Friday 13 February 2015Year 6 144th Edition Tel: 013 262 4416

Water shortages hit Philadelphia Hospital inDennilton on Monday 9 and Tuesday 10 Feb-ruary. The situation forced some of the patientsto take wheelbarrows and look for water in thevillages. But their efforts to get water didn’tmake any difference as there was no water in thevillages either. The hospital staff also claimedon Tuesday 10 February that they drove aroundthe villages in Dennilton looking for water andthey returned with empty buckets after findingthat the taps were dry.Relatives said some of their loved ones had notbathed for the two days when the hospital ranout of water. They also pointed out the healthhazard the water shortage posed in the hospitalas patients had to endure the dirty environ-ment.“There is no temporary measure to ensure thatthe hospital operates normal when water short-age strikes. This problem could have beenavoided long ago had the authorities madealternative arrangements such as drillingboreholes,” said one of the staff members whowished to remain anonymous.She added that it is not the first time the hospitalhas to run out of water and the Limpopo Depart-ment of Health is not looking for permanentsolutions to deal with water crisis in the hospi-tal. She said the district municipality is alsofailing to deploy water tankers to assist eventhough the staff members report the crisis intime. “The water system of the hospital is amess and burst pipes take too long to be fixedresulting in water cuts in the hospital. We can'teven wash newborn babies and unfortunatelymost of them get discharged still covered inblood. Linen for patients could also not bechanged because the laundry room becamedysfunctional as a result of the water shortage.This has angered the relatives of patients,” sheadded. She said when water shortage struck,the patients are told to rely on relatives to bringthem the drinking water because they don’tknow when will water return at the hospital.

Water crisis hitsPhiladelphia Hospital

Nurses and doctors are forced to bring theirown water to drink and to wash their hands.She went on and said: “We are extremely wor-ried because infection control is compromisedand there's little we can do. The impact of thewater crisis in Limpopo has become so severethat even patients at Philadelphia Hospital willsoon not get medical assistance due to thisproblem. It is clear that government has failedto plan ahead by putting a proper water man-agement system in place to supply all villageswith water, including the hospital. TheSekhukhune District Municipality must deliverwater to the hospital and villages on a dailybasis as an interim relief,”She further said the hospital is a place wherepeople go to get help but now it is unacceptablethat they sometimes do not get medical helpbecause a basic amenity such as water is notavailable. “Doctors have had to cut all electivesurgeries and focus on emergencies only. Scar-city of water continues to worry us and we areeven more concerned when helpless patientssuffer in front of our eyes. Government must do

something about the situation to deal with thesupply of water as it is stressed and there is ahuge demand in the community,” she con-cluded. “This is ridiculous, how can a hospitalrun out of water. It is clear that there ismaladministration in that hospital,” said EliasMotsoaledi APC Councillor Isaac Mkhaliphi.He said the problem must be eradicated as soonas possible. “ Imagine those hours when thereis no water in a hospital, it is a total mess,” hesaid. There are some useless projects in thehospital such as the issue of moving the en-trance to another area but they could have usedthe money to arrange a water backup plan.MMC for Water in Sekhukhune Mr. Lekola toldthe Dispatch that they will close some of thevalves to ensure that the remaining water in thepipes are directed straight to Philadelphia Hos-pital . “We are experiencing a supply shortagefrom Dr JS Moroka Local Municipality and thisis the cause. Currently we are using three linesthat supply Moutse and we are going to closetwo valves and leave only one valve that willsupply the hospital with water,” he said.

