Author: The Free Stater

Agriculture, Land Reform and Rural Development Minister Thoko Didiza this week convened an urgent meeting with Free State Premier Sisi Ntombela and several MECs to discuss the outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) on 22 properties in Marquard and Bethlehem in the eastern parts of the province. In a joint statement with the provincial government, the minister’s office said the meeting was aimed at soliciting the help of the Free State government and to explain the 21-day ban on movement of all hooved animals which was imposed last week. The ban will be reviewed on a weekly basis. “The minister feels…

Everyone knows that the Estate Agency Affairs Board has been a joke and its transformation into the Property Professionals Council is not likely to change that situation very soon. But the new Property Practitioners Act which came into effect on February 1, 2022, adds some heavyweight changes that could affect the industry severely. Firstly, developers will not be able to sell their own units without being registered with the board. Normally developers develop in different entities from their own businesses to keep each project isolated from a financial control point of view. Only staff directly employed by the development company…

A 36-year-old man who duped several people in the eastern Free State into putting money into a bogus investment scheme promising them handsome returns within a month appeared in the Ladybrand Magistrates Court this week facing several charges including fraud and money laundering. Moeketsi Ntshasa, 36, made his first court appearance after he was arrested by a multi-disciplinary police team in Gauteng on Monday. The Hawks provincial spokesperson Captain Christopher Singo said the arrest follows a notice put out by the unit’s Serious Commercial Crime Investigation team based in Bethlehem in May asking the public to assist in the tracing…

University of the Free State (UFS) student Jabulani Mabuza has literally taken a step back in time and developed his own brand of traditional wrist watches called Honour Watches. Mabuza is quoted by the university as saying his curiosity to understand how time is measured, also known as horological, pushed him to make his own time-piece. “What I enjoy about horology is learning the deeper technicalities of the art, the whole process – from understanding basic astronomy and how planets move in our solar system to sort of emulating that in a watch mechanism,” said Mabuza, a final year BCom…

Two women from Mangaung have allegedly been attacked and killed in two separate incidents by their own sons believed to be using drugs. In the latest incident which happened in Kagisanong along Masike Street at the weekend, a 65-year-old woman was allegedly stabbed with a sharp object by her 28-year-old son after she failed to give him money to buy drugs. Police spokesperson for Mangaung Metro Lieutenant Colonel Thabo Covane said in the woman died on the scene from the stab wounds. “The victim had visible multiple stab wounds on the head and body,” he said, adding the matter was…

Kaizer Chiefs coach Arthur Zwane says his players were not themselves against Mamelodi Sundowns on Saturday afternoon. Amakhosi came into the match oozing with confidence after thrashing Maritzburg United 3-0 on Tuesday, but they were thumped 4-0 by Masandawana in Pretoria. It is Chiefs’ heaviest defeat in the Premier Soccer League (PSL) era which started in 1996 and Zwane was left disappointed by his charges’ performance. “Yeah, look we were nowhere near in terms of performing today. I think the boys looked flat. They didn’t come to the party,” Zwane told SuperSport TV. “We were just not ourselves. You look…

Ndavi Nokeri, a 23-year-old from Tzaneen in Limpopo, is the new Miss South Africa. She was crowned at a glitzy ceremony held on Saturday night at Time Square’s SunBet Arena in Pretoria, taking over the reins from now-Miss Supranational, Lalela Mswane. During the question-and-answer session, when asked what the most important thing is to keep the unity of our nation, the BCom Investment Management graduate said history is the greatest teacher. “To know where you are going, you need to know where you come from,” Nokeri said. “Being a nation that comes from a history of a past of racial…

I am going to rehash the importance of paying levies on time and in full because it remains a sticky matter. Times are tough with many people losing their jobs or having less income. From a body corporate management side, it is important that trustees and managing agents understand their very important roles in running any body corporate. Trustees and managing agents are there to enforce the rules and to collect the agreed levies – period. Not making the strongest effort to collect outstanding levies means just that and is not acceptable. If one owner owes months of levy, effectively…

Former Free State premier Ace Magashule has lost his latest court bid to have his suspension as ANC secretary-general lifted. He had approached the Constitutional Court seeking to have his temporary ousting from Luthuli House reversed. In a judgment handed down on Wednesday, the apex court said Magashule had no prospects of successfully appealing his suspension. “The Constitutional Court has considered the application for condonation and the application for leave to appeal. It has concluded that, although there are no reasonable prospects of success on the merits of the application for leave to appeal, the delay in bringing the application…

Maluti-a-Phofung municipal manager Futhuli Patrick Mothamaha, 49, was on Friday released on a bail of R500 000 by the Phuthaditjhaba Magistrates Court after he was arrested by The Hawks for fraud, corruption and Contravention of the Municipal Finance Management Act. The state alleges that he allegedly awarded a contract of R58 million to Kill Crime Security Company in 2020 without following proper procurement processes. National Prosecuting Authority regional spokesperson Phaladi Shuping said Mothamaha allegedly signed a service level agreement on May 19, 2020, appointing the company to render security services to the municipality for a period of three months without…