as corporate

citizens to ensure that chil-dren’s educational struggles are addressed.” These were the words of Desk-Bags originator and managing di-rector of PR Worx, Madelain Roscher in a press release.On the 11th April, PR Worx in partnership with SA Taxi foundation and SDV South Africa visited Zenzelani pri-mary school located at 19th

Avenue Vincent Tshabalala road (formally known as London road) to donate a to-tal of 1000 desk bags for learners at the school which when folded open, acts as a portable desk that can be used both at school and at home.Desk-Bags, which are made from 100% recyclable billboard material, are school bags that provide a portable desk solution for learners to use at school and at home. The front flap of the bag is reinforced with a durable ABS plastic when folded open, allows for instant desk support. The light weight school bag also allows plenty of space for learn-ers to carry all their books and stationary whether they are in pre-primary school

or matric. Furthermore, Desk-Bags also come with reflective biding that allow children to be easily spotted by motorists when walking in the rain or the dark. Di-rector of SA Taxi foundation Kalnisha Signh and Manag-ing Director of SDV South Africa Ken McDonald were among many who were thrilled about the success of PR Worx’s CSI initiative which is committed to edu-cation. “We are thrilled to be involved with an initiative that is committed to educa-tion as Desk-Bags. It is our goal as a company to be-come more involved in sus-tainable education activities and Desk-Bags is the right vehicle to start our activities off with,”Kalnisha explains.

McDonald, who was unable to attend the hand-over of the Desk-Bags, added that “SDV also understands the importance of education to the nation and we are happy to support Desk-Bags in their campaign to uplift edu-cation in South Africa. We are happy that our support to them can make such a tan-gible impact on the lives of the children of Alexandra.There to express her sincer-est gratitude, was principal of Zenzeleni primary school, Mrs. Thandi Gumede. It touches me deeply to know that there are people out there who care about the education of the African child, as you would know, most of these learners have never had anything they

can call their own, this has truly been a blessing to the Alexandra community. We will make certain that these bags are well looked after and that they are maintained which will guarantee that the learners are able to use them up until they reach grade 7 and possibly go to high school with them, Gu-mede said with great joy.Others who attended the hand-over ceremony were the HR staff from SA Taxi foundation and PR Worx as well as Mr. South Africa 2014 contestant, Armand Du Plassis and Miss Earth semi finalist, Shannon Ro-scher who both have se-lected Desk-Bags as their campaign for their respec-tive pageants.

Madelain Roscher of PR Worx Kalnisha Singh of SA Taxi foundation and Zenzeleni primary school Principal Thandi Gumede

TuTu nOT HAppYThe Guardian

Retired archbishop Desmond Tutu has spoken of his pain at

being snubbed by organisers of Nelson Mandela’s funeral last year as his relationship with South Africa’s domi-nant party continues to sour.Tutu, who like Mandela won the Nobel peace prize as a leader of the struggle against racial apartheid, will be out in the cold again on Sunday when official events are held to mark the 20th an-niversary of the country’s first multiracial election.At a press conference at St George’s cathedral in Cape Town, Tutu reflected on his exclusion from the programme at Mandela’s funeral last December. At first he was not even on the 5,000-strong guest list but he received a last minute in-vitation following a public

outcry.“I was quite astounded my-self but I tried to pretend that I was humbled and didn’t really mind,” the 82-year-old said. “It was not true, I was very hurt. He was a very dear friend.“We made up for it a little bit. I was asked to preach at a wonderful memorial held at the Westminster Ab-bey. They have the right to say who would speak, but I think they shot themselves comprehensively in the foot in snubbing me. It was sad.”The archbishop emeritus, who has been described as the moral conscience of South Africa, and the de facto leader of the liberation struggle while Mandela was in jail, has become a fierce critic of the African Na-tional Congress (ANC) un-der president Jacob Zuma. There is little sign of the rift being healed.