P 7 - NdlovuYouth ChoirChoristersback fromScotland

P 3 - De HoopDam

overflowing,residents stillstruggle to getdrinkable water

2 DISPATCH FRIDAY 13 FEBRUARY 2015

Educators and pupils at Monapa Nape PrimarySchool in Ga-Molepane Village near Jane Fursewere overjoyed on Tuesday 10 February whenreceiving donations from a local entrepreneur.The Lotto Finance owner Mr. Rupert Venterdonated Toughees shoes and school bags topupils as a form of giving back to the commu-nity. He said he realized the need to donate afterthe plight of the pupils was highlighted by acommunity leader, Lloyd Mankge to him.“I decided to respond swiftly when I discov-ered that many orphans and vulnerable chil-dren who live in dire circumstances attend theschool. I hope the donation will make a hugedifferent to these poor children,” he said.Rupert said he is currently busy donating inother areas where he is doing business to giveback to the community.“I aim to hand over donations to other placessuch as Siyabuswa, Groblersdal,Kwaggafontein and others. My company alsodonates to local soccer teams to encouragesports participation amongst people,” he said.A community leader, Lloyd Mankge said thedonation will make a difference to these pupilsas some were going to school bare footed. Hesaid most of the children attending the primaryschool are coming from poor families. Somechildren have no parents and are raised by theirgrandmothers.Lloyd said the donation will be distributed bythe educators as they are the ones who knowthe neediest beneficiaries in the school.“It is an economically depressed area whereparents do not work, are terminally ill or childrenare brought up by grannies. There are somechild-headed families or those who are infor-mally fostering children,” he said.

Entrepreneur gives back to the community

Workers at the water project in Tafelkop threaten to protest as a resultof the contractor failing to pay their last year’s outstanding salaries.Some of the employees including the engineers, site officer and projectmanager quit the job after they were not paid. The Sekhukhune DistrictMunicipality allocated the amount of R28 Million for the Groblersdal-Luckau, Nkadimeng Water Reticulation Project that started in July lastyear.According to Colleen Shai, a Tafelkop Community Leader, the maincontractor Morudi Constructions failed to pay workers and sub-con-tractors claiming that the Municipality didn’t pay the outstandingbalance to run the project. “The main contractor told us during themeeting that he agreed with the municipality that they will pay the moneyperiodically. Now the municipality failed to pay since last year and itbecomes difficult for sub-contractors to pay their employees,” he said.He added that the payment problem started last year in October whensome employees went home empty handed when the municipality failedto pay the contractor. “We only know about an amount of R10 Millionthat was paid to the main contractor when the project started. The moneydidn’t make any difference as there is no progress in the project whilethe community is struggling to get drinkable water. Trenches are left dugby the contractor who didn’t report on duty since the beginning of thisyear,” he said.Shai furthered said there are suspicions that the rest of the money is nolonger available to complete the project.“Workers were supposed to report on duty on Monday 5 January butthey refused as they were never paid their December salaries. The maincontractor has also vanished after claiming that the municipality didn’tpay him,” added Shai.He said they tried to engage the municipality and the contractor in themeeting to resolve the matter but both parties didn’t attend.“Only the project steering committee attended the meetings. The munici-pality always promises to come but they don’t pitch. The main contractoris now ignoring our calls and we don’t know what is actually going onas the project is now on standstill. Now workers threaten to protestagainst the Sekhukhune District Municipality to demand answers abouttheir outstanding salaries if they are not paid soon,” he said.The Sekhukhune District Municipality Spokesperson Willy Mosomacould not be reached for comment as his phone rings unanswered.

Rupert Venter(left), LloydMankge (Centre)and Monapa NapePrimary SchoolPrincipal Dr. Pe-ter PapaneMashilo duringthe hand-over ofthe donation.

Protest threats byunpaid water

projectemployees

DISPATCH FRIDAY 13 FEBRUARY 2015 3

The Department of Water Affairs released astatement that De Hoop Dam is currently over-flowing because of the recent persistent rains,whereas communities in Sekhukhune are stillstruggling to get drinking water. Residentshere do not enjoy reliable water supply andhave to rely on a municipal truck that deliverswater to them while some drink from wells andpools that they dug by themselves. Alterna-tively, residents now have to walk about 400mto fetch their water from the Tubatse River.They say sometimes three weeks pass withoutany sight of the truck. The department of wateraffairs provided the village with two watertanks that used to pump water to a communaltank when the construction started but the taphas been dry since October last year. Thecommunity says, when they enquire, they aretold that the machine that pumps the water isbroken. The R3 Billion dam, situated betweenJane Furse and Steelpoort, was aimed to supplythe entire Sekhukhune District with drinking

