Author: The Free Stater

Staff Reporter What started off as a social gathering at a house in Rheederspark, Welkom, on Sunday turned bloody after the guests allegedly refused to leave when their hosts felt it was getting late and asked them to hit the road. Provincial police spokesperson Brigadier Sam Makhele said in a statement the couple’s daughter survived a rape attempt after the fracas broke out while their neighbour was raped by several men. “It is alleged that four Lesotho males and the couple were having leisure time when the husband instructed them to leave as it was becoming late,” Makhele said, adding…

Staff Reporter Another learner in the Free State has tested positive for COVID-19, forcing the school to close for decontamination. New Horizon College, a private school in Harrismith, announced in a letter sent out to parents Sunday that a female student had tested positive for the coronavirus that causes the deadly respiratory disease that is ravaging the world. Neither her grade nor age was revealed. “We regret to inform you that our first COVID-19 case has been reported,” the college management said in the letter. According to the communique, the learner, who comes from Heildelberg in Gauteng, had reported for…

Staff Reporter The Department of Water and Sanitation (DWS) in the Free State has developed the first mobile water testing laboratory in the world in a bid to ensure water produced by different municipalities in the province meets recommended standards. Known as the Blue Drop Trailer, the mobile lab – which remotely monitors the amount of impurities in the water produced at a water treatment plant and relays the message to a central point – remains the only one in the world with such capabilities. Designed and developed at a cost of R3.5 million by DWS deputy director for water…

Staff Reporter Three people have been questioned by the Hawks in Bloemfontein after they received a parcel containing firearms parts which had allegedly been falsely declared as workshop spares. Hawks provincial spokesperson Warrant Officer Lynda Steyn said in a statement no one had been arrested but the priority crime investigating unit is still trying to establish the reason for the false declaration. “An alleged illegal firearms parts consignment that was imported from the United States of America was intercepted in Bloemfontein on Wednesday,” Steyn said. She said the Hawks’ National Priority Violence Crime followed up on information received from a contact…

Staff Reporter Two men have appeared in the Bloemfontein Magistrates Court after allegedly offering a bribe to Hawks officials so they could release a consignment of cigarettes they were investigating to certify if they had been cleared by customs. Intiyaz Vahora, 49, and Furkan Farukbhai, 25, from Kuruman and Lesotho respectively made their initial appearance on Thursday facing corruption charges after they allegedly paid the Hawks investigators R70 000 to release the cigarettes and effectively make the case disappear. Hawks spokesperson Warrant Officer Lynda Steyn told The Free Stater the cigarettes were being investigated following a tip-off that some illegal activities could…

Staff Reporter Members of the Congress of South African Students (COSAS) have disrupted classes at some schools in the Free State after they went around pulling students and ordering classes to stop until their demands are addressed. Chief among their demands is a call for all learners to be tested before they can attend lessons. Grades 7 and 12 resumed lessons on Monday since the forced closure of schools on March 17 as the country prepared to go on national lockdown in a bid to curb the spread of the coronavirus. In a statement, the learners’ organisation said it remains…

Staff Reporter The ANC in the Free State is worried its campaign ahead of next year’s local government elections could be hugely affected by COVID-19 which has put the country under lockdown, thereby limiting their ability to canvas for votes. This was one of the key issues that came out of the Provincial Executive Committee (PEC)’s ordinary virtual meeting Tuesday. ANC provincial secretary Paseka Nompondo said in a statement the party is considering new ways of reaching out to the people after an election report tabled at the virtual meeting pointed out some of the challenges. “. . . our…

Staff Reporter Break-ins in the dead of the night are among the most feared crimes because the perpetrators can be violent and vicious in their bid to make off with the priciest goods they can find within the shortest possible time. But Phomolo Ngo, 33, from JB Mafora township in Bloemfontein, making off with valuables seemed accidental because his prime intension was to rape. Ngo was this week slapped with an effective 50-year jail term after the Free State High Court found him guilty on five counts of housebreaking with intent to rape, rape, three counts of kidnapping and three counts…

Staff Reporter The Free State education department has expressed confidence in its daily screening protocol in schools after 15 learners at Heatherdale Secondary School in Heidedal, Bloemfontein, showed flu-like symptoms and were immediately rushed to hospital for further tests. Provincial education spokesperson Howard Ndaba told The Free Stater by telephone that the children’s suspicious health conditions were picked during screening before entering school. “There shouldn’t be any panic at the school because these learners were detected during screening before they could enter the school,” he said. The learners were taken to the nearby Pelonomi Regional Hospital and other private health facilities to…

Staff Reporter A Grade 12 learner at Grey College in Bloemfontein has tested positive for COVID-19, the school has announced. In a statement, the school said the learner initially complained of a headache and a cough. “The learner, who lives in Pietermaritzburg and stays in one of our hostels, woke up on Tuesday morning with a headache and bad cough,” read part of the statement. The learner, who returned to school on Sunday ahead of the schools phased reopening on Monday, becomes the first COVID-19 case at Grey College. “As per hostel and school protocol, his temperature was measured on…