“I have already said that I will not vote for them; that is something that I have said,” he explained. “And I say it with a very sore, very heavy heart because on the whole they have tended to be close to the kind of things we dreamt about.”Referring to Mandela’s gen-eration, he added: “We have to admit that not too many of the successors of those leaders have been able to fill their shoes. But the shoes were enormous.”While he never belonged to a political party, he continued, he had wanted to support one that would be as close as pos-sible “to the sort of things that we would love to see. On the whole, the ANC was that. Have you noticed the tense?“We dreamt about a society that would be com-passionate, a society that really made people feel they mattered. You can’t do

that in a society where you have people who go to bed hungry, where many of our children still attend classes under trees.”Tutu, who coined the phrase “rainbow nation”, described 20 years of democracy in South Africa as “a heck of an achievement” and a “very good reason for all of us as South Africans to feel proud”.He acknowledged that the ANC deserves at least some credit. “I am going to recog-nise, not concede, but recog-nise the wonderful achieve-ments, the fact that many more people have running water, that there is electricity for very many more people than it used to be, the social grants and we have the larg-est HIV programme … those are significant feathers in the cap of our government.”But he added: “This is a country where we shouldn’t

read stories of a six-year-old falling into a latrine hole. It shouldn’t happen. It uncon-scionable, it’s a disgrace. This is a fantastic country with fantastic people. Let’s make it become what it has in itself to become.”He also declined to con-demn a controversial plea by a group of former ANC stalwarts, led by former in-telligence minister Ronnie Kasrils, for voters to choose one of the smaller parties or spoil their ballots in protest against what they see as a betrayal of the ANC’s prin-

ciples.“Don’t just say, ah well, I’ve always sung these struggle songs and therefore when I’m going to vote … think!“You can’t call into question the integrity of the people who have called for this; you can’t call into question their struggle credentials and they are saying don’t vote mind-lessly, don’t be voting cattle. Think when you’re making that cross and remember that it is going to decide what quality of life you are going to have for the next five years.”

Retired Archbishop: Desmond Tutu

www.pioneernews.co.za 29 April 2014 Pioneer North Page 5News

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VaVi Vows to unify Cosatu after his return

Media 24

His eight months on sus-pension were wasted

time, Cosatu general secre-tary Zwelinzima Vavi said on Monday. “I’ve never been on leave

for such a long period in my life,” he told union members gathered outside Cosatu House in Johannesburg.“It has been [a] long eight months of wasted time.”Vavi returned to work at the Congress of SA Trade

Unions’ (Cosatu) headquar-ters on Monday morning.Food and Allied Workers’ Union (Fawu) members sur-rounded Vavi, singing as he stepped out of his car out-side the building.On Friday, the High Court

in Johannesburg set aside Vavi’s suspension.Judge Phineas Mojapelo ruled that it was invalid and that the Cosatu constitution had been breached because the decisions to suspend Vavi and investigate his conduct were not put to the vote at the central executive committee (CEC) meeting where they were made.“A vote is prescribed as the manner in which decisions are to be taken ... therefore no valid decisions were tak-en,” Mojapelo found.Vavi was placed on special leave in August, pending the outcome of a disciplinary hearing relating to his affair with a junior employee.In July, the employee ac-cused him of rape. He said they had an affair. The wom-an later withdrew a sexu-al harassment complaint against him.Decision challengedFollowing Vavi’s suspen-sion, the National Union of Metalworkers of SA (Num-sa), an ally of his, lodged an application in the High

Court in Johannesburg chal-lenging the decision.Vavi then lodged papers to be added as an applicant in Numsa’s challenge.Cosatu will discuss the judg-ment and the way forward at a special CEC meeting on Tuesday. Numsa’s position in Cosatu is also expected to be on the agenda.Last week, Numsa wrote to Cosatu demanding that it convene a special national congress, and threatened to take the matter to court if it did not.On Monday, Vavi thanked union members for their warm welcome.“Last week Friday was about defining the basic... rule of law... we [are] thankful we came out triumphant.“Your power has brought me back to where you have elected me to be.”Vavi said it was a difficult day because his daughter was being operated on after an accident last week in the Eastern Cape, but he was excited to be back at work.Wanting to unify Cosatu

He said he was returning to Cosatu not with vengeance in mind, but to unify the trade union federation.“I’m acutely aware of my responsibility to build the unity of the federation,” Vavi said.“I recognise an un-unified Cosatu is not in the best interest [of workers]. Our challenge here is to unify the federation, to unify progres-sive forces.”He called on people to forget what he called the “political shenanigans” of the past.“Forgive them, because they don’t know what they do,” Vavi said.FAWU members followed Vavi into the building and up to the ninth floor, which is the secretariat office.Vavi stood singing with union members in the foyer outside his office.He then proceeded to a meeting with other national office bearers, which he said he was chairing and had chaired every Monday in his role as general secretary.