De Hoop Dam overflowing, residentsstill struggle to get drinkable water

water but now it seems as a threat to nearby villages as they are at riskof being swept away at anytime. The dam has said to be overflowing at108.5% and according to community members living nearby, it is the firsttime they had seen the dam overflowing since it was completed last year.The situation is now that residents live in constant worry of being sweptaway if it happens that the dam burst. Some say that they don’t mindmoving from the area if it would later be dangerous to live near the dam.The residents say when the idea of building the dam was introduced tothe community, the government made many promises saying the droughtdays were over but the situation is now worse than before the dam wasbuilt. The community says before they built the dam there was a pipeused to draw water from the river, but they closed it down when theystarted building the dam. Residents say the dam has brought unbearablechanges to the way of life in the village as they are now living in fear. Theysay the recent rains also caused the dam to overflow and the river to swell,soaking nearby fields leaving them desperate to get wood and cook fortheir families as they do not have electricity. Some say they are poor andcannot afford the costs to relocate to other areas where it is safe.“We know about the situation and the Sekhukhune District Municipalitytogether with the Department of Water and Sanitation has establishedemergency response teams that have developed a plan to deal with anyeventuality,” said the Sekhukhune District Municipality Spokesperson

Willy Mosoma. He said that the immediate danger is the access bridgesin Kutullo and nearby villages will be swept away at anytime from now.“The indication is that the dam is 108.5% full and it has started tooverflow,” he said.

The Mayor of Makhuduthamaga Alfred Matlalacondemns incidents of theft that took place atthe Jane Furse Library.During the incident four security guards wereheld on gun point in the guard room and thefemale security personnel was raped by thesuspects before they fled the scene. It isalleged that the four armed men gained entry tothe Library premises by cutting off the fence

Security guard raped during a robbery inJane Furse Library

and tied three security officers. Four comput-ers, two printing machines and two way radioswere stolen. The Mayor has called on the policeto thoroughly investigate the matter and thatperpetrators must face the full wrath of the law.“We are also calling on members of the commu-nity to take full ownership of community facili-ties in their respective areas by reporting any

form of suspected acts and criminality to thepolice,” said the Mayor.“The municipality will in the meantime workclosely with the department of education tointensify measures of security to prevent inci-dents of similar nature,” he concluded.Constable Lesufi from Jane Furse SAPS con-firmed the incident and said no one is arrested

at this stage. “We are busy searching for thesuspects who stole appliances at the JaneFurse Library where a female security guardwas also raped. We appeal for the public tocome forward with information that can lead ourinvestigation to the arrest of the suspects,” hesaid. The Mayor of Makhuduthamaga LocalMunicipality Cllr. Alfred Matlala condemns thecriminal incidents taking place in the area.

4 DISPATCH FRIDAY 13 FEBRUARY 2015

Elias Motsoaledi Local Municipality partnered with South African Local Government Associa-tion (SALGA) and Save the Children South Africa to mainstream children’s rights. The programmestarted July 2014 as a pilot within the three provinces; which are Limpopo, North West and FreeState.Save the Children saw child participation in government as a key element in all programs to ensurethat the voices of children are heard and taken into account. Its priority is to assist most vulnerablechildren and adolescents, who live in situations of poverty and exclusion as they are the oneswho are least protected.The Programmes and Projects of Save the Children and government aim to address rights andneeds of the children of South Africa. Where a right is not being met and a resultant need becomesapparent, Save the Children addresses the need as a short term response to the situation and intandem advocates for this right to be addressed by the relevant authority that has responsibilityfor doing so.Local and national governments pass policies and implement projects related to the fulfillmentof children's rights, as the Municipal Policy for Children, which is already applied in municipalities.Elias Motsaledi has recently kick started the programme when the elected committees gatheredat Loskop Valley in Groblersdal for a progressive workshop. Ms. Erika Mukwevhu from SALGA,Elias Motsoaledi IDP Manager Mr. Motha, Mr. Richard Montsho and Mr. Mohau from Safe theChildren graced the event.Children from different walks of Elias Motsoaledi Local Municipality came in numbers andreceived a warm welcoming from the officials. To facilitate the programme, Steering Committeefrom SAPS, Department of Justice, Department of Social Development, ECD, Home Based Caresand some municipal officers were invited to take part. "The programme aims to recognise andaddress the affairs of the children.This will be done by involving children to participate in the municipal budgeting and themunicipality's Integrated Development Plan (IDP)," said Mr. Mashilo Ditshego, a SpecialProgrammes Officer in Elias Motsoaledi Local Municipality. He said the pilot project identifiedsome of the wards in the municipality. Seven children were elected per ward to form the children's

Elias Motsoaledi children participate in LocalGovernment Workshop

Children came in numbers from different villages in Elias Motsoaledi Municipal-ity to take part in the Local Government Workshop.

