Author: The Free Stater

Staff Reporter University of the Free State (UFS) academic Professor Abdon Atangana has scooped another prestigious award for his outstanding work in mathematics. The 35-year-old researcher received The World Academy of Sciences (TWAS) Mohammad A Hamdan Award for his contribution to fractal mathematics and partial differential equations. The Mohammad A Hamdan Award is being awarded for the first time and one of the prestigious accolades given by TWAS. It is named after TWAS’s late vice president for the Arab region, Professor Mohammad A Hamdan. Atangana told The Free Stater in a brief written response that he was excited for the…

Staff Reporter The three teenage girls who were reported missing in Phuthaditjhaba have been found unharmed in Sasolburg. The three, who are all learners at Mafube Intermediate School, were last seen on November 20. Their school uniform was found in the dustbin outside one of the girls’ family house. The police’s Phuthaditjhaba Family Violence, Child Protection and Sexual Offences Unit launched a search for the three girls and, with the assistance of the girls’ families, traced to a tavern in Sasolburg. Two of the three girls, Karabo Dlamini, 15, and Reamohetswe Maria Mohale, 15, were found on Wednesday outside a…

Staff Reporter Correctional facilities in the central region which includes the Free State and the Northern Cape have been the least affected by COVID-19 due to strict health protocols and low occupancy rates, among others. “The Free State and the Northern Cape region is the second least affected in the country,” the Correctional Services deputy regional commissioner for the Free State and Northern Cape, Takalani Mahlamba, told journalists during a networking session at Grootvlei Correctional Centre in Bloemfontein on Thursday. “The region with the least affected officials and offenders is Limpopo, Mpumalanga and the North West.” He added: “The cumulative…

Everybody in student accommodation understands what students would like to have is not always available. They will also understand what is required legally before student accommodation will be approved by the tertiary institutions. But developers need to be innovated in what they develop to get the maximum out of the buildings that they build or renovate. When looking for a site for student accommodation location is paramount and should be well within a 3km distance from the varsity site. This is to make transport as inexpensive and as easy as possible. A distance of 1km or less is even more…

Staff Reporter The government says measures are being put in place to contain an outbreak of locusts which has reportedly hit the Free State, Northern Cape and Western Cape provinces. Agriculture, Land Reform and Rural Development Minister Thoko Didiza said in a statement on Thursday the current strong winds were aiding the flight and spread of the locusts but the situation was under control. “I wish to urge farmers and farmer organisations to alert us whenever they spot these locusts and work with our officials on the ground to curb the spread,” said Didiza. The national agriculture department has already…

Staff Reporter Police in the eastern Free State looking for three girls aged 15 who were reported missing on Wednesday. The three have been named as Trudy Twala, Karabo Dlamini and Reamohetswe Maria Mohale. They are all learners at Mafube Intermediate School in Phuthaditjhaba. Police specialist division, the Family Violence, Child Protection and Sexual Offences (FCS) unit, says the three were last seen on November 20 between 14:00 and 15:00 at a house in Mantsubise Street in Phuthaditjhaba wearing school uniforms and never returned home. “A few days ago they were seen posting their images on Facebook,” read part of…

Dr Riana van Zyl World Aids Day has been commemorated on 1 December every year since 1988. On this day, people around the world unite to show support for people living with HIV and also to remember those who have lost their lives due to Aids-related illnesses. The red ribbon has become the universal symbol of HIV awareness and symbolises support for and solidarity with people living with HIV. World Aids Day was the first-ever global health day, and the iconic red ribbon led the way for many other coloured ribbon awareness campaigns, like the pink ribbon for breast cancer.…

Staff Reporter The Free State health department is worried some people taking antiretroviral and tuberculosis drugs could have defaulted on their treatment during the national lockdown put in place to help curb the spread of the coronavirus. Health MEC Montseng Tsiu said this during a provincial commemoration event for World Aids Day in Tumahole, Parys, on Tuesday. “We would like to call on patients who have interrupted their treatment for both HIV and TB to present themselves at their local clinics to ensure that they are re-started on the ARV and TB treatment,” said Tsiu. The hard lockdown which was…

Staff Reporter The case involving several people accused of defrauding the Free State Department of Agriculture and Rural Development of about R244 million has been postponed to February next year. The accused, who include seven people and a private company, made a brief appearance in the Bloemfontein Magistrates Court on Monday before the matter was postponed to February 3, 2021. National Prosecuting Authority regional spokesperson Phaladi Shuping told The Free Stater by telephone that the matter was postponed to allow the defence to get certain documents from the prosecutor. “The defence made a request for further particulars but some of…

Staff Reporter Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) leader Julius Malema has threatened to appeal a decision by the Supreme Court of Appeal (SCA) to set aside the murder convictions against two men who were jailed for killing a teenage boy they accused of stealing sunflowers in a field in Coligny, North West, about two years ago. Farm workers Pieter Doorewaard and Philip Schutte were found guilty by the North West High Court of the murder of 15-year-old Mathlomola Jonas Mosweu in October 2018. In addition, they were convicted of kidnapping, intimidation, theft and pointing a firearm. Doorewaard was sentenced to 23…