COSATU Secretary General: Zwelinzima Vavi

Da taCkles small business ChallengesWellington Nobele

With only a few weeks left until the 2014 democratic elections which state Presi-dent Jacob Zuma has an-nounced to be on the 7th of May, political parties have been hard at work trying to win the votes of the South African society at large. Among other things, South Africa celebrates 20 years of a democratic state where even small businesses are able to significantly contrib-ute to the national economic state. Speaking to the paper on behalf of the DA Alex-andra constituency was op-erations manager Bongani Nkomo, who spoke to us about part of their manifesto where the party identifies small business needs and devises strategies which can help them partake in the na-tional economy in general.

“The aim of this initiative is to ascertain small business challenges through asking them questions of the diffi-culties they face on a day to day basis”, said Bongani.On the 10th of April, DA representatives visited Stsh-wetla informal settlement as part of their campaign for the Gauteng province, to conduct a survey of small business needs and identify what they need from gov-ernment to help them over-come these challenges. The survey was partly based on the DA’s manifesto in terms of small businesses being given a platform in the na-tional market and provid-ing the necessary advisory structures and knowledge of how to pursue government tenders. Small business owners Adelaid (preferred to only provide her name) and

Thabo Tshabalala and a who runs a car wash busi-ness in Stshwetla, were the business-people who were approached by the DA rep-resentatives on the challeng-es their business encounter respectively on a day to day bases. “Like every business-man, I would like to see my business growing, gradually rendering my services to people who will pay good money to help my business create jobs for more people, I have never experienced any crime related issues however it would be helpful to know that my working equip-ment is safe at all times”, Tshabalala explained. Ad-elaid who sells fast-food also raised concerns about the lack of catering tenders from Gorvenment and that she would use any help she can get about ways to win Government tenders.

Sophie Mashele of the DA spoke to Thabo and Adelaid about the party’s intention to cater for small businesses and how they plan on imple-menting advisory structures for small businesses. “Most small business owners do not

have the knowledge of how to apply and win govern-ment tenders as they need to be broken down to be man-ageable by small businesses, and they also need to be educated about tax returns as this is essential for any

business. More importantly, South African citizens need to practice their democratic right and cast their vote for the party they believe will best keep their interests at heart”, Mashele said in con-clusion.

DA representative conducts a survey with Stshwetla residents

www.pioneernews.co.za 29 April 2014 Pioneer North Page 6

Welsh opera sensation Bryn Ter-fel is ready to sweep Gauteng

audiences off their feet. Terfel will perform two concerts in the province – one in the capital city and the other in the City of Gold. The ZK Matthews Hall, at Preto-ria's University of South Africa, will play host to what is termed a slightly more “serious” programme, which consists of songs on poems by John Masefield, pieces from composers Schumann and Schubert and, again, traditional songs from the Celtic isles. The concert takes place on 11 May at 4:00pm. Terfel's “popular programme” will take place at Johannesburg's Linder Auditorium on 6 May at 8:00pm, and includes pieces by Rodgers & Ham-merstein, Schubert and Mozart, and Celtic songs. Both programmes promise to show-case Terfel's rich bass-baritone voice. The Brit superstar will be accompa-nied by top South African pianist Nina Schumann, a professor of mu-sic at the University of Stellenbosch. Schumann, who holds a master's de-gree in music from UCLA (Univer-sity of California, Los Angeles) and a doctorate degree from the University of Cape Town, co-owns the TwoPia-nists record label, and is part of an internationally recognised duo with her pianist husband Luis Magalhaes. Terfel, who was recently nominated as best male singer in the inaugural International Opera Awards, the "os-cars of the opera world", is a Gram-my, Classical Brit and Gramophone Award winner with a discography en-compassing operas of Mozart, Wag-ner and Strauss, and more than 10 solo discs including Lieder, Ameri-can musical theatre, Welsh songs and sacred repertory. In 2003, Bryn was made a CBE for services to Opera in the Queen’s New Year Honours list and in 2006 was awarded the Queen’s Medal for Music. He is also a recipient of the Shakespeare Prize by the Alfred Toepfer Foundation, Hamburg. Tickets for both programmes cost between R490 and R550, and are available from Computicket.