By DAN MDLULIA suspect was killed while a police constableand another suspect were shot and injuredduring a daring armed robbery at Marble Hall onWednesday afternoon, according to police. Colonel Ronnel Otto, Limpopo police spokes-person, said at approximately 15:30 on Wednes-day, members of a cigarette company weretravelling on the road between Marble Hall and

committee. "The following wards were identified by the municipality 1, 3, 4, 8, 10, 15, 16, 19, 21,22, 28 where we managed to elect seven children who will be participating in the children'scommittee," he said.MMC for Community Service Cllr. Jan Mohlala said: "We are in full support of this initiative bySALGA and Save the Children South Africa. The efforts made in this regard should be takenforward and be implemented by the municipality. I therefore declare myself that the municipalitywill have to comply with this particular programme."

Policeman shot, suspect killedGroblersdal when a vehicle carrying five sus-pects cornered them at a stop sign. Shots werefired at the delivery vehicle and members of asecurity company escorring the delivery vehi-cle returned fire. “A Police constable from the local criminalrecord centre in Groblersdal who passed in hisvehicle saw what was happening and followedone suspect that was fleeing into the nearby

bushes. The suspect shot the member in thestomach and he was transported to hospital ina serious condition,” Otto said She added that members of the security com-pany fired more shots and the suspect was hitand died on the scene. Another suspect wasalso wounded and taken to hospital.Police said three other suspects managed toflee with the delivery vehicle and their own Ford

Ranger.The delivery vehicle was later found aban-doned not far from the scene. It is not yet clearwhat was taken from the vehicle. The employ-ees of the delivery vehicle were not injuredduring the event.No further arrests were made and the hunt forthe remaining suspects is continuing.

DISPATCH FRIDAY 13 FEBRUARY 2015 5

The Moutse Health Education and InformationCentre (MOHEDIC), has now introduced sew-ing as one of its projects. The centre is currentlyinvolved in a number of projects and also takingcare of hundreds of orphans around Moutse. Ithas more than hundred care givers dealing withhealth issues in the community of Moutse atlarge and it is regarded as one of the mostsuccessful community centers in Sekhukhune.The sewing project started this year where 8unemployed women around Moutse were en-couraged by the centre to come and take part.Their products include; bed covers, kitchencloths, curtains and table cloths. Some of thewomen have sewing skills while others are stilllearning. "We already started receiving ordersfrom local people and they really indeed like ourproducts. We just started with our businessand we see a lot of improvement at this stage.This shows that although we started small, oneday we will be able to sell our products to bigbusinesses in the country," ," said one of thewomen in the project, Nomvula Twala. Sheadded that their project will soon include fash-ion designing where products such as trousersand shirts will be added. "Other products likeseat and pillow covers will be added too. Herewe also do stitches on tore clothes for localpeople and charge them reasonable price. Al-though we don’t do much profit at the stage, wehope that we will manage to put the bread on thetable in future," she said. Nomvula went on andsaid: "Some of the women we have are stilllearning sewing and little by little we can seethat we get there as they are fast learners. Weuse different colors to attract customers and weare glad that a number of orders is alreadystarted popping in." She said they currently donot have funding and members contribute af-filiation fee to buy material. She said they mar-ket their business by selling their productsdoor-to-door around Moutse villages. "Cur-rently we are in a need of equipments as you cansee that we only use one sewing machine.Sometimes we run out of material as we are allunemployed and the affiliation fee we contrib-ute cannot meet all our demands. Our workingspace is also challenging because it is too small.Everything would be running smooth if wehave funding from the donors," she added.Nomvula Twala concluded: "We are in a seri-ous demand of funding at the stage to improveour business by buying more materials andmore sewing machines. This will also help us todesign school uniforms that will be donated tohundreds of orphans within our organization."

