Friday 25 July 2014Year 5 132nd Edition Tel: 013 262 4416

Six suspects were arrested by the GroblersdalPolice after a failed planned armed robbery onSaturday 19 July. According to Warrant OfficerStanley Magaela from Groblersdal SAPS, thepolice received a tip off from community mem-bers about the planned armed robbery that wassupposed to take place at Choppies Supermar-ket in Groblersdal Town. He added that thepolice occupied the place early in the morningbefore the shop opened. “We then spottedsuspicious men just after the shop opened itsdoors. We approached and they producedfirearms and started firing at the police. Thepolice returned fire and one of the suspects washit. He was taken to Groblersdal Hospital wherehe was treated and discharged the same dayand then taken into custody. Three 9mm fire-arms and more than 35 rounds of ammunitionswere confiscated when the police arrested thesuspects,” he said. Magaela said the names ofthe suspects will not be released as the case isstill in the sensitive stage at the moment.

Six arrested in attemptedChoppies robbery

An eyewitness who doesn’t want to be namedtold the Dispatch that he was on the way towork when he heard gun shots. “I saw thepolice exchanging fire with the suspects andimmediately hide behind the walls. I was scaredas bullets were flying everywhere. I went closerto the scene after realizing that the police havemanaged to arrest the suspects,” he said. Headded that one of the suspects tried to flee thescene but the police managed to shoot the tyresof the VW Polo and he was also arrested.Unconfirmed reports say that a taxi driver wasshot while pouring petrol at the nearby fillingstation. Magaela told the Dispatch that hecannot confirm that the civilian was shot butthe matter is still under investigations to con-firm if there was anyone harmed during theshootout. The suspects appeared at theGroblersdal Magistrate’s Court on Monday 21July for attempted armed robbery charges. Theyare still in custody and they will appear again onWednesday 30 July for bail application.

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Hundreds of patients had to be evacuated fromtheir wards at Jane Furse Hospital after it wasdiscovered that its water supply had beencontaminated with diesel, on Friday 18 July.The hospital staff discovered the problem whenthey reported on duty in the morning.According to the Limpopo Department of HealthSpokesperson Mr Macks Lesufi, after it wasdiscovered that the hospital’s water was con-taminated, about 70 patients were evacuated toSaint Rita Hospital in Glen Cowie and MatlalaHospital in Tsiamanyane.Lesufi said they started to get the patients backto the hospital on Monday 21 July. He said thiswas done after they cleared their reservoir andhave realised that it is now safe to admit pa-tients in the hospital. "We have restarted the service of the hospitaland are starting to get patients. We don’t knowwho could have done this but we are investigat-ing a case of sabotage. The police are also

Jane Furse, Hospital’sDiesel water

investigating a case of attempted murder,” saidLesufi.The Limpopo Police Spokeswoman ColonelRonel Otto said a case of attempted murder hadbeen opened. She said they are investigatingand no arrests have been made yet.

The Limpopo House of Traditional Leaders has closed more than 20 illegal initiation schools inSekhukhune area. According to the Chairman of House of Traditional Leaders, Kgoshi MaleselaDikgale, there are still more illegal initiation schools to be closed.Since Monday 7 July, Limpopo Provincial officials and police officers have been visiting allinitiation schools in Elias Motsoaledi Local Municipality, Ephraim Mogale Local Municipality andMakhuduthamaga Local Municipality.Dikgale said up to so far only one death related to the initiation schools has been reported thisseason. This was a 17 year old boy from Leboeng who died due to complications.“The boy will be buried by his family. We will make sure that no other deaths are taking place atinitiation schools in Limpopo Province,” he concluded.

Illegal initiation schoolsshut down in Sekhukhune

Pig robbery by initiatesThe police are investigating a case of theft afteran elderly man in Jane Furse claimed that initi-ates and their teachers stole his 20 pigs becausehe is not circumcised. The 57 year old farmer,Mafole Machika claims that a group of peoplefrom a local cultural initiation camp in JaneFurse stole his pigs and the police failed toarrest them.

