Author: The Free Stater

MAQUEEN Letshoha-Mathae, the newly elected premier of the Free State, has announced her cabinet. The executive includes three MECs who served under the previous administration led by Mxolisi Dukwana, who has been left out in the cold. Dibolelo Mahlatsi continues with the Public Works and Infrastructure portfolio, Mathabo Leeto moves from Health to Social Development, while Ketso Makume now heads the new Finance, Tourism and Economic Development department. Ntombizanele Sifuba, who had been retained as speaker of the provincial legislature, is among the new faces in the cabinet as she comes in as the MEC for Sports, Arts, Culture and…

MAQUEEN Letsoha-Mathae has been elected as premier of the Free State province, replacing Mxolisi Dukwana who had only been in the office for a year. The 55-year-old political activist was sworn in during the provincial legislature’s sitting in Bloemfontein on Friday. The ANC put Letsoha-Mathae forward as its preferred candidate for the premier’s position after she outshone the incumbent during the party’s internal vetting process that followed South Africa’s elections held on 29 May. Before rising to the top post, she was serving as the MEC for Community Safety, Roads and Transport under Dukwana’s administration. “I am deeply honoured to…

PROFESSOR Pamela Dube, the vice-chancellor and principal at Central University of Technology (CUT), was earlier this month among thought leaders invited from across sectors to the second annual Tech for Humanity Summit held in the United States of America. Discussions at the summit, hosted at the Virginia Tech Arlington Campus on 6 June, centred on shared visions for a humane and democratic technological future through interdisciplinary inquiry. One of the most crucial discussions at the summit was the role of data in securing human rights and dignity. The thought leaders agreed that data creation and capturing have far-reaching implications for…

CONVICTED rapist and murderer Thabo Bester has asked the Free State High Court to allow the public to sign a petition for him to be granted a death sentence and release his co-accused who he claims had nothing to do with his escape from the Mangaung Correctional Centre in May 2022. “This is not the way that I want to proceed, if it means that this court will accept the petition and the public can sign it so that I can be put to rest,” Bester told the court in Bloemfontein on Wednesday. Bester was defending himself in court after his…

A WORKER at a Free State gold mine has been sentenced for supplying goods to illegal miners. Domingos Julius Macucule, employed as a rock drill operator at Kopanang Mine in Vierfontein, a settlement that lies about 263 km north of provincial capital Bloemfontein, was arrested on 5 August 2022 after he was found in possession of batteries, tartaric acid and cigarettes concealed in bread and fruits. He admitted he was supplying the contraband to illegal miners, also known as zama zamas, occupying at a shaft within the company’s operating area. Macucule was charged for contravening the Mine Health Safety Act.…

A 32-YEAR-OLD man will spend the rest of his life behind bars for raping a homeless woman in northern Free State town of Sasolburg. Thabo Maseko was sentenced to life imprisonment after he was convicted of commiting the heinous crime together with his unknown colleague who is still at large. According to the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA), the two men confronted the victim, aged 28, who was heating herself on the fire on the street at night on 16 September 2021. “Realising that the victim was defenceless and homeless, they took advantage of her situation and began dragging her,” NPA…

SOUTH Africans voted on Wednesday in what may be the most consequential election in decades, as dissatisfaction with the ruling ANC threatens to end its 30-year political dominance. Polls open at 7:00 am and close at 9:00 pm, with 27 million registered voters called to elect a new parliament, which then chooses a president. For the first time since the advent of democracy in 1994, the ANC is at risk of losing its outright majority and could be forced to negotiate a coalition. “South Africa’s general election is a watershed moment in the political history of the country,” said Aleix…

I know that there is great hype around the upcoming national and provincial elections this Wednesday, 29 May, some going as far as calling this our second 1994 – I get that. But I think that we might be making too much of this and forgetting that what counts is what takes place between elections. For some reason, we seem to think that voting is enough to bring about change, and we can then sit back as citizens and not wait for services to be delivered to us. Or we think that a coalition government will be the saviour. That…

THE Mangaung Metropolitan Municipality is looking to re-open the Bloemfontein Zoo on 5 June, more than four years after it was permanently shut down due to permit breaches and its shocking state of neglect. The municipality has spent around R8-million to refurbish the facility. “The team is busy cleaning, painting and repairing the enclosures and we are almost 100 percent ready to open,” Mangaung city manager Sello More told The Free Stater after visiting the zoo for an assessment. “Already, the process of permits is at the last stage of approval,” he added. More said the first phase of the…

THE Bloemfontein Off-Road Club is set to host the third round of the 2024 South African National Motocross Championship in the Free State capital this Saturday. The eagerly awaited event will take place at Tempe, one of the fastest tracks in the country that also offers participants a unique experience with its picturesque surroundings and thrilling jumps. A total of 123 riders have registered for the round across 11 categories, with the 125cc, 85cc, 65cc and 50cc classes having 20, 14, 19 and 12 entries respectively. The ladies category attracted nine competitors. The first two rounds of this year’s national…