SewingProject

forMOHEDIC

The MOHEDIC sewing project members on duty preparinga bed cover.

The women say their challenge is that they only have onesewing machine that causes their production to be slow.

A nine year old girl died after being struck bylightning in Ga-Botha Village near Marble Hall,the police said.According to Constable Lethunya Mmuroafrom Marble Hall SAPS, Refilwe Mokau, a GradeThree pupil at Makalakanye Primary School,was struck by lightning at Ga-Botha villagewhile on her way home from school on Thurs-day 29 January. He said the victim was rushedto Lefiso Clinic for treatment but unfortunatelyshe didn’t survive. “The victim’s body wastaken to Groblersdal Government Mortuary forpost-mortem. An inquest docket was opened atthe Marble Hall SAPS and is under investiga-tion,” he said.

Lightning killednine year old girl

from school

6 DISPATCH FRIDAY 13 FEBRUARY 2015

Tafelkop residents wake up to find their watertaps gone after stolen by unknown people inthe village. Now the crime is spreading in thevillage and residents say they are afraid to goout at night fearing for their lives from thesecriminals.It is believed that the taps are sold to local scrapyards as they are made out of copper. Thecommunity says this kind of criminal activity issubstance motivated as the spread of nyaopeusage is now vital in the area. “Although thetaps are always dry as we struggle to get water,criminals are not allowed to do as they pleaseand think that we will just keep quiet,” said avictim Sara Makua from Nyakelang Section.She said she didn’t believe it when she woke upon Saturday 7 February to find that the watertap in her yard was missing. “When I went toreport the incident to my neighbour, she wasalso surprised by he tap stolen from her yard.

Water taps theft spreading in TafelkopVillages

We have security walls and our gates are al-ways locked. It appears that these criminals areprepared for anything that can happen whenthey are busy stealing our taps, we are nolonger safe. I heard taps were stolen in othersections in the village but I didn’t believe it,”she said. Constable Boitumelo Matlala fromMotetema SAPS said no cases of stolen watertaps were reported at their station.He said people must come forward to report anycriminal activity taking place in the community.“Residents do not report some of the criminalactivities thinking that the police will not takeactions as some of the stolen items are little andare not worth much when buying them. Taptheft is also a serious crime and perpetratorscould be prosecuted and face a heavy sentencefor that. As the police we advise the communityto come forward to open cases for their ownsafety,” he said.

Water tap theft is now spreading inTafelkop Village.

The Motetema Police are on the hunt for threesuspects who allegedly hijacked a 28 year oldmale victim on Friday 6 February.According to Constable Boitumelo Matlala fromMotetema SAPS, the criminals hijacked thevictim when he was opening the gate around20H00 after arriving home at Leeuwfontein Vil-lage from Groblersdal Hospital where he worksas a doctor. “The victim was opening the gatewhen three armed robbers appeared from no-where and pointed him with firearms.They demanded keys to his BMW and fled thescene,” he said. He said no one is arrested andthe police are busy searching for the suspects.Matlala said many incidents of car theft andhijacking are reported in their station recently.He said residents must stay cautious every timethey drive around especially at night.Constable Matlala concluded: “Never openyour vehicle window or door for any stranger.If a suspicious person is near your unoccupiedcar, go on to the nearest public area and ask forassistance.”

A Pakistani citizen was robbed by six heavilyarmed men on Monday 9 February the policesaid.According to Constable Boitumelo Matlala fromMotetema SAPS six men armed with pistolsentered the shop around 19H00 and demandmoney from the victim.

Six armed men robbed Pakistani shop in Tafelkop“The shop was still open when the robberytook place and the victim tried to refuse to givethe suspects the money. One shot was fired onthe floor to threaten the victim,” he said.He added that the suspects took an amount ofR6000-00 from the shop. They then used thevictim’s 1400 bakkie to get away.

