Author: The Free Stater

After watching the world lurching from one catastrophe to another, we were tempted to turn this review into a eulogy grieving the death of a year that ripped our hearts out, shattered our dreams and shook our systems to the core. From battling a global health pandemic that afflicted more than a million people and took the lives of nearly 28 000 in South Africa alone to suffering an economic crisis that forced business closures and massive job losses, 2020 is surely going down in history as an annus horribilis whose impact will be felt for decades to come. Yet…

Staff Reporter Kroonstad and Heilbron police stations have been closed due to COVID-19 as the province battles a steady increase in cases of the deadly disease. Police say Kroonstad residents may access services from the old cluster offices on Klerk Street while the building undergoes decontamination. In Heilbron, the community will use the SAPS Hall within the premises of the police station. The Free State now has a cumulative total of 61 974 COVID-19 cases. The province currently has 5 217 active cases of this acute respiratory disease and at least 2 163 people have lost their lives. About 54…

Staff Reporter Several parts of the northern Free State will not have electricity for at least five hours on Thursday as Eskom plans to fix some high-voltage lines which have been vandalised by unknown people. Eskom provincial spokesperson Titi Makhetha says at least 10 high-voltage structures have been damaged and are currently lying on the ground, posing a danger to both people and infrastructure. “Due to the continued vandalism on the 132 kV Everest-Welkom incomer 1 line outside Welkom . . . Eskom has experienced further damage to 10 of its high-voltage structures which are currently lying on the ground,…

Staff Reporter South Africa has imposed a nine-hour curfew amid other restrictions such as a ban on alcohol sales and possible jail time for not wearing masks. An emotional President Cyril Ramaphosa said in a televised address on Monday night that the country will be put under adjusted Level 3 regulations with a 9pm-6am curfew as part of efforts to slow down the spread of COVID-19 starting midnight. South Africa reached a million cumulative cases at the weekend. The consumption of alcohol in restaurants, bars and taverns, according to the president, has contributed to the spread of the virus and…

Staff Reporter At least 225 people were reportedly in hospital in the Free State with COVID-19-related ailments as the country reached a million cases of the disease on Sunday. Information compiled by the National Institute for Communicable Diseases (NICD) and the national health department indicated that the province had 29 people under intensive care and 20 on ventilators. The province had the second lowest daily increase in the country yesterday when it recorded 86 new cases while the Northern Cape had 79. KwaZulu-Natal and the Western Cape had the highest daily increases at 3 403 and 2 659 respectively. Health…

Staff Reporter At least 27 babies were delivered at health facilities across the Free State by midday on Christmas day. The first one was delivered at Pelonomi Regional Hospital at about 0005 hours by Ditlhabi Mokokoane who gave birth to a baby boy weighing 3.5kg. The next one, a bouncing baby girl weighing over 3.79kg, came eight minutes later at 0013 hours and was delivered by Ntswaki Nkone at Bongani Regional Hospital in Welkom. Anna Motsholoane was blessed with a baby boy weighing 2.96kg at 0030 hours at Pelonomi Regional Hospital. The provincial health department said Bongani Hospital was leading…

Staff Reporter The COVID-19 pandemic which has ravaged the world on a scale not witnessed before – to date afflicting 970 000 and killing nearly 26 000 in South Africa alone – almost resulted in Christmas being cancelled. While the merrymaking normally associated with the holiday is subdued, with parties and large gatherings banned, many are stopping at nothing to ensure the festive season is not exactly stolen. The Free Stater contacted some of the Free State’s celebrities and top personalities to check how they are celebrating the not-so-normal Christmas. We asked them: How would you sum up the year…

Staff Reporter Bloemfontein police are investigating two cases of murder and one of attempted murder following a suspected mob justice incident which occurred in the early hours of Thursday in the Free State capital. Provincial police spokesperson Brigadier Sam Makhele said in a statement the attack happened at a block of flats in Brandwag just after 2am. “Members of the police were called to the scene . . . where it was alleged that a group of unidentified people had assaulted a male,” he said in the statement. “The victim was found with injuries to the head and a broken…

This week I would like to have a particular focus on the business side of property. Quite often people talk of going into property business and I will talk generally about what makes a business a business and zero in on my personal experiences in property. Unfortunately most people in South Africa do not grow up in an entrepreneurial home. By that I mean that they have little or no idea of how and why a business operates. Many people dream of having their own building but have no real idea how being in business works. Unlike working for somebody…

Staff Reporter The Free State High Court has ordered the recently appointed Dihlabeng Local Municipality speaker, Eric Motloung, from assuming his new role after the provincial government sought an interdict against the move. Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs (CoGTA) MEC Thembeni Nxangisa sought relief after the ANC-dominated Dihlabeng council elected Motloung, a member of the Democratic Alliance (DA), as its speaker last month. The appointment, said to have even surprised Motloung himself, has been blamed on infighting within the ANC in Dihlabeng. In seeking the interdict, Nxangisa cited among others that procedure was not followed in the election and the…