Author: The Free Stater

Staff Reporter Free State Premier Sisi Ntombela says there should be no rush to move the entire province to alert Level 3 as this might jeopardise some of the gains made so far in the fight against COVID-19 and compromise people’s lives. She said the disease, which is yet to reach its peak, is likely to be worsened by the incoming winter season as the coronavirus is said to thrive under cold conditions. This means more people could contract the virus in the coming months, particularly in Mangaung. “People (are) saying open up, the economy is going down. But what…

Staff Reporter The Free State has experienced a steady increase in community transmissions of COVID-19, with Mangaung remaining as the epicentre of the coronavirus disease in the province. This was revealed by Health MEC Montseng Tsiu while addressing a media briefing currently going on in Bloemfontein on the province’s risk-adjusted strategy to counter the deadly disease. “Bloemfontein remains the epicentre of the disease as a result of imported cases,” she said. “Of late, the province has experienced a steady increase in community transmissions which cannot be easily traced to the source.” The latest figures indicate that the Free State has…

Staff Reporter Basic Education Minister Angie Motshekga is this afternoon expected to give an update on preparations for the re-opening of schools. In a statement, the basic education department said the briefing, to be held in Pretoria, is expected to start at 4pm. “Minister. . . Motshekga will give an update on the preparations for the re-opening of schools during a media briefing to be held on Tuesday,” read part of the brief statement. Today’s briefing follows extensive meetings the minister held Monday with the country’s nine education MECs, heads of departments, health experts and the council of education ministers…

Staff Reporter Thomas Thabane has been forced to step down as prime minister of Lesotho following months of pressure. He is expected to officially announce his resignation at 0900 hours Tuesday. Former finance minister Moeketsi Majoro is set to be sworn in as Lesotho’s new prime minister at the royal palace on Wednesday. Parliament is expected to reconvene on Friday, when the new government is expected to be inaugurated. The 80-year-old Thabane lost his majority in parliament last week when the coalition backing him fell apart, but he had been clinging on in the desperate hope that a new pact…

Staff Reporter Two men are behind bars in the Free State after police threw the book at them when they tried to offer bribes in separate incidents at the weekend. In Phuthaditjhaba, an attempt by a 47-year-old man — found in possession of a suspected stolen vehicle, diamonds and money laundering — to bribe the police with R10 000 hit a brick wall. And in Botshabelo, two attempts by a 39-year-old alleged cigarette smuggler to grease the officer’s palms so they could turn a blind eye to his contraband also failed. Police say the man with the precious stones was…

Staff Reporter Free State Police Commissioner Lieutenant General Baile Motswenyane has bemoaned brutal attacks on women following the recent discovery of a woman’s body in a bushy area in Bethlehem. The incident brings to two the number of women killed over the weekend after another woman, 37, was found murdered together with her two sons aged nine and two at her house in Zamdela township in Sasolburg. “The killing of women can and will not be tolerated,” Motswenyane was quoted as saying in a statement issued by provincial police spokesperson Brigadier Sam Makhele. She appealed to anyone with information to…

Staff Reporter After spending a fortnight in quarantine, 17 Cuban doctors are finally in the Free State and ready to boost the province’s capacity to fight the deadly COVID-19. The doctors, who are part of a 217-member contingent that arrived in South Africa on April 27, will be deployed across the five districts in the province. Health MEC Montseng Tsiu said in a statement released Monday that the doctors, who were in quarantine for two weeks, will work with the health teams in the different districts so they can impart their skills. “They are here to be integrated into the…

Dear Fellow South African, We often take our healthy and robust democracy for granted. Yet it is probably our greatest asset in our momentous struggle to overcome the coronavirus pandemic. We have among the most politically-engaged citizenry in the world. A poll in 2018 by the Pew Research Center shows South Africans are strongly inclined to take political action about issues they feel most strongly about, such as health care, education, freedom of speech and corruption. The poll confirms much that we already know about ourselves. We enjoy nothing more than robust engagement with our government and among ourselves on…

Staff Reporter Police in Sasolburg in the northern Free State want to question a man after his wife and two children were found dead this Sunday morning in their home in Zamdela township. Free State provincial police spokesperson Brigadier Sam Makhele told The Free Stater in a brief telephone interview that the man has not been seen since the discovery of the alleged murder and police are keen to question him about the incident. “The man is not being treated as a suspect in the alleged killing but police would like to question him to establish what he knows about…

Schools in Mangaung and other COVID-19 hot spots might remain shut when the rest of the schools around South Africa begin reopening on June 1. This is reportedly part of the proposal tabled by the Department of Basic Education, according to the latest edition of the Sunday Times. If approved by the cabinet, more than 5 000 schools, including 929 private ones, in Mangaung, Buffalo City, Cape Town, Johannesburg, Ekurhuleni, eThekwini and Nelson Mandela Bay will remain closed as they will be regarded as being on lockdown Level 5. Keeping these schools shut would affect 3.7-million pupils and 134 779…