Machika says he opened a case of theft at theNebo SAPS after his pigs were stolen onWednesday 23 June. The suspects are knownbut no arrests have been made.He said that a group of initiates accompaniedby their teachers stormed in his yard heavilyarmed with axes, knobkerries, pangas and sticksand just took his 20 pigs. He claims that the men

were shouting at him in front of his grandchil-dren saying that he is a worthless man who isnot culturally circumcised. He said the menwere swearing when calling him leshoboro (theone who is not culturally circumcised)Machika added that when he reported the mat-ter to the police, he was told by the stationcommander at the Nebo SAPS that it is a tradi-tional law of the land that the one who is notculturally circumcised has to be treated thatway because he is the leshoboro. He says eventhe local traditional leader is not doing any-thing to assist him as he is a friend of some ofthe initiation school teachers and also the po-lice.Machika said that three years ago he sent twoof his sons to the initiation school hoping thatall the insults he received during initiationseasons will come to an end but nothing hasbeen changed.“Every year during cultural initiation season a

group of men and boys insult me and call me ofmy private parts when they come to steal mypigs. I want justice to be done about the harass-ment I receive from these people,” he said.He further said that many men around his areadid not go to the initiation schools but they arenot harassed.The Chairperson of the Limpopo House ofTraditional Leaders Kgoshi Malesela Dikgalecondemned the incident. He urged traditionalleaders to help victims that are harassed bysome of the initiates and their teachers. He saidany form of harassment is not a part of theAfrican culture. He said cultural initiation goeswith respect to everyone.The Nebo Police Communications Officer Con-stable Magdeline Malatji told the Dispatch thatthe case is been held by the Marble Hall stocktheft unit and is under investigation.“The case is still under investigations and noone is arrested at the stage,” she said.

Four arrested for sellingdriver’s licenses

A traffic officer, a driving license examiner and a woman and a man who own a driving schoolwere arrested in Marble Hall and Vaalbank after they were linked to a syndicate selling learnersand driver’s licenses. The four were arrested on Wednesday 16 July after an investigation bythe Road Traffic Management Corporation, National Anti-Corruption Unit and the Hawks andcharged with corruption. The woman and the man who own a driving school is alleged that theywere receiving payments from people for learner’s licenses ranging from R1 500-00 to R5000-00 per license. A traffic officer and a driving license examiner allegedly issued heavy motorvehicle licenses for R5000-00 to R8000-00. The suspects were arrested in possession of drivinglicense cards, licensing tests and answer sheets. They were also carrying a large sum of moneyin their possession. The police say more arrests are still expected to be made. The testingexaminer appeared at the Marble Hall Magistrate’s Court on Thursday 17 July on corruptioncharges. He was released on R3000-00 bail. The case was postponed to 5 August this year.

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For the past five years millions have volunteered 67 minutes of their timeon 18 July for the common good to mark Nelson Mandela’s 67 years ofactivism for South Africa's freedom.The Sekhukhune District Municipality embarked on cleaning campaignin response of the clarion call made by the Honourable President to SouthAfrica Jacob Zuma on the State of the Nation’s Address.The Executive Mayor of Sekhukhune District Municipality Cllr MogoboDavid Magabe dedicated his 67 minutes to serve the community ofDennilton by cleaning the Philadelphia Taxi Rank.The Mayor was accompanied by the District Speaker Cllr CarolineMathebe, Ward Councillors, other municipal officials and some of thecommunity members also participated in the activity.After leaving the Philadelphia Taxi Rank tidy, the Mayor headed toMpheleng Village for a sort turning when he hand over the contractorsto build a new house for the Phasha family, as part of the Mandela Dayprojects. The family became beneficiaries after they were identified byward councillor and his committee as the neediest family in the Village.

GSDM Mayor onMandela Day

The SekhukhuneDistrict Munici-pality teamshortly aftermaking Philadel-phia Taxi Ranktidy on MandelaDay.

MCDP celebrated MandelaDay with children

Masupatsela Community Development Projects (MCDP) celebratedMandela Day on Friday 18 July 2014 with the Children of LebogangCrèche in Glen Cowie. The day was marked by a lot of singing by the kidsand their mentors, handing out gifts by the CEO of MCDP, Mr HlabirwaMathume.Among the gifts were toilet rolls, bath towels, toothbrushes, brooms andmops. Members and leaders of Masupatsela led by Hlabirwa Mathume,Isaac Mkhalipi, Mateng Tladi, Patronelah Tshehla and Mareme Komanespent about 3 hours cleaning the place and helping in the vegetablegarden.