“The vehicle was recovered by the police a fewmetres from the crime scene. A docket of armedrobbery was opened and no arrests have beenmade at this stage. Anyone with informationthat can lead to the arrest of the suspects pleasecontact the Motetema Police Station on 013 2698017/8,” he said.

28 year oldhijacked athis home’sfront gate

DISPATCH FRIDAY 13 FEBRUARY 2015 7

The Ndlovu Youth Choir Choristers are backafter a most successful visit to Scotland, UnitedKingdom. The Choristers were invited to per-form at a function of the People’s PostcodeLottery and have been there for a week.The choristers were overwhelmed with joy whenPeople’s Postcode Lottery, which is a sub-scription lottery, formally invited them to comeand perform. People’s Postcode Lottery oper-ates mainly across Great Britain where playerssign up to pay monthly in advance by DirectDebit, credit card, debit card or PayPal.As it is winter in Europe this time of the year, thechoristers started by shopping for warm clothesat Primark immediately after landing from SouthAfrica.The choristers enjoyed themselves where theyexplored and charmed everyone with their en-thusiasm and angel’s voices when given aplatform to perform.

Ndlovu Youth Choir Choristersback from Scotland

Ndlovu Youth Choir Choristers aftershopping for warm clothes at Primarkin Scotland after landing from SouthAfrica.

The Ndlovu Youth Choir at the Edinburgh Castle where they performed on thesquare for the audience.

Posed with a Scottish man in tradi-tional dress, the Ndlovu Youth Choirperformed a storm in Scotland.

8 DISPATCH FRIDAY 13 FEBRUARY 2015

Moutse Central Circuit schools gathered at Lusaka Primary Sports Grounds on Thursday 5 andFriday 6 February for schools athletics championships. The sporting event started on Thursdaywhere Moutse Central Circuit primary schools participated. The secondary schools athleteswithin the circuit competed on Friday for track and field qualification standards.Primary schools competitors were ranging from the age of ten to thirteen and for the secondaryschool athletes were aged from fifteen to nineteen for both girls and boys. The sporting eventsthat pupils were taking part in were; High Jump, Discus, Javelin, Shot-Put, 1000 Heats, Long Jump,100 Meters Running, 800 Meters Running, 3000 and 5000 Meters Marathon.Top athletes from schools throughout the Moutse Central Circuit competed to meet the minimumqualifying standard as set by South African Schools Association in some of the sporting events.It is no guarantee for automatic selection as the event can have further restrictions in terms of thenumber of athletes that can enter per event. Since the athletics were launched by the Departmentof Education, promising young athletes are discovered every year from different schools in thecountry including the rural areas. “The best performing athletes will take part in the clusterchampionships for both primary and secondary schools. Six athletes will represent us in the 3000and 5000 meters events and four athletes will take part in 1500 meters. Only two of the athleteswill compete in 100 meters,” said the Chairperson of the Moutse Central Circuit Sports CommitteeMrs. F Makola. Last year we had a boy named Aaron Phasha who competed nationally for crosscountry marathon,” she said. She added that lack of resources is a burden to them as educatorsare urged to prepare venues with their own resources during the athletics time. She said some ofthe equipments they use are borrowed from other schools as the department fails to provideneeded resources and equipment. “As you can see the tracks are not properly lined and dusty.We have to wake up in the mornings to come and prepare this place before learners can arrive.Some of the athletes compete wearing inappropriate athletes’ attire and this is also causing anegative impact on their performance,” she added. “Sometimes we have to affiliate in order to makethis sporting event a success, thanks to the dedicated school principals and educators for theirefforts,” she said. The Moutse Central Sports Coordinator Mr. Mashego commented that theathletics were a great success as many pupils took part in different sporting events. He said asorganizers, they are still facing challenges with relevant government departments who fail toprovide needed services during the days of the event.

Jumping, running, throwing at Lusaka

Secondary Schools athletes prepar-ing themselves on the starting line fora 100 meters run.

17 year old boys competing in a 100 metres event at LusakaPrimary School Sports Grounds.

Kutlwano Makeke was doing well inthe long jump event.

Lorraine Mphahlele from Rahlagane Secondary School wasjumping as high as she could.