ContaCt:Christabel Zulu/ Bridget van oerleBUZ PUBLICItY011 482 3467 /3489083 706 2952/ 083 263 6991skype: buzpublicity

Welsh opera sensation Bryn terfel is ready to sWeep GautenG audiences off their feet

Entertainment

Bryn Terfel

Bryn TerfelNina Schumann

www.pioneernews.co.za 29 April 2014 Pioneer North Page 7 News

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MINISTERS KEEP THEIR WORDWellington Nobele writes:

It has now been exactly 7 months since the launch of

the NECT (National Educa-tion Collaboration Trust) which was launched in August last year. The NECT’s main objec-tives were to strengthen the re-lationships between business societies, the civil society, gov-ernment and labour in order to achieve the education goals of the National Development Plan and to support and influence the agenda for the reform of basic education.Ministers Paul Mashatile of arts & culture, Fikile Mbalula for sports and recreation, as well as Deputy Minister in the presi-dency responsible for monitor-ing and evaluation, Obed Bape-la, payed a special visit to Alex High school on the 11th April as they had promised to return to the school on their last visit in 2013, to express their senti-ments on razing the bar on the quality of education in Alex. The 76 year old high school lo-cated at the corner of 3rd Avenue Joe Nhlanhla, which was also attended by both Mashatile and Bapela during their high school years, became a symbol of hope for the learners at Alex high who have selected mathematics and physical science as their major subjects. As part of giving back to the school they attended and Alexandra community at large, the Ministers partnered with EduSciMat, to hand over a new maths and science laboratory as they had promise when they last visited the school. “The labora-tories are part of EduSciMat’s CSI initiative aimed at improv-ing the standard of education in more crucial subjects such as mathematics and physical sci-

ence. Normal classrooms are refurbished and supplied with chemicals, manipulatives and ICT’s to make learning excit-ing”, this according to EduSci-Mat’s Communications Man-ager Kholiswa Khoba.Kholiswa also went further to explain that, “through this ini-tiative, we launched our first lab in the Free State on the 27th January 2012, when MEC Tate Makghwe was interested in pi-loting this initiative in his prov-ince. From 2012 till to date, the initiative has reconstructed 400 maths labs and over 200 science labs. More over, the initiative also capacitates maths and sci-ence educators and gives them confidence in teaching the sub-jects, she added. Among other thing, Minister Fikile Mbalula awarded Mamoloko Mojapelo and Busisiwe Dlhadlha who both completed their grade 12 in 2013 at Alex high, with full scholar-ships at the University of their choice under the Fikile Mba-lula Foundation for girls. Arts & culture Minister Paul Mashatile donated R150 000 as he was al-legedly advised that the school was participating in a number of arts and culture activities which needed urgent funding.Also at-tending the hand-overceremony were South African celebrities who were invited to motivate and inspire the learners to focus on their education as they would be the leaders and celebrities in the near future. The ceremony had the likes of radio person-ality Criselda Kananda, Min-nie Dlhamini, Khumbulekhaya presenter Andile Gaelisiwe, Dj Oskido and the ever energetic Dr. Malinga. The day was con-cluded with an exciting live performance by Uhuru and Dr. Malinga.

Ministers Fikile Mbalula and Paul Mashatile hand-over a cheque worth R150 000 to Alex High School Principal Zoleka Lebelo

The influencial celebrities that were invited to inspire the learners

29 April 2014

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New Bok jersey lauNched!

New kit supplier to the Springboks, ASICS,

have launched the new home and away jerseys, which will be used for the first time in June, at an exclusive event in Cape Town on 24 April 2014.Jurie Roux, CEO of the South African Rugby Union (SARU), said this new spon-sorship ushered in an exciting new era for the Springboks and all other national teams as they aim to continuously raise the bar in performance.“Ever since we’ve an-nounced our sponsorship with ASICS last August, ex-citement has been building towards the big reveal of the new Springbok jersey,” said Roux.“Apart from the tech-nological advances we’ve seen in the manufacture of this new jersey, the designers at ASICS have done a superb job in ensuring the honour, heritage and tradition associ-ated with the Springboks’ tra-ditional green and gold have

