Author: The Free Stater

A joint operation by the police and the South Africa National Defence Force has rounded up about 158 people believed to have entered the country illegally after a convoy of vehicles they were travelling in was stopped at a roadblock at the R702/R26 crossing near Wepener in the south-eastern Free State. Provincial police spokesperson Brigadier Motantsi Makhele says the alleged illegal immigrants who were arrested in the early hours of Sunday are believed to have entered the country through an unguarded part of the South Africa-Lesotho border in the Wepener area. He said said the people were travelling in a…

Economic Development MEC Makalo Mohale says the introduction of a special programme on entrepreneurial development by the Central University of Technology (CUT) could be a strategic solution towards producing graduates who will not limit themselves to looking for work but could also create jobs. Speaking during the launch of the CUT Entrepreneurship Development Unit (CUT-EDU) on Friday, Mohale said the new centre places the institution in a favourable position to take advantage of new opportunities and speed up implementation of its plans to be a leading university of technology in the country by 2030. “This launch must be seen as…

Trustees are representatives of the body corporate that are appointed by the members of the body corporate at an annual general meeting. When they are elected, they are the “public face” off the body corporate. They are the people that the managing agents refer to when decisions need to be taken which are not day-to-day running decisions of the body corporate. An example would be that the managing agents would pay the electricity and water accounts as received from the local authority, provided they were happy that the account was correct, without reference to the trustees, but would only approve…

President Cyril Ramaphosa has dismissed as untrue claims by former State Security Agency head Arthur Fraser who layed criminal charges against him on Wednesday over an alleged theft of millions in hard currency. Presidential spokesperson Vincent Magwenya said, in a statement released on Thursday, Ramaphosa is clear that there is no basis for the claims of criminal conduct that have been made against him in Fraser’s statement. “The Presidency can confirm that a robbery took place at the president’s farm in Limpopo on or around 9 February 2020 in which proceeds from the sale of game were stolen,” read part…

The former head of the State Security Agency, Arthur Fraser, has laid criminal charges against President Cyril Ramaphosa over an alleged theft of millions in hard currency. In a statement released late Wednesday, Fraser said the charges relate to over US$4-million (R62.4-million) that was stolen and kept at Ramaphosa’s farm in Limpopo about two years ago. “The charges emanate from the theft of millions . . . in excess of four million US dollars concealed within the premises of the president’s Phala Phala Farm in Waterberg, by criminals who were colluding with his domestic worker,” he claimed. Fraser said the…

The Bloemfontein Magistrates Court this week postponed a case against Michele Antia Mpambani, 36, to June 22 after she was charged for tax fraud and failure to pay tax. The National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) says Mpambani was charged together with her company, 605 Consulting Solution (Pty) Ltd, for allegedly defrauding the South African Revenue Services (SARS) of approximately R6.2 million. NPA regional spokesperson Phaladi Shuping said Mpambani is facing a total of 31 charges that include four counts of fraud, 12 counts of failure to submit a company VAT 201 return, one count of failure to submit company income tax…

A man from Phuthaditjhaba, eastern Free State, has been arrested for allegedly raping his former girlfriend after holding her against her will in her rented room on Tuesday night. Police spokesperson for the area, Warrant Officer Mmako Mophiring, says the woman, aged 22, was busy writing assignments in her room when she was confronted by the ex-boyfriend at about 19:00. Mophiring said the young woman, who is a tenant in one of the rented rooms in Phuthaditjhaba and also a student, thought it was one of the other tenants when she heard a knock on the door only to find…

The Department of Agriculture and Rural Development (DARD) is set to hold its fourth annual Smithfield Commonage Livestock Auction this Thursday. DARD provincial spokesperson Zimasa Leputla says the auction is part of the department’s efforts to control livestock numbers and minimise overgrazing on farms. “The auction is also aimed at providing a platform for communal farmers to sell off their cattle in order to minimise the impact of drought,” she said. The auction will be hosted jointly with the Smithfield Landcare Committee. The auction will be held at the Smithfield Commonages from 11:00 to 14:00. About 96 cross-bred cattle will be…

Mangaung executive mayor Mxolisi Siyonzana will table the metro’s budget vote for the 2022/23 financial year on Friday at the City Hall at 10am. The municipality, which has battled significant financial and service delivery failures over the past few years, was placed under national administration in April following a cabinet decision. It is presently being run by an interim management led by Tebogo Motlashuping as the acting city manager. The team has been given an initial period of six months to turn around the municipality which has been dogged by endless power struggles which have seen Siyonzana taking the speaker,…

The ANC Youth League (ANCYL) Mangaung has elected Mthuthuzeli Bidi as its new chairperson. Bidi was elected at a highly charged regional congress held from May 29-30 in Bloemfontein. The meeting was dogged by several delays which saw some of the delegates fighting over the registration process. “Such proportions of violence in the league, particularly in the region, are unprecedented and foreign to the political terrain of the region,” said the ANCYL Mangaung when it announced the results. “It is in fact this reality that confers on us the belief that this violence was not an inherent expression of the…