Author: The Free Stater

While there are a few owners who want staff back in the office in order to start having face-to-face meetings, online meetings have become the norm. It is just another indication that the demand for office space is not likely to grow soon, particularly in Bloemfontein. We can see in the market that there are large numbers of vacant and under-utilised offices across the city. The demand is simply not there. What can be done with these offices to create an income? Firstly, we should remember that many of them are simply converted houses, so a possible solution is to…

The Supreme Court of Appeal (SCA) recently reduced the damages amount awarded to an Eastern Cape man detained by the police for two weeks from R250 000 to just R25 000 saying the detention was not unlawful. The ruling came after the SCA upheld with costs an appeal against a decision of the Eastern Cape High Court to award Edward Alberto Erasmus the R250 000 for his detention from May 5 to 19, 2016. The issues before the SCA were whether Erasmus’ detention was unlawful. The minister of police who brought the matter to the appeals court also wanted it to decide whether…

Mangaung Metro acting city manager Tebogo Motlashuping has assured workers at the embattled municipality that they will have their salaries paid by Friday. He made the promise after some workers downed tools and staged a protest at the Bram Fischer Building on Tuesday morning when they failed to get their salaries on time. The workers, who included solid waste collection teams, offloaded some of the collected garbage at the municipality’s head office as they broke into song and dance while they demanded their salaries and burnt some of the rubbish. The protesting workers told journalists that they were expecting their…

The Supreme Court of Appeal (SCA) has upheld, with costs, an appeal by a South African woman suffering from cancer who initially approached the Western Cape High Court seeking an interdict to stop her minor daughter from being returned to her father in the United Kingdom should she succumb to the disease, fearing the child could face harm. This appeal concerned the return of a four-and-a-half-year-old girl from Cape Town to the UK in terms of the Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction, 1980. The child’s mother, who was diagnosed with colorectal cancer while living in…

The Free State Department of Police, Roads and Transport says the R30 road between Allanridge and Welkom has been closed until further notice as it had become a death trap due to its poor state worsened by the recent rains. The closure follows a major accident which claimed six lives over the weekend, leaving five others seriously injured. The department’s spokesperson, Hillary Mophethe, said the R30 has been flooded several times in recent months. “In the most recent incident on Saturday . . . six people died and five were seriously injured when a white Iveco 22-seater midi-bus travelling .…

The Supreme Court of Appeal (SCA) has dismissed an appeal brought by former police officer David Papiki Komane against a decision of the Limpopo High Court which found him and two co-accused guilty of robbery with aggravating circumstances. The issue before the SCA was whether the trial court should have convicted Komane based on a confession, DNA evidence, the pointing out and whether the applicant had a case to answer. An outline of the case in the judgment states that Komane, together with three co-accused, was convicted of robbery with aggravating circumstances on January 26, 2018 in the High Court…

Recently I was asked to find a place for a couple to stay in Bloemfontein while they were looking for a home to buy. They were looking for a modern apartment with a double garage or carport and somewhere to store their things until they moved into their new home. What I found was disturbing. Firstly, virtually no new apartments have been built since the 1970s, the reason being that since then the metro is no longer the developer of suburbs. New suburbs are developed privately and because of the unreasonable restrictions on the number of units per hectare, most…

The move by Mangaung executive mayor Mxolisi Sionzana to forcefully remove former acting city manager Mzingisi Nkungwana from office may come under scrutiny when council meets next week. Mangaung speaker Stefani Lockman-Naidoo told The Free Stater that she had planned to put the matter on the agenda for the council sitting on April 28, but with the appointment of an interim management team this week, she may need guidance on how to proceed. “We will have to take guidance from the intervention team on that. At this stage we don’t have any information about what will happen,” said Lockman-Naidoo in…

There was drama at the Mangaung Metropolitan Municipality head office in Bloemfontein recently when acting city manager Mzingisi Nkungwana had to be physically forced out of his office after he reported for duty against an order to stay away. The municipality has been dogged by endless power struggles which have seen mayor Mxolisi Siyonzana taking the council, its speaker and Nkungwana to court. This after council had voted in favour of extending Nkungwana’s contract as the metro’s acting city manager. Siyonzana wanted the Free State High Court to interdict Nkungwana from carrying out duties as city manager and not to…

An interim management team that will take over the running of the Mangaung Metro Municipality has been announced. The team, which was announced by Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs (COGTA) Minister Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma in Bloemfontein on Wednesday, will be led by Tebogo Motlashuping as the acting city manager. Motlashuping has been sent from the national COGTA office. “The acting city manager will start now. He will be receiving reports so he can start work immediately,” Dlamini-Zuma told journalists soon after addressing the Mangaung council on the new development. There are seven key positions in the interim management team but only…