remained intact.”According to Florence Ains-worth, Apparel Product Di-rector for ASICS Europe Middle East and Africa, ASICS has introduced new technical advances to the jersey which should give the players an edge on the field.“The new jerseys are made with ‘motion dry’ technol-ogy which allows the play-ers to wear the item tight fitted whilst allowing for maximum natural freedom of movement and tempera-ture management,” explained Ainsworth. “The seams are reinforced to mitigate tear risk and the jerseys use ‘gripper’ tech-nology in the chest area to enable players to get a bet-ter hold of the ball. It’s also inside the jerseys along the hem to prevent the shirt from moving while the players are running.”Springbok captain Jean de Villiers added that he was looking forward to run

out in the new jersey during the Incoming Series in June.“As Springboks, running out in the green and gold is al-ways extremely special as we know we carry the hopes and aspirations of our entire na-tion on our shoulders,” said De Villiers.“The Springbok jersey is almost sacred to South Af-ricans and I’m very excited about the prospect of running out in this new jersey later this year. “Getting an edge over your opponents is important and I’m sure the new technologi-cal advances will assist us on the field.”SARU’s contract with ASICS runs for six years and as part of this deal, ASICS made a commitment to manufacture at least 70% of its licensed supporter wear in South Af-rica.“We came to South Africa with the long-term view that we would use the SARU deal as a foundation for setting up ASICS in South Africa,” said Max Keen, ASICS Brand and Sports Marketing Manager. “We believe that it is to ev-eryone’s advantage if we pro-duce the SARU merchandise locally. “Our long term aim is that we develop South Africa as an ASICS manufacturing cen-ter of excellence for all our product ranges.”The Springbok team will run onto field in their new jerseys for the first time when they take on the World XV on 7 June in Cape Town.

The Old Mutual JoBerg2c has an-nounced age catego-

ry prizes to complement its overal cash offering ahead of the start of the nine-day mountain bike race on Fri-day.Race organiser Craig Wap-nick revealed today that the City Lodge Hotel Group had come on board to spon-sor over R180 000 worth of prizes in the veterans and masters age categories.“These categories are al-ways fiercely competitive and, although they are not pros, we believe these are serious riders who need to be rewarded for their efforts.”Wapnick said the hotel group would be spon-soring 140 bed nights for the overall age group winners among the men’s, women’s and mixed pairs – as well as those entered in the Tread Buffalo category.“Many of our riders travel for business and leisure purposes and also ride other

events around the country, so this lifestyle-oriented prize is a perfect fit.”He said the first prize of five nights’ accommoda-tion in each age group was a token of appreciation for the effort the riders put into their sport.In addition to these rewards, he said the total prize money for the pros had increased from R220 000 to a quarter of a million rand for the fifth edition of the race.Wapnick said the investment, which includes daily incentives, was in keeping with the event’s status as one of the top races in South Africa.“We’ve also invested in nine days of television coverage, which is another massive incentive for pro teams and their sponsors.”He said the accommodation vouchers could be redeemed at any of the group’s hotels, including Courtyard Ho-tels, City Lodge Hotels and Town and Road Lodges.“The Courtyard Hotel in

Rosebank will also be our official accommodation partner for riders attending registration on Thursday evening before they depart from Heidelberg.”Wapnick said it would be their last chance to experi-ence the luxury of urban living before they enjoyed the camaraderie of the tent-ed camps at the eight rural race villages.He said the Old Mutual joBerg2c was as much a ride as it was a race.“We don’t have pros and amateurs, we have rac-ers and riders.”Wapnick said it was impor-tant for organisers to strike a balance between the two and put enough money back into the event for the whole field of 750 riders to enjoy the experience. “On the one hand, we love watching proper dicing on our great routes and fully support those on top of their game. On the other, we love watching riders smile and grimace their way across the beloved country.“Whether you are in the prizes or not, you will be rewarded with an inspira-tional journey.”He said the Tread Buffalo category – a new nation-al competition for riders 90kg and over – would be launched at the event.The race starts in Heidel-berg on the outskirts of Johannesburg and finishes in Scottburgh in KwaZulu-Natal on May 3.

New springbok away jersey New springbok home jersey

Vets And mAsters Accom-modAted At JoBerg2c

Cyclist of Old Mutual Joberg2c