Author: The Free Stater

A neighbour’s pitbull has attacked and killed a three-year-old boy in the latest fatal dog attack to rock the Free State. The incident, which happened in Hennenman on Sunday morning, sparked a protest by the local community. Members of the public order policing unit have been deployed to the area where, according to police spokesperson Captain Stephen Thakeng, the “situation is tense but under control”. The victim was declared dead on the scene of the attack. The dog was burnt to death by the angry mob, while its owner was taken away by the police for his own safety. “On…

DJ Sumbody, born Oupa John Sefoka, has died. The Monate Mpolaye hitmaker’s death was confirmed through a statement released by his management, Sumsounds Music, on Sunday morning. “Artist and musician DJ Sumbody has died. Details of his untimely death cannot be released, but the artist named Oupa John Sefoka allegedly ran into an unfortunate incident that led to his passing in the early hours of Sunday morning, 20 November,” reads part of the statement. It adds that the amapiano pioneer’s family has “kindly requested privacy” as “investigations are still ongoing”. Details of the funeral and memorial service will be announced…

A pregnant woman suffered pelvic and head injuries after a Free State government ambulance that was ferrying her to hospital for the delivery of her baby veered off the road and overturned on Wednesday. The emergency services vehicle was on its way from Steynsrus to Kroonstad, with the maternity patient on board, when its driver lost control along the R67 road. Despite sustaining pelvic and head injuries, the woman managed to deliver a baby girl at about 1pm after having been admitted two hours earlier at Boitumelo Hospital in Kroonstad. “The pregnant woman gave birth normally to a baby girl…

The Hawks have raided the offices of the Free State Department of Sport, Arts, Culture and Recreation and seized several documents in connection with the awarding of the event management contract for the Macufe festival that was recently held in Bloemfontein. According to a statement released by the priority crime investigation unit on Wednesday evening, no one was arrested when the search-and-seize operation was conducted on Tuesday. The Hawks spokesperson Lieutenant Colonel Philani Nkwalase said one of the bidders for the tender to run the 2022 edition of Macufe took the provincial department to court in October where Judge PJ…

Dams in the Free State are now at full capacity due to the heavy rains that are being received across the country, according to the Department of Water and Sanitation. The department says its weekly state of reservoirs report is reflecting a water storage of 107.5 percent in the province, up from last week’s 96.8 percent. According to a statement released by the department on Wednesday, Gariep Dam, which is the biggest dam in the country, recorded 112.1 percent, while Vanderkloof Dam, the second largest, is at 103.2 percent as compared to the previous week’s recording of 93.5 percent. Welbedacht…

The death toll from last week’s crash involving a bus and a truck near Botshabelo has risen to nine after another passenger succumbed to injuries sustained from the accident. The latest victim passed on at Moroka Hospital on Monday. In a statement released on Wednesday, the Free State Department of Health said a post-mortem had confirmed the death was due to the injuries the patient sustained from the accident involving a bus and a truck on the N8 road near Botshabelo last Thursday. The bus, which was ferrying 62 passengers, was on its way to Bloemfontein when the collision occurred.…

A 74-year-old woman is expected to appear before the Phuthaditjhaba Magistrate Court on Tuesday on a charge of dealing in drugs. She was arrested on Sunday after the police raided her home in Qwaqwa where they recovered an unspecified amount of nyaope, a street drug that is ravaging poor communities across South Africa. The drug is a mixture of low-grade heroin, cannabis products, antiretroviral medicines and other materials added as bulking agents. The elderly woman was implicated in the peddling of the drug after the police had earlier on the same day arrested a 24-year-old man found with some nyaope…

The Viljoenskroon Magistrates Court has sentenced a 40-year-old pastor from Rammolotsi township to life imprisonment after he was convicted of raping a 50-year-old woman several times over an eight-month period when he kept her in his house against her will. Magistrate Sbongile Mathambeka sentenced the man, Office Samson Choniswa, to an additional five years for kidnapping, four years for theft and another five years for assault with intent to cause grievous bodily harm. National Prosecuting Authority regional spokesperson Phaladi Shuping said on August 31, 2020, the complainant was at a hiking spot in the town, trying to get transport to…

An eight-year-old boy was attacked and killed by a neighbour’s dog while playing in his family yard in Bloemfontein at the weekend. The shocking incident happened in the Vista Park suburb on Saturday afternoon. According to the police, the dog, a pitbull, allegedly escaped from its enclosure, jumped over the fence and attacked the boy. After paramedics attended to him, he was declared dead at the scene having suffered bite wounds on the neck and chest. “. . . Mangaung Police received a distress call from a witness about an alleged dog that was mauling a child in Vista Park,”…