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Built It Moratiwa Branch in Monsterlus is knownfor its continuous support to communityprojects, sports tournaments and competitionsin order to strengthen their relationship withthe community they serve and keep young

New, bigger and better Built it Moratiwapeople off the streets.Lately, the store has embraced change andundergone a huge positive makeover by launch-ing a new, bigger and better store on the 18thJune 2014. According to store manager Mr

Johan Stemmet, they started renovations inJanuary, the size of the store was 500 m squareand is now 800 m square. He told Dispatch thatthe store has a bigger space, they appointedmore staff and also offers better and biggerrange of products than the previous one.“Built It invites customers to come and enjoynew experiences. We also encourage new cus-tomers to come. Our plan is to make our store a

one stop solution for all your building materialsat affordable prices” said Johan.He added that Built It has perks and benefits fortheir loyal customers in all 350 storescountrywide, such as a renovation reality showSinawe 72 hosted by TV personality ThapeloMokoena on ETV. He also encourages localcustomers to participate in the next season ofSinawe and enjoy other benefits that they offer.

The Dr Hugo Tempelman Stiftung hosted a celebratory dinner for Ndlovu friends in Switzerland,recently. During the day the attendees had a vested interest in Ndlovu and have been keensupporters of Ndlovu for many years.A brand new album which is a compilation of the Ndlovu Youth Choir’s best performance waslaunched at the function and was received with delight. The Ndlovu Youth Choir Choristers, who

New CD for Ndlovu Youth Choir

had dedicated many hours of tedious and hardwork in the recording studios, were also de-lighted with the outcome. The Nldlovu CareGroup thanked everyone who worked hard tomake the project a success. This includes the DrHugo Tempelman Stiftung Staff and theKarsumpel Theatre. They also complimentedthe enthuastic choristers of the Ndlovu YouthChoir and the unstoppable Ralph Schmitt. Theyalso encourage community members to sup-port the Ndlovu Youth Choir and buy their newalbum.

The Ndlovu Youth Choir that hasrecently released a new album.

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To make sure that children are taken out of thestreets and participate in sports, Ga-MatlalaLehwelere in Moutse Central has four soccerteams where youth take part. According toPushy Phokoane, a Public Relations Officer ofone of the teams, sports loving people aroundthe area came up with the idea a few years agoand it resulted in the birth of Early birds FC,Western Germany FC, Vi-Kings FC and Moun-tain Rovers FC where he is a Public RelationsOfficer. He added that sometimes they playfriendly matches to keep fit and prepared for theupcoming tournaments. He said that due toexpensive transport costs, they normally chal-lenge nearest soccer teams like Mpheleng Rov-ers FC, Supers FC, Moteti United FC and the

Ga-Matlala grooms young soccer starsothers. “On Sunday 20 July we organized afriendly soccer match between Mountain Rov-

ers and Early Birds FC as a training friendlymatch. The match pulled attention of manysoccer loving spectators around Ga-Matlalaand we are delighted with their support. Thematch ended 4-3 to Mountain Rovers FC aftera tough match they had playing with theiropponents,” said Pushy Phokoane. He saidthat although their teams are showing progress,they are still facing challenges such as short-ages of soccer kits and lack of proper training

The Groblersdal Cluster Soccer League is dueto open for its second round in August.This is according to the Public Relations Of-ficer of the league, Madida Ndala. Madida saidthat all the fourteen soccer teams that were inthe first round will be included. This includes,Wenzile Security from Groblersdal, Pick n PayGroblersdal FC, Dennilton SAPS FC,Elandsdoorn Epilepsy SA FC, Lepelle FC,Motetema SAPS FC, Groblersdal Hospital FC,Philadelphia Hospital FC, Matlala Hospital FC,Department of Education FC, Elias MotsoalediHospital FC, Department of Agriculture FC andEphraim Mogale Local Municipality FC, De-

Groblersdal Cluster soccer open forsecond round

partment of Roads. He said the league’s man-agement planned to accommodate other inter-ested teams in the league. He added that teamsthat are already in the league will be notifiedabout the specific date of the first matches ofthe second round. “We will be releasing fix-tures soon to team’s representatives.We also call upon other interested soccer teamsto come and join the Groblersdal Cluster SoccerLeague. Our league aims to promote a healthylifestyle to the community.In particular government and other employeesfrom different departments in the working sec-tor,” he said.

Pushy Phokoane (right) giving prizesto some of the coaches during one ofthe tournaments at Ga-MatlalaLehwelere.

and match fields. This makes it difficult to playat their best. “Our teams consist of youthranging from 12 to 30 years old and they aremostly in need of soccer boots. At the momentwe are busy arranging with big soccer giantslike Kaizer Chiefs, Orlando Pirates and MamelodiSundowns for trials,” he said. He concluded byappealing to the members of public and thegovernment to give them a hand by donatingsoccer kits for the teams.